Where are time machine files kept?

I have a newer MBP and I recently started using Time Machine. The computer is in for repairs, so I am using an older Powerbook G4. I have hooked up my Time Machine backup to the G4 in hopes of finding the files I backed up. Can't find them. Where does Time Machine keep the files it back up. I should ad that I found an alias for the file I am looking for but not the file. The back up is being indexed right now, but I expect it will take a lot of hours to complete.

bc1951 wrote:
3) I only have an USB cable that will allow the two machines to talk.
So you'll have to use that (unless you have a F/W 400 - F/W 800 conversion plug).
4) On the back up HD I can see an alias for my latest TM backup via the USB connection. The latest backup is from the machine I sent in for repairs and don't expect it back for several days.
How, if possible, do I get the few files I am trying to retrieve from the back up to the borrowed MBP
On the borrowed Mac, right-click the TM icon in the dock and select +*Browse Other Time Machine Backups+* (since you want files from a different Mac's backups). Select your drive, and you should find yourself in the normal "Star Wars" interface. Then you should be able to navigate to the last (or desired) backup and restore items to an alternate location, by selecting and right-clicking them, and selecting the +Restore <item> to ...+ option.

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I just tried to open a few of very large image files (9GB in total) and when I did I got the message "scratch discs full". Now I understand why that happened, but it seems to have eaten a whole load of disc space that wont come back. I've since closed photoshop, restarted my Mac, etc. but about 10 GB is still used up where it wasn't before. I can't locate any temp files anywhere (prefs only tells me the scratch disc is my Mac HD, not which folders it's in). Can anyone help me with this? Where are Ps temp files usually located on a Mac? I need those 10GB back!
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Hi again Chris (or anyone else who cares to contribute),
My Mac's HD space continued to disappear and I have now, finally, located the cause (I think). I checked the system log (Stystem Profiler/Software/Logs/system.log) which was itself 4.5 GB in size (too large I think?). However, when I went to the file location (/var/log/system.log) I also noticed that the "asl" folder (in the same folder as the system log) was 20 GB in size!! Having read a few forum posts about similar issues, I took the risk of deleting both the system.log and the majority of files in the asl folder. This seems to have worked a treat (I now have 25GB returned to me).
As I said in my original post, this all started happening when I opened a few very big Photoshop docs (ones with layers). Do you have any idea what caused / is causing this to happen? I haven't opened Photoshop since deleting the asl files, but new ones still seem to be appearing in the asl folder. They are tiny (100KB at most) but I'm a little concerned I haven't fixed the problem. Any suggestions?
I can't see why new asl files would be appearing when I haven't even opened Photoshop.
I'm running on OS 10.5.8
Many thanks,
Matt
P.S. By the way, the size of the system.log seemed to be caused by a repeated message regarding RealPlayer, which I assume is unconnected, but I have included it below just in case (I've removed RealPlayer from my Mac to see if that helps, but the asl files still seem to be appearing):
Jul 28 18:16:07 localhost RealPlayer Downloader[299]: Failed to create window context device
Jul 28 18:16:09: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Jul 28 18:16:07 localhost RealPlayer Downloader[299]: _initWithWindowNumber: error creating graphics ctxt object for ctxt:0x1152b, window:0xffffffff
Jul 28 18:16:07 localhost RealPlayer Downloader[299]: CGWindowContextCreate: failed to create context delegate.

RE: Where are Time Machine sparsebundle files on Time Capsule?

I recently bought a Time Capsule. After some odd issues trying to get it to work in place of my Airport Extreme, it looked like it was finally working correctly.
When I first turned it on (before the problems getting it to work wirelessly), I did a full backup with Time Machine on the Capsule via Ethernet. When I clicked on the Time Capsule, I could see the sparsebundle files with a number and a date.
Somewhere down the line, I knocked all of our computers offline while trying to get Time Capsule to replace the Airport Extreme station after I ran the first backup on it.
I finally had to call Apple Support to have them walk me through setting up Time Capsule correctly and get us back online. After several attempts, we finally got it all working, but in the process the original backup files disappeared from Time Capsule, so I ran Time Machine again. It said it completed the full backup (again), and it was doing incremental backups.
My problem is, I cannot see any files on the Time Capsule when I click on it. Is that the way Time Machine/Time Capsule are supposed to work? No folder called Backup, no files. When I enter Time Machine, I see that it's backing up, but it kind of worries me that I can't SEE the sparsebundle files anywhere.
Any idea of where those files are hiding? I guess I'm used to using Backup, where I could actually see a list of files.

