H&R Block tax software searches Time Machine when updating

How would I prevent H&R Block's tax software updater from searching my Time Machine for existing installs? Their support forum suggests this have been an on-going problem for a few years.
I have turned off Time Machine and ejected the drive. That's pretty annoying. I expect if the H&R updater were to chance files on the Time Machine drive it would be a bad thing.
I'm using the 2014 deluxe version tax software, and Yosemite.

Heh. No. It will search all mounted drives so you need to eject them if you don't want it to do that.
It's still using Installer VISE, right? And polling pretty much everything? I actually complained to them FOUR YEARS AGO about that - NOBODY ON THE PLANET USES VISE ANYMORE! Still, bottom of the barrel with software quality... you need to live with it or eject the drives prior to running their updater.
Since you bought the software in January, expect 10+ updates between now and April 15th

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Downloaded H&R block tax software on windows machine, how can I transfer it

I bought the tax software on Dell's software sight, I made sure that the software was Mac compatible. When I went to download the software, I found out that it could not downloaded on a mac:( Others had success downloading it to a windows machine and then just transferring it to the mac. I transferred the zip file to the mac and tried to open it with no success, it just had a text box with a bunch of jibberish on it. I opened the zip file on the windows machine and tranferred the unzipped program to the mac, but same thing happened. The program only has a .exe file, don't I need to find a .dmg file? I assumed that when I unzipped it their would be a .exe and a .dmg, but it is not so. Anyone have any advice?
Thanks,
Jeff

A ZIP file that contains a .EXE file is Windows software. I would suggest contacting the seller of the software for their help in providing you with a Mac version.

Searching time machine backup on different computer

I have 3 computers backed up by time machine onto one hard drive. How do I search time machine for a backup of a computer I am not currently using? I did use the control key and was prompted for which disk to search,and clicked on that, but then it just switches me back and only shows the backups of the same computer I am using at the moment. I want to search a time machine backup of a computer that is no longer functional.

This was actually solved in the 10.7.1 or 10.7.2 update.

I backup to an external hdd with Time Machine, when it ran out of space it did not delete old backups, now my internal hdd says its full when before it had heaps of space. I have searched for extra files but cant find any. Can anyone help, please.

I backup to an external hdd with Time Machine, when it ran out of space it did not delete old backups, now my internal hdd says its full when before it had heaps of space. I have searched for extra files but cant find any. Can anyone help, please.

First, empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. Then reboot. That will temporarily free up some space.
To locate large files, you can use Spotlight as described here. That method may not find large folders that contain a lot of small files.
You can also use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one.
Proceed further only if the problem hasn't been solved.
ODS can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
Back up all data now.
Install ODS in the Applications folder as usual.
Triple-click the line of text below to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C):sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
Launch the Terminal 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.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means.
When you're done with ODS, quit it and also quit Terminal.

I want to search Time Machine for an appointment that has been deleted from my current view of iCal. Can I "restore" a previous version of iCal without losing all the entries I've made to the calendar since that prior date?

I want to search Time Machine for an appointment that has been deleted from my current view of iCal. Can I "restore" a previous version of iCal without losing all the entries I've made to the calendar since that prior date?

No. I tried it on my Time Machine (I had just made one change today, so I knew I would not be left in the lurch if I failed) and when I clicked on restore I got this message:
It seems you have several options. I chose 'Keep Both'. I suggest that you proceed with your search.
Ciao.

I have time machine saving onto two usb drives. The backup is 4.6TB. Each drive is 6TB. Why is time machine only updating one drive? (The other has been the same for two weeks.)

I have time machine saving onto two usb drives.
The total size of the files being backed up is 4.6TB.
Each external USB drive is 6TB. So I have 12 TB of space for Time Machine.
Why is time machine only updating one USB drive? (One drive has been the same for two weeks.)
I have selected both drives in the Time Machine settings panel.
My understanding was that it would do a full backup, and then incremental backups of changed files, getting rid of old copies as needed, and alternate between the two drives.
But it looks like drive A has one complete backup, dated two weeks ago, and drive B is the only one getting action.
There is a red icon on drive one that says the drive needs 120GB more space to do a backup -- which is strange since the whole backup set is only 4.6TB in size, and the drive is 6TB in size...

You could try a clone instead.
Clone - Carbon Copy Cloner (Often recommended as it has more features than some others)
Clone – Data Backup
Clone – Deja Vu
Clone - SuperDuper
Clone - Synk
Clone Software – 6 Applications Tested
Time Machine Versus Clones and Archives
Commonly Used Backup Methods

I have the new 2011 macbook pro, with lion preinstalled. I want to change the harddrive. I have backed up everything on time machine. when i put my new blank hard drive in will the lion screen startup.How do i get the lion dmg when i am already using lion

I have the new 2011 macbook pro, with lion preinstalled. I want to change the harddrive. I have backed up everything on time machine. when i put my new blank hard drive in will the lion screen startup.How do i get the lion dmg when i am already using lion

NicholasLiban -
When you use the Lion restore as described, it does a fresh install on the hard drive that you can select at the beginning of the process. This provides a complete install of the very latest version of Lion, including the recovery partition. The drive that you choose for the installation destination winds up like what you would have on a brand new computer from Apple.
- Randy

HT201250 I cannot enter time machine when I press the icon to enter time machine

I cannot enter the time machine when I press the time machine icon. I press and nothing happens, so I'm not sure even if it is backing up at this point. When i go to my Tme Capsule it has the folder there for back-ups and the most recent, but no access from the icon. Help me Ben Kanobi you're my only hope!

