Useful View Options in Time Machine: Changed Files?

I set up time machine and a day later I can browse around. Very cool graphics.
But it seems to be missing something useful (essential?) -- a way to look at what changed from backup to backup. Looking at the Info on a particular file on a particular backup I can see that the Last Modified Time is 3 weeks ago. But if I'm making changes to a set of files, figuring out WHICH backup I want (2,3 or 4 hours ago) would be easier if I could see what I've changed. It would be especially useful if "backups" where nothing changed were simply omitted.
Just for "fun" I restored a backup from a couple hours before, during which time I had not used the computer. And strangely, TM said it was going to restore some pdf from my desktop. I kept the original, and the two files were identical AND had the same modification time. (That's when I went to try to explore what files have changed unsuccessfully).
There's obviously a bit of a technical issue with knowing the changes from the latest backup to the current machine state. But going the other way TM must have that information.

As far as I'm aware the start & stop times are stored in the library database, not the media files. If you backup/restore/transfer the whole library then the settings are included. If you create a complete copy of your iTunes folder on another drive you can connect to that copy by holding down option/alt as you start iTunes so you can check that everything is working properly before you send the Macbook away.
tt2

Similar Messages

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.

I baught Seagate Backup plus 2T hard drive to use as my Backup time machine. But its not working when i connect to time machine its not coping files, it keep saying preparing files. Can someone help me please...

i baught Seagate Backup plus 2T hard drive to use as my Backup time machine. But its not working. when i connect to time machine its not coping files, it keep saying preparing files. Can someone help me please...

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually login automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

Can I safely save files to the external harddrive I am using as/for a Time Machine?

Can I safely save files to the external harddrive I am using as/for a Time Machine?

Because ALL Hard Drives fail. They have been since they were invented. It is just a fact of Spinning hard drives.
No nothing special about how TM writes to the drive.
Any hard drive can fail at any time. The day you take it out of the box and plug it in to 10+ years later or anytime in between. Kind of like Life. At some point it ends for everyone. Some sooner some much later.
I've had some work for years, like 7++ running 24/7. Others have died in months to a few years. I've had externals died faster then internal drive and the funny part is an external drive is nothing but the same type drive used Inside a computer, an Internal drive, put into an External case. But most of the time when an external dies it is not the drive itself but the Enclosures Electronic that fail. Removing the physical drive from the enclosure and using a SATA, or IDE, to USB Adapter the drives are usually still good. I've even taken dead externals and removed the drive and put that drive inside a computer case and they work for X number of years. But that doesn't mean that All Drives are like that.

Time Machine AND File Sharing: Partitioning possible?

Hi everyone,
I'm thinking about a TC setup where 2 Macs would connect to it and do regular backups using Time Machine. At the same time I'd like to use TC's hard drive for file sharing purposes. I believe that this is possible. What I don't know is:
Is it possible to partition the drive in order to set a limit to what space is available to Time Machine? If not, is there another way (ratio setting) to limit this?
Thanks
Björn

From what I've seen, the answer is no. (1) you'd have to be able to access the disk in such a manner as to partition. it does not show up in Disk Utility. Perhaps Terminal might have options. (2) As far as I've seen, there is no ratio setting. TC just backs up all Macs on the network using Leopard that have Time Machine backups set to the TC.
You can actually do what you want without changing anything. The TC HDD shows up as a network drive. Time Machine backs up until full. Files on the drive would take up space. So, until it's full, you can put shareable files on it. once it's full, you have delete backups or make space through some other method.

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 Time Machine backup files saved on iDisk?

I keep all of my important files on my iDisk. I upgraded to Leopard and would like to use the benefits of Time Machine to protect those important files, bit don't see a way to include iDisk folders with Time Machine.

As an added note to my last post...
When you choose/start the "iDisk Sync" option via the .Mac Pref panel a .sparsebundle disk image will be located in ~/Library/FileSync/[machines-MAC-address]/[your-account-name]_iDisk.sparsebundl e
This .sparsebundle file be equal to the size of your iDisk space use and not its limiting size of say 10GB.
TM will backup this .sparsebundle file for you and thus you can use TM for saving your iDisk as you wanted. Note it save the sparsebundle disk image and you cannot see the history of individual files changes using the TM browser as you can with other files on your Mac.
I hope this helps.

