Time Machine: backups lost

What has happened to my time machine backups?
I was backing up to an external drive. TM has always worked perfectly. Just a day or two ago I noticed Time Machine was not completing backups.
I think it may be because my external drive does not have enough room on it now.
But I thought TM was supposed to delete older backups if this happened.
I cannot find any trace of any backups on the external drive.
I cannot enter into Time Machine, there does not appear to be anything there.
I think the above window indicating that there is not enough room is because something has happened to my backups and it is now attempting to start a new one all over, this happened after I started getting the failed to backup options and I went into Time Machine and attempted to delete some backups but did not.
Anyway, before this happened I should have only been putting very little files in the backup, I should not have to make such a large backup now. I thought this was all done incrememtally and I thought that Time Machine was supposed to delete older files if space starts being a problem.

Similar Messages

Encrypted Time Machine Backup Lost in Mountain Lion Install?

Hi,
Operating 10.7.4, I make use of 'time machine' encrypted backups to an external HD. If I wipe the HD and do a fresh install of 10.8, will I lose the encrypted backup? Of course I know my passwrd and I don't rely on the keyring, but if there is some certificate exchange between OS and TM, there is a possibility that installing a fresh OS, I will lose access to the disk? Is there any official documentation that addresses this concern?
Thanks, cheers.

vance.corkery wrote:
Hi,
Operating 10.7.4, I make use of 'time machine' encrypted backups to an external HD. If I wipe the HD and do a fresh install of 10.8, will I lose the encrypted backup?
No. It's password only. You can even access it on a different Mac (Lion or ML) with the password.

Where is my I Photo Library in Time Machine Backups as I seem to have lost photos after installing Lion?

Can anybody tell me how I can locate my photos from I Photo in the Time Machine backups as I seem to have lost most of 2011 after installing Lion.
Many thanks

To recover individual photos open iPhoto and use the File ➙ Browse Backups menu option.
Click to view full size
That will take you into iPhoto in Time Machine where you can search for the phtoos and restore them.
To restore the entire library, close iPhoto, go to the Pictures folder, enter Time Machine, go back in time till you get the library you want to restore, select it and use the Restore button.
Click to view full size
OT

HT201250 Any ideas on how to recover my Time Machine backup with a lost password?

I am trying to migrate my Time Machine backup to a new Macbook, but lost the Time machine administrator name and password.
My old Macbook still connects to Time machine, so the information (administrator and password) is in that computer somewhwere - I just can't find it.
Is there a way to find that information in my old machine or otherwise get into the Time Machine files?
I am using a Seagate external drive connected to a wireless router.

I have a similar problem.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/25676099#25676099
Did you ever find out how to reset the Time machine name and password? I would appreciate hearing from you.
Francisco

After upgrading my iPhone, I lost all my contacts..... and they were replaced with my wife's contacts even though she upgraded after I did. I did a time machine backup before I started the upgrade process, how do I get that saved data back to my phone?

After upgrading my iPhone, I lost all my contacts and they were replaced with my wife's contacts even though she upgraded after I did. I did a time machine backup before I started the upgrade process, how do I get that saved data back to my phone?

Hi bluegrandpanash,
Thanks for visiting Apple Support Communities.
If you backed up your iPhone to iCloud before updating the software, first try the steps under "Restore from an iCloud backup" in this article to recover your data:
iOS: Back up and restore your iOS device with iCloud or iTunes
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1766
Best Regards,
Jeremy

TS1211 I lost one calendar from my Mac Osx 10.5.8 system on G4 how can I find it from time machine backup?

I lost one calendar from my Mac Osx 10.5.8 system on G4 how can I find it from time machine backup?
Can someone help me with that pls !!!!!!

