IPhoto destroyed time machine backups

I updated iPhoto today and it refused to start up after (spinning wheel). I trashed the preferences and it still would not reboot. In fact the whole library disappeared. I went to time machine, and there was no iphoto library in any recent back up. I rebooted and then reinstalled the system to the last backup. I photo is now last photo 2009. Also time machine is last back up from 2009. All the other back ups disappeared. I KNOW that I chose the May 24 backup and there are docs from that date on my restore. What the heck happened to my pictures and recent backups?

Hi, no, they didn't drop anything from TM bacxkups, though I personanally consider it untrustworthy & useless when push comes to shove.
Have you looked through Pondini's extensive TM help site?
http://Pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Can't imagine what he hasn't covered! And has done an amazing job I might add!

Similar Messages

Re: Migrating my IPhoto from Time Machine Backup to my just-installed Snow Leopard OSX... the program is there, all my photos are there..... but my photos had all been neatly arranged in folders, and there is absolutely no sign of my folders. What a mer

re: Migrating my IPhoto from Time Machine Backup to my just-installed Snow Leopard OSX... the program is there, all my photos are there..... but my photos had all been neatly arranged in folders, and there is absolutely no sign of my folders. What a mess, 20,000 photos. How can I restore my folders?
(iphoto 08)

Restore the library from Time Machine as shown in this screenshot:
Then open the library with iPhoto. No importing necessary.
OT

IPhoto and Time Machine Backup

I accessed an IPhoto backup on Time Machine from about 10 months ago and it automatically restored my IPhoto Library to that time. During this
transition I received a message that it was correcting an issue with permissions. Now I am missing photos for the last 10 months. All the Time Machine backups
for the last 10 months do not show the recent files either. Any ideas on how to get these photos to show up in my library again? IPhoto 9.5.1 and OSX 10.9.5.
Thank you.

I accessed an IPhoto backup on Time Machine from about 10 months ago
Exactly how did you "access an iPhoto backup" on TM - what exact steps did you do?
it automatically restored my IPhoto Library to that time.
There is no way for any action to "automatically" restore your iPhoto library - that can only happen by your direct actions - thee is no automatic restore of a library under any circumstanses
During this
transition I received a message that it was correcting an issue with permissions. Now I am missing photos for the last 10 months. All the Time Machine backups
This leads me believe that you did a restore and choose to overwrite the old library
If this is what you did then the only way to get newer photos is to restore a newer library
Something like this happened a couple of years ago on another computer, and the rebuild function solved the problem at that time.
Totally different - a rebuild can repair database problems which may allow you to view photos that were hidden due to the database problems - it can not "restore" any thing that is missing
I have read that sometimes software updates can sometimes cause issues with "permissions"
Sometimes they "reveal" permissions problems - they do not "cause" them - if you recently did an upgrade as this implies what was the upgrade (old version and new upgraded version)?
ut it appears that all of the backup Iphoto libraries have read and write access.
No idea what you are getting at - iPhoto libraries are just data files - they have no "access" to anything - backup programs (like TimeMachine for example) has read and write access - files (or packages) have no ability to take any action - they are simply passive data to be used by applications
Previously, you could access Time Machine through IPhoto and retrieve only one file but now the only option is to do a full restore.
That is correct - it changed several years ago
If I look at the backups on my external drive, none of them have files from the last 10 months.
How exactly are you "looking" at these backups? You do not directly look at backups - you restore them - you can use Spotlight while running TimeMachine to search for files in the backup - Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac
So more exact details are needed and you need to be sure you are using TM correctly
LN

Restore iPhoto from Time Machine Backup - Manually

Hi, my harddrive broke, I chose to start from scratch rather than do a complete restore from Time Machine. When I manually go to the Time Machine drive and copy my iPhoto library over from my user file, it copies all 14GB of it over. However when I open iPhoto - the app opens with a grey screen and the big greyscale clock meter rotating around. Stays like that for hours and no pictures.
Any ideas on what could be wrong and how to fix it?