Time Machine changed my driver permissions - can't change back

Hello,
I've been using my external hard drive for about 6 months to backup my work, never had a problem.
Today I mounted the drive, as usual, and a window came up asking me if I wanted to use it for time machine backup. I clicked OK, thinking I could backup my new work, then when I saw that I would have to format my drive, I decided it was not what I needed, since I have all my old work in it.
So I de-selected my drive from the window where it asks which drive to be used for time machine, and turned TM off before doing any operations.
Since then my hard disk has become "read-only"!! Luckily I haven't lost any of my work, but I am now unable to set the permission back to "read - write". The "Repair Disk Permissions" button is greyed out.. and if I do GetInfo, I can only see it is read only, but I have no option to change that.
Any idea why time machine changed my settings before I even used it??
How can I change it back?
Thank you

aleternum wrote:
I was searching on all kinds of website and I realised one thing:
Yesterday I took some files to the printer, and the guy (he was using PC) took the files off my hard drive, and DISCONNECTED the drive without doing the "Safely remove hardware".
Not it all makes sense. I should go kill him.
I rather suspect that TM is at fault. TM drives have to be formatted HFS and by what you describe it sounds like it started reformatting the drive when you stopped it.

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

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.

Time Machine and File Vault question

I just completed a clean install of OS x mavericks and then used my time machine back up to restore the mac.
The whole process was confusing for many reasons and I just want to get some clarification/verification on my next actions.
When I enter time machine preferences and click select disk. It gives me two choices. One in the group Back Up Disks and One in available disks. The confusing I have is that it is the same external hd. So which should I pick if I want to keep my original time machine backups?
The other question I have is, this whole journey started with me wanting to turn on file vault. I am using a late 2012 Mac Mini updated to Mavericks came with Mountain Lion.
Should I be able to use both an encrypted time machine (external hd) and file vault?
Thanks for the help.

The difference is that do yo want to combine the backus you made before with the previous backups (group Back Up Disks) or start a whole new backup (available disks). Either option will retain the previous backups unless you overtly delete them. I would select that later to start a new set of backups.
See the following for using FileaFault with Time Machine
http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/46833/with-file-vault-on-are-time-machi ne-backups-encrypted
http://kb.mit.edu/confluence/display/istcontrib/Enable+FileVault+(whole+disk+enc ryption)+on+Time+Machine+backup+drives+on+OS+X+10.9

Am I able to use both Carbonite and Time Machine as back-ups for my iMac?

HI,
I have a iMac, and I have recently recently completed the initial back up for Carbonite. I also have a 2TB Seagate external hard drive that I would like to use with Time Machine. I am wondering if I am able to use both Carbonite and Time Machine simultaneously.

Hi, and welcome to the forums.
As bdmarsha says, yes, you can run both simultaneously.
But one caution; there are some reports here that some of the online backup apps keep some fairly large, frequently-changing files on your system. Time Machine will back them up along with everything else, which can take some extra time and space on your TM drive.
After your initial TM backup, see how large the incremental backups are (by watching the progress bar and info on the +Time Machine Preferences+ window). If those seem too large for the changes you've made since the previous backup, see #A2 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), for a couple of apps that will show exactly what was backed-up.
If you find such things, you can exclude them from TM backups, per #10 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).

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:

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.

I have created a new partition on the Mac HD for Lion as I would like to dual boot. Do I need to install Snow Leopard on that partition before installing Lion? If so, can I use one of my Time Machine backups to do this?

I have created a new partition on the Mac HD for Lion as I would like to dual boot. Do I need to install Snow Leopard on that partition before installing Lion? If so, can I use one of my Time Machine backups to do this?

zoominnana wrote:
Can I set up 2 different time capsule backups? one for the lion partition and one for the snow leopard partition?
No, you can't partition a Time Capsule's internal HD. Both partitions will back up to the same sparse bundle. keeping the backups for each partition separate.
Time Machine will not take the two OSX partitions as two different computers, but for best results, exclude the Snow Leopard drive from backups on the Lion partition, and exclude the Lion partition from backups on the Snow Leopard partition.
There may be some files on the Lion partition that Time Machine on Snow Leopard won't like, among other things. See #10 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions for details.

Useful View Options in Time Machine: Changed Files?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for