How to unlock folders on an external hard drive

I have a 2008 Macbook Pro 15" that somehow died. I had done my regular backing up, and today I tried to open some of the files I have in my timemachine backups. Unfortunately all the folders are locked and have the little red circle with the minus sign. Trying to change permissions in the Get Info window is not possible. I have even tried moving my entire Pictures folder onto my iMac desktop and opening it there to no avail. It continues to say, "The folder “Pictures” can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents." 35gigs of professional images...I thought backing up was saving my files. Any ideas on how to get access? I have other backups on this harddrive for other Macs in the house, like my wifes, and I can access those without the red circle...

You need to switch to the backup in Time Machine so you can be logged into the other backup with the proper username and password. That is why the folders are not accessible. You should find the procedure at Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine.

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