I find a folder called "Old Masters".
You are victim of a bug in iPhoto 9.6 that happens when there's an interruption of the conversion process. I don't think you can restore the library at this stage. But check to make sure the Master's alias is truly an alias see where it takes you. If it's to the Old Masters folder delete the alias and rename the Old Masters folder to Masters. Then use the free, demo version of iPhoto Library Manager to rebuild the library as described below. It's a long shot but worth a try particularly if the Masters folder is really an alias pointing to the Old Masters folder.
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
1 - download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.>Click on the Add Library button,
2 - select the library you want to add from those in the selection window.
3 - make sure that in the rebuild window the checkbox "Scavange orphaned photos" is checked.
4 - now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the Library ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
5 - in the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed. Click on the Create button.
Note 1: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments. However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost.
Note 2: Your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.
If the iPLM rebuild doesn't work what is left now is to move the Masters folder to the desktop, create a new library and import the image files from that Old Masters folder. You'll have to separate them after import into the groupings that suit you meeds.

Restore iphoto from time machine backup

I know this has been posted before but I have an additional glitch. I got a new iMac with Snow Leopard. I had previously moved some photos from iphoto to my backup drive (I think through the forbidden method of going into iphoto library.) Since then those thumbnails remained but no photo available, which I did not address since I knew where they were.
After my TM restore, when I opened up iphoto it was looking for these photos and I got a popup for each one asking if I wanted to search or cancel. I did this for the first fifty or so, then gave up. I downloaded iphoto picture manager which I read about in a previous post, and rebuilt the library, but now I have zero pictures in iphoto.
Then I did a TM restore from iphoto library in finder, and seem to have restored these photos into the library, but iphoto does not see them. I still have zero photos in iphoto.
I don't remember if I for some reason changed the location of the library folder, is there some way I can check this or change this?
Thank you for your advice.

I find a folder called "Old Masters".
You are victim of a bug in iPhoto 9.6 that happens when there's an interruption of the conversion process. I don't think you can restore the library at this stage. But check to make sure the Master's alias is truly an alias see where it takes you. If it's to the Old Masters folder delete the alias and rename the Old Masters folder to Masters. Then use the free, demo version of iPhoto Library Manager to rebuild the library as described below. It's a long shot but worth a try particularly if the Masters folder is really an alias pointing to the Old Masters folder.
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
1 - download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.>Click on the Add Library button,
2 - select the library you want to add from those in the selection window.
3 - make sure that in the rebuild window the checkbox "Scavange orphaned photos" is checked.
4 - now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the Library ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
5 - in the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed. Click on the Create button.
Note 1: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments. However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost.
Note 2: Your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.
If the iPLM rebuild doesn't work what is left now is to move the Masters folder to the desktop, create a new library and import the image files from that Old Masters folder. You'll have to separate them after import into the groupings that suit you meeds.

Hard drive crashed need to restore iphotos from Time Machine

I need some serious help. I have a 24inch intel imac and my hard drive failed. I thought I had everything backed up on my external hard drive via Time Machine (my last backup was April 11th) so I replaced the hard drive.
Once I reinstalled Leopard 10.5 it asked me if I wanted to restore my data from Time Machine which I did. It seemed like it worked great but when I opened up iphoto all 43,000 pictures (cherished family pictures of our children) were gone!
iphoto still has the Event Titles, how many photos, and the sizes but they are empty with nothing but a big exclamation point. I see the iphoto library under Time machine as well but the restore is grayed out I can't even go back in time because the arrow is grayed out.
I named the new hard drive "new SG 1.0TB" and the old one was just named Macintosh HD. I read briefly somewhere that the old and new hard drives need to have the same name. Is this correct? Also does it make a difference that I had Leopard 10.5.6 when my photos were available and now I'm only on 10.5? Please help!
I had some help from another forum and he told me to look under the Pictures Folder and find the iPhoto Library and right click on it and select 'Show Package Contents. All the folders are there (teasing me) but there are no pictures in the folders so nothing. But I was searching again on my external time machine backup and found iphotos under time machine backups/backups.backupdp/Ryan Gunter's Computer (2)/2009-01031-002706/Macintosh HD/Users/ryang808/pictures. It had all my iphotos from 1999 until the january 2009 but everything from this date to present is not there (the folders are there but nothing in them) could they still be hiding somewhere?? And how do I get the ones I do have back in iPhoto?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks so much!