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5176639

Lost login keychain; Lost previous time machine backups with Lion install

I downloaded Lion and it would not install on my 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 4 gb 1067 mhz ddr3 Mid-2009 Macbook Pro. I got the exclamation mark with hard disk irrepairable error. I took it to the local Apple store. They did a number of hardware tests and after several false calls saying it was ready (when I arrived to pick it up and tried to set up OS (select language etc) I got spinning beachball), I finally brought it home with Lion installed. All seems well, and I restored the data from Time Machine backup done under Snow Leopard. To my surprise, I find old versions of the login keychain - last updated 2010. I had 2 separate time machine backups going back six months, but when I tried to browse one for the newer keychains, I find that all previous Time Machine backups have been removed and all I have is the Time Machine backup from Lion install. So there are two related problems: one is that I lost keychain data and the other is that I can't restore from Time Machine backup since the only backups that seem to be there have restarted with Lion. Another factor, is that the technicians had to reset my user password in order to set up Lion and I subsequently changed it back to my own password. Any solutions to locating old time machine backups or restoring recent keychain entries?

How so I know...
Time machine preferences shows last known backup as NONE
NOTE: I found a section in the time machine prefs to use another backup file and all seems ok now
Thx

It seems as if my time machine has lost some backups.

I have had my time machine for over six months. I lost a video a couple of months ago and needed it replaced and was able to do so without a problem. For some reason that video is gone again and I went back into the time machine to get it. This time however the time machine only shows a couple of months of backups and I cant go far enough back to find the file I need. It is a 2T time machine and I have pleanty of space so I know it never got full.
Is there a way to restore or access older backups that Im guessing still must be in there somewhere? Thank you for your help

There is a likely chance that shortly after you installed Lion on your computer, that Time Machine sent you a message indicating that it needed to start a new set of backups.
At that time, the previous backups would have been deleted and new backups were started over again.
That would explain the "shorter" history of backups.
If by some chance the "old" backups are still on the Time Capsule, you can try the following:
Right-Click on the Time Machine icon on the dock
Select Browse Other Time Machine Backups
See if there is another "disk" that appears
If yes, click the other disk to highlight it and then click Use Selected Disk to see your "old" backups
Reverse the procedure above to get back to your current set of backups.
Another thought......did you delete the file from your computer at any time, thinking that it would stay on the Time Capsule?

Help! Macbook Air lost association with USB Airport hosted Time Machine Backup

Okay, so my wife's Macbook Air was doing Time Machine backup to USB drive attached to previous generation Airport Extreme...
We bought a brand new Airport router a couple of weeks ago, I plugged it in and everything went smoothly. Plugged in USN drive that attached to older APE router, and it's still visible on the network. However, ever since we got the new router, the existing backups are not associated with the Macbook Air anymore.
Yes, I can start over with a new backup file, but I was hoping to use the existing backup (it takes a while to backup wirelessly, and we lose the whole history if we wanted to recover previous versions of files that were backed up—I can't think of anything we'd need right now, but Murphy's Law will probably apply if I go ahead and erase the old and start new).
I was hoping all I would have to do was drag the old backup file onto the Time Machine icon to re-associate it with this computer, but I can't see any way to tell Time Machine, "hey, here's the backup file you are looking for... it's right here on the same USB drive attached to the new router."
(Also, before anyone says to make sure I have a backup of the backup, I do. The computer is backed up offsite with Backblaze, too.)
Perhaps it will be best to just start from scratch with a new Time Machine backup, that just seems like overkill, since there was nothing wrong or corrupt with the existing Time Machine file, I just switched what router it was attached to. Thanks for any advice/enlightenment.

