Restored Time Machine Backup, now can't find files

So, after a wipe of my computer and a reinstall of Snow Leopard, I encountered a couple problems restoring my data.
1) Migration Assistant wouldn't find my user in my time machine (which was only used for this computer)
2) I resorted to the "browse other time machine disks" feature by right clicking the Time Machine icon in the dock. From this I was easily able to find my backup and restore it.
After the files finished copying (approx. 254 gb), I was unable to find them anywhere on the drive. Finder and Disk Utility both told me that there was 254 gigs being used (that wasn't being used before, this is a clean snow Leopard install), I just can't find them anywhere.
I went to disk utility do verify permissions, it looks like there was some problems, so I repaired them, still no luck. I also logged in as root to see if I could spot them anywhere, no luck.
Can anybody out there point me in the right direction?
I really would not like to re copy all of those again, as 250 gb over USB 2.0 takes quite a while...

m-avila wrote:
Used these forums a lot for questions since my iMac is my first Apple computer. This is my first post though. My hard drive went bad so I brought it to an authorized Apple service center and had it replaced under AppleCare. My computer is back and ready for action with a newer OS (had OSX 10.5.7 I believe and now have 10.6.3).
Do you mean they installed Snow Leopard, and didn't give you a Snow Leopard disc? If so, that's a violation of the license, but worse, it means you can't do some things you may need to do, including a full system restore of a Snow Leopard Time Machine backup. Either make them put Leopard back on it, or buy a retail Snow Leopard disc ($29).
They also installed iLife '09 and I believe I actually had '08 on there.
That's also not good.
I did exactly what happened above - tried restoring from my Time Machine backup and ended up using 320GB that I now can't find. When I try to restore individual files I get the message that a file with the same name already exists. Is it possible to restore my files but KEEP this later version of OSX and iLife?
No.
If I do the "Restore From Backup" the way I'm supposed to (as outlined in #14 Time Machine FAQ), will I erase the newer versions of iLife and OSX?
Yes.
How can I get these files back
You can't, and shouldn't, without the necessary discs. Those versions of iLife probably won't work on Leopard anyway.
free up the 320GB that is now tied up
The full restore will do that. The first thing it does, after your final confirmation, is to erase the internal HD. Then it copies everything from your backups.
and keep iLife '09?
No.

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Can't restore Time Machine backup after iMAC (Lion) Refresh

I recently did a refresh of my iMAC with OSX Lion. I have been using time capsule to back up my iMAC as well as my Mac Mini for the last 6 months with what I perceived to be no issues.
When I got to the part in the MAC start up to restore from backup it couldn't seem to find the iMAC backup, only the Mac Mini backup so I skipped that part. I then tried to use Migration Assistant later and the same thing, I couldn't find it. I used finder to locate the Time Capsule and was able to find the backup, but when I double clicked on it said "Mac OS X can't repair the disk "Time Machine Backups". you can still open or copy files on the disk, but you can't save changes to the files on the disk. Back up the disk and reformat it as soon as you can".
Even though it said that it open a new finder window and I was able to find the backups and I proceed to copy of the files over. All seemed well until I opened iPhoto and it wouldn't open (just hung). I did a library restore/repair by clicking Option + Command when opening and after it ran iPhoto opened. When I browsed around though some recent pics that I uploaded either weren't there or corrupted and all my faces were gone.
I did a fresh install again and tried all over and the same thing happened. Any help on getting back my old backup? Seems to be corrupted or something, but I'm not sure.
See previous post before this... I was told to post my problem here - as I originally posted on the iPhoto forum before I realized I had a time machine / capsule problem.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/22248885?ac_cid=op123456#22248885
Help would be appreciated.

lonniebrunet wrote:
Hi there,
I had a look through and I tried to do option A5 - which is repair or verify disk. I dragged the sparebundle for the mackup to disk utility and after trying to do a repair I got the message "disk utility stopped repairing "Time Machine backups".
Does this mean that my backup is corrupted and useless for a restore with time machine?
Yes.
And that also means copying via the Finder may not get everything. Corrupted is corrupted.
Assuming you copied from the most recent backup, you might want to try copying just the iPhoto Library from an earlier one -- that might not be damaged. If you have room, put it somewhere else, like your desktop. Or if you have an external HD, that would work.

