Overly large time machine files

Hi There,
my disk that I use for Time machine (120GB Lacie USB) has recently become corrupted, so that it is currently 'read only' So I decided to copy my Time machine files to another drive, so I could format my main one, and then put them back. But this is proving harder that it looks. My temporary drive is a Lacie NAS (250GB), connected via a switch to my iMac, but I can't drag and drop the files as it wont let me.
So I used another backup program to make a copy, but when I got home from work it had copied 2 of the 49 folders, amounting to 150GB of data, but my main drive is only 120GB!!! How can Time Machine have created 49 (nearly) identical folders containing 90GB of data in each one on a 120GB drive?
And perhaps more importantly, how can I make a backup of my Time Machine files, so that once I have reformatted (or maybe replaced) my main drive I can copy them back and pick up where I left off.

Time Machine backup files cannot be copied in the normal way. TM uses hard links and what they call "multi-links" so as to keep only one copy of each unique version of each file.
For example, if you have a file called "MyFile", if you navigate to it in the backupdb in the Finder you will see it in every timed/dated TM backup folder, and "Get Info" will report the file's true size if restored, but you are really only seeing a hard link; the actual file data is stored invisibly in the backupdb, and the file data is retained as long as there is at least one (hard) link to it.
Apple has taken this technology one step further, and does the same with entire directories (folders).
Thus, the total amount of space used for a TM backupdb directory will be far less than the total of the "Get Info" reported size of all its dated folders.
SuperDuper! can clone a TM backupdb directory and maintain all these special links. There may now be other utilities which can do this, such as CCC, but I'm not sure which.
I'd suggest first using SuperDuper! to clone your corrupted read-only TM backup to a disk image stored elsewhere for safekeeping. If you want to be able to continue building upon your TM backup it will need to be retained with all its links intact.
Another consideration is that TM creates a backup on a NAS drive as a sparsebundle, essentially a "size-adjustable" disk image.
Once you have that clone of your TM backup disk as a SuperDuper! disk image you can then restore that disk image to your new TM backupdrive. If you then need to restore to a new or reformatted main drive you should then be able to do so from the restored TM backup.
Make sense?

Similar Messages

Can i copy everything over to time machine then do a clean install of lepord and still have full acess to old files?

I want to start fresh, but still have everything from the current hard drive at my fingertips. Is time machine the man for the job?
And will it still work if i copy everything over using time machine but then upgrade to snowlepord? or will it not reconize it?

Well, I for one don't trust Time Machine, I prefer to have a bootable clone of what I have now & make sure it works before doing anything.

Time Machine Files - How To Copy

Short story: I am trying to transfer my Time Machine files from one external hard drive to another. I followed the instructions at the following Apple link:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5096?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
This did not work. When I started up Time Machine on the new drive, Time Machine indicated that the old backups were there, but when I tried to access them, Time Machine could not find them.
I could not use the process indicated here:
http://www.macyourself.com/2008/12/10/how-to-copy-your-time-machine-backups-to-a -new-larger-drive/
Long Story: I got a new external 2 TB external to replace my 1.5 TB. I wanted to use the new one for Time Machine and iTunes. I stupidly did not partition it. This is a problem since Time Machine will fill up a hard drive. I tried using Disk Utility to partition after the fact, but I kept getting an error. So I followed the instructions in the Apple link and copied "Backups.backupdb" back to my old drive, reformatted and repartitioned my new drive, then copied "Backups.backupdb" back. Now Time Machine cannot find my old backups, although they appear to exist in the time line. When I look at "Backups.backupdb" there are a bunch of alias that do not link to anything.
So I assume there must be some hidden files.
Have I messed up my year of Time Machine backups and need to start over?

I wanted to use the new one for Time Machine and iTunes. I stupidly did not partition it.
I know it's tempting to want to use all the vast space on a large drive your not using, the problem is when your hardware fails, it takes both backup partitions with it when it goes.
Have multiple copies of your personal data on separate hardware, in separate locations, using easily accessible means and maintain two copies of your personal data off the machine at all times.
Your at that stage where you need more options than TimeMachine provides, you might want to consider cloning.
With cloning you could have just cloned the entire drive to another one no sweat, also you can access the files directly from any computer, Mac, Windows or Linux machine. Plus you can boot from cloned drives and do other things, like data recovery etc.
Most commonly used backup methods