I guess I have a few comments.
Apple has an opt out.. they do not support Time Machine backups on older Airport Extreme. Apple have always stated it is unreliable and so refused to support it.. only with Gen6 of the AE have they changed to supporting TM backups.
From your point of view it should have worked.. it may indeed still work. But the change of network is significant and it will take some work on your part.
1. I need to know what OS is the MBA running??
2. Moving a disk from one network location to another, I would strongly recommend a full reset of Time Machine on the computer.
See A4 here. http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
3. Pondini in the same reference has some info about inheriting old backups .. slightly different context but it also could help.
see B5 and B6
4. It is also possible to move old backups into a new backup.. but this is then going too far.
I would simply buy a new USB drive.. and keep the old backup drive for a few months until your new one builds up sufficient history to be sure you will not need the old ones.. at that point you can use the old backup drive again after a reformat.
5. To do the new backup, since wireless is indeed a long and burdensome chore to make that crucial first backup, buy a thunderbolt to ethernet adapter.. assuming your MBA is recent enough. Ethernet is so worthwhile having it is required not optional extra. The cost at $35 is one of the cheapest adapters for a very expensive interface..

Lost folders after time machine backup

I have been moving my office and did not do a time machine since 2/09. Finally found the drive while unpacking and plug it into my laptop...took a bit but finished with no issues. This morning I turned the laptop on and every folder that had a 2009 label is GONE!...missing, everything from photo folders to work and customer folders with everything inside too. Even my 2009 Quickbook program is gone alone with the data!
I finally got back from the office and plugged in the time machine backup and there is nothing there either!
HELP, any ideas?

SLee_Meridian wrote:
The drive is portable and hard wired when running TM. Both backups are in a folder called Backups.backupdb. There are a few other folders on the drive, but I looked through them and nothing there either.
What is strange is that many recent files and folders are still on my computer and on yesterdays backup. It is only folders that started with 2009 (and the contents) that are missing.
Are you talking about the +backup folders+ or your +data folders?+
Via the Finder, in List mode, you should see something like this (dots representing indentations):
(note: be *extremely careful not to move, change, or delete anything via the Finder.)*
Backups.backupdb
....Your Computer Name
........Date/Time
............Your HD Name
........Date/Time
............Your HD Name
. . . etc . . .
...Your Son's Computer Name
........Date/Time
............His HD Name
........Date/Time
............His HD Name
. . . etc . . .
Each of those Date/Time folders represents one backup. What are the last three dates & times shown for your Mac?

Time Machine has lost all backups

I have a time capsule that was reset on 15th April when I moved the home folder on our iMac to an external disk. It needed to be reset as there was not enough free space to keep the existing backups and continue with the new external. Time machine has been running since and backing up our files.
Today I noticed that Time Machine was working hard doing a backup and when I check the status in the top bar it shows that time machine is backing up all or our data (approx 250Gb). I opened the time machine application and it only shows a backup from today - there is no history.
What could have happened? It looks like the time capsule was wiped and time machine has started from scratch again. One other thing, I updated to the latest AirPort utility this morning, coincidence?
Hope someone can help as I do not want this to happen again.
All the best
Andrew Wright.

