OS 10.10.1 cannot access old time capsule backups

After upgrading to the first version of Yosemite, I was able to still access my old time capsule files which was great since I had to wipe my hard drive and do a clean install due to problems. But since I started backing up the newly formatted hard drive, all of my files originally on Time Capsule are inaccessible. I believe the data is still on the Time Capsule: When you look at the amount of space taken up on the Time Capsule it seems to add up to the old hard drive backup plus the newly formatted hard drive backup. But I can't see the files anywhere. And I need access to these files. Any suggestions?

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Cannot access prior time capsule backup

Hi,
About 2 weeks ago I ran into a problem with my iPhoto library. I was trying to import photos from a camera and it took forever. After watching iPhoto being non-responsive for several hours I decided to force it to quit via the Activity Monitor. After I re-launched iPhoto, I noticed that there were many photos missing (shown as grey boxes) in my iPhoto library, but I can still locate the original photos through the finder. I did a rebuild in iPhoto but that did not fix the problem. In the meantime, my Time Capsule was running and did several backups. After tinkering with the iPhoto problem for another day without much success, I decided to restore from Time Capsule the version of the iPhoto library before I ran into the import problem.
The first time I tried to restore from Time Machine, it failed because I didn't have enough disk space left on my MBP. My old iPhoto library was 150 GB but I only had 10 GB of free space left on my MBP. So I decided to erase the rebuilt iPhoto library (around 120 GB) and other large files on my MBP to free up some space. When I tried to empty the trach can, it took hours and eventually became stuck with little activity going on. After waiting patiently for a few more hours, I decided to re-launch the Finder but could not and had to force it to quit. Then I rebooted. Afterwards, I took everything out of the trach can and placed files into the trash can one at a time and emptying it with only one item in the trash can. I was able to delete and empty the trash can this way, but a new problem appeared. In both the Activity Monitor and Finder's Get Info, the space free number stopped changing regardless of how many files I deleted and emptied on my MBP. By my own estimate I should have at least 180 GB of free space but the system seemed to think that there was only 140 GB of free space and I still could not restore the original iPhoto library.
I thought perhaps by forcing the Finder to quit while it was trying to empty the trash can had somehow corrupted the file system. So I re-installed Lion from the recovery disk assistant. When Lion was installed and going through its initial set-up procedures, I made the mistake of not choosing "restore from time machine backup" because I was afraid doing so would also restore the corrupted file system. I also made the mistake of accepting the default name for my MBP instead of using the name I had before. Fortunately re-installing Lion did resolve the free disk space issue. Next I rebooted with Lion's recovery disk assistant and chose "restore from time machine backup". The restore took a long time and did work, but it restored to the snapshot of my system without the iPhoto library. Because the restore took a long time, I wasn't sitting at my desk the entire time. After the restore was completed, Time Machine did a backup under the name machine name. Now I cannot find my old Time Machine backup from which to restore my original iPhoto library.
I have tried holding down the control key while clicking on the Time Machine icon to invoke the "Browse Other Time Machine Disks" option, but it found nothing. From a Finder window, I can connect to my Time Capsule. It shows that there is a disk called Data-1. When I open Data-1, there is a MBP13.sparsebundle, which is not the original sparsebundle. Is there a way to re-access my old Time Machine backup?
From the Time Machine panel in systems preferences, it shows that there is only 20 GB of space left in Time Capsule (out of 500 GB). I think my old backup is still there. I've read Pondini's Time Machine Troubleshooting but still cannot resolve this problem. What am I missing? Any insight is greatly appreciated!

enterprise_in_ca wrote:
I had to have my Time Capsule repaired a few years ago.
By Apple? I've never heard of them repairing one; they just replace them. Any idea what they did?
Since then, the backup disk was always labeled Data-1. I have restarted my Time Capsule a few times and the result is the same each time.
What do you see via the Finder? In Column View, it should be something like this:
I also tried to use TechTool Pro to check the Time Capsule but couldn't do so because connecting my MBP to the Time Capsule's USB port does not seem to give it access. (Is there a way?)
No, the USB port is for connecting a disk or printer only, not a Mac. Disk Utility or similar 3rd-party apps can't see the TC's disk; they can see, and may be able to repair, a sparse bundle if you can mount it via the Finder. See #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
I suspect that my old backups are still in the Time Capsule but because my computer name has changed it is not allowing me access to the old backup.
Changing the computer name won't cause that. Replacing the logic board in your Mac will, or sometimes if the sparse bundle is damaged, Time Machine will create a new one.

