Time machine email files lost

I restored from Time Machine and lost all of my email history. Very valuable to my business. There is no history in users/username/library/mail as other posters have pointed to. Where do I go?

douglasfrommechanical wrote:
I restored from Time Machine and lost all of my email history.
Did you do a full system restore, after starting up from your Recovery HD and selected Restore From Time Machine Backup? If not, what did you do?
There is no history in users/username/library/mail as other posters have pointed to.
Have you tried opening Mail in the user account in question, then clicking the TM icon in your Dock? See the blue box in #15 of Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.

Similar Messages

Time Machine backup file corrupted and locked

This morning when I switch on my Mac there was a dialogue box telling me that my Time Machine backup file was corrupted and that Time Machine would have to create a new backup file.
I am backing up my Macs to a disk connected to my Airport Extreme. It's been working for months without any problems. Other than this morning. Time Machine buddy had the following message:
+Starting standard backup+
+Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://[email protected]/MyBookHome+
+Mounted network destination using URL: afp://[email protected]/MyBookHome+
+QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM DIRTY+
+Runtime corruption detected on /Volumes/MyBookHome/iMac27.sparsebundle (fsck_hfs -q termination status: 3)+
+Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://[email protected]/MyBookHome+
+Mounted network destination using URL: afp://[email protected]/MyBookHome+
+Backup verification failed for image /Volumes/MyBookHome-2/iMac27.sparsebundle!+
+Moved previous backup image to /Volumes/MyBookHome-2/iMac27_2010-11-01-032949.sparsebundle+
+Recovery backup declined by user.+
+Backup canceled.+
+Ejected Time Machine network volume.+
Has anybody seen something like this before?
I now have a locked and renamed sparsebundle on my disk and backups are not working anymore.

aschmid wrote:
Yes you are right, I know it isn't supported - as so many other things but they work!
This one is notorious for working for a while, then . . . not.
In addition to the problems above I got a pop-up from Time Machine saying the backup file is broken and it needs to create a new one. I told it to go ahead and what happened is that it actually proceeded to DELETE the old backup file before creating a new one - there goes my several months of backup history!
Yes, just as it says in the message. See #C13 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
All I can say do now is connect my drive directly to my iMac and figure out a way how I can backup my other iMac and the MacBook I have. On the AE this just worked remotely.
Yeah. Until it didn't.
Really not much options here to backup a home with 3 Macs!?!
Sure there is. Back the others up to the same drive, over your network, via sharing. See #22 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), for details and setup instructions.

MAC OS 10.7 Trying to Delete from TRASH Time Machine FOLDER (file)

Trying to delete time machine Folder(files) from TRASH. even used secure option, goes through ok. but will not delete from TRASH. files delete from
Time Machine Drive ok, deletion gives you more space on TM DRIVE Time Machine runs ok, How to Delete the Folder (Files) From TRASH?

Hello Mtaff,
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
For more information, take a look at:
You can't empty the Trash or move a file to the Trash
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1526
press Shift-Option or Option key combination while emptying the Trash
Have a nice day,
Mario

I have a time machine backup file on a USB hard drive. I bought a time capsule / airport extreme, flat 3TB. I wish to transfer the backup file from the usb hard drive to the time capsule hard drive. 10.6.8

I have a time machine backup file on a USB hard drive. I bought a time capsule / airport extreme, flat 3TB. I wish to transfer the backup file from the usb hard drive to the time capsule hard drive. 10.6.8

Unfortunately, Time Machine backups that are stored on a drive that has been connected directly to a Mac are completely different than Time Machine backups that are stored on a Time Capsule.
Frankly, it is not worth the effort and trouble to try to transfer the old backups to the new Time Capsule.....my opinion....having done this in the past.
It is possible though, but I would not recommend it due to the complexity and downsides involved with this. To give you an idea of how to do this, check out this support article.
http://pondini.org/TM/18.html
Even if you transfer the "old" backups over to the Time Capsule successfully, Time Machine will not simply "add on" to the old backups.
Time Machine will make a new complete backup of your Mac and then add incremental backups from that point.
My advice.....start a new backup on the Time Capsule and move forward. Keep the USB hard drive around for a month, maybe 2 or 3 in case you need to go back to an old backup for some reason. At that time, you will not likely need the old backups at all since you will have a current 2-3 month history of new backups. At that point, you can erase the USB drive and use it for another purpose.

