Searching time machine backup on different computer

I have 3 computers backed up by time machine onto one hard drive. How do I search time machine for a backup of a computer I am not currently using? I did use the control key and was prompted for which disk to search,and clicked on that, but then it just switches me back and only shows the backups of the same computer I am using at the moment. I want to search a time machine backup of a computer that is no longer functional.

This was actually solved in the 10.7.1 or 10.7.2 update.

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Restore Time Machine backup from different computer?

I'm going to put a new HD in my MacBook Pro.
Once I've done it will it be possible to restore my user folder, applications etc. from a different computer's (Power Mac) Time Machine backup?

Thanks again Joe.
One last question. Once I've transferred my files from the Power Mac's Time Machine disk could I select that disk in MacBook Pro's Preferences as it's Time Machine backup disk?
(Effectively stop using it as the Power Mac's backup disk & continue using it as the MacBook Pro's backup disk).
Backing up new files on the MacBook Pro to the disk, but still be able to 'go back in time' & restore files from the Time Machine disk (backup up over time on the Power Mac).

Access Time Machine backup through different computer

Hi, I have a 1TB Time capsule and I have my Macbook pro and my mother's macbook pro backing up to it. If one of our computers were to crash, could we go about getting a file from time machine through the other computer? I tried the right-clicking on time machine and selecting 'browse other time machine disk', but that only shows the backup for the computer im using, not anybody elses. any help?

Try mounting the "sparsebundle" file for the other computer before you invoke the "browse other ..." option. If that works, please let me know.

Restoring Time Machine backup from different computer

Last night my iMac hard drive crashed. I couldn't retreive any data as the Hard Disk was just not reading anything. I have since then reformatted the disk and have reloaded the OS.
Since the iMac is used primarily for home I don't backup the files on it. Most of my work is on my Macbook pro and I would like to keep the iMac like a mirror image of the Macbook. I am trying to restore a backup from my Mackbook Pro but there seems to be some problem.
I tried 'Browse other Time Machine' last night but after leaving the machine to restore the files overnight I have woken to find that nothing has been restored. Now I am trying to restore just the 'Users" and it's been 1 hour or so and all I am getting is 'Zero KB of 81.5gb - Estimating time remaining'.
What am I doing wrong? Why isn't any data transfering to my iMac? I ran the disk utility to check my disk and it was fine.

Read here on Pondini's Time Machine page on using Migration Assistant

How do I retrieve files from a backup hard drive (was backed up using Time Machine) on a different computer

how do I retrieve files from a backup hard drive (was backed up using Time Machine) on a different computer?

Please visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine.

How to backup from Time Machine of a different computer

I want to restore my emails from time machine from a different computer?

Look at the Pondini web site and it should be able to address all of your Time Machine questions.
http://pondini.org/OSX/Setup.html
Ciao.

Nas on airport extreme not recognized by time machine. same nas was previously used as time machine backup on different airport extreme. are there any configuration files that i can delete to fix this problem ?

nas on airport extreme not recognized by time machine. same nas was previously used as time machine backup on different airport extreme. are there any configuration files that i can delete to fix this problem ?

Time Machine has been working just fine, but in the last week or two it has given up the ghost. I reset the connections to the drive, and it will basically save a few bytes of data and then hang.
Although Apple originally announced, prior to the release of the first 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Stations (AEBSn), that it would support Time Machine backups to AirPort Disks, they removed that option before they did finally release the base station for sale.
Since then, Apple has posted (as you have noted) that they DO NOT support Time Machine backups to AirPort Disks. As far as I know, they have not changed from that position and those who do these backups find that they become corrupted over time. Sorry, but it sounds like you just confirmed that for yourself.
1) Has one of the recent updates either on the AE (firmware) or OSX disabled this function?
No. Again, this feature has never been supported by Apple for every generation of AEBSn released.
2) Are there any changes I can make to get this working again?
If your data backups are critical to you, then you will want to use a different solution for your Time Machine backup destination drive strategy. I would suggest that you connect your WD My Book directly to your Mac in the mean time.
Your other options would be to either use a Time Capsule (which interestingly does support TM backups to AirPort Disks) or a non-Apple solution like the Drobo FS or HP MediaSmart server.

