Removing specific folder from time machine help!

I had a drive die that had only specific folders backed up. Large files sizes. How do I remove them from time machine now that the drive is gone. I read that you can use the gear menu to remove the back up but it does not seem to work. and since it's not the drive being backed up but only a portion of it, I see no way to remove this data. Any help would be appreciated

You do mean you want to delete all the backups of those folders, right?
If so, use the procedure in #E3 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting to see the backups, then select them and use the "gear" menu or right-clicking, to get the menu where you can delete them. See #12 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions for details on that.

Similar Messages

Remove specific files from Time Machine backups

My Time Capsule is getting pretty full and I know it will delete the oldest backup first, but looking at the oldest backup via TM, its full of some huge video files which just happen to be in the next three or four backups as well - but not exactly the same as they were edited each time.
At 16Gb a shot they would be ideal candidates for trashing without deleting the rest of the backup. Is it possible to delete individual files within a backup leaving the rest unaffected ?

Graham Outterside wrote:
I managed to remove the relevant files off the oldest backup copies as far as I can tell - they do seem to have disappeared from view. After a few restarts of the computer however I notice that the sparebundle file is still the same size.
that's because a sparse bundle does not automatically compact when you delete some of the contents. you can compact it from terminal if you really want to but there should be no need. new backups will take the freed space in the bundle eventually.
to compact a sparse bundle you need to run the following terminal command
sudo hdiutil compact /path/to/sparsebundle
put the correct unix path to the sparse bundle in the command. an easy way to get it is to drag the bundle to the terminal window. make sure that all the space in the command are correct.
Looking at the backup logs for subsequent backups I got;
Starting standard backup
No pre-backup thinning needed: 1.18 GB requested (including padding), 11.57 GB available
Copied 4730 files (344.7 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
No pre-backup thinning needed: 1.27 GB requested (including padding), 11.57 GB available
Copied 243 files (416.4 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Starting post-backup thinning
Deleted backup /Volumes/Backup of Graham Outterside’s Computer/Backups.backupdb/Graham Outterside’s Computer/2009-09-22-212457: 11.57 GB now available
Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
Backup completed successfully.
Ejected Time Machine disk image.
Ejected Time Machine network volume.
Whats interesting is that TM is deleting the oldest backup POST SL and not going back to try and delete the oldest backup which is May 2008.
I don't know why this would happen. did you do a regular install of SL? did you make any hardware changes to the computer?
Secondly the files deleted from the May June and July 2008 backups have not affected the sparsebundle file size.
I am fairly sure its a'user account'issue and this user cannot delete the oldest backup or thin down the sparsebundle as its owned by the older pre-SL user.
no. this has nothing to do with user account issues. TM runs for the whole computer as root and does not care about individual accounts.
not sure where to go from here to get any hard disc space back as its just going to keep deleting recent copies in prefernce to old ones.

Restoring a folder from time machine.

I have updated to 10.7.4 and after having problems with "home" directory permissions, I reset the home directory permissions as per "http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4040". My filesaving problems seemed to be ok after that.
Time machine has since performed a backup but to test a problem I had before upgrading, I again tried to restore a folder from time machine. The folder was in ~library/applications support/"appname"/"folder"... I deleted the old folder first (after copying it of course).
The folder restore failed with this message:-
I checked the file on the time machine backups and it shows me as the owner in group "staff" which appears fine for Lion. The old file I had copied showed the same permissions.
I restored the copied library and tried to restore a single file after a similar procedure with the same error relating to the particular file.
It seems to be a permissions problem at a higher level but at this point I seek a few pointers.
Lion seems to have broken time machine and also introduced various permission problems. The referenced doc indeed addresses that but it should not even be an issue - if Apple techos know about it why does it even happen ??
A more major issue is that there must be millions out there relying on the once reliable (and the best backup system I have aver seen in 30 years of computing) time machine for backups - if that now fails, it is basically useless. Apple techos dont seem to actually test their updates anymore - this should never happen - work arounds or not.
Appreciate any help here. I dont want to wait until I REALLY need it.
Regards.

I don't use TM, so don't know if there's a simpler solution. The issue's whether or not you want to restore the folder or not. Only you can answer that.

If i restore a user folder from time machine. is it just restoring all files associated with the user or programs also?

If i restore a user folder from time machine, is it just restoring the files associated with the user or programs as well? Im asking because Apple Store just reset my system and said to restore files i needed and not to do a full restore. to try and determine if it was a software issue causing the problems.

Just the user's folder. Nothing else. See Pondini's TM FAQs, for details.

