Is my backup gone?

i have a lacie 120 gig d2 external harddrive that i used as a backup and as my itunes holder of music since it was 30 gigs of music. i lost my powerbook g4 1 gig harddrive, but managed to buy a replacement 160 gig that is working beautifully and back up my stuff and xfer it on to the new hard drive... my only concern is over 30 gigs of music that may be lost forever.
after the backup i was attempting to copy all of the music to the powerbook when an error happened. i disconnected, and then tried to reconnect. presto... no mounting... now, i can only get the harddrive to show up in disk utility but onlly as a device... no volume... i tried with my imac as well but no luck... is there anything i can do to make this harddrive remount? i tried data rescue II but it didn't seem to work.. it said it found 0 files and i can't believe that is true. thanks for any help!

Hi, David. If you disconnected the drive without first dismounting it from the desktop, that may indeed have hosed everything on it. If Data Rescue II, the best utility available for circumstances like this, finds nothing to recover, then yes, your files are probably gone.
You could try a data recovery service, but be prepared to pay many hundreds or even thousands of dollars for that amount of data if it can be recovered, and at least a hundred or two for the attempt even if it can't.

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Is it possible to recover lost video files from a backup gone wrong?

Hi, my brother in-law was backing up his Macbook (OS X 10.7.5) videos to a seagate eternal hard drive and I managed to accidentally knock it and disconnect it during the process. Some of the videos were still on the computer but some got deleted. is there any way to recover these files??
Thanks

It sounds like the files are gone. In the future if something is important, have it backed up in more than one place.
If you don't have a clone backup it's time to start. Just like a seat belt and an air bag protect you in different ways when driving, you need both Time Machine and a clone for full protection.
Storing files "in the Cloud" is also helpful. I like DropBox, but there are other services like Microsoft's OneDrive, box.com etc that are helpful. I like DropBox because it allows you to upload files larger than 2GB.
Dropbox https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dropbox/id327630330?mt=8
OneDrive https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/onedrive/id823766827?mt=12

Time Machine - all backups gone, backups fail

I've been backing up with time machine for 10 months via direct USB connection. I've recently been receiving a string of Time Machine error messages including "Error completing backup, an error occurred while creating backup folder" and "backup disk not available." When I clicked "enter time machine" all of my backups were GONE. Nothing there but "now".
I repaired disks, verified disks, unplugged and rebooted, all several times. After unmounting then repairing the external hard drive, TM was able to complete one backup but the problem came back within a day. All the old backups have disappeared completely.
Ideas?

That sounds like a problem with your external HD. All those messages indicate a problem writing to it.
When you say you've verified and repaired disks, does that include both your internal HD and your TM drive? If not, do both just to be sure. Then, before attempting another backup, try the Browse option, per #17 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum). If your backups are there, and not corrupted, that should show them.
Also check all connections to the external. Use different ports, cables, and combinations of the two (a plug that works fine in one port may make intermittent contact in another).
If the drive has it's own power supply, check those connections as well.
Restart your Mac, if you haven't during all this.
Check with the maker for firmware updates.
How old is the drive? Is it still covered by warranty?

Library Backup Goner severely wrong

I used the latest itunes to backup everything in my library before reformating my hard drive and reinstalling os x. I've gone to put all my music back on anf my imac g5 just spits the dvd out without even recognising it. Anyone come across this and have a solution?

Miklos:
There is no way to get the true size of what you've selected to backup until you start the burn as you've found out. Since your library folder is small enough to burn intact to a DVD from the Finder that would be the best route at this time. You won't be able to access that disk from within iPhoto but will be able to replace a corrupt library with it if you ever needed to. When the library gets to big for a DVD then you'll have to look at burning portions via the Share->Burn Disk menu option.
The keyword problem is due to a know bug. Hopefully that will be corrected by the next update whenever that is.
iPhoto does not support multiple burn to DVD-RWs. Nor does the System. It's just the nature of the beast. They have to be erased before they can be used again and that's a slow process. With the low price of regular DVD disks so reasonable I find it better just to use a DVD-R disk. It's faster on the burn.
Your maintaining a current/daily backup on an external HD is a very good strategy. In case of problems you have a current copy to revert back to (see:A Tale of Woe).