Can't view time machine backups from old computer on new computer

My macbook pro laptop recently died and I am trying to access its time machine backup data through Finder on a different computer. In each one of my folders from different dates, however, the majority of the computer folders I would like to access (i.e. desktop, documents, dropbox, etc) have a little red "no" sign in the corner and prompt the following message when selected:
"The folder “FolderName” can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents"
How can I gain permission to see its contents? As the former user, I know whatever passwords are restricting these files, but I don't know how/where to go to give permission to these folders. I've tried going into Disk Utility and changing the permissions there, but to no avail, despite successful changing of the "Sharing & Permissions" to "Read & Write" for all listed accounts.
I'm currently trying to view this on an imac OSX 10.6.8. The dead MacBook pro ran OSX
thanks
kate

Hi Kate,
It sounds like you're running into an issue trying to recover that was on your previous Mac from a Time Machine backup. The article linked below will walk you through the process of recovering the data from your older Mac's Time Machine backup.
OS X: How to migrate data from another Mac using Mountain Lion and earlier
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4889
Time Machine or other disk migration
If Migration Assistant isn't running on the target (new) Mac, open Migration Assistant (located in /Applications/Utilities/), select "From another Mac, PC, Time Machine backup, or other disk" then click Continue.
Connect your external hard drive if necessary.
Type in your admin password when prompted and click OK.
When the target Mac asks you for a migration method, select "From a Time Machine backup or other disk", then click Continue.
Select the Drive, Time Machine backup, or Time Capsule. If you select Time Capsule you will be prompted to enter the Time Capsule password. After entering the password, select the Time Machine backup.
Close all other applications on the source Mac, then click Continue to start the migration options.
The source Mac will ask you to select items to migrate.
You can customize your selection by clicking to open the disclosure triangles.
After you click Continue, the Migration Assistant will begin to transfer files to the target Mac. The amount of time that it takes for migration to complete depends on the amount of data being transferred and the speed of the network.
Note: To view documents that were migrated, choose Log Out from the Apple () menu, then login as the migrated user. The migrated documents will be located in the migrated user's home folder.
I hope this helps.
-Jason

Help: cannot retrieve old files from Time Machine backup on new computer!

I backed up my old Macbook Pro for several months. I've got a new Macbook Pro and I succeeded to restore the last content of the old one using the migration assistant.
However, now I need some older files that I know are in the backup, but I can't restore them because you apparently can only do that with the computer from which you made the backups... a Time Machine backup is 'tied' to the sparsebundle using the MAC-address of the computer...
I don't have my old computer anymore, does this really mean that all the old file in the backup are lost for me? Or is there an other way?
Please help.
Wim

Wimek,
According to this KB article (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1760)
"When upgrading from one Leopard-based Mac to a new Leopard-based Mac, and you wish to use Time Machine backups from the previous Mac, make sure the computer name of the new Mac (in Sharing preferences) is the same as your previous Mac's computer name was when its Time Machine backups were made. Afterwards, if the previous Mac is still on your network, give it a different computer name."

Question re searching time machine backups

Per apple's info, if you do a search in the finder, then open time machine, you should be able to go back to each time and perform the search in that time period. However, when I search for file "X" in the finder and it shows up, then try to go back in time machine, the file does not come up in the search window at any other past time, even though I know it is there. This happens with any search that I do; yet, if I go back to the folder that I know contained the file, it IS in the folder for the time machine backups. Obviously, if I know the exact folder, this is no big deal, but if I am searching for a file, it is a problem.
Again, per apple's documents this is supposed to work. Thoughts?

I saw this document, and it suggests that spotlight should work:
Open a Finder window and type a search word or phrase in the search field in the upper-right corner.
Focus the search by choosing a search location in the location bar.
*_You can search your entire computer (This Mac) or the folder that was selected in the Finder when you started your search*_. New search results begin to appear after you select a location.
Refine the results by specifying search criteria.
Specifying criteria in a search window
Click the Time Machine icon in the Dock.
If Time Machine isn’t in the Dock, look for it in the Applications folder.
Use the arrows and the timeline along the right edge of your screen to browse through the Time Machine backups. Your search is performed in every window.
When you find the item you want to restore, select it and then click Restore.

How do I restore a few items saved in Time Machine on a different computer?