Hi, Question about secure empty trash. I moved some Time Machine backup files to the trash from an external hard drive. Now I can't secure empty trash. It starts, finds 74,003 files, and does nothing. The external hard drive shows it's empty, but it isn't

I moved some time machine backup files from an external USB hard drive to the trash. Tried secure empty trash. It counts 74,003 items, then just sits there. The external hard drive window shows it's empty, but the info pane says it only has 50G of memory left. I left the secure empty trash on over night. It did nothing. Ideas?
Thanks,
Ron

Relaunch the Finder, then from the Finder menu bar, select
Finder ▹ Preferences ▹ Advanced
and uncheck the box marked Empty Trash securely. Try again to empty the Trash.

My mac 10.8 does no have the file, com.apple.desktop. plist I wentto lIbrary, preference and look for it and it is not where in my mac. I also launch time machine and file is no where on my Mac. How do I get this file back?

My mac 10.8 does no have the file, com.apple.desktop. plist I wentto lIbrary, preference and look for it and it is not where in my mac. I also launch time machine and file is no where on my Mac. How do I get this file back?
thanks

System files are hidden by default in Finder now, search for what you want then click the little + button on the top right of the bar that appears when you do a search. A new bar comes up and click the first box (that says "Kind"), change it to "System Files". Then change the box that says "aren't included" to "are included" and your file should show up.
http://osxdaily.com/2009/02/25/show-hidden-files-in-os-x/

HT201250 Does Time Machine delete files in back-ups that are deleted on my Mac?

Does Time Machine delete files in back-ups that are deleted on my Mac? IOW....if I need to restore a whole back-up, I don't want to restore previously deleted files.

Does Time Machine delete files in back-ups that are deleted on my Mac?
Not immediately. When space starts to get tight, Time Machine will start to delete the oldest file(s) to make more room, but this won't occur for some time.
if I need to restore a whole back-up, I don't want to restore previously deleted files.
You won't if you choose to restore from a backup that occurred after the date that you deleted the file.
If you absolutely do not want to keep the file in your Time Machine backups at all, you do have the option to go into Time Machine, find the file, and manually delete all versions of the file from past dates.

Using external HDD for Time Machine and files in one single partition ?

Hello everybody.
I've been searching for some time now and have encountered some contradictory answers, so I turn to you.
I would like to know if it's possible (one) and safe (two) to use a single partition for both Time Machine and file storage. I've read that this should be ok, since TM is actually only a single folder, which means the rest can easily be used as a standard Finder drive. Some people say however that this is not good to do so, because TM will run out of space quicker. But if the -let's say- 30Gb used for files where used by TM after a month, that would be the same, wouldn't it ? It would simply erase older backups. But is it safe to do so ? Will Time Machine not makes errors when accessing files or doing an entire system backup ? I don't won't to make a new partition really, that's why I'm asking you here, to let me know some arguments about it.
Thank you very much for your answers.

Marekova wrote:
Yet, overlooking that, you say "safe: mostly", why is that ? where's the "danger" or, what where you thinking when you said that ? Aren't these simple folder's ? Do you mean that, because during a full backup, these "stranger" files could be a problem ? It would be great if that was clarified, since I've found no indication about it elsewhere, has anyone tryed it ?
Oh, yes folks have tried it. That's why I (and many others) recommended against it.
Here's a similar thread from just the other day: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1926893 Note the responses from the top 2 "gurus" on this forum.
I probably should have asked you what you mean by "safe." If you mean, will TM delete other files on it's partition, no, it won't. If you mean, can there be problems, then yes, there can be conflicts and difficulties, as mentioned.
As to whether TM backups are simple folders, no, they aren't. They look like normal files and folders, but they actually contain what are variously called "hard links," "multi-links," and (my own personal favorite term) "ghost clones." Think of them as very fancy aliases. So they're not to be fooled with directly, by us mere mortals.
If you want more on this: http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2007/10/mac-os-x-10-5.ars/14
and/or: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/10/12/roadto_mac_os_x_leopard_timemachine.html
and, if you haven't seen it yet: http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/#tutorial=leopardtimemachine
You should also know that, for some reason, TM stores it's backups differently when it does them wirelessly. In that case, they're in a "SparseBundle," very different from the structure used for directly-attached backups.
All the more reason to put each Mac's backups in a separate partition, and if you want to store other data there also, a 3rd partition for that.
I've been using Mac since many years now, but I have no idea about backups, so excuse me if the statements appear a little childish.
Nope. Even those of us who are "older than dirt" and have used many flavors and varieties of backup systems for decades are in a whole new world with Time Machine.
And most of the folks on this forum who found themselves in deep trouble got there because they assumed things or didn't ask.