Just did a system restore from my time machine and I can not find any of my files from my desktop. How can I find them?

I am a new apple user...sorry it took so long. I did a recovery from my time machine but I can not find any of the filesI was saving on my desktop. Are they gone for good or is there some way I can get them back? I am desperate...should I save my regular used files somewhere else other than my desktop?
Can I get the old desktop files back????

When you open TM you should see all of the desktop items right away. If they are not there, go back a day before you made your last retrieval. (Look for the dates on the time line on the right hand side of the display)
Ciao.

My external hard drive is 'seen' by my iMac and I can go into the Finder and open files and folders. I am using the hard drive for Time Machine back up. However Time Machine says it can't find the drive. Same thing has happened with Final Cut Express.

My new LaCie external hard drive is 'seen' by my iMac and I can go into the Finder and open files and folders. I am using the hard drive for Time Machine back up. However Time Machine says it can't find the drive.
The same thing happened recently between Final Cut Express and my other LaCie external hard drive used as the Scratch disk. It fixed itself.
I've run out of ideas. Help would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

have you done some searches on FCPx and time machine? Is there a known issue with using a TM drive with FCPx? dunno but ...wait...I'll take 60 sec for you cause I'm just that kind of guy.... google...." fcpx time machine problem" Frist page link
http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/fcpx-bug-best-practices-for-using-external-hard- drives-and-final-cut-pro-x/
You cannot have time machine backups on your hard drive if you intend to use it in FCPX.
booya!

Error Dialogue: "Time Machine Backup Disk Can't be Found"

Hello -
I am trying to "Enter Time Machine" (which is on a Time Capsule); but when I try this, I am met by the error message "Your Time Machine Backup Disk Can't be Found" with the option given to "Set up My Time Machine".
Needless to say, my Time Machine has been set up for months. When I look in the preferences, it clearly shows the disk I'm connected to (here's a screenshot of the error dialogue alongside my Time Machine preferences: http://cl.ly/1HGk).
Any idea what the best course of action is here.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: notice from the screenshot that Time Machine thinks the earliest backup is only 1 day prior. This is also strange as I have said I've had Time Machine working on this Time Capsule for months. I called Apple about this and was told that a software update had gone out yesterday that reformatted the drives and started the backups all over again. While completely fishy - I don't remember agreeing to any software update dialogue about erasing my Time Capsule - I took them at their word. Not sure if this is related, but thought I should mention it.
Thanks Crew!

MattLat wrote:
Hello -
I am trying to "Enter Time Machine" (which is on a Time Capsule); but when I try this, I am met by the error message "Your Time Machine Backup Disk Can't be Found" with the option given to "Set up My Time Machine".
Needless to say, my Time Machine has been set up for months. When I look in the preferences, it clearly shows the disk I'm connected to (here's a screenshot of the error dialogue alongside my Time Machine preferences: http://cl.ly/1HGk).
Any idea what the best course of action is here.
The +sparse bundle+ containing your backups may be corrupted. Repair it, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum).
If that doesn't help, try a "full reset" of Time Machine, per #A4 there.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: notice from the screenshot that Time Machine thinks the earliest backup is only 1 day prior. This is also strange as I have said I've had Time Machine working on this Time Capsule for months. I called Apple about this and was told that a software update had gone out yesterday that reformatted the drives and started the backups all over again.
That's the first I've heard of that. They may have been referring to the +Time Capsule Backup Update 1.0+ update several weeks ago, that some folks got but others didn't. If it finds a problem, it sends the message in this article: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4076 The existing sparse bundle is renamed and locked, and a new one made.

I have bought a new computer and backed up off time machine backup now I cannot open photoshop get error code 150 30 help appreciated.

I have bought a new computer and backed up off time machine backup now I cannot open photoshop get error code 150 30 help appreciated.?

Have you updated your iTunes on your computer? WIth a device running iOS7, you need iTunes 11.
When you removed iTUnes, did you see something named 'apple mobile device support' or something like it? (The exact name varies from operating system to operating system). If you see that, uninstall it too. That's the drivers for your iPhone and they should self-install when you plug your device in.
If all that is fine, have you checked your cable and USB port? a malfunctioning cable can keep you from syncing.

