I don't see [Preferences] or [Change Disk] when I click on Time Machine

SharonLee123 wrote:

. . .

SECOND: IT WAS A MAC CONSULTANT WHO SET THIS UP PRIOR TO DOING IS UPGRADES, ETC. I THINK HE FAILD TO CHANGE IT BACK TO INCLUDE THE WHOLE APPLICATION/DOCUMENT DRIVE.

One remote possibility is, the preferences file (where the exclusions are kept) is damaged/corrupted, so it's still excluding everything. Try a "full reset" of Time Machine, per #A4 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

If that doesn't help, a clue may be lurking in your logs. Use the widget in #A1 in the same article to display the backup messages from your logs. Locate the backup in question, then copy and post all the messages here.

Please tell me you get paid for this!!!

Nope, we're all users, just like you.

I need to continue to tomorrow when I get back to work, as this is my bosses MAC.

Ok, no hurry on this end. 😉

Your screenshots didn't come through.

Click the camera icon:

then select the image you want to post.

SharonLee123 wrote:

. . .

RE: I want to get a full back up of my app & data currently stored in PLACES

PLACES aren't really folders or locations, in the usual sense -- they're aliases to actual files, folders, applications, etc. For example, Desktop and Documents are part of your home folder (with the house icon).

Everything on the internal HD (except for some things like system work files, trash, caches, etc.) is backed-up by default; if things there aren't being backed-up, it's because they're excluded.

DEVICES (MAC HD) are the old files from prior to the crash (MAC CONSULTANT WHO SET THIS UP). These old files are the files getting backup to the external drive.

Macintosh HD is an internal disk (or partition).

I do know that I have one external device (katyalukebackup).

Yes, that contains both your Time Machine backups (the Backups.backupdb folder), and some other stuff. I don't know what those other things are, but they might be extra copies made by the consultant.

It's not a good idea to mix other stuff on a Time Machine drive. When we get this sorted out, you may want to delete or move the other stuff.

First things first: you say you can't see the backups of current items, but there's nothing in the exclusions. So you must not be looking in the right way.

Start by clicking, say, the Documents folder in that Finder sidebar. That should produce a window showing the current contents. Then click the Time Machine icon in your Dock (or click the Time Machine icon in your menubar). That should take you into the Time Machine browser ("Star Wars" display), showing a whole series of Finder windows showing the contents of the Documents folder at the time of each backup, receding back in time. Those are (part of) your backups (See Apple'sTime Machine Tutorial if that's not clear.)

You can then click the Applications icon the the sidebar, and see the backups of it.

Post back if that's what you see, and we'll continue.

By the way, Shift+Cmd+4 will put a "target" symbol on your screen, that you can drag to highlight a portion. When you release your mouse, you'll get a screenshot of that portion. (That doesn't work once you're in the TM browser, but Shift+Cmd+3 does.)

Looks like our last 2 posts "crossed in the mail." 😉

SharonLee123 wrote:

. . .

What do you suggest? How do I find out where the aliases (PLACES (katyaluke then documents) is pointing to?

To see where any alias points, right-click it and select Get Info. That will show a window with various info; near the top is Where with the "path." For example, my Desktop:

So, it's on my internal HD (the first slash), in the Users folder, in my home folder.

SharonLee123 wrote:

. . .

When I do the "star wars' display from my MAC HD it shows lot's of screens with dates, etc.

Look at some of the windows behind the first one.

See what's shown there; and see what the date (at the bottom) is.

SharonLee123 wrote:

Now that we have this. How do we change Time Machine?

Ah, you're running File Vault. 😟

I should have noticed the icon on your home folder and/or thought to ask that; sorry.

File Vault encrypts your entire home folder into a strange container, called a sparse bundle disk image.

It doesn't get backed up until you log out; and you can't see or restore individual items from it. All you can do is restore the whole thing.

See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #25 for the gory details. Skip to the The remainder of this page relates to File Vault 1: section.

If you really need to have your entire home folder encrypted, there's not much you can do (short of upgrading to Lion) -- that's how it works.

If you only have a few sensitive files or folders, there's a way to put just them in an encrypted disk image, so the rest of your home folder can be backed-up normally (and you can see and restore individual items).

Or, if you don't really need anything encrypted, we can do that, too.