Thanks for the link, but the answers there did not really help explain why a full backup was done. None of the reasons in D3 were applicable. I did look at the system log and found the info below. This appears to show a 'normal' backup just before 2pm then the full backup just after 3pm. The question is still 'why would time machine want to backup everything when most files were already backed up'?
Jun 17 13:55:24 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[746]: Starting standard backup
Jun 17 13:55:24 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[746]: Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://[email protected]/Time%20Capsule
Jun 17 13:55:33 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[746]: Mounted network destination using URL: afp://[email protected]/Time%20Capsule
Jun 17 13:55:37 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[746]: QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
Jun 17 13:55:40 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[746]: Disk image /Volumes/Time Capsule/MyMac.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups
Jun 17 13:55:40 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[746]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
Jun 17 13:56:02 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[746]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 841.0 MB requested (including padding), 149.65 GB available
Jun 17 13:57:28 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[746]: Copied 1601 files (183.8 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Jun 17 13:57:28 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[746]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 592.4 MB requested (including padding), 149.65 GB available
Jun 17 13:57:31 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[746]: Copied 7 files (93 bytes) from volume Macintosh HD.
Jun 17 13:57:32 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[746]: Starting post-backup thinning
Jun 17 13:58:02 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[746]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb/MyMac/2011-05-18-162329: 149.65 GB now available
Jun 17 13:58:02 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[746]: Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
Jun 17 13:58:02 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[746]: Backup completed successfully.
Jun 17 13:58:06 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[746]: Ejected Time Machine disk image.
Jun 17 13:58:06 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[746]: Ejected Time Machine network volume.
Jun 17 15:16:12 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[425]: Starting standard backup
Jun 17 15:16:12 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[425]: Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://[email protected]/Time%20Capsule
Jun 17 15:16:21 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[425]: Mounted network destination using URL: afp://[email protected]/Time%20Capsule
Jun 17 15:16:23 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[425]: QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
Jun 17 15:16:26 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[425]: Disk image /Volumes/Time Capsule/MyMac.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups
Jun 17 15:16:26 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[425]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
Jun 17 15:16:40 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[425]: Node requires deep traversal:/Volumes/Users reason:must scan subdirs|
Jun 17 15:17:17 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[425]: Compacting storage: 297.87 GB requested (including padding), 149.65 GB available before compacting
Jun 17 15:17:17 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[425]: Stopping backup.
Jun 17 15:17:18 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[425]: Backup canceled.
Jun 17 15:17:19 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[425]: Ejected Time Machine disk image.
Jun 17 15:17:19 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[425]: Compacting backup disk image to recover free space
Jun 17 15:18:11 iMac-2 com.apple.backupd[425]: Completed backup disk image compaction

Data Recovery of Time Machine Backup From a Corrupted Drive

I had to install 10.2 and 9.2.2 on an internal drive in my 2003 MDD G4 but first I had to reformat it (and wipe out its data) since it did not have OS 9 drivers installed. No problem thinks I since its contents are backed up to my 500 GB Western Digital HD. Installation of 10.2/9.2.2 was successful but when I go back into 10.5.8 to restore the contents of the newly formatted drive the external drive with the Time Machine backup will not mount. It churns and grinds forever and nothing I've tried (after consulting the WD support web site) helps. It is recognized by Disk Utility but that is all.
Any thoughts on whether/how to recover the lost backup? Many thanks in advance.

mvaldeslora wrote:
Well, I am happy to report a happy ending. Turns out DW had crashed but I initiated the procedure again and it was able to rebuild the drive's directory in a couple of hours. Time Machine then recognized the drive and I was able to restore the contents of the drive on which I installed 10.2/9.2.2 earlier in this saga. I will reformat the external WD drive now and see how it performs before I decide whether it's a keeper or not. Thanks for all comments and observations.
Yay!
If those are your only backups, please do yourself a favor: do not trust them to that drive! Get a new one, and put TM backups on one, and use the other to regularly update a "clone" or at least home folder backups via CarbonCopyCloner, SuperDuper, or the like.
Murphy was an optimist!

How do I use time machine backup to restore onto a different computer

I am trying to troubleshoot the best way to back up my Mac. I have been a mac user since 20009 and always used a time machine. The two times I have needed it for backup, my computer did not read the portion the backup was. You could tell under disk utility the space was used. Just before the need of backup, it was backing up. So, I am wondering if I need to use a different method. I lost all of my Christmas 2015 movies. My computer did some weird thing with passwords and it needs some resetting I had to do with the support team on the phone. The support person could not figure out how to access the back up on time capsule. I noticed the password resetting made my computer name different by putting a 3 behind the name I assigned it.
One thought that has crossed my mind is can you use the time machine backup and open it up on a completely different computer? If so, I should have been able to someone access my information. I would like to know the answer and how do it so I know in case this ever happens again and so that I can rely on this expensive back up machine I have purchased two different times on two different computers and never been able to actually use.

