Time machine search versioned files

i have a file that is periodically changed, but retains it's name, i have time machine running, and i would like to see all occurrences of that file such that i can view an older version or restore that version.
does anybody know how and where to structure that search?

Hi, and welcome to the forums.
Assuming neither a Spotlight search nor a Finder search works, you can't do this with Time Machine itself.
But the +Backup Loupe+ application, at: http://www.soma-zone.com/BackupLoupe/ does have an option that will show you all backups of a particular item.
It may take quite a long time, especially if you have a lot of backups. It's a new option, and not explained in the Help, but use the History button in the toolbar.

Similar Messages

Does Time Machine backup system files (/usr/local/*)?

Does Time Machine backup system files (/usr/local/*)?
If so how do you locate them in the Time Machine interface?
If I go into Time Machine mode and type say "/usr/local" in the Time Machine search bar I get nothing although I can open a terminal application and cd to /usr/local and see bin, lib, include, etc.
Of course I can never see /usr/local in Finder either ... only at the command line.
Thanks.

John, another tech pro ("baltwo") suggests:
Run this in the Terminal:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles 1
OPTION-click and hold on Finder's Dock icon->Relaunch which reveals all hidden files. Then, look for that file and delete it. To hide all of those, use the same command, substituiting zero for the one, and relaunch the Finder.

I am trying to get space on an external hard drive which has some old time machine back up files that I do not need but can not eliminate, even by going into the time machine, clicking on the backup file to be eliminated and using the drop down eliminate

I am trying to get space on an external hard drive which has some old time machine back up files that I do not need but can not eliminate, even by going into the time machine, clicking on the backup file to be eliminated and using the drop down menu with the gear box symbol to eliminate

I cannot find this 300GB "Backup" in the Finder, only in the Storage info when I check "About This Mac".
You are probably using Time Machine to backup your MacBook Pro, right? Then the additional 300 GB could be local Time Machine snapshots. Time Machine will write the hourly backups to the free space on your hard disk, if the backup drive is temporarily not connected. You do not see these local backups in the Finder, and MacOS will delete them, when you make a regular backup to Time Machine, or when you need the space for other data.
See Pondini's page for more explanation: What are Local Snapshots? http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
I have restarted my computer, but the information remains the same. How do I reclaim the use of the 300GB? Why is it showing up as "Backups" when it used to indicate "Photos"? Are my photos safe on the external drive?
You have tested the library on the external drive, and so your photos are save there.
The local TimeMachine snapshot probably now contains a backup of the moved library. Try, if connecting your Time Machine drive will reduce the size of your local Time Machine snapshots.

I want to use my 1TB Seagate Hard drive for time machine and transferring files from Mac to PC.

For about a year I've been using my 1TB external hard drive for only time machine. To be honest, it wasn't until today that I tried to connect my hard drive to a PC and realize it isn't compatible. I read about partitioning the hard drive so that it can work both for time machine and transferring files between pc and mac. I'm not what you would call tech savvy, so I was wondering if I can get some advice on how to do this.
Thanks in advance.

To do it, you have to partition the hard disk, so you will have one partition for Time Machine and another one to store files and use them in a PC and Mac. To create the partition, follow these steps > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU3.html
In order to read and write in the external disk on the PC, you have to select "MS-DOS (FAT)" as "Format". If you choose any other option, the PC won't be able to read your external disk. Apart from that, note that you can't use files bigger than 4 GB with FAT. If you want to use the external disk with files bigger than 4 GB, you have to format your new partition in exFAT, and you have to do it on a PC

I uses Time Machine to transfer files and program from old to new MacBook Pro. Aperture doesn't work. Every time I open Aperture the computer need me to key in Serial number. How do I fix it.

Hi There,
I purchased a new MacBook Pro Retina 15". Since I am using MacBook Pro and I uses Time Machine for backup files and program. Store saleman tell me I can retore my existing program and files from old MacBook Pro to new MacBook Pro computer. After files transfer it seem to be OK. But only Aperture has a problem when every time I open Aperture to edit photos, MacBook Pro ask me to key in the Aperture Serial Number that made me so inconvinent. Did any one have meet this problem and can someone teach me how to fix it, Thanks.
Nelson

Either the license files were not transferred or it has to be relicensed.
Remove and then re-install aperture. On an rMBP this should take only a couple of minutes.

Deleting Time Machine Back-up Files - HELP!