Recovering mail folder from TIME MACHINE

I've recovered a folder from Time Machine, but I can't seem to get it to go into my mail program.
I've just looked inside the folder, though, and some of the messages seem to be blank.
I have created a new folder and have tried to migrate over just ten of these messages. It won't even do that. I've started over again by deleting the folder and re-creating a new one. And I've restarted my computer. There's something really wrong here.
It may also have to do with a .mac synch. I get a flashed message that says "outgoing 3974 message" (which is how many I have, or thereabouts). But it doesn't process anything, just says that and goes away.
Any ideas here???

I've just looked into my library / preferences folder, and there does not appear to be a plist for Mail there. Isn't that odd? Where should that plist be located, and what would it mean if none is appearing? I've never heard of that one, is there a fix for such a problem (if it is the source of my problem?).

If you remove a backup from Time Machine, can you add it later?

if you remove a backup from Time Machine, can you add it back later? I have two backup sets active, but only one is connecting to a drive at the moment. It seems to be pausing TM for the inactive one, which is as I would expect, except that the menu icon for TM shows an exclamation point (= "waiting to backup"). I'd rather have that error / pause sign show if the ACTIVE connected drive is experiencing issues. It has zero diagnostic function as currently set up.
The solution would be to remove the backup drive from the TM list and then add it back later. I am just unsure if I can do this (will TM recognize the alternate backup set again if I re-add it?)
tx

Yes, you can re-add it.

Trying to restore from Time Machine - HELP please

I tried to restore from time machine this morning...and am getting this error :good morning, "an error occurered (2) while copying, there is no such file or directory"
any idea?????
TIA

lol, it didn't say goodmorning.
Last night my mac froze, i had to turn it off buy the button on the back...i tried to turn it on, it just hangs at the gray screen with the apple on it and the little circle things goes around and around and around. I put in my leopard OS disk and went to utilities to do a disk scan repair, it said no valid packages found...i dont know what to do with that...Ithought i could do a simple restore from my time machine...what you saw above is the error i got...
I don't know what to do or how to get my machine back to normal.
Can you help me?

HT4399 Address book reinstall from Time Machine help?

I just did a master erase on my MacBook Air 2010. Genius bar helped me. The only thing that didn't get reinstalled from Time Machine was my address book. How do I get my contacts back? Please help!

Try this:
Open address book and then launch Time Machine (making sure Address Book is still the active window). You should be able to navigate through time IN the address book window and once you find the correct time there will be an option that says "Restore All".

Recovering "iTunes Music" folder from Time Machine Backup (Permissions Err)

OK, long story, but stay with me.... could be an interesting one here.
So I move to a SSD hard drive in my 24" iMac. New Intel SSD drive is only 160GB, so I'm only using it for the OS, Applications, etc... all of my data is on an external FW800 disk (Western Digital MyBook). I've already relocated my Home Directory to the external drive and that seems to be working great for all my pictures, docs, movies, etc, except for iTunes.
My iTunes library comes up, but I can't locate any of the songs. I checked the preferences and it's pointed to the correct location on the external disk. So, I was trying to do the relocation, but it would appear that the MUSIC folder does not have all the data i copied into it. When I try to open the "iTunes Music" folder I get this error... "The folder "iTunes Music" can't be opened because you don't have permission to see it's content". I've checked my Time Machine drive which obviously has all the music files on it (the space is taken up), but I can't get to them to recover.
Any clue how I can get this permissions error resolved so I can get my music? I have (3) backups of the same directory... all the same story, no permissions. I even created the same user account name when I rebuilt Snow Leopard on the SSD.

I don't think you understand. I need to get my music from Time machine where it is backed up. How do i find it in time machine and how do i transfer it to a seperate HD?

How to full restore OS X state to a specific date from Time Machine backup?

Hello! Could someone please advice how to restore the state of my iMac to a specific date?
NOT to the latest backup?

The only way I found to make a full restoration of OS X to specific date from a TM backup is to launch OS X in recovery mode (Cmd+R during startup) and then choose "Recover from Time Machine". Full restoration took approx 2 hours.
Dislike it very much. During my being a Windows user I could roll back in a matter of minutes with system utilities

Restoring User Library folder from Time Machine

I have tried finding my User Library folder in Time Machine, but no luck.
I have managed to find the User/Library folder in normal view and have dragged it into the Sidebar.
It is now visable! Great.
But when I enter Time Machine and go back in time, it goes gray and you connot see it or it will not go back in time.
In other words I am unable to access my backed up files: Address Book, iCal, Mail, Keychains etc.
Any suggestion much appreciated!