Cannot access old time machine backups

Hi,
I recently had some issues regarding my MacBook Pro and decided the best course of action would be to ensure it was completely backed up; reinstall OS X Yosemite and pick the old backup for useful files.
Unfortunately, when it came to resetting up Time Machine, it asked me if I wanted to use the existing backup. I imagined the safe answer would've been "Yes" and that it would've been smart enough to create a clean backup at the date of restore.
It seems that this is not the case...
Any backup, despite being listed on the Time Machine interface, prior to the date of restore was "greyed out" and could not be accessible. Unfortunately, the "Browse other Backup Disks" option didn't work (are there issues with this option for NAS backups?), and unfortunately, a repair disk doesn't seem to either.
I have only managed to get the .sparsebundle (encrypted) drive to mount once by using a repair disk; every other time I attempt to remount using repair disk, the button is greyed out. :/
The time I did get into the "Time Machine Backups" volume; only once backup was listed for ".inProgress" – a 70GB file (the sparsebundle is ~500GB+).
Any ideas on steps I can try to find these phantom files?
At present, Disk Utility doesn't have the "Repair Disk" option available and DiskWarrior 4.4 is throwing up error 2154; low memory; on a 16GB RAM rMBP.
Any help would be appreciated.
Regards,
Jamie

I am having a similar problem and do not understand the solution. I have a new Macbook and transferred my data from my Powerbook G4. However, I cannot access anything! There is a no entry sign on the folders and if I click them I get this message: 'The folder “Pictures” can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents.'
Help - but please, in simple language
Thanks

Cannot access old time machine backup

Dear Community,
as you can see in the image below, Time Machine preferences shows that my oldest backup is from August 25, 2012.
However, if I access the Time Machine, the oldes backup I can access is only 2 days old. All the remaining backups cannot be accessed from the GUI! They can be accessed if I manually mount the time machine, though.
Any idea why this is happening?
Thank you for your suggestions.

Thanks for the suggestion. I didn't know about the option+clik.
Unfortunately the option is grayed out and I cannot select it.
However, if I select "Broswe other backup disks" I am presented with a list in which all items (about 10) except the first one and the last one are like this:
i.e. the drive name is empty. The first option is the name of an old backup (not used anymore), and the last one is the name of the current backup. I tried selecting any of them but the result does not change.
The time machines are correctly mounted, but I still cannot access the data from the TM interface.

New Mavericks install. Can't access old time capsule :(

I've been running Mountain Lion since January 2013 and have had my Time Capsule / Time Machine set up since.
I just reformatted my computer's drive to install Mavericks and I forgot to backup my iTunes Library.
I did NOT unplug timecapsule during the whole reformat / Mavericks install process.
In Mavericks, I enabmed Time Capsule and found that I have 2.75TB free of 3TB and that the oldest backup is Jan 2013.
Has my time capsule drive been formatted? my iTunes library alone is probably 50GB.
Is there a way I can access my old Time Capsule backups so that I can restore my iTunes Libarary??
-Frank

In Mavericks, I enabmed Time Capsule and found that I have 2.75TB free of 3TB and that the oldest backup is Jan 2013.
Has my time capsule drive been formatted? my iTunes library alone is probably 50GB.
Is there a way I can access my old Time Capsule backups so that I can restore my iTunes Libarary??
-Frank
Not looking good.. if there is 2.75TB free hardly any of the TC has been used.. it is unlikely the format changed anything.
Attempt a migration of the itunes..
http://pondini.org/OSX/MigrateLion.html
We don't have details of Maverick of course but it should be very similar to Lion or ML.
Other than that then I have to say your chances are slim..
If you are sure the iTunes was backed up and you checked the disk usage before you reformatted the computer and know it was using at least as much space as the hdd in the computer then you could pull the hard disk from the TC and use a software like data rescue 3 to see if there files were deleted..
Did you allow a new TM backup to start.. that could wipe out the original backup?
Other than that.. recovery on the disk is not possible if you reformatted instead of upgrade installed.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Accessing Old Time Machine Backup From a New Account

I have had problems with my old Account and decided to create a new Account. I can "see" the old Time Machine backup lists from the new Account, but can't open or restore them to the new Account. I get the message that I do not have sufficient privileges although I set the new Account up with Administrator privleges.