I tried to delete a time machine back-up file from my external drive (to clear space), I dragged it into the trash ... when I tried to empty trash it looked like there were 1000s of files being deleted. That scared me so I stopped the trash from emptying. Now I can't get the file out of the trash. I try to drag it out and it just copies. So two questions: 1) how do I get this file out of the trash? 2) how do I delete all of these back-up files - well, I don't need to delete all of them but there are so many? Do I really need all of these time machine back-ups? If I do delete them - what am I actually deleting? Are they just copies of my harddrive or is it a problem to delete them (when I look in the file that is in my trash it seems like it is my whole system ...). Sorry for all of the questions but I am in a bit of a panic. Also, I did try to delete the files by going into time machine, clicking on the gear icon, selecting a file and clicking on delete, nothing happened. Any thoughts, suggestions, advice most welcome!

wcaroliner wrote:
So two questions: 1) how do I get this file out of the trash?
See #E6 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).
2) how do I delete all of these back-up files - well, I don't need to delete all of them but there are so many? Do I really need all of these time machine back-ups? If I do delete them - what am I actually deleting? Are they just copies of my harddrive or is it a problem to delete them (when I look in the file that is in my trash it seems like it is my whole system
You shouldn't have to delete old backups. Time Machine will do that automatically when it needs space for new ones, unless you have the +Warn when old backups are deleted+ box checked in +Time Machine Preferences > Options.+ Just remove the check.
If you have other data on your Time Machine drive, in the same partition, that's not a good idea. It needs to be moved elsewhere, so Time Machine has it's own, exclusive space. See #3 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).
The backups have a complex and somewhat unusual structure; there's a bit of "smoke and mirrors" going on there, where it appears that every backup is a full copy of your system, and it is, in a way, but isn't in another. Seems contradictory, I know. See [How Time Machine works its Magic|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Works.html] for an explanation.
I did try to delete the files by going into time machine, clicking on the gear icon, selecting a file and clicking on delete, nothing happened.
You should have gotten a confirmation prompt, then one for your Admin password. If you didn't, the backups may be damaged/corrupted. Repair them, per #A5 in Troubleshooting.

How does Time Machine handle alias files on the backup volume?

I have been trying to find some info on how Time Machine handles alias files on the backup volume, but can't find anything on that topic. Neither here in this discussion or at the Apple support pages.
My concern is if an alias file on the backup volume is backed up »as is«, or if it is resolved and the original file is backed up? The last would be most annoying as this will make the size of the backup much larger.
Even though I do not know of folders having been renamed (which will cause that folder and all its content to be backed up again) Time Machine often backs up a surprisingly large amount of data, so I suspect that alias files could be resolved.
Any info on this will be appreciated.

Alias files are NOT followed, AFAIK.
For more info on how TM works, see this ars technica review.
Good luck!
Message was edited by: joshz

Access Time Machine´s hidden files in Windows

Does anyone know how to access Time Machine´s hidden files in Windows? I tried using MacDrive v7... but in its help files... it says that the app itself (MacDrive) will not show files on a Mac-formatted drive, partion, volume, etc. if MAC OS X itself intentionally hides certain files. Confused?
If MAC OS X hides files in the Time Machine hard drive, MacDrive will hide them too.
I want to access some of my documents that are on my Time Machine external hard drive on my Windows computer.
Why? I took my Time Machine hard drive with me out of the country.

Are you anywhere near a place that sells Macs? If so, you might see if they will copy the files for you. A university might be another place to check to see if they have any Macs or anything running Unix and would be willing to help you out.

Time machine and hidden files

Hi all
Apples old Backup software didnt backup hidden files (which i think really *****), but the question is does Time Machine backup hidden files as well?

The best way I have found to restore hidden files using Time Machine is to download the "HiddenFiles" widget from the widgets downloads here:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/developer/hiddenfiles.html
Once you have hidden files enabled, then they also show up in Time Machine, and appear to restore just as easily as normal files
Steve
(a recent switcher feeling somewhat chuffed at his findings)
Message was edited by: stevesant

Time Machine deletes "unchanged" files at some point?

I am worried with the fate of old files backed up with Time Machine and that are not changed, like old pictures.
I was told that after the first backup, Time Machine works by making links to unchanged files to avoid copying everything not changed.
_My question_: when Time Machine automatically deletes old backups to make save for the new backups - is it possible that these unchanged files (such a specific old pictures file) be also deleted ? In other words, some of _my old pictures might vanish of Time Machine if its file is not changed_?

Mikus wrote:
I am worried with the fate of old files backed up with Time Machine and that are not changed, like old pictures.
I was told that after the first backup, Time Machine works by making links to unchanged files to avoid copying everything not changed.
Correct.
_My question_: when Time Machine automatically deletes old backups to make save for the new backups - is it possible that these unchanged files (such a specific old pictures file) be also deleted ? In other words, some of _my old pictures might vanish of Time Machine if its file is not changed_?
No. As Malcolm says, Time Machine always has copies of everything currently on your Mac. Every Time Machine backup is, in effect, a full one -- a complete "snapshot" of your entire system.
See How Time Machine works its Magic for an explanation.

HT201250 Will Time Machine backup the files on my desktop?

Will Time Machine backup the files on my desktop? Backup files anywhere on my computer even if they're not neatly in the document folders?

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3107
Most commonly used backup methods explained

How do you use time machine to find files you have deleted?

