Don't see photo files in time machine

I'm new to mac/brand new time machine user.
I just backed up for the first time. I had no apps open.
I can't seem to view photos in time machine. Other files seem to be there. but in the iphoto library I can only see a placeholder for 430 MB. I have 17G of photos.
Can somebody help me solve this?
Thanks

Got it.
I'm having fun working through some of these issues on my new OS. The best thing so far I have been able to rapidly find answers online by perusing forums. This is the first time I actually had to post a question. I suppose if I had googled "alternate handling of photos on time machine" maybe I'd have gotten a hit. But I had no luck with "can't view photos on time machine."
Anyhow thanks much. Photos are obviously precious. I went one day with BU and I lost a photo. (lost power while working with file.)
Off topic. Interesting that right click is suggested several times in the FAQ. But it is not the iMAC default. I was going to try to do without it, but it seems like even the Apple pros prefer it. Seeems strange it is not the default.
Thanks again.

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Can't see photos from previous Time Machine backup

Here is my issue:
I had two MacBook Pros (one old, one new).
I bought an external hard drive.
I backed up both the old and the new MacBook.
I wiped and sold my old MacBook.
I opened the backup of the old MacBook on the external hard drive in an effort to find my old photos.
On the external drive, I went to Backups.backupdb > Users > Pictures.
On the Pictures icon I see a red "caution" type icon.
I click on the folder and get a popup that says, "The folder pictures can't be opened because you don't have permission to see its contents."
How do I access all my photos that are in this "locked" folder?
Thanks!!
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C M Clements wrote:
I have lost about 75% of my photos from 2009 -- earlier years seem not to have been affected, and this year's photos are not affected.
Here's what happened: In an effort to free up space on my hard drive, I deleted a very large file called "recovered photos." In 2008, I backed up that file to DVDs, but had not thought that anything had been added to that file since then.
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The last backup I ran on Time Machine was run on Feb. 14.
you should back up more regularly than that if you value your data.
I have never had to restore data from Time Machine so I am not sure how to do it. I have located the missing recovered photo file on Time Machine. Should I highlight that file and click restore? Or should I restore the entire pictures folder?
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Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
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☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.
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View ▹ Show Log List
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Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.
Some private information, such as your name or email address, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

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I have my time machine backup on Time Capsule. I cannot view files while I am in the interface of time machine. Some files can be viewed with quick look such as photos and some eps or .ai files. Indesign documents will not view, address book will not view and many others. I did a series of tests and the files will restore just fine, but you cannot view them in the time machine mode. Very frustrating!! Is there a setting that I am missing?
Ben
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Flydesign wrote:
It would be nice to be able to go back in timemachine to a document that you had 6 months ago and ressurect it.
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I have been able to view documents in Time machine before.
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Neither have I, but (a) it only takes once, and (b) most users don't. (Actually, most users don't even back up ).
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You need to remove the new library file you created. Then locate the one you want restored from your TM backup using the Time Machine application. If you're not sure how a restore is done the select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "time machine." One of the articles will outline the procedure for restoring individual files.
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A erase of the drive or boot partition is not always necessary.
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Step by Step to fix your Mac

How can I retrieve a lost file in Time Machine?

Hi,
I'm using a Western Digital Elements 1TB external hard drive to back up my MacBook Pro.
One day, I noticed that one of my fiels were missing, so I went in to the time machine looked for it (roughly the time period when I created it),
but it wasn't there.
Is it possible to loose files in time machine?
Is there any way to retrieve them?
Please help.
Thanks

Note: the User's Library is hidden by default. It's also hidden in Time Machine. You have to be in the User's Library in order to restore items from Time Machine.
Under Go in the Menu bar hold down the Option key and select Library.
Scroll down to the 'stickiesdatabase'
If you don't see the file, open Stickies and create a new test sticky. This will create the 'stickiesdatabase' file.
Once you see the file, select the file.
Enter Time Machine.
You should enter in your User's Library showing the file.
Go back in time to when your actual file existed with your data.
Select Restore.

