How can i extract just documents from time machine backup?

How can I extract just my documents from a time machine backup? I had to re-install Lion after the update screwed things up, the Genius Bar guy told me to re-install each App, and then transfer just my data (documents) back but didn't tell me how. I only see how you can restore the entire snapshot of what was on my MacBook that day, I don't see how to select specifics.

Hi,
Install a fresh Lion OS on your Mac. After this is done, then connect your time capsule. Click on the time machine icon in the dock bar so you will enter in time machine. Select the document folder and any document or all you need. The same thing you can do with iPhoto, Emails, etc.
Let me know
Claudio

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How do i restore photo albums from time machine backups without duplicates?

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Worth updating? Totally a personal decision. For some it would be. For others it would not?
Upgrading, if there are no problems, does not affect your data. And since bad things do happen you always have a good backup. Especially when doing any upgrade.
Your password question has nothing to do with iPhoto. Try it in the OS forum
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Can the program and required files be restored from Time Machine? If so what files need be restored?

+Can the program and required files be restored from Time Machine?+
Yes, but of course you'll lose the changes since the most recent backup.
+If so what files need be restored?+
Start with this file (path relative to the top level of your home folder):
Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist
Quit Mail before restoring, then try again. If it still isn't working, then quit again and restore:
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Can I exclude places.sqlite from time machine backup?

Hi,
Just looking at the time machine backup and raised a question about the repeated backup of places.sqlite in "~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/xxxxxxxx.default/", I am wondering if I can exclude this file from my backup or even exclude Profiles from my backup?
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I have looked into this page and understand what places.sqlite does. However, what don't know is if this file is missing, does Firefox produce one automatically?
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Alvyn wrote:
Thus, I am thinking if this "places.sqlite" thing is there every hour putting around 100MB to my time capsule, quickly my time capsule will be depleted.
No, that's very small.
Is there any way to do something like trimming time points from time capsule?
Under normal circumstances, you shouldn't have to. TM automatically "thins" (deletes) backups every time it does a new backup, on the following schedule:
"Hourly" backups after 24 hours (except the first of the day, which is a "Daily" backup).
"Daily" backups after a month (except the first of each week, which is a "Weekly" backup.)
"Weekly" backups are kept until TM needs the space for new backups; then one or more of the oldest weeklies will be deleted.
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Can I move all data from time machine backup to another external drive & work from it?

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What exactly do you want to do?
Is it that you wish to extract an older version of some documents to edit, but leave the original intact?
You can Restore an older version from TM and choose not to replace the current one.
Or, do you wish to install the OS on your new drive, and migrate all the information from the TM backup to the new isntallation?
EDIT: Ok, re-reading your question, I think macjack probably has the right idea.
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My address book was populated on an imac running Lion and I used time machine to back up to an external hard drive.
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How do I import the contents of my address book from the backup on the external drive to the address book on the new imac?
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There is also a diagonal line going through the address book thumbnail icon and various other applications in the backup applications folder and I get the same error message informing that these apps are time machine backups.
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Here's the situation:
I have a G4 with Tiger OS that has 2 years of saved emails and Address Book entries. I just got a G5, installed brand new drives, and did a fresh install of Leopard. I did not use Migration Assistant during the install, because I have no router.
Then I connected the 2 'puters with firewire, and started the G4 in Target Mode, and attempted to Import my old mail and Address Book. I diddled around and was able to import my old mailboxes. I did just realize, though, that only about half the emails were imported; there's a huge gap of nearly a year up until I stopped using the G4.
Also, when I go to the Address Book and try to import my old one, it shows up not as a solid icon that I can select, but a ghostly icon, for lack of a better word, and it will not let me select it.
I really thought this should be easier and less painful. I'm open to suggestions, including whether I should try to use the Leopard install DVD to try the Migration Assistant with a Firewire connection or an ethernet cable.
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Your choice really. Either way will work. Retaining the older backups gives you a way to restore older files. When I upgrade from 10.8 to 10.9, the backups continued without errors. Depending on what you upgraded from, in 10.8/9 you have the option to backup to 2 separate drives thus giving you some protection in case one drive fails. You can either copy the old backup to a new drive (Disk Utility/Restore seems to work best) or start a new one.

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cindy1023 wrote:
i had a hacker get in my computer, got all my info used my name and passwords to convert safari into windows on another computer? and APPLE IS THE ONE GAVE HER THE PASSWORD.
There is no way to "convert" Safari into Windows. And very unlikely for a hacker to get into a Mac.
But, ok, your system is all messed-up somehow.
First, what version of OSX is on your Mac? If you don't know, click the Apple icon at the upper-left of the screen and select About This Mac. You'll see a display like this:
We need the Version number.
Second question: do you have backups made with Time Machine (on an external HD or the like) that you want to restore, or do you want to start your Mac over fresh, the way it came from the factory?
p.s. i dont have the disc it came with , my daughter set it up for me to get started !
You may need that, depending on what version of OSX you're running, to restore the backups or start fresh.
You really should have a copy of the original disc, as there's an Apple Hardware Test on it, tailored to the hardware on that Mac. You'll need it it there's ever a problem. If your daughter can't send it, call AppleCare (800-275-2273),and give them your serial number -- they can send you a replacement for a nominal fee.
Sorry, but it's late here, and I'm going to bed, but will be back tomorrow.