I can't install OSX 10.6.3 as it says HD used for Time Machine backup, I can't install OSX 10.6.3 as it says HD used for Time Machine backup

I've just received Snow Leopard disc and tried to install it but nothign is ever that easy. It says that hard drive in use for Time Machine backup so can't install. I've never used Time Machine and settings appear to confirm that. I don't want to set it to restore and lose everything and have to install it again so not sure what to do. Can anyone advise me

Jane Doubleday wrote:
I've got an Intel mac otherwise I wouldn't have bought Snow Leopard.
Please update your profile info, then Jane - we can only go on the info you give us.
Glad you're sorted though

Restoring Time Machine backup to a drive in a "Voyager Dock"

Restoring Time Machine backup to a drive in a "Voyager Dock"
I would like to restore a Time Machine volume to a hard drive not installed in the computer it has backed up.
I have an iMac 24” with a failing drive. It will eventually need to be replaced.
I have my Time Machine back up for this computer in a Voyager Docking station.
I would like to have Time Machine “restore” the iMac’s data to a drive in another Voyager Dock running from a computer other than the iMac involved.
What I hope to do is bring the “restored” drive and the iMac to my Mac service provider and just have them swap the old drive for the new.
How do I get Time Machine to do this?

So, You're saying I can do this from a different computer with its own Time Machine?
In other words, I have my Time Machinedrive from the dead iMac and a fresh, formatted drive both hooked up to an unrelated computer with its own Time Machine.
If I enter Time Machine on that computer won't it show me the data it backs up for that computer only?
Will Time Machine know that there are two Time Machine backups (the one from the iMac and the one from the new host machine), and allow me to select the one from the iMac?

Mac Mini late 2012 Failed to Restore Time Machine Backup

Try to restore time machine backup to my mac mini. I have made backup right after I got the machine from apple. Now due to some reason I am trying to restore it but failing again and again. Error is something like this:
I have erase disk as default which is required for intel based model but still it didn't work. Please help me out.
Further I have also tried installing fresh 10.8 OSX by making bootable usb. It also didn't work. A question mark appears right after I select USB Bootable Drive at start.
Thanks

Yes same. When I try booting MBP with same usb it goes to recovery menu, (one which comes when you press Cmd+R) I think my MBP is running mavricks thats why it dont go to 10.8 setup. Further when I select same usb in mac mini it shows following screen.
Content of USB are:

HT3275 message: "Your Time Machine backup disk can't be found." Mountain Lion. Western Digital "MY Book" "Home edition"

Intalled Mountain Lion. Now get message: "Time machine backup disk can't be found. Using Western Digital "My Book" "Home Edition"

Wow, I feel really stupid. I spent a couple of days trying to troubleshoot this problem.
1. Open TM prefs.
2. Click "Select Disk..."
3. Select "None" and apply changes.
4. Click "Select Disk..." Select your disk and apply changes.
*5. When the password prompt appears, MAKE SURE THE NAME IS THE NAME OF THE AIRPORT BASESTATION, and not the name of your Mac.
6. Run a backup.

I installed time machine but I can't find it in system preferences?

I installed time machine but I can't find it in system preferences? How do I access it? Light is green but is it backing up?

???
You installed Time Machine or Time Capsule? Time Machine is part of Leopard (OS X 10.5.x). If you are referring to Time Capsule, you set it up via AirPort Utility. You should have the install disk. If you are talking about Time Machine, can you confirm you have OS X 10.5.x? Your signature indicates you only have Tiger (OS X 10.4.11). If that is correct, you need to upgrade to Leopard.
Welcome to Apple Discussions!

Restored iMac from Time Machine backup - now it wants a password!