Some files in Time Machine are being locked

I run Mountain Lion 10.8.4 on a Mac Mini 2012. Over the past year or so (dating back to my older iMac mid-2010, after which I transferred the data to my current Mac Mini), I've noticed that most of my files in Time Machine are getting locked. The files on my Mac are not locked, but the backed-up versions of the files are locked. The icons have a padlock icon on them. This is NOT due to the "auto-lock documents" feature, since this no longer exists in Mountain Lion.
For instance, my Firefox profile is a good example. Here are two screenshots:
1. Screenshot of my Firefox profile. Everything looks fine.
2. The same profile, except the latest Time Machine backup.
These locks appear in every single backup I have, up until the oldest one. I ran "Repair disk" on Time Machine, which took about 30 minutes, and then made another backup, and this time the newest backup did not have any locks—but all the older backups still had locks. I found this a bit strange, because why would a backup I made AFTER running "Repair disk" be fixed, but the older ones remained unaffected?
Anyway, I hoped that this would fix the problem, but every time I do this, a few weeks later, the problem re-occurs.
So, is there anything more permanent that I can do?

Hey man,
Some things I'd be looking at trying is:
---> Reset ACL's
Boot to Recovery -> Utilities -> Terminal
Then enter the following command to open the Reset Password Utility:
resetpassword
Then select the volume (normally Macintosh HD)
Choose the user account in the "Select the user account:" pop-up menu
Click Reset (ignore all the 'enter new password for user' sections and just click reset at the bottom after selecting the volume and the user
Once that is done, quit Terminal and the Reset Password Utility
Open Disk Utility
---> Verify/Repair Disk + Permissions
Click Macinosh HD on the left of Disk Utility and then click Verify Disk at the bottom right, if it comes up with green text in the white box saying 'The volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK', then you DO NOT need to click Repair Disk, if it finds any errors, you should click Repair Disk
Afterwards, you should click Verify Disk Permissions, once that completes click Repair Disk Permissions (Click this regardless of what Verify Disk Permissions says)
Once that is done, I would follow HT2409 and do a Spotlight Re-Index
Attempt another backup and see how you get on
Regards
MiiCK

Upgraded to Mavericks, can't find files on time machine

I have an external hard drive where I backup my Macbook Pro. I recently upgraded to Mavericks and now I can't find old files on time machine. I am looking for a file around a certain date, but no matter what date I look at in time machine - the files and data seem to be the same. I hope someone has a solution to my problem!

Hi Miax1,
Welcome to the Apple Support Communities!
I understand that you are looking for a specific file in your Time Machine backup. It sounds like you are familiar with the interface but just cannot find the file. Just to make sure you are searching in the right area, I suggest reviewing the Restoring data from Time Machine backups section from the following article. Please let me know if you need further assistance.
Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427
Restoring specific files or folders
Choose Enter Time Machine from the Time Machine menu. The restore interface appears. You can literally see your windows as they appeared "back in time."
You can use the timeline on the right side of the window to reach a certain point back in time. The timeline shows the times of all backups on your backup drive. If you don’t know exactly when you deleted or changed a file, you can use the back arrow to let Time Machine automatically travel through time to show you when that folder last changed.
Note: Dates in pink indicate the data resides on your Time Machine backup device. Dates in white indicate the data resides on your Mac. In OS X Lion v10.7 and later, portable Macs include local snapshots.
You can also perform a Spotlight search from the Finder. Simply enter a search term in the Spotlight search field, and use the back arrow to have Time Machine search through your backups to find what you are looking for.
Before you restore a file, you can also use Quick Look to preview a file to make sure its the one you want. Highlight the file and press the Space Bar to bring up a quick look.
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I hope this helps,
-Joe

Cannot access files on Time Machine due to permissions

I wiped my hard drive and reinstalled Mountain Lion. I am now trying to pull my files back off of Time Machine - music, pictures, documents. I keep getting errors stating I do not have permission to access certain files and the whole process shuts down. On my backup drive, I had a different username. Is that the problem? If so, how can I fix it without creating a new user with my old name and creating more problems?

I suspect that the problem isn't so much a different user name but a different user ID. You can see that for your current account in System Preferences > Users & Groups by right-clicking on a user and selecting "Advanced Options". (Heed the warning about changing the values you see in that panel!)
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Don't see photo files in time machine

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