Try the things in #E4 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

Do I need to pause Time machine when I install Aperture 3 ?

do I need to pause Time machine when I install Aperture 3 ?

If I had to anticipate when TM was about to run and then quit Aperture I'd really be disinclined to use it.
Not always, but you have to give TimeMachine a chance to make at least once a full backup. If Aperture or iPhoto are open, when Time Machine is running, you will only get incremental backups. I cannot find the corresponding Aperture document right now, but see this:
iPhoto '11: Back up your iPhoto library
Important: Time Machine can’t do a full backup of your iPhoto library when iPhoto is open. To ensure that Time Machine does a complete backup of your library, quit iPhoto periodically before backing up.
To restore photos, quit iPhoto, open the folder containing your iPhoto library, and then open Time Machine.
I noticed recently, that TM had never made a full backup of one of my Aperture libraries and was a bit scared, because I am relying heavily on TM. So I try to remember to quit Aperture before connecting my backup drive. It is not dramatic, if I do not do it everytime, but I make sure, I get a full backup of each library at least once, after I created it.
Early versions of TM had a problem where if Aperture was running and TM did its backup there was a chance the whole library would be backed up rather then just the changes but I thought this was fixed in later versions of TM and/or Aperture.
You are referring to this, right?
Mac OS X v10.5, 10.5.1, 10.5.2: Time Machine may back up the entire Aperture Library each time
In Mac OS X v10.5 through 10.5.2, Time Machine may perform a full backup (rather than incremental) of the Aperture Library, resulting in heavier-than-expected disk usage for Time Machine backups.
This can happen if the Aperture library is included in Time Machine backups and a backup occurs while Aperture is running. In this situation, Time Machine excludes the Aperture library from a backup while the application is running, but backs up the entire library once Aperture quits, rather than just the changes since the previous backup.
Resolution
Download and install Mac OS X v10.5.3 or later. Afterwards, when you use Time Machine it will perform incremental backups as expected.

Forcing a "deep search" Time Machine backup (to catch all changes)

Time Machine normally depends upon the new, Leopard, file system event logs to know what to include in an incremental backup. But if there is a problem with a backup due to file system corruption or whatever, Time Machine may miss some files AND NOT CATCH THEM LATER when the subsequent backups happen, apparently because they are no longer marked as having been changed since the last backup.
If you have removed a corrupted file/directory or otherwise want to make sure Time Machine really does catch everything, you could of course erase the Time Machine disk and have it start over.
OR you could force a "deep search" backup. A deep search backup happens whenever Time Machine decides the file system event log can not be trusted. In that case Time Machine digs through the entire source file system to decide what to include in the next incremental backup. You will know this is happening because the "preparing" phase takes a long time (perhaps 20 minutes or so) even though the amount of data eventually backed up is not that big. The time of the preparing phase will probably be comparable to the time to do a Repair Permissions pass in Disk Utility. There is also a message added to the Console by the "backupd" process indicating it is also going "deep".
Well it turns out that one of the easiest ways to make Time Machine decide not to trust the file system event log is to boot from the Leopard install DVD. Apparently the event log is marked as non-trustable since a source external to the file system (the software running from the install DVD) may have altered it.
So boot from the install DVD and then immediately Restart from your main hard drive. The next incremental backup Time Machine does will be a "deep search" backup.
--Bob

BobP1776 wrote:
Well it turns out that one of the easiest ways to make Time Machine decide not to trust the file system event log is to boot from the Leopard install DVD. Apparently the event log is marked as non-trustable since a source external to the file system (the software running from the install DVD) may have altered it.
Thanks, this was very useful information to me this evening! I was puzzled that the TM backup of my daughter's MacBook was missing several changed files. I tried your "DVD trick", and it solved the problems!
Now the question is why Time Machine didn't understand that it should have done a deep traversal? It seems it has logged its own bug: The log says: "Avoided deep traversal due to exclusion list change". Indeed, I did change the exclusion list, as I wanted to add a portable external drive. I guess I should report this bug to Apple...

Question re searching time machine backups

Per apple's info, if you do a search in the finder, then open time machine, you should be able to go back to each time and perform the search in that time period. However, when I search for file "X" in the finder and it shows up, then try to go back in time machine, the file does not come up in the search window at any other past time, even though I know it is there. This happens with any search that I do; yet, if I go back to the folder that I know contained the file, it IS in the folder for the time machine backups. Obviously, if I know the exact folder, this is no big deal, but if I am searching for a file, it is a problem.
Again, per apple's documents this is supposed to work. Thoughts?

