I used time machine to backup my MBP before I reformatted the disk and repartitioned it. I want to access the information in my backup now but it says I can't because it is a backup. what on earth?
Specifically I want to access my documents and music, but I would like to store them externally still, since I don't trust the internal hard drive anymore.
How do I do this?
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)
more info:
my current time machine is a 2TB external drive.
I have another 250GB external drive that is full of old Logic projects and backups.
As I said, I would like to store my music and documents externally, but I'm afraid 250 GB may not be enough space, and after reading some of the other threads, I agree that partitioning the 2TB might be risky. . .
First things first though, I need to get the music out of the backup file!
My MBP is 4 years old though, so I don't want to store anything important on the internal drive because I'm sure of it's imminent demise.
The section 14-18 should all be read through.
You may not find it easy to extract just itunes.. for instance. In fact in later versions you cannot.. you need the whole library.. and permissions get tricky.
I personally think you can do better with another disk so you can restore to a different desination drive the entire backup. Disks are cheap.. don't skimp.
Partitioning external drive should not be a problem.. make sure you are using the correct GUID and partition type, HFS+.. but of course not until you have recovered the whole backup.
There is a lot of info on permissions issues etc.. look also at the troubleshooting area. eg. http://pondini.org/TM/E10.html
Accessing time machine backup files
