Time Machine won't restore: don't have permission

Question

I am trying to restore a project folder containing website files. It was backed up originally when I was using Leopard and then again after the Snow Leopard upgrade. I need access to the pre-snow leopard files, which are visible in time machine. When I click "restore", however, time machine creates a blank folder and gives me the message: "the operation can't be completed because you don't have permission to access [name of file]."
Nothing has changed besides the operating system. The computer and the backup disk are as they have always been. The computer has only one user, so it's not a user conflict. I've reset permissions and restarted. I have tried restoring to several different locations, including the file's original position and the desktop, as well as replacing and keeping both.

Answer 1

Cheryl, How was that Snow Leopard installation performed?
a. Did you simply install SL over Leopard, thus preserving your user data?
b. Did you install SL and create a new user account
c. Did you erase the Macs' HD, install SL, and then Migrate your legacy user account from a Time Machine backup?
Depending on how you perform the upgrade will determine whether you can get at your old data or not. Was there a point after the SL installation that you recall Time Machine popping up a message that the existing backups originated somewhere else but offering you the opportunity to resume current backups to the same set? If so, your legacy user account may ow be inaccessible?
I and others have discovered that once an account has been migrated, both Time Machine and Migration Assistant won't let you recover further data from the old backup set (I intend on filing a Bug Report on this by the way).
However, there is a way around this.
CTRL-Click the Time Machine icon in the Dock and select "Browse Other Time Machine Disks…".
Select your Time Machine backup drive and the 'star field' interface will launch. This approach will allow you to navigate back to the user folder or item you wish to Restore. You will likely be prompted for the username and password of the old account, but you will be able to move the data.
Once the Restore is complete You should be able to now go into this restored folder and change the permissions of the folder or item you are trying to access.
Highlight the file/folder and select Get Info from the File menu.
Click the tiny gold lock icon at the bottom. You will be asked for your current admin username and password. Now click the tiny "+" button on the left. In the resulting window select your current user account and click "Select".
This should have added your current username to the list under Sharing & Permission. Under "Privilege" change "Read only" to "Read & Write". Now, if the item you are dealing with is a folder, then click the tiny Gear icon at the bottom and select "Apply to enclosed items...".
You will be warned that you can't undo this but click OK anyways. When finished close Get Info and you should now have full access to the item in question.
(Make sure that, if it is iLife data you are moving (iPhoto, iTunes, etc), that you have run Software Update and updated your applications. Otherwise, any attempt to import the old data may result in alerts telling that it was created with a newer version.)
Let us know if this resolves your issue. Cheers!