Are you running Yosemite.. because it is the cause of loads of problems.
As to opening the TM backup from another computer.. yes you can.
Please read our TM expert Pondini.
Q14-17 on restore here.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
Particularly as you will see Q17 and it will reference the prior info you need.
I have gone through this with several people.. and I have a post showing a manual file location and restore.
Can't access old files on time capsule
But not from Yosemite.. it has its own bunch of bugs.. as mentioned. Good luck with those.
I also strongly recommend people use a secondary backup method.. there are excellent third party.. I use Carbon Copy Cloner.. it is reasonable price.. $40 based on standard rsync.. and will create either bootable clones to a local drive or sparsebundle on a time capsule etc.
The bootable clone is the ideal way to recover files. since it is based on a simple computer reboot and then access of files that are in exactly the same place as you left them.. TM backs up in a most complicated manner.
See how tm works here. The top couple of articles and how it is different to clones. As Pondini suggests.. using both is no bad thing.
http://pondini.org/TM/Home.html
This is also useful for yosemite.. it is not working as TM used to.
Find files in Yosemite.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6681850?searchText=time%20machine%20yosemit e#27139370
While in Time Machine, press the key combination shift-command-C. The front window will show all mounted volumes. All snapshots should now be accessible. Select the one you want and navigate to the files you want to restore.
I am not sure why your previous use of TM failed.. In the midst of all its problems it does still work ok.. as mostly people can recover stuff they do.. albeit it needs a lot more messing than is typical Apple.

How can I restore my EQ settings from a Time Machine backup?

I recently reinstalled Mavericks, and restored my user account from a Time Machine backup. In doing so I appeared to have 'lost' my personal EQ settings in iTunes, of which I had perfected quite a few to suit various headphones and speakers I've found myself using over the years.
I have a pre-reinstallation copy of the com.apple.iTunes.eq.plist file (found in /Users/username/Library/Preferences) that I believe contains my EQ settings; opening it in Textedit I can see references to the EQ settings I created.
Having tried restoring this particular file from Time Machine and restarting and finding iTunes doesn't recognise the [old] custom com.apple.iTunes.eq.plist file, does anyone know a way I can re-import my old EQ settings, or do I have to try and manually create them again? (gah)
Thanks for any light you can shed on this!

Enter your Time Machine backup (via the TM icon in the menu bar) and find this file
/Users/username/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iTunes.eq.plist
and hit Restore.
It didn't reflect in iTunes immediately, but after a restart it appears to read the new (old) plist file. You should have your old EQ settings back.
Let me know if it worked for you...

I want to use my time machine backup to go back to Snow Leopard

I can't live without having my great old golf game (Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003) readily available, and playable, which I always had on my iMac with Snow Leopard. Since upgrading to Mavericks - and using Parallels with Mac OS X 10.6 Server - I am told there's a color/display problem (something about 16-bit color) and I can't get the game to play even though it's the same computer, only upgraded to Mavericks. Parallels says it's an Apple (Mac OS X Server 10.6) problem but from what I can see the server version of this OS is exactly the same as the non-server version - at least insofar as the display/color/graphics is concerned - and Parallels either doesn't want to help (with an appropriate graphics controller) or can't.... so I'm left with having to go back to Snow Leopard from Mavericks. What a huge disappointment! Can I use - and how do I do it - my Time Machine backup of my Snow Leopard OS, apps, documents, iTunes, etc. to wipe out Mavericks?

Yes, the machine came with Snow Leopard but not sure where the install disc(s) are. Perhaps they got lost in the shuffle as we moved a few months ago. I do have a Snow Leopard install disc - can I use that and if so, is there a different way to do the install than if I was using the original install discs that came with the computer? Maybe I will jsut have to try it and see what comes up....
But for the computer's inability to play the game, I would have stayed with Mavericks. Now I'm installing a trial version of VMware Fusion but probably the results will be the same as for Parallels. I'll report back in a few minutes!

Time Machine: backups lost

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for