I have time machine set up with a USB drive. I have spotlight set up to index my backups.
If I go into the finder and type "order confirmation" it finds the PDF file with those words in it just fine.
If I delete that file from my desktop, it fails to find it. So then I enter Time Machine while still in the middle of the search, and press the back arrow to go back in time until spotlight can find it. It correctly goes back just one hour (my last backup had that file in it since I just deleted it) but it doesn't actually display that file.
So that's a simple test case of my having no idea how to get Spotlight and Time Machine to work together.
Am I doing it wrong?

Try the Time Machine Tutorial

Does time machine identify any file replications?

Hi all,
I am wondering whether anyone knows more about this, looked into this.
- I know that time machine does use links to ensure that files that belong to multiple snapshots (successive snapshots)
are not backed more than once.
However, recently I had to reset my Mac (MacBook Pro) from 10.7.5 to 10.7.4, because there were problems in operation.
(actually with time machine and Spotlight, but I do not think, this is the issue here).
I simply reinstalled the version from about two weeks earlier - in the meantime there were not a large number of changes.
However, the next time the backup was about 80 GB.
This made me wonder under which conditions does TM actually identify a file that it has already backuped before
and it does only need to link it and not back up it up again:
only if it is at the very same position and it has no modified change date (of course also no content change)?
- this would mean the complete system actully would have been backuped again - not nice, but would roughly fit the size.
or are there more conditions?
It also seems that any files that are moved lead to a replicate backup. - the file at the new position is treated as a new backup.
Also if temporarily some location was excluded from the backup and then the exclusion is removed, it seems the next backup contains
an all-fresh replica.
In these and many other cases, a lot of space could be gained, if multiple occurances of files would be treated as a single file with
a hard-link in the backup.
a) It seems this is in no way addressed by TM
b) It seems that this might be compatible with the way TM manages backups. (files can be hardlinks)
Thus, does an utility exist, which is able to identify such copies in a backup and replace the identical copies by a single
copy with hard links? Does someone know more about the inner management of TM-backups? Could this approach work?
I know that this is not directly supported by TM, but I am just curious whether something like this exists, it seems to me
that due to my restoration and the way I handle data (e.g., put everything for working on the desktop - later move it to the
final destination), there would be very many opportunities to thus compress the size of TM-backups.
Cheers
Klaus

It says it will notify you after a backup is deleted. That's the only option available. You will have to open the TM backup and see where the file dates you wish to keep are and manually track them if you need TM to store files you deleted from your current system.
If you delete a file from your current system that you need to keep long term, then I wouldn't rely on a TM backup to store it. You should either keep it on the computer and you will always have a TM backup. If you need to clear space on the computer, you should back up important files to another location such as a flash drive or external drive.

Time Machine restore of File Vault encrypted user failed: Login failed due to an error.

Hello everyone,
I did regular time machine backups of a File Vault (version one) encrypted user folder. Now I needed to restore a few files that have been deleted unintentionally. Since single files can't be restored from a File Vault encrypted backup time machine told me that I must restore a complete backup from a certain time. I did that. Time machine quited to copy at about 25 percent and rebooted. Everything was looking good until I entered my password for the recovered user. Then I got the answer:
"Logging in to the account failed because an error occurred"
And now?
I tried to restore some other backups, none was working. I copied the relevant .sparsebundle file out of the backup folders and tried to mount it. Didn't work. It says "not recognized". Then changed it's owner to root and tried again, the same answer. I tried to repair it by using hdiutil but it also says "attach failed - not recognized".
Apple, I am asking you: Are my data lost?
Anyone, please provide help.
(Apple, it's more than a shame what you are providing for the safety of a user's data!)

Try Repairing the backups, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
If/when you get this sorted out, strongly consider switching to File Vault 2. It works much better, especially with Time Machine.
Or, if possible, only encrypting a few sensitive items, per Protecting confidential documents in a secure disk image.
Message was edited by: Pondini

Time Machine search problem

hi guys
i am facing a problem in time machine
suppose i backup a folder in time machine called 'x' and it has file name ' abcd.xyz '
when i go inside time machine and search for 'abcd.xyz' for today & when i press back button it disappear although if i go in documents/x/ i find the same file lying there.
pls help me with this problem..

macexpert wrote:
I have noticed this problems since the (non-fresh) install of Snow Leopard 10.6.
Problem 1: Search. If I go to eg. Yesterday 9.00, and I know there was a file there yesterday and try to search "On my Mac" for that file, no result pops up. If I go to the folder the file was in, and search only in that folder, it appears. But it appears only for Yesterday 9.00. Yesterday 10.00 it's not displaying, although it's there. Also the navigation (Problem 2) doesn't work in search result.
You might want to get Spotlight to re-index your TM drive. Via +System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy,+ exclude your TM drive for a few moments, then remove the exclusion. That should cause a complete re-indexing (which may, of course, take a while).
Problem 2: Navigation. If I enter time machine while in some folder, the current state of the folder is displayed in time machine. If I press on the 'back' arrow (lower right on the screen), instead of taking me to the screen with the last change, it just takes me to the last backup available. In Leopard it reacted different (taking me to the next screen that is different from the current one).
I rarely use the search function there, but don't recall it ever working that way in Leopard.

Time machine search versioned files

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