All the folders are there (teasing me) but there are no pictures in the folders so nothing. But I was searching again on my external time machine backup and found iphotos under time machine backups/backups.backupdp/Ryan Gunter's Computer (2)/2009-01031-002706/Macintosh HD/Users/ryang808/pictures. It had all my iphotos from 1999 until the january 2009 but everything from this date to present is not there (the folders are there but nothing in them) could they still be hiding somewhere??
sorry but, no. if they are not there there is no other place they could be. for some mysterious reason TM didn't back them up. still you should restore what you can. quit iphoto, control-click on TM in the dock and select "browse other TM disks". this will let you browse your old backups via TM interface. locate the folder Macintosh HD/Users/ryang808/pictures on january 31 backup and restore its contents to your Pictures folder. start iphoto and it should have alll those pictures.
Message was edited by: V.K.

After replacing a failed hard drive with new one I inadvertently created a different account name(home/user) than the one in the Time Machine backup. Now I cannot restore the photos in iPhoto. What are my options?

After replacing a failed hard drive with new one I inadvertently created a different account name(home/user) than the one in the Time Machine backup. Now I cannot restore the photos in iPhoto. What are my options?

The best thing to do would be to start over. Use Setup Assistant this time.
Boot into Recovery, launch Disk Utility, and erase the startup volume. This operation will destroy all data on the volume. Quit Disk Utility and install OS X. If your Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade, so make a note of those before you begin.
When you reboot, you'll be prompted to go through the initial setup process. That’s when you transfer the data from one of your backups. For a walkthrough, see here:
Using Setup Assistant
Don't transfer the Guest account, if it was enabled on the old system.
Note: You need an always-on Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection to the Internet to use Recovery. It won’t work with USB or PPPoE modems, or with proxy servers, or with networks that require a certificate for authentication.

Trying to rebuild my iphoto library from time machine backup and it still says 0 restored with a grey screen and the circle. How can i restore my library?

I just bought a new Macbook pro and i tried to rebuild my iphoto library from a time machine backup on an external hard drive. Even after pressing command+option when starting iphoto and selecting rebuild library from automatic backup, it still doesn't work with the grey screen with the white circle and a little window that says 'rebuilding library: 0 versions restored'. I also tried to make a copy of my iphoto library but that did not work either. how can i restore my iphoto library or at least gain access to my photos?

Your question is not clear
Rerairing or rebuilding the iPhoto library never involves using Time Machine in any way
TM is a totally seperate program and you can "restore" a file (including the iPhoto library) from the past using TM - you launch TM and go back to the time you want and select the file (or folder or package) you want and click restore - it probably is best to keep the current one until you are sure everything is good
LN

How do i import an iPhoto library from a time machine backup?

how do i import an iPhoto library from a time machine backup? I did a back up and i formatted my machine. How do i get iphoto to be the same?

This screenshot shows how to restore a library from Time Machine.
There is NO importing necessary. One should never import one library into another. Just restore it to your Pictures folder and launch iPhoto.
OT

How do I access my iphoto library on time machine backup external drive using Lion, originally saved from old computer and system

how do I access my iphoto library on time machine backup external drive using Lion, originally saved off old computer and system. It's not letting me open the folder???

Once again here's how to restore an iPhoto Library from Time Machine:

Any way to restore iTunes and iPhoto libraries from failed Time Machine backup?