Can I restore Office 2004 from Time machine backup

Hi Guys,
I have managed to delete office 2004 when I was trying to install office 2008 using a friend's copy. Office 2008 will not work for me as it needs online registration.
I no longer have the office 2004 install disk. Is it possible to re-install office 2004 from my time machine backup. I can see it is available in the backup from before yesterday but not sure if I try to restore what will happen.
Any advice appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul

Hi PaulieHK,
Open Finder on you original view desktop.
No go to Application folder and select the Office 2004.
NOW, select the Time Machine icon in the dock and it will bring you back in history.
You can go back before you tried to install Office 2008.
Select IN Time Machine the application Office 2004 and click on PUT BACK.
Time machine will now put back the situation as it was before the installing Office 2008.
When you see your original desktop again try to open Office 2004.
Good luck ...
Dimaxum

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Were his pictures in the iPhoto library?
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My Mac Pro is running slow and AppleCare have advised to do a clean install of 10.6.6
All my files are backed up and I have done a TM backup. I want to be able to reinstall Apple Mail with all my family email and business email accounts & emails in it and also iTunes with all music and podcasts.
Is there any way I can do this directly from a back up of Time Machine without having to reinstall the whole thing once my machine has had a clean install.
Thanks in advance
Matt

First, reinstall OS X as you've been instructed to do. Upon completion of the installation Startup Assistant will give you the option to restore from a TM backup or other external drive. Restore your Home folder, Applications, support files, and network preferences which should return all your files.
If you restore your old system entirely then you will have what you now have - a slow running system.
But before you perform all of the above what you might try first are these:
A. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
B. Kappy's Personal Suggestions for OS X Maintenance
For disk repairs use Disk Utility. For situations DU cannot handle the best third-party utilities are: Disk Warrior; DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.x is now Intel Mac compatible. TechTool Pro provides additional repair options including file repair and recovery, system diagnostics, and disk defragmentation. TechTool Pro 4.5.1 or higher are Intel Mac compatible; Drive Genius is similar to TechTool Pro in terms of the various repair services provided. Versions 1.5.1 or later are Intel Mac compatible.
OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep. Dependence upon third-party utilities to run the periodic maintenance scripts had been significantly reduced in Tiger and Leopard. These utilities have limited or no functionality with Snow Leopard and should not be installed.
OS X automatically defrags files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive. As for virus protection there are few if any such animals affecting OS X. You can protect the computer easily using the freeware Open Source virus protection software ClamXAV. Personally I would avoid most commercial anti-virus software because of their potential for causing problems.
I would also recommend downloading the shareware utility TinkerTool System that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old logfiles and archives, clearing caches, etc. Other utilities are also available such as Onyx, Leopard Cache Cleaner, CockTail, and Xupport, for example.
For emergency repairs install the freeware utility Applejack. If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the commandline. Note that AppleJack 1.5 is required for Leopard. AppleJack 1.6 is compatible with Snow Leopard.
When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand. I also recommend booting into safe mode before doing system software updates.
Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
Backuplist
Carbon Copy Cloner
Data Backup
Deja Vu
iBackup
JaBack
Silver Keeper
MimMac
Retrospect
Super Flexible File Synchronizer
ynchronizer
SuperDuper!
Synchronize Pro! X
SyncTwoFolders
Synk Pro
Synk Standard
Tri-Backup
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore.
Additional suggestions will be found in Mac Maintenance Quick Assist.
Referenced software can be found at CNet Downloads or MacUpdate.

How to remove an external drive from time machine backup

In time machine I also backup to an external drive. I recently bought a new external drive and thats working fine. However, it still wants to backup to my previous drive which I dont want to use. In time machine preferences I see the old and new drive listed. Both are greyed out so I cannot deselect the older drive.
Suggestions?

mhattonmd wrote:
So when I open time machine preferences I see time machine and both external drives listed. If I click on options I see both external drives but I cant select either as they are both greyed out.
If you see them both listed on the initial screen of TM prefs, they are both selected as backup drives. They are not being backed up. They are being used by Time Machine as a destination. You need to use “Select Disk…” to remove the external drives from the destination drives. Select Disk does not choose the drives you want to back up. It chooses the drives you wan to back up to.

How can I access ~/library on my time machine backup?

I recently re-installed OSX Lion and made sure i'd backed everything up before I did a clean install and did not want to transfer my old archive across. I need to access my user library on Time Machine so that I can restore my Transmit favourites and Little Snapper image database.
I've tried following the process here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3633972?start=0&tstart=0 but I get "The folder can't be found" (see screenshot) and now i'm at a complete as to what to do.
Any suggestions?

Last but not least, navigate the TM disk within the Finder, (do not enter TM).
When you are on the date you are looking for, navigate the directory structure until you reach the Users folder.
Open Terminal and type
cd
and a space, drag and drop your user name folder inside the Terminal window. That completes the cd command for you. Hit return.
You are now into your user folder inside the TM disk. Type
cd Library
open .
please note the dot after open. Last command opens a Finder window of the Library folder inside TM disk.
Now you are ready to get what you need.

How can i extract just documents from time machine backup?

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