A year worth of backups gone...??

Last night I got the following message when my computer tried to back up:
+"Time Machine could not complete the backup.+
+This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 237.64 GB but only 111.95 GB are available.+
+Time machine needs work space on the backup disk, in addition to the space required to store backups. Open Time Machine preferences to select a larger backup disk or make the backup smaller by excluding files."+
When I opened Time Machine, I found that all but the most recent backup are gone. Is there any way to recover my year or more of backups, or should I just start from scratch? And how can I prevent this from happening again?
The only unusual thing I did before the problem arose was to change the permissions on one of the disks that Time Machine backs up (not the booting disk). I set it to ignore ownership. This was because my boyfriend was unable to read and write to that disk via his account. Could this have caused the problem?
Thanks!

cleast wrote:
The only unusual thing I did before the problem arose was to change the permissions on one of the disks that Time Machine backs up (not the booting disk). I set it to ignore ownership. This was because my boyfriend was unable to read and write to that disk via his account. Could this have caused the problem?
Yes, that was very likely it. Ignoring ownership will appear to change the permissions of everything on the whole drive, and so TM will want to back it all up all over again. If it needs to delete all old backups to make it fit, then it will. Not much you can do about it now.

Two weeks of backups - gone!

I installed Leopard on my G4 Powerbook two weeks ago, and set Time Machine up to run on a hard drive partition (in a Maxtor 320 GB firewire drive) that had about half again as much space as the total size of the internal drive in my machine (nominally 60 GB). Up until about two hours ago it seems to have been working just as advertised - a full initial backup that first night and incrementals that only added what had changed between sessions since then.
This evening I returned home after working a few hours away from the external drive, fired everything up, and TM did an incremental backup as expected. Then, about 10 minutes later according to the console log it started again, and this time it wanted enough space to do a complete backup from scratch. So it proceeded to delete all the incrementals that had accumulated since the first Leopard day, and still it errored out because there's still not enough space in the partition to back up the entire hard drive twice. It was the "no space" error dialog that got my attention, and led me to subsequent examination of the logs to see that all the old backups are gone (besides there being only one visible in Finder).
There's nothing in the log that says WHY it decided to start over with a full backup.
I came here and saw info about not having spaces or special characters in the computer's name - and the name I had been using up to now has spaces (and an apostrophe) but that's the name it's had for four and a half years- until tonight after reading the knowledge-base article (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306928) and the name with which TM appears to have been working the last two weeks.
So, what is going on? Like some others here Time Machine was my main reason to go to Leopard (from Panther 10.3.9) and I bought more RAM for my machine to recover performance as well as the OS. And now it looks as if I can't trust Time Machine after all. It sounds so good to be able to go back and get things, but not if they just get blown away wholesale for no apparent reason.
Any ideas what's going on here?

Peggy,
Bingo! and how did you know this?? Here's the salient entry, which now appears twice:
1/19/08 5:16:13 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[328] Error: (-8088) copying /Library/Receipts/BrotherLaser04.pkg/Contents/Resources/BrotherLaser04.bom to /Volumes/MoreBackups/Backups.backupdb/Bernard Cawley’s PowerBook/2008-01-19-165417.inProgress/FAA784A2-4FD2-4847-9C0A-D1FCEA145E08/Dad 's PowerBook/Library/Receipts/BrotherLaser04.pkg/Contents/Resources
This is an installer package receipt for my network laser printer - installed over two years ago! The file on my hard drive is 212 kb. The one in the only remaining (by now) Time Machine backup is 76 kb. So if I kill just the backup itself (which returns that partition to empty) and start over then TM will run OK (at least until it trips over another file like this)? Or can I just take that file out?
I'm glad I don't think I'll actually NEED anything from the last two weeks of backups. I do have a full backup from just before installing Leopard on a different partition, where that package receipt appears the same size as the one on the internal drive.
Meanwhile (while I'm typing this) TM has started trying to back up again.......
Bernard Cawley
P.S. I have left feedback at the link you suggested. It sure seems silly that failure to copy one file would cause it to decide that it needs to start all over from scratch.....
Message was edited by: Bernard Cawley