Is there a way to restore iTunes and iPhoto libraries from an unmountable Time Machine backup?
Background: I received an update alert on my iMac (mid-2010, 1TB) from Time Machine (wirelessly connected to a Time Capsule, 2TB 2013) that it required an update and required rebooting, of course, it happened when I was in the middle of a project and I postponed the restart for later. That evening I turned off the computer and coincidentally the next morning, the iMac would not start; it loaded to the Apple logo and about an 1/8 of the progress bar would load before the iMac would turn off.
The iMac had been fine to that day (OS upgrades and all since 2010) so I was assuming something misfired when I declined the Time Machine update. I tried the PRAM and SMC resets mentioned in the forums but no dice. I then went into Disk Utility to try repairs and there were errors on the hard drive that could not be fixed. My next step was to erase the drive and restore from my Time Machine backup. Before doing that I checked Disk Utility and to my horror, it told me that my Time Machine backups were unmountable so of course my first thought was that all my files were gone.
The TC was under warranty so I called support and they referred me to the local Genius Bar. The Genius was great and showed me that my files weren't lost even though the Time Machine backup was unmountable. They recommended I erase the partitions, starting from scratch and I would have to transfer the Time Machine backup files manually by directly connecting an ethernet cable from the TC to the computer. If that didn't work, the hard drive was bad and needed replacement which they could take care of.
I followed their recommendation and the hard drive is fine. I was so relieved to hear that my files were safe that I forgot to ask about all of the metadata that was lost in iTunes (de-selected songs, playlists, rankings, play counts) and iPhoto (geotags, names, etc). Any ideas / help? I sank considerable time into my music and photos and would love to have that time back.
FWIW, I'm in the process of buying an external hard drive as a secondary backup to the TC as my confidence is a little shaken on the product line - the first time I ever actually need a backup and the backup is unmountable. My whole point of spending a little more and buying into the Apple ecosystem for a backup solution was to streamline the backup process and avoid these types of issues.

Thank you for the reply. I tried the Disk Utility to repair my TC's Time Machine backup disk with no luck, it stopped with the message:
Disk utility stopped repairing "iMac"
Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
It took a night but I was able to copy all the TC Time Machine files to the external hard drive as a backup to a backup just in case. I'm still pretty bummed the TC's backup didn't allow for Disk Utility's restore functionality. Fortunately, the iPhoto library backup I dragged to the iMac from the Time Capsule backup worked without a hitch. On the downside, the "iTunes Library.itl" backup I dragged over is locked so now I'm checking out the forums for any ways to fix that. I temporarily created a new iTunes library with all my apps and music but plan on reverting to the old iTunes library if possible so I can start syncing my iOS devices again.

Iphoto library and time machine backup on a same drive ?

Hi
I want to free up some space on my MBP so I am planning to move my iphoto library from MBP to an external hard drive. Can I also use the same external drive to keep Time Machine backups ? In short if I buy a large size external drive can I use it as a TM backup drive and also as iphoto library home location ? Or do I have to keep two separate external drives...one for TM and the other for iphoto library.
Thanks
Mandar

Yes, you can, but I wouldn't recommend it. Should your backup drive fail then you not only lose your Time Machine backups but you will also lose your iPhoto Library. But if you put each on two different drives then you lose none. If the iPhoto drive fails your library is still backed up on the Time Machine backup drive. If you lose the Time Machine drive then you lose a backup that can be easily recreated, but you still have the iPhoto drive. Two drives is a much better strategy. Always keep backups separate from all other external drive uses.

Trouble with restoring an iPhoto library from a time machine backup.

I'm having trouble restoring my iPhoto library from a time machine backup.
I have created a new library in my pictures file.
When I try to restore the library the restore process is trying to copy it to an external drive that no longer exists - it failed and I had to have it recovered and all the recovery (including backups) data is now on a different external hard drive.
iPhoto had been using that old external drive location to start. iPhoto is now pointed to the newly created iPhoto library in my pictures file on my MacBook Air.
Is there a way to have the restoration process point to that new iPhoto library that is now empty and not to the old external drive?