Can't access Time Machine files since upgrading to Mavericks

I have searched the community and found that people have experienced issues backing up to Time Machine since upgrading to Mavericks, but my problem appears slightly different from the ones I've found. I can see that my Time Machine is actually backing up since the upgrade as it was before the upgrade. The issue I'm having is that I can't access the backed-up files in any way.
When I try to open time machine it launches the "space view" with all of the historical tabs lined up for me to scroll through, but imediately closes that window and gives the error message: "Can't connect to a current Time Machine backup disc". It's so weird, because it says that there have been backups completed since the upgrade (most recently this morning). If it wasn't writing to the disc, it would have showed me an error of some sort.
What I am, specifically, trying to accomplish is that I need to restore some iTunes playlists that I somehow managed to delete this past weekend. I figured that I would easily be able to access the library file that contains the playlists from Saturday morning, when I KNOW that playlist was still there, and just restore it. Now that I am seeing that I can't access any of my time machine files, I'm realizing that I have an even bigger problem, and that all of my files are, essentially, going without backup at this time (assuming I can't access the files that have already been backing up).
If anyone has some insight as to how I can fix this problem, I would greatly appreciate it.

Hi John, (The above was for your attention) I'm 72 and must've hit the wrong button!!!
I followed your instructions to the letter, but sadly, no success...all my backups are showing on the TM external HD, but I cannot access them after instsalling 'Mavericks'
I spent the entire day on and off the phone with Applecare (they are very nice, and I'm sure they know most of the stuff needed; but not this problem. They are phoning back tomorrow as the senior chap was not available.
I love my apple products, and like you, have been using their gear for well over 25 years...not studying the things, but using them all the way through.
My present Mac, a 24" iMac is nearly 7 years old, bought on December 11th 2007, and this is the first time I have had a significant problem, and never a virus..got bless em!. I bet there are not many Windows users around who can say the same!
However, if I cannot access my backups, I'm a bit lost, as all my accumulated stuff is there!
I guess the worst case scenario is that I revert to OS X 10.7.5, and wait 'til the bugs are ironed out in Mavericks....Ho Hum
Message was edited by: briinoz

How can i RECOVER a time machine file from the trash

I hope someone can help me... I have spent hours and hours reading forums but none that have addressed my problem.
My daughter gave me her old backup drive. She also has a MAC so she had Time Machine backups on the drive already. I started backing up onto this drive about a year ago. Backups have been done now for a year or so. Last night I got the message that I was running out of space so I looked at the drive and realized that her backups were still on the drive so I moved them into the trash. Then Time Machine wouldn't work anymore and I realized that not only did her backups get moved but all of mine did as well. I need the backups because after I upgraded to Mavericks many of my photos dissappeared from iPhoto. These are photos that I can't recreate - I sell jewelry and take pictures before I send the piece out. Everything is one-of-a-kind so it's very important for me to get these back. I realize now that I never should have moved the backups into the trash as I will have a problem deleting it once I separate her backups from mine but I will deal with that after I figure out this problem.
Is there anything I can do to move the backups back from out of the trash and into Time Machine again? (BTW - I don't know which version of Mavericks I have - I have done all available updates so I assume it is 10.9.3)

As long as you don't delete the trash, the files should be recoverable.
I suspect using the Put Back command could take a long time, so be patient.
If your Time Machine backups are mixed with your daughter's backups you might want to buy a larger drive and move the Time Machine files to the new drive.
Regarding missing photos in iPhoto...There might be options to rebuild/recover that data from iPhoto rather than trying to revert to a Time Machine backup.
Check out this third party app, iPhoto Library Manager. It has a demo.
http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/
Options for a larger drive.
I like the Seagate USB 3.0 Backup plus drives. Works on USB 2.0 ports. They come formatted for PC but easy to format in Disk Utility.
I don't recommend Western Digital because of the boot problem with some of their drives.
LaCie makes good drives.
All Mac formatted drives will cost more and it’s easy to reformat with Disk Utility. Do not use the software that comes with the drives. It’s recommended that you use Apple’s Disk Utility.
Prices vary but this gives you an idea of what you’ll find. As you notice the second and third TB is usually only $15 more per TB. Normally, you’ll find these prices but right now the 1T is more than the 2T
Seagate Backup Plus 1 TB USB 3.0 $85
Seagate Backup Plus 2 TB USB 3.0 $99
Seagate Backup Plus 3 TB USB 3.0 $115
I have seen the 3T on sale for $99.
Locally, Best Buy seems to have the best prices.