DWNCC wrote:
It's a long story. My Mac Apps were crashing frequently as I have an older version MacBook Pro, using it with 10.7.3. It just didn't like it one bit.
Unfortunately, there are many people here in Apple Support Communities who claim there is something fundamentally wrong with Lion and are advising everyone to go back to older versions of the operating system. That is very bad advice. If Lion is misbehaving, there is some problem that needs to be corrected.
It is not a good idea to try to restore your user account piecemeal like this.
If you have erased everything, then at least you don't have to worry about damaging anything. Try this:
1) Run System Preferences > Users & Groups and click the "+" button to create a new account. Change account type from "Standard" to "Administrator". Give it a short name like "admin".
2) Log out of your current user and Log in to the new admin user.
3) Delete any old users you had.
4) Run Migration Assistant and migrate your old users from Time Machine

How do I remove a disk from Time Machine

Just replaced a dead disk on my sister's iMac.
Didn't have an extra external disk at the time, so started Time Machine using a second partition on the new disk.
Now have a spare external disk plugged in.
I have Time Machine backing up to the external disk.
But how do I remove the internal disk partition from Time Machine???
Do I just delete the backup file???
This ought to be simple but I can't figure it out.

Use Disk Utility to erase the partition.
Select the volume containing the backup (one of the entries indented to the right below the physical drive).
Click the erase tab and click erase. Ensure the default file system is set (Mac OS extended (journalled)).
How you proceed from there depends which partition has the OS.
Select the physical drive in DU (the top entry with the maker's name and drive size)
Select the partition tab.
You have a graphic of the partitions. the one you just erased will be all white, the OS partition will be partly blue.
If the the OS partition is the top one, drag the bottom corner to the full depth of the window. That will eliminate the erased partition.
If the OS partition is the bottom one, and you need the space, you'll need to erase the entire HDD and repartition.
typos edited by: noondaywitch

I want to erase from Leopard and restore from Time Machine, help!

I'm about to reinstall Leopard and I want to zero all of my internal hard drives and start fresh. (im trying to get to the bottom of a kernel problem).
Anyways last night I did a Time Machine backup to a new 2TB WD HD. Everything appears to be backed up fine, but I want to make sure I can restore from Time Machine before I go and do this.
Please let me know if there are any precautions I should take into consideration or if there is a good way to go about doing this.
Thanks!

You could try restoring your backup to a new drive before you over-write your working system. That will allow you to test your backup and skills before risking too much down time.
Add a drive large enough to restore the backup to and boot from the Leopard DVD. After you choose your language you can get to the Utility menu to restore Leopard from a TM drive.
Here's a pretty good "walk thru" on the entire process:
http://duncandavidson.com/blog/restoringfrom_timemachine/

Need help removing hard drive from Time Machine exclusion list

I have a 1TB Western Digital Essential hard drive with about 500Gb of music, movies and other assorted data tethered directly to my iMac. I also have a 1TB Time Capsule that serves as my wireless router and connects to my iMac over the wireless network. I'm trying to use the Time Capsule as the ultimate backup device, to backup the data on my iMac and the tethered 1TB Western Digital hard drive via Time Machine. It already backs up all the data on my iMac, but unfortunately, Time Machine places the 1TB Western Digital hard drive in the exclusion list (which I understand is normal), but will not let me click the minus sign to remove the drive from the exclusion list (which is where I'm at a loss). Someone please help me find a way around this as I've been unable to find a way to remove the Western Digital drive from the exclusion list and have Time Capsule access its data. Many thanks in advance for any help with this.

gotham,
Forgive me, but are you highlighting the drive in the list before you click the "-" button?
Also, were is the external drive? Connected to your Mac or the TC. If the TC, then Time Machine won't backup the external drive. It needs to be connected to the Mac directly.
Otherwise, you can delete the TM .plist.
*Delete The Time Machine Preference .plist*
Go to --> Macintosh HD / Library / Preferences (Note: NOT Home / Library / Preferences).
Drag the .plist file labeled,
com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
to the root level of your Macs’ hard drive.
Reboot your computer.
This .plist file is automatically recreated at startup if it is missing.
You will need to reselect your Time Capsule in the TM Prefs for backup.
Now try 'removing' the other drive form the exclusion list.
Let us know if this helped resolve your issue.
Cheers!

How to safely remove all backups from Time Machine/Time Capsule?

I plan to 'clean up' my Time Machine/Time capsule completely, whereby I want to make it impossible for third parties to recover all or part of these old backups.
After I have accompished this I want to start from scratch backing up my Mac.
Can you please let me have a step by step procedure to accomplish my goal.
Thank you in advance!

Muizen wrote:
Thank you WZZZ.
1) I am now specifically looking for info regarding deleting emails from backups.
It is my impression so far, that this is not possible?
Delete all backups of <home folder>/Library/Mail, per Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #12.
And exclude that folder from future backups, per FAQ #10.
2) In addition I feel that being somewhat better in control of TM that it would be an advantage to really clean out TH completely and start a new back up, thereby systematically blooking certain matters from backing-up since there is no need for doing so.
How would I best accomplish this?
If the emails are all you're worried about, the procedure above will be fine.
But if you want to erase the TC's internal HD, see #Q5 in Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule.

Removing specific folder from time machine help!

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for