You might try this with the restored library:
Starting over from scratch with new library
Start over with a new library and import the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from your original library as follows:
1. Open the library package like this.
2. Launch iPhoto with the Option key held down and, when asked, select the option to create a new library.
3. Drag the subfolders of the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from the open iPhoto Library package into the open iPhoto window a few at a time.
This will create a new library with the same Events (but not necessarily the same Event names) as the original library but will not keep the metadata, albums, books slideshows and other projects.
Note: your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.

I need to create a new iPhoto library and import 'ORIGINALS' from a time machine backup on an external hard drive.

I made the mistake of installing OS 10.9 on my older MacBook Air and the machine has become horribly slow and unpredictable. I visited the Apple store and questioned a 'Genius' about getting rid of 10.9 and reinstalling the previous OS 10.6 for which I have the disks. He advised that I should reformat the Air, reinstall 10.6 and then restore from the Time Machine backup that I have.
He explained that of course, after I reinsatll 10.6, I couldn't import the iPhoto Library from the backup drive complete because it had been recreated using the OS 10.9 and wouldn't work with 10.6. I would have to create a new 10.6 iPhoto Library and move the actual ORIGINALS, from the backup into it. He actually had the path to the iPhoto library shown on my Air to the point of >Pictures >iPhoto Library > ORIGINALS.
I didn't question how he got the path to the point of > ORIGINALS and figured that it wouldn't take too much to do what he suggested. Now I can't find how to get to point of seeing the ORIGINALS in the path. When I go through the path >Pictures >iPhoto Library, the next column shows me the iPhoto Library icon and the info re size, creation date etc.
Can anyone advise how to get to the 'ORIGINALS' in order to import them and does anyone have any further suggestions that might help in completing this procedure ?
Thanks, in advance, for any assistance available.
p.s. is there any way of looking at a Time Machine backup and finding what O.S. was present when the backup was produced ?

Rather than do that, which means starting over from scratch, losing all your edits, organisation and so on, why not simply use iPhoto Library Manager to revert the Library to the older version? Easier, less destructive.
The instructions on that are here
If you really want to start over: you can access the Originals folder simply by going to your Pictures Folder and finding the iPhoto Library there. Right (or Control-) Click on the icon and select 'Show Package Contents'. A finder window will open with the Library exposed.

After restoring from Time Machine backup (that was on 10.6.8) to a new (replaced) hard drive (on 10.8.3), iPhoto shows nothing in it's Library. Where are my photos?

Before I upgraded from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion, I thought I did all the appropriate updades (to 10.6.8) and backups, I did a Time Machine backup literally right before I did the install. During the install of Mountain Lion, my hard drive crashed and I had to get it replaced... which was covered by a Protection Plan. When I got the computer back, it had the desired OS (10.8.3), and I was told that if I did a Time Machine restore from my last backup, everything would kinda "catch up" to the current OS. So, just about everything "looks" the same as it did on the day when my original hard drive crashed (everything organized the same way on my desktop, multiple settings saved as they were before the crash)... but when I open iPhoto, it asks me what Library I want it to use. There was no separate folder that I had my original photos saved in... but I always was able to find the root files within iPhoto. But now iPhoto can't find them. Where the **** are they... and did the update have something to do with them being moved, or worse...?
Thanks for any help

Certainly you can restore files with Time machineas I noted in my original post - that is what TM is all about
1 - launch Time Machine
2 - go back to the when you made the backup
3 - select the iPhoto library (by default in your pictures folder)
4 - click the restore button
See - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US - for more details
One quote from that article
To restore, select the file/folder and click the "Restore" button. The file will automatically be copied to the desktop or appropriate folder. If the file you are restoring has another file in the same location with the same name, you will be prompted to choose which file to keep or keep both.
And also from my first post
And you may need to post in the Time Machine forum as this is really a TM question not an iPhoto question
LN

IPhoto destroyed time machine backups

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