Time Machine File Loction Help

I have purchased a 500gb external, MAC specific hard drive and I have set up and ran Time Machine without error. The about section says "Initially, Time Machine makes a complete backup, including system files, applications, accounts, preferences, music, photos, documents—everything you keep on your computer, except for a few temporary files (such as web browser caches)."
My question is: Where are my specific files (pictures, documents, and music)? I have navigated most of the 58gb with no luck.
*Macbook Pro> Latest> Macintosh HD>*
Applications>
Library>
System>
*User Guide Information>*
User>
These are my choices. I thought they would be in the library but there are so many files.
Many thanks in advance.
BTW, I use the factory "Documents" folder, iTunes for music and iPhoto for pictures.
Message was edited by: ThePhotographyGuy

OK, I have seen the error of my ways. I had File Vault turned on. I still have my Windows mentality sometime, "blah, blah message this, message that, blah.....just OK past it all and we'll be OK" So..........I started over with Time Machine and there is a message, that I still don't fully understand, that say something to the effect that you have File Vault turned on and only such and such files will be backed up and you will not be able to read the User files and yadda yadda yadda.
Basically it says, since your files are encrypted we're not going to pull them over because you won't be able to read them. I think.The best I can tell, if you have File Vault on, it will only pull over system data (MIDI controllers, drivers, etc).
Short story long, I turned off File Vault, started Time Machine again and now in the file tree I have my user account data (ie. Photos, Music, Documents).
Thanks Guys, I knew where you were trying to lead me but the directory was just not there and it was killing me.

How do I copy by time machine files to another external HD?

I would like to copy the data I have in my time machine to another external HD so that I have two backups; one I can store offsight and one I can have connected to my computer. Can this be done and if so, how does one do it?

My time machine has files going back to May 2011 and contains over 500GB; my computer has only 320GB capacity. I would like to set up another external HD with the time Machine files on it so that I can use both backups alternately storing one off site and one connected to my computer. After a couple weeks then alternate them so I always a backup offsite; thus having two HD containing my time machine files.

Changing Time Machine files

I was wondering if changing time machine files is harmful at all to restore at a later time? What happened is, I have two machines, a laptop and my desktop. I've only been backing up the iMac. I want to have this same system on the laptop. Since my iMac has much more hdd space, it won't fit on the laptop. Is it safe to just manually go into the Time Machine software, open the latest backup, and start deleting things I don't need?
Also, is it similar to a "normal" external hdd in that way where I can just drag and drop files from my Time Machine backup to another external hdd?

Hi, and welcome to the forums.
I'm afraid you've made a large mess.
First, if you asked Time Machine to restore apps, that's exactly (and only) what it did. Many complex apps, especially the ones that come with their own installers, also put various files in other locations, often in your system folders. Unless you know what and where every one of those is, and restore them, the apps won't work well, if at all.
Second, your data files are not kept in the apps; they're elsewhere, mostly in your home folder. So again, you have to know what and where they are, so you can restore them, too.
Third, some Snow Leopard apps may not run properly, if at all, on Leopard.
Your best bet +*by far+* will be to restore your entire system the way it was in Snow Leopard (using your Snow Leopard Install disc), then deal with whatever problem(s) you're having there.
See #14 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.

Cannot delete Time Machine file from external hard drive

Hello,
I'd like to delete my original Time machine file from an external hard drive ( Lacie mini ). I move the file into the trash bin and it constantly "deletes". At one time I left it deleting overnight and the file still wasn't trashed.
I am going to hook up Time Machine to a different, dedicated external hard drive, but I'd like to gain space on the drive that Time Machine is currently on.
I currently have Time Machine turned off ( I do have everything backed up with my home folder on another external HD ). Should Time Machine be turned on for me to trash the file? Is there a better way to delete the file?
Much thanks in advance.

V.K. wrote:
... the best and the quickest way to delete it is to erase the TM hard drive....
But what if a person doesn't want to erase the TM drive? My MacPro came with tiger installed, but since tiger-intel-retail discs don't exist, my copy of tiger is what i have. I was all manner of foolish directing TM to that drive, but damage is done. What can someone in my position do?

I have a power pc (g5) computer that I will soon be replacing with a current i5 or i7 mini. How do I transfer the Time Machine files from the internal hard drive on the G5 to an external drive that I will later use with the Mini?

I have a Power PC G5 computer that I will soon be replacing with a current i5 or i7 Mini. How do I transfer the Time Machine files from the internal hard drive on the G5 to an external drive that I will later use with the Mini?

Hi, likely the easiest is to just poll the drive & get something like this...
Get MacScan...
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/networking_security/macscan.html
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/U3NVSPATA/
But if you have a good external drive already, just clone it.
Get carbon copy cloner to make an exact copy of your old HD to the New one...
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
Or SuperDuper...
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/

Is there a way to access Time Machine files associated with an old user name?