Any idea of where those files are hiding? I guess I'm used to using Backup, where I could actually see a list of files.
Time Machine stores backups over the network in the form of a sparse bundle "file". This file should show up in Finder as "ComputerName_MACaddress.sparsebundle". However, the sparse bundle is not actually a file, but a container/folder with a number of files, called bands within it.
You can access the backup files within the sparse bundle, by using Finder, as follows:
o From within Finder, click on the Time Capsule (TC) that appears under the Shared category
o Double-click on the TC's disk name
o Double-click on the sparse bundle
It may take a while but eventually the disk image will open and you will see a folder named "Backups.backupd." This folder contains the Time machine backups.

Where are time Machine Backups Located on External Disk?

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On my TM drive, there is a folder called Backups.backupdb at the top level. Inside that folder is a folder named the name of my Mac (as set up for Sharing). Inside there are folders named with a date/time stamp of the backup. Inside there are folders named with my Mac's disk names. And in there are the contents of the disk in the same folder hierarchy, but only the files that changed.

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The tags and other metadata are kept in the catalog file, and usually this is stored on the C: drive, unless you specifically moved it or created it on a different drive. For PSE8, the file name is *.pse8db. I do not know the default directory (maybe someone else can help), but you can use Windows to search for any file named *.pse8db (you might have to tell Windows to look in hidden directories). Good luck!
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Post relates to: Palm m105

If you are trying to access the data in a .dat file, you will want to use Palm Desktop 4.1.4 or Palm Desktop 4.2. If you have the CD that came with the Palm, you should try installing that version.
Once installed, you will need to create a new dumby HotSync profile; call it Test or whatever you'd like. Then find the associated data folder on the PC. It could be in the c:\program files\palm folder our the user's My Documents folder depending on how old the software is.
Then, copy (don't move!) the .dat file(s) you have recovered into the correct PIM folder. So, the address.dat file should be copied into the Address Book or Calendar folder, replacing the emply data file there.
If Palm Desktop is still running, quit and restart it and see if the data is there. If it isn't, the data file is either in the wrong spot or is corrupted.
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Where does time machine store content that would be found in the Finder window under "All Images, All Movies, All Documents"? Also, I have many Garageband projects and mp3 files I can't find.

Where does time machine store content that would be found in the Finder window under "All Images, All Movies, All Documents"? Also, I have many Garageband projects and mp3 files I can't find.

Easiest way to find time machine files is to open up the folder or application(works for email and iphoto) they were in - then click on time machine ICON or enter time machine from the time machine menu to go back through the files.

Time Machine Files - How To Copy

Short story: I am trying to transfer my Time Machine files from one external hard drive to another. I followed the instructions at the following Apple link:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5096?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
This did not work. When I started up Time Machine on the new drive, Time Machine indicated that the old backups were there, but when I tried to access them, Time Machine could not find them.
I could not use the process indicated here:
http://www.macyourself.com/2008/12/10/how-to-copy-your-time-machine-backups-to-a -new-larger-drive/
Long Story: I got a new external 2 TB external to replace my 1.5 TB. I wanted to use the new one for Time Machine and iTunes. I stupidly did not partition it. This is a problem since Time Machine will fill up a hard drive. I tried using Disk Utility to partition after the fact, but I kept getting an error. So I followed the instructions in the Apple link and copied "Backups.backupdb" back to my old drive, reformatted and repartitioned my new drive, then copied "Backups.backupdb" back. Now Time Machine cannot find my old backups, although they appear to exist in the time line. When I look at "Backups.backupdb" there are a bunch of alias that do not link to anything.
So I assume there must be some hidden files.
Have I messed up my year of Time Machine backups and need to start over?