Time maschine backups gone

Hi,
my time maschine backups worked fine for the last 20 months.
Today I recognized a very slow backup and checked the application. Time maschine wants to make a backup from the hole hard disk. Why?
I didn't changed anything regarding the backup settings or anything else...
When I checked the time maschine settings again, I got a real shock: there are no more backups available! The hole time maschine hard disk space is free!!
Where are my backups and what happend to my time capsule??
A backup tool that destroys itself sometime makes no sence...
Thanx so far,
captain nick

I had the same problem. Read my thread "Time Machine Deletes Old Backups without warning!!"
I lost several years of emails and lots of Photos.
Time Machine deletes files without warning and in my opinion can't be trusted as a back-up method until safeguards are in place to verify and re-verify permission to delete old back-ups--BEFORE THE FACT.
I was never given this option though I should have been. I was notified after the fact. I had planned all along that when that drive reached near capacity, (and I was constantly deleting files from the back-ups to save space, like news, podcasts, ****, and anything else that didn't have any reason to be backed-up), I would switch to another drive. I researched how to transfer the library of back-ups from one drive to another, and know this would eventually have to be done.
But one day..poof....gone.
I mistakenly believed the promo that it was possible to go back and retrieve files from any time.

Months of backup - gone...

I have been using Time Machine for several months. When I opened it, I could see several months of backups. Today, each of my hourly backups began to fail. I opened Time Machine and the ONLY backup is from this morning. All others are gone. Occasionally I have gotten a message that it needs to delete an old backup to make space, but this would be a date a month in the past. I have done nothing to my system, not added significant new docs. The message I'm getting for my hourly backup is that it needs 130GB for a backup and I only have 22 GB available. Both my internal and external are 250GM with 32 GB and 22GB of space available.
Any thoughts on what's going on?

dcnc wrote:
I have been using Time Machine for several months. When I opened it, I could see several months of backups. Today, each of my hourly backups began to fail. I opened Time Machine and the ONLY backup is from this morning. All others are gone. Occasionally I have gotten a message that it needs to delete an old backup to make space, but this would be a date a month in the past. I have done nothing to my system, not added significant new docs. The message I'm getting for my hourly backup is that it needs 130GB for a backup and I only have 22 GB available. Both my internal and external are 250GM with 32 GB and 22GB of space available.
Any thoughts on what's going on?
First, both of your drives are a bit "tight" on space. Recommended is 15% free.
Your TM drive should be 2 to 3 times larger than your internal drive.
I think the problem is that there are no single old backups to delete to make room for some new and large backups it is looking to archive. If it needs 130 GB, clearly the TM drive is much too small. If the TM drive has to erase 130 GB of data, that might include the basic, original system from which all other backups stem, and that cannot be done.

Full restore - previous backups gone......?!?!

I recently did a full restore of my system HD from the Leopard CD.
As usual it worked fine, except one thing:
All previous backups from a year old are gone. And the remaining space on my Backup HD
has not changed, like the old backups are still there, Invisible....?
Anyone a clue what´s going on?
Nikolaus

N.Macheck wrote:
still the questions remains: does a full restore wipe all old backups? if yes, why.....?
No, not by itself. It does, however, mean your next backup will be a full backup, which is, of course, not only long, but big.
How big is your internal HD, and how much is used?
Ditto your TM disk?
Download the +Time Machine Buddy+ widget from: http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/status/timemachinebuddy.html. It shows the messages from your logs for one TM backup run at a time, in a small window.
Navigate to the first backup after the restore, and examine the messages. It's likely that TM had to delete some older backups to make room for the new one, but it shouldn't have deleted all of them.
If you see something there that seems suspicious, copy and post the messages here (be sure to get them all, as sometimes they overflow the small window).