My iMac was running super slow and there was a bunch of programs, etc. that I wanted to get rid of anyway so I thought I would do a "clean install" from my Snow Leopard disc. I moved items on my desktop to my Seagate external drive and then unplugged it. I have had Time Machine saving to it for a long time so I was confident I could just move a few items (pictures, music, etc.) back on to my hard drive when the install was completed. To my surprise, when I went to Time Machine I found the items I had moved from my desktop but no earlier versions of my other files.
In researching this issue a little bit, it appears that perhaps I created a new user name when I did the install and that my historical items are likely still on the Seagate but stored somewhere associated with my old user name. I understand that if I can change my user name back to the original that I may be able to access the items and transfer the items I want. To compound the situation, I have no idea what my old user name even was.
Does this make sense to Mac experts out there?
If so, is there a way to see the old user names and access the Time Machine files?
I've been avoiding telling my wife that I may have lost all our kid photos so I'm desperately hoping someone can help.

The problem is that Time Machine detects your new OS X copy as a new Mac and it doesn't let you access to your backups. To access to them, see > http://pondini.org/TM/E3.html
Another option would be to access to your backups manually. Open a Finder window, select the Time Machine drive in the sidebar and go to Backups.backupdb > your computer's name > one of the backups > your partition's name, and copy the data you want

How to completely delete all backed-up time machine files but not other files in my external hard drive?

I use a 500G WD as my external.. I have documents and movies there that i do not want to delete. Simply i just want to delete my time machine files completely and for my mac to not recognised it as a time machine HD.. TY guys p.s. A video would be nice

If you have the external HD setup as one partition, you cannot delete only the TM files as a unit. You will have to use the brute force method of deleting directory by directory.
If you have the drive partitioned into a TM backup partition and another partition for your other work, you can simply reformat the TM backup partition.
So, the first question is, how is your drive setup, as one or as two partitions?

How to view Time Machine files on a Capsule

Hi guys,
Info:
OS X 10.10.3
Time Capsule version 7.7.3
iMac 21" Mid 2011
Issue:
I use the time capsule as a backup specifically for my massive iTunes library.
When I use a non-apple hard drive for Time Machine backups, I am able to browse the file system of the backup via Finder.
I cannot access the data on the Time machine other than looking at the backup itself.
See pix:
What the heck?!

What the heck?!
The heck is that you are trying to compare two completely different types of drives......a USB or FireWire type of drive that is connected directly to your computer, called a "local drive"....and....the Time Capsule drive, which is a "network drive".....since it connects to the network and shares data with network devices.
Time Machine stores backups differently on a local drive than it does a network drive.
On a local drive, all of the Time Machine backups are stored in a normal folder called Backups.backupdb.
All of the Time Machine backups on a Time Capsule are stored in a special type of container called a sparsebundle file, with the name of your Mac associated with the file. Apple does not really want you trying to get into your Time Machine backup files on the Time Capsule using the Finder, so they make it difficult to do so.
It is also very easy to corrupt a file when you go into the sparsebundle, which may damage all your Time Machine backups and render them useless. For that reason, it is not recommended that you try to access your Time Machine files this way.
We can tell you how to access the files if you want, but we cannot accept responsibility for any difficulties that you might have if you do this, or help if the files are damaged.
It's up to you.

Time machine was not working. I bought a new time machine and migrated time machine files to new time capsule; not recognized by yosemite

Time machine was not working after yosemite upgrade on new and old MacBooks in my house. I bought a new time machine and migrated time machine files to new time capsule. I changed the names of the older sparse bundles to the default values. Yosemite still does not recognize them.

I presume the bought a time machine means a time capsule.
How did you migrate the Time Machine files?
From where? A Time Capsule or external drive?
It is difficult to get TM working with Yosemite.. since it doesn't work after the upgrade on the old TM backup.. it will not work on the migrated files either.
You simply start a new backup and store the old backups for a few months until you are ready to dump them.
The instructions for inheriting old backups is B5 and B6 here.
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
However it is just unlikely to work.. TM in Yosemite is very different. Broken even.
I also strongly recommend people to use Carbon Copy Cloner or some other 3rd party backup until Apple get the bugs fixed. And after several months.. they are still rampant.

Fresh install and save time machine files

Is it possible to do a fresh install of the os (i have a new SSD on the way) and get the OS to somehow recognize the time machine files - ie. not delete them and start anew?
I have 2TB drive of backups for the last 5 months.
I'm thinking the best way would be to just clone the last 2 months sans OS files (or whatever fits) to another drive (via my eSata drive dock).
Any thoughts?

If you're going to install OSX on the SSD, and leave everything on the internal HD, Time Machine will just back up the SSD, and continue to do "incremental" backups of both the SSD and the internal HD.
But if you also move your data to the SSD, TM will back it up completely, since it's a different drive.
If there isn't enough space on your TM drive, it will start deleting old backups trying to make room; if it gets to the last remaining one and still hasn't enough room, it will fail (leaving the last backup).
You can delete all backups of things from the internal HD, if you want, per #12 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

Overly large time machine files

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