Hi - hope you can help!
I restored my iMac from a Time Machine backup after a hard drive password. My system (user account) was not password protected - if ever asked for a password, all I needed to do was press Enter. The Time Capsule itself was password protected, but only in so much as the admin access and the wi-fi.
After restoring overnight, I'm now presented with a login screen and two user accounts to choose from (my wife and mine) but it requires a password. Pressing enter doesn't work, nor do any of the Time Capsule passwords.
Previously the iMac was set up to auto login to my account and didn't need a password then.
Any ideas why this might suddenly require a password? Is it a standard system generated password I should know?
Thanks for any help.
I'm running the latest version of OS X.
Jon

Didn't have enough coffee yet. Of course, what I told you won't work, since you can't log in. This might work. You must boot into to Single User mode, Cmd-s at the Startup chime.
At the root# prompt enter the following commands. Press RETURN after each:
fsck -fy
mount -uw /
launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist
dscl . -passwd /Users/username password
Replace "username" with one of the user names and "password" with the desired password.
Reboot

Can I restore time machine backup from Panther 10.3.9 to Lion 10.7?

Hi,
I would like to upgrade my old mac running Panther 10.3.9 to a new Mac running Lion before it fails on me.
Can I simply restore a Time Machine backup from Panther to Lion? Will my applications come across and function normally?
Let me know if you need any specific names of apps.

No your applications will not run on an Intel Mac running Lion. Macs running Panther 10.3.9 were PPC processors. Lion has no support for these old Applications Leopard and Snow Leopard supported some old PPC Applications using Rosetta

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Will I still be able to use my old Macbook Pro 2008 (Leopard) after restoring his latest Time Machine backup on a new Macbook Pro 2012 (Lion)?
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Thanks

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Since Mountain Lion was just released, it might make sense to hold on a few weeks and watch the forums for new and unforeseen issues before you dive in.

Hard drive issues due to Time Machine backup? Can't source the problem.

Last night my computer began to run extremely slow. All apps simultaneously lagged (spinning wheel of death), but then began working again after about 0.5-1 minute. This whole-system crash repeated about every 10 minutes a total of probably 5-6 times. The last time all apps stopped functioning and (CPU usage of iTunes was 85-95% for some reason (viewed using activity monitor), I am guessing due to its use of multiple hard drives as my music is stored on an external drive) and my computer just shut off after about 3 minutes of completely stalling. Rebooted computer and was left with an EXTREMELY slow system; opening up the quick menu (forgot the name, button on the top row of keyboard) for booting applications took 2-3 minutes. I eventually started disk utility, verified disk. It said I needed to repair disk by restarting my computer while holding down [Command] R message. Made sure i had a backup (at the time of that backup my computer was experiencing the problems above, 11:21pm), so I restarted whilst holding command R. Booted into the OSX utilities, retried the disk repair, received the "Disk Utility cannot repair this drive: back up as many files as you can..." message. Erased/reformatted my internal hard drive, and ran "repair disk" again; disk utility found no problems with the disk. Restored my files to my internal hard drive using OSX utilities (using the full system restore of the 11:21pm backup), and left it running while ran some errands. When I came back to look at my computer, it had attempted startup and crashed with the "kernel error" or whatever where all the text is on the left of the screen. It said something about not being able to find "disk2", which I believe was the disk containing OSX utilities (as veiwed in disk utility while running OSX utilities). Force shutdown, reboot with command R, wiped my internal drive again. Decided to only install a fresh version of OSX in an attempt to scan for viruses (using Sophos Antivirus, running scan as I am typing this), as the slow behavior of my computer had been very strange and began almost instantaneously (seemed like a virus/malware). No threats found so far with Sophos (scanning all my external drives too to source the problem in time machine backups), but I have deduced that there is something wrong with the most current Time machine backup, as it re-established the "problem" (easily fixed once drive is erased using OSX utilities) with my hard drive once I restored it to my internal hard drive. I am wondering (if it is not a virus) if I will need to repeat this whole process with every time machine backup to find where it went wrong, or if i can somehow pinpoint the problem easier. Will all of my Time Machine backups be corrupted now? Why would the Time Machine backup affect the state of the hard drive (does in need to be repaired or not)? Very confused at these random problems. If it is a virus (I will post the results of the Sophos antivirus scan as soon as it is finished), can I remove it from the backup and then restore it with no problems? What do you suggest I do? Will it make a difference to restore the most recent backup (11:21pm) using Migration assistant now that I am running a fresh install of OSX mountain lion? How can I source and eliminate the problem?

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Restored Time Machine Backup, now can't find files

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