Where are my backups gone?

Hi!
Today I upgrade my MacBook Pro to 10.6.2. First I manually did a last Time Machine backup to my always attached Time Machine Volume. Then I deleted my complete disk (BIG, big, mistake!) and did a fresh install of Mac OS X.
I then used Time Machine to recover my data from the latest backup, which is from January 9th, 2010! But then I realized that the latest data recovered is dated October 26th, 2009! Now I am missing all my pictures, e-mails and bought iTunes-Music, Mobile Applications for my iPod and some podcasts which I put on my hard disk between October 26th and yesterday.
Browsing the Time Machine Volume there are some files dated December something, 2009, but all my mailboxes are dated October 26th, 2009! There is lot a free space on the Time Machine Volume left, so where the f*ck are my backups? Time Machine always completed successfully, what am I doing wrong?
This is very bad, because photos can't be recovered and I am also missing some e-mails with software license keys...
Regards, a ****** Mac user... :-/

I'll give you some more, in-depth information:
Using Terminal I browse to "/Volumes/Time Machine-Backups/Backups.backupdb/MacBook", there are lots of directories starting "2009-10-15-235832", followed by "2009-10-26-233742" and the other directories for the weekly, daily and hourly kept Time Machine backups. "Latest" is linked to "2010-01-09-143122" (that's exactly the time I did the last backup before wiping my disk).
In "Latest" I find "MacBook" and then all my directories. So I "cd" to: "Users/<myname>/Library". Lets compare the listings of two directories:
ls -ltr "Mail Downloads": There are some e-mail attachments I got, and the latest files are dated dated 2009-12-21 -- just as expected.
ls -ltr "Mail/Mailboxes/<some-recent-changed-mailbox>/Messages": The latest files are dated 2009-10-15 -- that's the date of the first full backup I took!
As you can see, I did not exclude the Mail directory:
$ grep <myname> "/Volumes/Time Machine-Backups/Backups.backupdb/MacBook/Latest/.exclusions.plist"
<string>/Users/<myname>/Downloads</string>
<string>/Users/<myname>/Temp</string>
So -- why didn't Time Machine backed up my recent data, although Time machine told me it did?
Any suggestions welcome.
Regards, a still frustrated Mac user.

Backup gone wrong

I had to restore iTunes from backup over the weekend. My PC had to be reformatted, but I backup everything to an external HD.
So I have restored, and tried all the steps in the KB article about getting your library back up and running. Unfortunately, when I try to load from my last ITL file, I get 'Library was created with a newer version of iTunes'. Ugh.
Anyway, I was able to get all my playlists loaded by importing the XML file, which worked. One playlist however, is Music-my previous library, in a pristine state.
Is there any way to dump the library that got restored and just use the one that is now in a playlist?
The reason this matters is my backup software automagically backed up my library-however, I often deleted songs or albums that I no longer cared for, and now EVERYTHING is back in iTunes.
Thanks!

Let me see if I have this straight, both you and your brother sync to the same computer and same itunes account, correct? If so, your backup should still be there as you can sync as many devices as you want to the same computer & itunes account and itunes will keep everything straight by device. In other words, his backup should not have overwritten yours. When your phone is connected, itunes running, under devices in the preference pane, the backup shown should be yours.

Time Capsule backups gone...

My mac cannot access the backup disk and when I enter the time capsule, there are no backups listed per usual. However, when I open the time capsule window, it shows 1.26 TB out of 2 TB available, so I know they are still there... Suggestions?

jsilva3071 wrote:
My mac cannot access the backup disk and when I enter the time capsule, there are no backups listed per usual. However, when I open the time capsule window, it shows 1.26 TB out of 2 TB available, so I know they are still there... Suggestions?
We need some more information.
You've posted in the Time Capsule forum (Apple hardware combining a wireless router and HD), but it sounds like your backups may be on an external HD (connected to your Mac via USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt cable) instead of a Time Capsule. Those are quite different, and we need to know which.
What kind of Mac and version of OSX might be important, too.
What do you mean by "My mac cannot access the backup disk" -- do you get a message (if so, what?), or can't locate it via the Finder, or ??
If you're not sure about any of that, see #A9 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting for ways to find it.
Oh, and it shows there are "none" under oldest and newest backups...
Time Machine (the software that does backups) just hasn't updated the info yet.