I wanted to use the new one for Time Machine and iTunes. I stupidly did not partition it.
I know it's tempting to want to use all the vast space on a large drive your not using, the problem is when your hardware fails, it takes both backup partitions with it when it goes.
Have multiple copies of your personal data on separate hardware, in separate locations, using easily accessible means and maintain two copies of your personal data off the machine at all times.
Your at that stage where you need more options than TimeMachine provides, you might want to consider cloning.
With cloning you could have just cloned the entire drive to another one no sweat, also you can access the files directly from any computer, Mac, Windows or Linux machine. Plus you can boot from cloned drives and do other things, like data recovery etc.
Most commonly used backup methods

Changing Time Machine files

I was wondering if changing time machine files is harmful at all to restore at a later time? What happened is, I have two machines, a laptop and my desktop. I've only been backing up the iMac. I want to have this same system on the laptop. Since my iMac has much more hdd space, it won't fit on the laptop. Is it safe to just manually go into the Time Machine software, open the latest backup, and start deleting things I don't need?
Also, is it similar to a "normal" external hdd in that way where I can just drag and drop files from my Time Machine backup to another external hdd?

Hi, and welcome to the forums.
I'm afraid you've made a large mess.
First, if you asked Time Machine to restore apps, that's exactly (and only) what it did. Many complex apps, especially the ones that come with their own installers, also put various files in other locations, often in your system folders. Unless you know what and where every one of those is, and restore them, the apps won't work well, if at all.
Second, your data files are not kept in the apps; they're elsewhere, mostly in your home folder. So again, you have to know what and where they are, so you can restore them, too.
Third, some Snow Leopard apps may not run properly, if at all, on Leopard.
Your best bet +*by far+* will be to restore your entire system the way it was in Snow Leopard (using your Snow Leopard Install disc), then deal with whatever problem(s) you're having there.
See #14 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.

Where are my important files located in Leopard 10.5?

I had an old file from apple titled "Where are my important files located?" which applied to 10.3. I could not find this same doc for 10.5. It had the location of all the important files for safari, mail, address book, etc. and was handy when I was mirgrating files or backing up or so forth. Is there now an updated file/doc for this with regards to 10.5 Leopard? Or is every important file's location still located in the same location? Thanks

Hi Teal,
I'm a big "foggy" on a lot of the OS X 10.3 "Panther" stuff but I think you'll find OS X 10.5 to be pretty similar in most regards.
As far as your user information, everything related to your user will be in the /Users/username location. The "Library" folder is probably the most important when it comes to application related data such as Safari, Mail, Address Book, iCal, etc. Some applications will have a folder directly inside the library folder (/Users/Username/Library/ApplicationName) and some will store data in the Application Support folder (/Users/Username/Library/Application Support/ApplicationName)
The important thing, is that all of your user data is stored in the /Users/Username location that will often be represented by a "House" icon when signed into that user.
Where it gets a little tricky, is some applications will store data in the /Users/Shared location and the /Library location. So if you ever do a total system migration there's a possibility you'll need to reinstall some applications. A Time Machine backup can assist with system migrations as it does a full and complete backup of your HD, including the User's home folder.

Time Machine File Loction Help

I have purchased a 500gb external, MAC specific hard drive and I have set up and ran Time Machine without error. The about section says "Initially, Time Machine makes a complete backup, including system files, applications, accounts, preferences, music, photos, documents—everything you keep on your computer, except for a few temporary files (such as web browser caches)."
My question is: Where are my specific files (pictures, documents, and music)? I have navigated most of the 58gb with no luck.
*Macbook Pro> Latest> Macintosh HD>*
Applications>
Library>
System>
*User Guide Information>*
User>
These are my choices. I thought they would be in the library but there are so many files.
Many thanks in advance.
BTW, I use the factory "Documents" folder, iTunes for music and iPhoto for pictures.
Message was edited by: ThePhotographyGuy

OK, I have seen the error of my ways. I had File Vault turned on. I still have my Windows mentality sometime, "blah, blah message this, message that, blah.....just OK past it all and we'll be OK" So..........I started over with Time Machine and there is a message, that I still don't fully understand, that say something to the effect that you have File Vault turned on and only such and such files will be backed up and you will not be able to read the User files and yadda yadda yadda.
Basically it says, since your files are encrypted we're not going to pull them over because you won't be able to read them. I think.The best I can tell, if you have File Vault on, it will only pull over system data (MIDI controllers, drivers, etc).
Short story long, I turned off File Vault, started Time Machine again and now in the file tree I have my user account data (ie. Photos, Music, Documents).
Thanks Guys, I knew where you were trying to lead me but the directory was just not there and it was killing me.

Where are time machine files kept?

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