You should have used Setup Assistant, not Migration Assistant, to transfer your data. I suggest you start over by booting into Recovery, erasing the startup volume, and installing OS X. When you reboot, Setup Assistant will start automatically. Follow the prompt to import data from a Time Machine snapshot. The backup history will then be inherited. The first backup will still be a full one; that can't be avoided.

Old Time Capsule backup now useless?

I have a backup from August 10, 2009 right before the HDD failed in my iMac. Well, by the time everything was fixed, I just did a clean install of Snow Leopard and copied files over from a pre-crash clone.
Fast forward a month and everything is fine so I finally format the clone and recone using the current system. My reasoning is "well, I also have the old Time Machine backup in case I miss something" (took the 500Gb HDD out of my TC and installed a nice new 1Tb and put the old one in an enclosure).
Fast forward another month. Sure enough, I found something missing today. So I dutifully plug in the old TM backup and set it as the backup disk. Then, when I "entered Time Machine" none of the old information was there. All I see if "Today" and "Now" with no prior backups. Time Machine does, however, show that the last backup was August 10, 2009 and the sparsebundle file size is about right.
Can anyone help me figure out what's wrong and how to fix it?

Xian Rinpoche wrote:
when I "entered Time Machine" none of the old information was there. All I see if "Today" and "Now" with no prior backups. Time Machine does, however, show that the last backup was August 10, 2009 and the sparsebundle file size is about right.
Can anyone help me figure out what's wrong and how to fix it?
Try a control-click (or click-and-hold) on the Time Machine icon in the Dock, then choose "Browser Other Time Machine disks..." That may give you access to your old backup.

Cannot restore from Time Capsule backup wirelessly to Mountain Lion Retina

I just bought a new 15" MacBook Pro Retina Display and a Time Capsule router. The Time Capsule has supposedly backed up my macbook for a few days but when I try a complete restore from the Time Capsule backup wirelessly, it fails. New to Apple but do remember"can't access time capsule" even though network works fine.
Any help appreciated !!!

See p.4 here - http://www.pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html - and see if the Great Pondoni can help.
He's sure helped others in the past...
Clinton

Cannot access older time machine backups

I recently installed a new SSD in my MacBook and after reinstalling OSX Mountain Lion I chose to restore from a time machine backup. Everything went smoothly and all my files were restored. However, I tried to access a backup from before my restore but it's not showing it as being available even though the Time Machine preferences confirm that my oldest backup is from June 2011 and I can still access the folders that far back via finder. But I've never had this happen. Why it because its a new hard drive? Was it because of the recent 10.8.3 software update? Was it because of the "restore from time machine backup"? Every time I had done a clean install I just copied over the critical folders such as documents and itunes from my drive, never used the restore feature. My files clearly aren't gone, but I'm curious as to why this happened. Please help. Thanks in advance.

Have you done a new backup yet? If not, yes, Time Machine is looking for the backups on a different disk. As mende1 says, the procedure in #E3 should let you see them.
Once you start a new backup, Time Machine should automatically "associate" the new drive with the old backups, only do an "incremental" backup of the changes, and treat the old backups as if they'd been made from the new drive.
If not (ie, if it starts doing a full backup), you may be able to cancel the backup and do the "associatedisk" yourself, per #B6 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting, especially the pink box there.

I am not able to access old Time Machine backups after OS install.

Hi,
I recently did a fresh install of Mountain Lion. The system was getting sluggish from garbage collection, so I wiped it clean and started from scratch. Prior the install, I ran one last backup just in case. I went to restore some of my apps, like iWork '09, and I could not find any backups prior to my install dates. I can see the files when I open up my Time Capsule with Finder. But I cannot restore them using Time Machine.
I tried dragging the iWorks programs over to the Applications folder, but the applications crash (Pages 4.2, Numbers 5.2, and Keynote 2.2). I then tried going into the App Store and reinstalling them from my Purchases list. All of my store bought purchase are there, but the iWork ones. Which is odd, because they were updated from the App Store program after I dragged them over.
The iWork programs I need from the backup. Everything else is backed up in iCloud, iTunes, and the App Store. I really need to get Pages up and running again. Does anyone know what to do? All else is irrelevant.