Where has my backup gone (from iPad to a Mac)?

I recently synced my adressbook from my MacMini to my iPad, but when the process starts it says that it will take a security copy. My internal harddrive memory started to decrease but nothing happened with the iTunes Library the iPad was synced to! This library was located on an external harddrive.
Another time recently I made a full synchronization. Since last time I synced I had downloaded some apps directly to my iPad though AppStore, but these new apps did not appear in the library I synced to. I have no idea where the copies of these apps in the iTunesMedia-folder are. Only apps from an older sync are there. So where is my backup of the latest apps? Why was my internal harddrive memory space decreasing during the security backup process? (The "new" backuped files are definitely not on my internal hard drive even if he memory space decreased.) Do anybody have any idea what happened? Or is this a serious bug in iTunes 10.1.1 which I recently downloaded. My impression is that the problem starts after installing this iTunes-version.

- The backup file is stored in a different location than your media library and there is no way to change the location of the backup file. You can find the location of the backup file here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1766
- Although apps usually transfer to your computer, you should try to do it manually. see:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1848

Restore & Backup gone from iTunes

My backup options have disappeared in itunes on my MBA - I cannot backup or restore from backup, when I right click on the phone all I get is... Eject, Sync, Transfer Purchases or Reset Warnings...
However I can on my MacPro...
This is on my 3GS, my fiance's 3G and my brother has tested it with his 3GS on his laptop and gets the same - interestingly on his 3G he can backup...
Anyone heard of this before?

iPhone and iPod touch: About backups
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1766
Creating a Backup
Backups can be created in the following ways:
If you have configured your iPhone or iPod touch to automatically sync with iTunes on a specific computer, iTunes will back up the iPhone or iPod touch after you connect it to that computer and sync with iTunes. iTunes will not automatically back up an iPhone or iPod touch that is not configured to sync with that computer. iTunes only makes one backup each time you connect, even if you sync multiple times before disconnecting.
If you do not have your iPhone or iPod touch sync automatically when connected, iTunes will create a backup when you choose to sync.
Right-click (or Control-click) the iPhone or iPod touch in iTunes under Devices and choose Back Up.
If you choose to update the software, iTunes will back up the iPhone and iPod touch automatically.
If you choose to restore the software to factory settings, iTunes will ask you if you want to back up the iPhone and iPod touch.
From the above I would suggest Sync and see if it creates a backup. Once it does do you have the option back?
Also from above if you have already sync your info then it is safe so you could restore the iPhone and your will get prompt for backup. Once backup made can you then control-click or right-click and see the backup option?

Backups gone after restore?

I recently installed a bigger hard drive in my MacBook Pro. After installing, I ran the restore of my latest back in Time Machine on my new drive. Worked like charm.
However, I have read other posts that say after doing this and running time machine on the new drive, it will forget all past backups and start from scratch. I don't want to lose my old backups. What is the best way to prevent that from happening?

Here is a thought. When you did the restore, what Mac OS version did you restore. Your states only say 10.5. But might your Mac have been restored to 10.5.4 or earlier with your restore?
I have found in my own testing, that since the 10.5.5 update, "Archive & Installs", "Erase & Installs", and "Restore System From Backup..." no longer trigger a new full backup. That is, they continue to use the same backup set as before. (Note though, you will likely see a very large incremental backup, but not necessarily a new Full Backup set.) See my comments here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1771493&tstart=0
If, however, you restored to a Mac OS version previous to 10.5.5, and then allowed Time Machine to perform a backup, then a new Full Backup would be preformed. Likely, you might be able to avoid this if you do the restore (prevent Time Machine from backing up), update to 10.5.5, then allow Time Machine to backup.
Cheers!

Is my backup gone?

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