Time Machine Copied Files

I'm trying to restore time machine backup files that I copied from one hard drive to another. After reading some posts it looks like I might have made a mistake in thinking I could just drag and drop the files. I have the files all starting with cpbfxxxxxxxxxxx. I would like to put them back into time machine but that doesn't seem to work. Any ideas?
Thanks

Hi, and welcome to the forums.
If you copied files from one disk to another, they should still exist on the first disk, unless you deleted them.
Please clarify what you did or want to do: did you copy from your backups to a different disk? Or from one disk to another?
What is your setup: what drives are being backed-up to where?

Will Time Machine delete files on external hard drive?

I have all my itunes music and videos on my external hard drive. Will Time Machine delete these files. The hard drive is already formatted for mac.

Note from Time Machine Help files:
Time Machine works best if you use your backup disk only for Time Machine backups. If you keep files on your backup disk, Time Machine won’t back up those files, and the space available for Time Machine backups will be reduced.
So it will not overwrite the files but it also will not back them up.

Determining the Size of a Time Machine Backup File

When I highlight a Time Machine backup file and then click on Get Info under File to determine the size of the backup file, the disk drive works its heart out, but the Get Info window never arrives at a determination of the file size being seemingly stuck in the "calculating size" state.
Anybody have an idea of what's going on?
JohnnyS

JohnnyS wrote:
Regarding your statement: "If you Enter Time Machine (the "Star Wars" interface), from a Finder window with a "size" column, then browse your backups, you should be able to see the sizes easily." - what do you mean by the "Star Wars" interface?
Ah, you are new to Time Machine. Sorry, that's how you view and restore from your backups. Hold your mouse down on the TM icon in your Menubar and select +*Enter Time Machine,+* or click the TM icon in your Dock, or the +*Time Machine+* app in your Applications folder.
If I look at the pull-down menu under Finder, I do not see Enter Time Machine. Am I looking in the wrong place? Obviously, since I couldn't get by the first step, I never got to a "size" column, and to be honest, I don't know that I have ever seen a Finder window with a "size" column.
You can add one, by selecting View > as List, then View > Show View Options in a Finder window's menubar, and select or de-select whatever columns you want.
I'm a little embarrassed by my lack of knowledge, but if I don't acknowledge my shortcomings, I'll never get the question answered. Thanks for taking your time to try to help me.
Don't be. We all started at zero at one time or another.
I'm not sure just what you were looking for in your first post. The size of all your TM backups is just the amount used on your external disk, unless you have other data in the same partition (which isn't a good idea). Because of the way TM works, you can't really determine the size of an individual backup, and it really wouldn't mean much.
Perhaps if you clarified just what you want to know, we can help answer it.
For more info on Time Machine, you might want to review these:
Time Machine Tutorial
Time Machine 101
How to back up and restore your files
Time Machine Features
Apple - Support - Mac OSX v10.5 Leopard Time Machine
and perhaps browse the Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* at the top of this forum.
If you have a problem setting-up or using Time Machine, start with the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip* at the top of this forum. It will show you how to locate the message(s) that describe the problem, then help you fix it.

Can anyone access time machine backup files by connecting to time capsule by ethernet cable?

I operate an imac connected to a time capsule. It works great. My internet is connected to the time capsule with an ethernet cable and I access the internet on my imac using an ethernet cable connected to the time capsule. I can also connect to the time capsule using wireless.
A colleague of mine wants to connect to the internet and because of location issues the only convenient way is to let him connect to my time capsule using an ethernet cable. He can access the internet fine and he uses a windows PC. Now my question is, will he be able to access my time machine backup files if he connects to my time capsule using an ethernet cable? I have not given him my password.
Any help will be appreciated. I want to help him get online but I want to make sure he cannot access my time machine backup files.
Thanks

There are actually 3 passwords on the Time Capsule - assuming it has the same setup as my Airport Extreme Base Station.
One password for the WiFi connection.
One password to access setup of the device
One password for access to the storage drive - most people leave the check-box to just use the base-station setup password again.
And, as I said before, you also have the option to encrypt your TM backups. So even if somebody runs off with the device and breaks in to the disk, it will all be garbage without the TM password.
This is the screen as it is on my computer:
As you can see, to access my drive I have it set to use the device setup password.
Here is a screen shot of the other options:

Time Machine v.1 lost file folder names all the way back to "the beginning of time"

