Think I've lost a one time backup...

Question

Think I've lost a one time backup...

Think I've messed up a backup here. I backed up a folder I hadn't previouly been backing up on 7 June, but forgot to set the folder to back up automatically.

So today I needed to grab the original version, but think I've lost it because it was more than a month old, the point at which TC switches to weekly backups.

So my back ups go back in hourly increments for today, then daily increments back to 11 June, then weekly with the first one 5 June.

Does this mean I've lost the back up of that folder made on 7 June, or should I still be able to recover it somehow?

Posted on Jul 10, 2012 11:32 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 10, 2012 11:51 AM in response to Iain MacDonald1

Does this mean I've lost the back up of that folder made on 7 June, or should I still be able to recover it somehow?

Time Machine consolidates files after a month. Your folder should be there in the week of June 5 backups and earlier if it was set to backup at that time.

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Answer 2

Jul 10, 2012 12:33 PM in response to Bob Timmons

Can't seem to see it. Is there any other way of looking other than Time Machine?

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Answer 3

Jul 10, 2012 1:14 PM in response to Iain MacDonald1

Unfortunately that is your only option. Navigate using the Finder interface to see if you can find the file.

If it is not there, then things were unfortunately not happening like you thought they were in the past. I can "see" files from over a year ago in Time Machine backups here.

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Answer 4

Jul 10, 2012 1:33 PM in response to Bob Timmons

OK, thanks Bob. In case it was ambiguous before, 7 June was the only day this was backed up, and I didn't have a copy on my HD. So the only copy was the 7 June backup. Should that still have been consolidated somewhere before the 7 June backup was removed?

I think my only hope now is that it reappears when the next weekly consolidation backup is created, as the 5 June one pree-dates the 7 June backup.

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Answer 5

Jul 10, 2012 1:40 PM in response to Iain MacDonald1

Nothing is removed when backups are consolidated. Time Machine looks at any changes that were made during the period and keeps those changes. If you made a backup of the file during the time in question, it should be there.

Sorry, but I do not know what might have gone wrong.

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Answer 6

Jul 10, 2012 1:42 PM in response to Bob Timmons

No problem - not your fault. As of today the backup dates go 5 June, 11 June, 12 June, 13 June etc. So it may just be that its temporarily AWOL between the cut off from daily to weekly backups.

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