Using to Time machine to get file that was saved over by same named file

I accidentally deleted a file by naming a file the same name. Is it possible to go back and get one file using Time Machine? If so how do I do that?
Thanks,
Pat

Enter Time Machine -> Browse back in time until you get to a date where the file would still exist and then browse through the Finder window until you find the file you want -> Highlight it with a single click -> Click 'Restore' in the bottom right.
I would suggest moving/deleting the file you renamed over it before doing so just to keep away from any complications.

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Can I use Time Machine to retrieve mail that was in Trash on my MacBook Air, after I emptied Trash?

Can I use Time Machine to retrieve mail that was in Trash on my MacBook Air OS X Yosemite, after I Emptied that Trash?

Interesting question. I don't think you can because Time Machine would have deleted the data in subsequent backups because it was removed from the computer. But you never know about these things until you actually try it, which I've never done. So, why don't you give it a try. Worst that can happen is it's not there and you're no worse off than now.
If you need help with restoring mail from Time Machine: Please visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine. Also open Mail and select Mail Help from Mail's help menu. Search for 'restore mail' and see if you don't find some instructions there, too.

Drive no longer being used by time machine: delete some files?

Tried unlocking and allowing myself to read and write. Nope. Tried holding down the option key. Nope.
This drive is no longer being used by time machine and I want to delete some files on it.
Is there a way to do it without wiping the entire drive?

nowsthetime wrote:
It wasnt a dedicated backup and there's other material on it that I need to keep.
That's a problem (as you've discovered). Time Machine works best if it has it's own, exclusive partition. See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #3 for details.
Aha! Just found THIS. I'll post if it works. http://www.celiamania.com/wordpress/?p=1038
That will let you delete individual backups, or all backups of selected items.
If you don't have room to copy the "other" stuff elsewhere while you erase the disk, you can delete the Backups.backupdb folder. Emptying the trash will take a very long time, and may give you permissions and/or locked file problems. If so, see #E6 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

I installed lion. and lost all my previous apps also my email. my desktop is cleared. i have time machine and the disk that was used to back up is still oK and what did i do wrong. I can't use final cut or any of my software or applications

I lost all my applicatons when I upgraded to Lion. I have a backup disc with all my informatioin.. I am not sure what happened but under my harddrive i still have my user tab my orginal name is there and informaton. but its like i have a new computer with new harddrive. I have final cut and many other programs that do not show up. can i get them back ? also my emails are all gone. can I do a restore ? to get back to normal ? at this point i feel i have to reload safari and do a restore from time machine.
can i get lion to see my old username ?
thanks
rock

Thanks so much but none of that helped. It was driving me crazy because it would back up another external drive. I just changed the name of the drive from iPhoto/iTunes Library to Media Libraries and IT WORKED!! I guess for some reason it didn't like the drive being called iPhoto or iTunes ???? I don't understand but I have tried so many solutions and exchanging things out but the name change did it????!!!
Thank you for your help and replying to this. Guess I made my own issue!

Using Lion time machine to recover files to MacBook Pro running Mountain Lion

In order to partition my "vintage" MacBook Pro to run Bootcamp, I've had to go back to the previous OS (Mountain Lion), and before erasing my hard drive I did a full backup to Time Machine. Once I connected the external HD to the "mountain lion" laptop and I went to the Time machine, and was prompted to start it up. After a backup process I looked at my time machine disks and see the backup, but the times prior to this last backup are greyed out. If I go to each prior backup session I can see the files and even copy them to my laptop, but they won't open. I receive a prompt to install them from the original disks.
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Thanks

I'm a little confused. You say the previous OS was Mountain Lion, but Mountain Lion is the most recent there is.
Then you say you're unable to recover files from the Lion backup.
Please clarify exactly what you have, and what you're trying to do.
If you want to restore your entire OSX partition, including OSX, apps, user accounts, settings, and data, you can do that from any backup, but not via the Time Machine browser (the "Star Wars" display). Instead, you do a full system restore, per Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #14.