I saw this document, and it suggests that spotlight should work:
Open a Finder window and type a search word or phrase in the search field in the upper-right corner.
Focus the search by choosing a search location in the location bar.
*_You can search your entire computer (This Mac) or the folder that was selected in the Finder when you started your search*_. New search results begin to appear after you select a location.
Refine the results by specifying search criteria.
Specifying criteria in a search window
Click the Time Machine icon in the Dock.
If Time Machine isn’t in the Dock, look for it in the Applications folder.
Use the arrows and the timeline along the right edge of your screen to browse through the Time Machine backups. Your search is performed in every window.
When you find the item you want to restore, select it and then click Restore.

Re-install software from Time Machine???

I recently bought an imac, transfered all my data over from my MacBookPro, and now Adobe Illustrator won't open on the imac b/c of a missing plug-in. The MacBookPro has been backed up many times on my external hard drive through Time Machine.
Is it possible to extract the Illustrator program onto the imac from the external hard drive through Time Machine?
If not, does anyone have any advise on how I can fix my illustrator program on the imac? It still works fine on the macbookpro.

mpacif1 wrote:
I recently bought an imac, transfered all my data over from my MacBookPro, and now Adobe Illustrator won't open on the imac b/c of a missing plug-in. The MacBookPro has been backed up many times on my external hard drive through Time Machine.
Is it possible to extract the Illustrator program onto the imac from the external hard drive through Time Machine?
not unless you know exactly which files need to be transfered. there is no automated way to do this beside using Migration Assistant. MA does a decent job and transfers most apps correctly but if it doesn't your best bet is to reinstall the app from scratch on the new computer.
If not, does anyone have any advise on how I can fix my illustrator program on the imac? It still works fine on the macbookpro.

Search Time Machine For HTML Code

I need to find when an email address was changed in the code of an HTML file I've been working on the last couple of days. The Time Machine preview pane will render the browser view of the html and I can see the changes over time, but I can't see the embedded code for the email address. Since the preview changes, my hunch is the code is available somehow unless TM is taking a billion little jpgs at every backup.
Any way I can get the preview to view html instead of rendering it?

Great attempt at a solution, however, so far, a dead end. I've been using Time Machine for years but have only needed to fetch a file "from the past" a handful of times, so I may be missing something on how to use it.
I changed the .html files associated application to TextEdit universally. Even restarted the machine for good measure and headed back into the past. The info pane sees TextEdit as the associated app, but the preview sheet still reneders the browser version. I see the "Open with TextEdit" button at the top of the preview pane which is enabled, but no function fires when I press it. I also tried associated all files with SkEdit just for kicks, same response.
OH, SOLVED!
I didn't know you could open the bundle directory and drill down to the file. Years ago when that was called a sparsebundle you couldn't get into it so I've been assuming that was still true. I was using the Star Wars Time Machine UI to retrieve which is why the limited functionality. Ok all is well, thanks.

Where can i find edited adobe photoshop files in time machine after update?

i was having issues with my computer, brought it in to apple store. they suggested i back everything up on external using time machine before doing a erase/re-write. i did so. HOWEVER, my edited photos in photoshop & bridge are gone. after the re-write, i updated from CS3 to CS5.5. all of my metadata is gone from the pictures, my keywords and all of the edited photos.
i don't know if it is related and it's not really my question, but i cannot access any of my itunes music now as it says that it cannot find original files. super frustrating as no one seems to know how to help with this. these two issues arose after my time machine backup that the apple genius told me would certainly back up all of my files. it seems i did something wrong prior to the backup or prior to the software updates that i did after the rewrite. any suggestions that could point me in the right direction are appreciated.

That path is still correct - at least it is on my system - but unless you had Library brought out into a place where it could be found, in the Sidebar for instance, I don't know how you'd get into it in Time Machine. Try this, though: access the user's Library folder via the Go To Folder command, then drag the Library folder into the sidebar. Then run Time Machine and see if the Library folder persists in the TM interface. If it does, you should then be able to navigate into Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/ and find and restore the backup folder.
Hope this helps.

How do I retrieve iphoto library from Time Machine when the Mac doesn't have enough memory

Is there a way to retrieve (or view) specific photos from iphoto library when it resides in Time Machine? The iphoto library file is much bigger than the free space available on the Mac; erasing unneeded files may not free up enough space if the library must be restored as one entire transfer. It would be easier if I could restore only pieces of it. Is there a way to do this?

Not from Time Machine which is backing up only a file, not its individual contents. Either you restore iPhoto Library or not.
Freeing Up Space on The Hard Drive
1. See Lion/Mountain Lion/Mavericks' Storage Display.
2. You can remove data from your Home folder except for the /Home/Library/ folder.
3. Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on freeing up space on your hard drive.
4. Get an external hard drive on which to store some of your files after which you can
erase the data from your internal drive to free up space.
5. Also see Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk.
6. See Where did my Disk Space go?.
7. See The Storage Display.
You must Empty the Trash in order to recover the space they occupied on the hard drive.
You should consider replacing the drive with a larger one. Check out OWC for drives, tutorials, and toolkits.
Try using OmniDiskSweeper 1.8 or GrandPerspective to search your drive for large files and where they are located.

H&R Block tax software searches Time Machine when updating

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