I was experiencing some increasingly erratic system problems with my White 2006 iMac running OS 10.5.8. My guess is that these problems were due to power outages cutting power to the iMac while it was in use.
- I tried Disk Utility from the Install Disk and it cleaned the HD but when I ran Verify Disk from Disk Utility off the HD it reported errors and I continued having problems.
-- I decided to wipe the HD and reinstall everything.
--- The first thing I did was backup with Time Machine v.1 and then disconnect the backup drive.
--- After reloading the OS and upgrades I ran Verify Disk from Disk Utility off the HD and it reported no errors.
----   Skipping all the headache a reinstall entailed ... I reloaded my files from the external backup drive Time Machine backups by grabbing the folders and pulling them to the cleaned HD.
-----     I found large portions of files names missing. They look to be exclusively file names starting with a number that I use to order files ( 01. , 02. , 03. ... etc) as opposed to alphabetical listing.
-----     These files - so far - are all located on a single folder branch. Meaning: as I follow the folder tree down I get to a list of project folders and some or all are missing everything but the starting number. I wrote this off as something to do with the hard drive operation problem but ...
------      ... all the same backup folders in Time Machine on my Seagate GoFlex have also lost their names all the way back for 2 years, when I started using Time Machine and the GoFlex.
------      I know for a for a fact the folder names were intact before I cleaned the iMac HD since I regularly use those files.

They aren't what they appear to be on the TM, most are aliases to aliases to aliases when files are changed, I think only TM understands how/where the files are actually stored.
Later versions of the OS with Restore Partitions can Restore also
Do run DU on the TM drive... it certainly can't hurt at this point.
I recommend cloning your drives instead of TM, not only can you copy files/folders over if needed, you can actually boot from your backup & continue working, or even clone back to the Internal...
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/
Or the most expensive one & my favorite, Tri-Backup...
http://www.tri-edre.com/english/tribackup.html

Will deleting time machine result in lost files?

I purchased an external hard drive and connected it to time machine, however I no longer want all files on the hard drive and only selected items such as my itunes library and pictures. If I delete the folder on the hard drive that contains all the time machine files will they be erased from my computer as well (eg. documents and downloads)?
Thank you

katherinemcgetrick wrote:
I purchased an external hard drive and connected it to time machine, however I no longer want all files on the hard drive and only selected items such as my itunes library and pictures. If I delete the folder on the hard drive that contains all the time machine files will they be erased from my computer as well (eg. documents and downloads)?
Thank you
Avoid deleting the files inside the Time Machine disk via Finder.
The backups directories have many special permissions that can get you into an awful mess if you try to delete by hand. Instead use the 'Time Machine menu > Enter Time Machine'.
Navigate to your Downloads folder, select it and use the gear menu (or right click) to 'Delete all backups of …'. Repeat for other items you want to remove.
It can take a long time to remove all copies.
Personally I think a brody is right to suggest you think seriously about this before you begin. If it is your only backup I would get another disk to make a 'bootable clone' too.
You can also exclude items in Time Machines preferences, however you should not exclude too much otherwise TM is not much of a backup.

Time Machine / Email help?

Good morning,
I am hoping somebody is able to help as I am totally baffled by an issue I am having.
I purchased a new Macbook Pro today so decided before I formatted my old one, I would make a time machine image so I could transfer the data straight across to my new machine. I thought this would be simple but I have stumbled across an issue.
I plugged my external HDD into my new Macbook and opened time machine to transfer my files. It advised me it was not set up on the new machine, so I went ahead and set it up, this made a new image of my new Macbook onto my external device.
When I open time machine it will only open it for this mac and there is no way to choose the time machine backup from my old mac which is extremely frustrating.
Now, I know you can access files without using time machine by openening the HDD and browsing the files, or browse other time machine disks. I used this method to download all my files with no issues at all but what I really need is my mail folder from my old Macbook.
I located the library folder but within there is no 'mail' folder. I used terminal to unhide files but this seemed to have no effect on the external HDD.
If I plug the external HDD back in to the old mac it again tells me no time machine is set up on this product and wants to make a third image.
Please help as these emails are vital!
Regards
Nicola Rutherford

Today this happened again: lost all the emails on MobileMe account. This time I am sure there was no interference with checking mail from the office or any other computer other than iPod Touch.
Switched on email. Opening an email it got stuck and after a minute everything in the mobilme inbox disappeared.
I use the iPod Touch to check email so now and then. Up until now no surprises.
Start to feel very uncomfortable that this can happen at random. Fortunately I back up on GTech external harddrive, but nevertheless. Any clue?
(I have posted this message wrongfully under Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger, it should have been Mac OS X v10.5.7 Leopard. Do not know how to move this to the right forum.)

Time machine email files lost

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