After upgrading my G5 Mac to Leopard, and using an external Firewire drive as the Time Machine backup, both of my hard drives crashed on the G5. To make a long story short, I ended up with a new iMac. Luckily, all my data WAS saved on the Time Machine (yeah!!!).
I used the Migration Assistant to copy the applications, user accounts, and network settings to the iMac. And while I don't have the space to move ALL the data from my backups to my new Mac, there are some things I need to move that I haven't been able to find. These are:
• Old E-mail stored on my hard drive (not the server), most recently in Apple's Mail program (previously in Entourage).(Migration Assistant didn't copy the old mail.)
• E-mail addresses saved in Entourage (these didn't get moved to the Address Book application).
• Firefox Bookmarks
Thanks for your help!

I'm happy to report that I found all my "missing" data...turns out it was just under a different user!

Time Machine backup file differs in size from HD

I just backed up my MacBook for the first time using time machine to a time capsule. I checked out the file size of the sparse bundle file and its approx. 70gb, however my HD has 86.5gb on it. Is this correct? I thought the backup file would be the exact same size as the HD.
Also, there is a disk image mounted under the HD in the finder called "Backup of "name's" computer". Does that have to stay or can I eject it?
Thanks in advance for the help.

cgapper wrote:
Thanks for the info on the disk image, it has since disapeared.
16gb of size difference seems like a lot. Could it be that there are 16gb out of 86gb that isn't being used efficently on my HD? While it was doing its initial backup, I noticed toward the end when I checked on it in the morning, there was still approx 16gb left to transfer.
I agree, 16gb is "a lot" just for fragmented files. When I performed my first full backup, the disk image virtually matched the size of my data on the Mac. So I don't have an explanation not knowing more about your setup.
BTW - How did you check "the file size of the sparse bundle file". Are you connected via ethernet or wirelessly? When ever I call up Get Info wirelessly it never reports a size, just "Calculating size...".
When I checked back a few mins later, the figures in the progress box had changed to 'xx' mb out of 6mb. Seems kinda wierd to me. Any more thoughts on that? b
Yes, what you say at the end was the 2nd pass of Time Machine. This explains it...
*Time Machine Appears to Make 2 Backups*
It is normal for Time Machine to perform two passes with each backup. This is because some files/folders have likely changed while Time Machine was performing the first pass of the backup backup, particularly if the current backup took some time to complete or your computer was in use during the Time Machine backup. So it picks up those changes with a second pass. George Schreyer refers to this behavior in his article on Time Machine: “The copy process is pretty straight forward and can happen in two passes if changes happen DURING a backup.” [http://www.girr.org/mac_stuff/backups.html]
Cheers!

Time Machine backup for old computer has been named for new computer

On my new Time Capsule, I backed up the entire disk from my older computer. While consulting with a live help technician for an unrelated problem, he had me reset the Time Capsule using the newer computer. To resume use of the Time Machine backup from my older computer, I had to gain permission . . . and subsequently discovered the reason why. Reseting with the new computer caused the backup volume to be renamed with the new computer's name.
Sooo, 1) how do I correct the naming error, and 2) will further confusion occur when I then go to back up the new computer?

It may or may not ask you to reformat the disk when you set it up as the backup for that new computer. If it does, I think you can cancel it.
What I would do is open Migration Assistant, then import your applications/documents/etc. onto the new computer, and then use the Time Machine disk for backup (formatting it if it asks you to).
You'll at least have recent files and stuff like that, which may not be as good as an incremental history but at least it's something.

Help with restoring from Time Machine Backup from another computer

I was required to dump my Mac OSX on my MacBook Pro and convert to a windows machine to use a testing software that did not allow boot camp. Before doing so, I backed up my hard drive to a partition of my iMac via a wireless connection. I am now using a boot disk to try to restore my system from the Time Machine backup on the iMac. I have logged onto my wireless network, but the Mac OSX Installer just keeps saying "Searching for Time Machine Backups..." My iMac is on (typing this now) and is active on the network. What do I need to do to be able to see my Time Machine backup from my MacBook Pro?

Hi m,
I don't know if this would make a difference or not, but you could try booting the iMac in FireWire Target Disk Mode.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583

How to retrieve email and contacts data from time machine from a different computer

My iMac hard disc has died and though I have everything backed up on Time Machine I am finding it difficult to access my Contacts (not on iCloud) and emails from my laptop.
I understand that they are to be found on the Time Machine backup in library/applicationsupport/addressbook and /Library/Mail/V2, but these files appear to be hidden.
From my reading it has been suggested that I use the utility Terminal, but I don’t know where to start with this – any guidance would be most welcome

Please visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine.

Searching time machine backup on different computer

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