Lion Installer thinks that my internal boot hard drive "is used for time machine backups"

I recently installed a new hard drive on my MBP. It's been running fine, but now I'm running into trouble when I tried to install Lion!
The download worked just fine. But when I try to choose a disk to install Lion onto, my one and only hard drive (internal, boot disk) "is used for Time Machine backups" and is grayed out! I can't click it, I can't customize the installation or do anything except go backwards through the license agreement and such.
No, I do not use my internal drive as a Time Machine. But somehow, even after I've disabled Time Machine, it keeps thinking I do! Time Machine is my menu bar is grayed out, but I can click "Browse other Time Machine disks" and for some reason my boot disk comes up! ("(My name)'s MacBook Pro on 'Untitled 1') I've never used this disk as a Time Machine!
I have a feeling that this is somehow related to my using Super Duper to clone my old hard drive during the upgrade process.
Is there a way to remove the Time Machine files from my boot disk or otherwise convince Lion to install? I've already repaired my disk permissions in Disk Utility. What else can I do?
Thank you in advance. This is very frustrating!

Alexander Chan1 wrote:
No, I do not use my internal drive as a Time Machine. But somehow, even after I've disabled Time Machine, it keeps thinking I do!
At some point, probably accidentally, your internal HD was selected as a destination for Time Machine. Even if that was immediately changed, it had already created a Backups.backupdb folder at the top level of the drive.
As long as that's there, OSX thinks you're trying to install OSX on your backup drive. Just delete that folder.

How can I use the Time Machine Backups from my Old Computer?

I have two months of Time Machine backups made using my old Macintosh computer which died and I no longer have. I have now purchased a new computer and am trying to use the Time Machine back ups from the original computer, but it will not recognise them. How can I get my new MacBook Pro to use the Time Machine Backups from my old Computer? I phoned the Apple help line and they said I cannot use them and would have to delete them. This sounds crazy if you can only use the Time Machine back up file with one computer and have to delete it when you buy a new Mac. Surely there must be some way to transfer ownership (not files) from an old to the new Mac?
Thanks
Richard

Thanks Kevin for the suggestion posted on MacOSXHints how to "Repair Time Machine after logic board changes".
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080128003716101
It seems as though I am not alone with my frustration with the way Time Machine uses the MAC address of a computer to tell one system from another. This means that if you have your Mac repaired with a new logic board, or replace your system with a new one, you can't resume backups where you left off. Reading through the readers who used the fix using Terminal, it appears that the fix does not always work. I contacted Apple again, but they were no help. Surely Apple should come out with a solution as more and more people use Time Machine/Time Capsule.
It is CRAZY that after a change computers or a switch in the computer logic board that you cannot resume your Time Machine back ups.

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

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I cannot find this 300GB "Backup" in the Finder, only in the Storage info when I check "About This Mac".
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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.

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2) Are there any changes I can make to get this working again?
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Cannot install Mavks. Get the message that HD is used for Time Machine B/U. Not true. Also Time Machine is turned off.

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That message appears when there's a "Backups.backupdb" folder in the root level of the OS X volume. This folder is used by Time Machine to store backups, being this the reason why the OS X Mavericks installer detects the OS X partition as used by Time Machine.
To delete it, open a Finder window, select the Go menu (on the menu bar) > Go to Folder, and type:
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HT201250 I had files stored on a hard drive that were not on my Mac. I used the hard drive for my first Time Machine back up, but it was not enough hard drive space to finish. Now those stored files are gone. Is there any way I can recover them?

I had files stored on a hard drive that were not on my Mac. I used the hard drive for my first Time Machine back up, but it was not enough hard drive space to finish. Now those stored files are gone. Is there any way I can recover them? No, they were not part of previous Time Machine backups, and I have checked both the hard drive the documents were lost on and the new one that I now use for backups. Any suggestions would be helpful, as the lost files are old pictures that are gone forever. :[ Thanks!

1. Yes, if both drives are formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
2. Reformat the drives if needed, open the Time Machine pane of System Preferences, and remove the drive with the pictures from the list of items set to be excluded.
(110331)

I used to have an icon next to the Time Machine icon in Safari that allowed me to sync my devices. It disappeared and I don't know how to get it back. Any suggestions?

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On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture. How can I access the Aperture Library on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup? I can only access the application but not the library..

On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture. How can I access the Aperture Library on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup? I can only access the application but not the library..

Go into Time Machine (the program not the bundle on the extrnal disk) and using Time Machine's browser go to the Folder where the library lives. You could look in the library bundle in Time Machine but that won't really tell you much,
If you want to make sure it truely has backed up your library you will need to restore it and open the restored library with Aperture.
If all this still has you confused you need to read up on Time Machine in order to get a feel for how it works, for what it is doing and for how to restore files from it.

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.
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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
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Using to Time machine to get file that was saved over by same named file

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