If you installed iWork apps from a DVD, you need to use that DVD and reinstall the apps. Then update iWork to current using Software Update. There are other components from the DVD that need to be installed. I tried the same thing once and realized I had to reinstall and not restore from a TM backup.
If you purchased the iWork apps from the App Store, you should be able to redownload and install these again. If the download button is greyed out, make sure your TM back up and/or clone drive is unmounted. Otherwise, the App Store will see this and think the apps are already installed.

Is it possible to view files on old time capsule backup?

I am about to delete an old .sparsebundle that I forgot about (old computer), because my backups are not completing anymore. I was wondering if it's possible to view the files in that backup, I'm curious to see what I'm getting rid of. There could be old photos or something important in there. Is it possible to see the files? When I right-click to See Package Contents, it only shows "bands" and some misc. .plist files so I can't actually see what's there.
I'm using a 2nd gen Time Capsule, the .sparsebundle is dated 2009.
Thanks!

I was wondering if it's possible to view the files in that backup, I'm curious to see what I'm getting rid of. There could be old photos or something important in there. Is it possible to see the files?
Normally, Time Machine will allow you to go back in "time" and view the files for any previous backup date that you select. Is that not the case?
If, for some reason Time Machine will not allow you to see the files normally, there are other methods that can be used to "see" the files, but first the best approach would be to see if we can get Time Machine working.
When I right-click to See Package Contents, it only shows "bands" and some misc. .plist files so I can't actually see what's there.
Best to leave things alone in the package, as there are no user serviceable parts in there and any changes that you might make can easily corrupt things.

Can I switch external hard drives and still access old Time Machine backups?

I have a Mac Book Pro linked to 2 1TB external hard drives, one used as my Time Machine Back up, the other used as a manual ad hoc back up and to store even older files.
The TM back up drive is now full. If I just unplug it/switch it off and plug in and set up a new 2TB hard drive as my TM back up, will I still be able to access the back ups on the original TM drive if necessary, through TM?
Wil it be a start over situation with the new drive, performing a complete back up to begin with?
Or would you advise me to transfer the old back folder to the new drive, given that it will be larger?

Hi den.thed,
Thank you for this - I think the easy option by far appears to be to leave existing backups on disk 1, and plug in disk 2 and start over.

Cannot find old Time Machine backups

Recently, I had to backup my iMac from my latest Carbon Copy Cloner copy. (I have an external HD with two partitions: Time Machine and CCC, both some 750 GB; for various reasons, I choose the CCC backup.)
After that, Time Machine started to backup again. But after a while it stopped, claiming having too little space to complete: it needed 700 Gb but it found only 230 Gb.
The old TM backups had disappeared!
Yet, Disk Utility says the capacity of the TM drive is 750,82 GB, and that 232,89 GB is available.
So, the older backups must still be there… but I cannot approach them. Also, when right-clicking the TM icon in the Dock in order to find another TM disk, it does not find the original backups.
A hint, ayone?

See Pondini's TM FAQs, for starters.

Accessing (continuing) old Time Capsule backup with new Powerbook

Using Migration assistant I set up my new MacBook Pro. I read that I could access my Old Timecapsule backup with Lion. I followed the steps alt click on timecapsul in the Doc (actually not the dock ...up where the ICON is upper right) Selected Browse other Backup disks selecked my backup but nothing happens. It keeps trying to set up a new backup and the old data is not retrievable. I would like to continue to use the old backup. How do that. No dialog pops up offering access ...nothing. I installed Lion after I migrated and after my first atempt to access Timecapsule data.
Oh old mac had motherboard replaced so can't access the Timecapsule with that anymore either.

Hi L,
The following site has a lot of info on TM; you might want to see if you can find your answer there: http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html

Cannot Access Earlier Time Machine Backups After Upgrade To Mountain lion

I went into Time Machine to recover some past emails. It shows that it had backed up my emails for the last year, however it will not let me recover anything before my upgrade to mountain lion. Does anyone know of a workaround for this problem. Thank you.

Christopher Sant wrote:
Once it does finally recognize (after a good while) it simply says "Error, time machine could not complete the backup"
There should be more to that message. See #C2 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting. It will show you how to locate the message(s) that describe the problem, then help you fix it. If that doesn't help, post back with details, including all the messages, your setup, what you've done, and the results.

OS 10.10.1 cannot access old time capsule backups

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