Bella13

Q: Time Machine "don't have permission" for old files – do NOT have old computer anymore

So I am trying to retrieve a file from an old time machine backup from my old computer. However, I keep getting a message on all the folders that I do not have permission to view them (they also have the little "do not enter/NO" symbol). I ended up creating a new user when I got my new computer, so I am aware that time machine believes those backups were created by someone else. Problem is, I do not have my old computer anymore.

 

I have been able to access some of the permissions for the folders via command+i (more information); is there some way I can manipulate this and give my new user access to the files? Or could I use the time machine backups to recreate my old user on my new computer? Or is there some code I can enter into terminal??

 

PLEASE, someone help me! I really need to access these old files. I've added an image to show my setup and where I am having these issues.

 

Screen Shot 2014-01-26 at 7.21.56 PM.png

MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012), Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Jan 26, 2014 7:29 PM

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Q: Time Machine "don't have permission" for old files – do NOT have old computer anymore

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  • by SilverSkyRat,

    SilverSkyRat SilverSkyRat Jan 26, 2014 8:21 PM in response to Bella13
    Level 3 (548 points)
    Jan 26, 2014 8:21 PM in response to Bella13

    Hi Bella13, the first thing I would try is to recreate the original user by making a new user with the same name and preferably the same password as before. Then log in as Daisy and access the folders in Time Machine. I'm guessing the user you need to create is "Daisy" because your screenshot of the Get Info on the left shows the location of the "Desktop" folder as coming from within the Time Machine Backup, and the Finder screen shows it as being "Daisy"'s user folders.

  • by SilverSkyRat,

    SilverSkyRat SilverSkyRat Jan 26, 2014 8:42 PM in response to Bella13
    Level 3 (548 points)
    Jan 26, 2014 8:42 PM in response to Bella13

    I should have said first up that before you do anything, make sure you take a full Time Machine Backup that you can use to restore to the point you were at when you asked this question, sorry. 

     

    Anyway, If my first suggestion doesn't work, you could then try to log in as an administrator user (if there was only the one user you had on the new computer, it should be an administrator) and use Time Machine to restore the entire /Users structure. After that, you could then set ownership and permissions of the folders and files you need access to which we could deal with once you get to the point of having the folders and files restored to your new computer from the Time Machine backup.

     

    Message was edited by: SilverSkyRat

  • by Bella13,

    Bella13 Bella13 Jan 26, 2014 9:03 PM in response to SilverSkyRat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 26, 2014 9:03 PM in response to SilverSkyRat

    Thanks SilverSkyRat.

     

    I tried the first suggestion, but no luck. My current user is "Daisy" but I also tried another possible name, but was told there is another user with the same name. When I tried to logout and login to the other user to try it out, I couldn't find it. So no luck with that method.

     

    I tried the second one, but when I go to time machine, only my new "computer" is available ("Isabella's Backups" instead of "Daisy's Backups"). I went to the "Star Wars" screen, is there another way that I can choose a different computer for the backup source?

     

    Thanks again.

     

    And don't worry, I've backuped my current computer.

  • by SilverSkyRat,

    SilverSkyRat SilverSkyRat Jan 26, 2014 10:10 PM in response to Bella13
    Level 3 (548 points)
    Jan 26, 2014 10:10 PM in response to Bella13

    Ok Bella13, a couple more questions (in lieu of anyone else being able to suggest anything):

     

    1. Is your OLD computer's Time Machine Backup on an external drive or did you copy the OLD computer's Time Machine Backups to the NEW computer?

     

    2. Is your NEW computer backing up to an external drive? If so, is it the same drive as the OLD computer was using (if it was using an external drive, that is)?

     

    There are still things we can try but I need the above info

  • by Bella13,

    Bella13 Bella13 Jan 26, 2014 10:12 PM in response to SilverSkyRat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 26, 2014 10:12 PM in response to SilverSkyRat

    My old computer's time machine is on an external drive and my new computer's backup is also on the same drive.

     

    Hopefully that's a good setup...

  • by SilverSkyRat,

    SilverSkyRat SilverSkyRat Jan 26, 2014 10:31 PM in response to Bella13
    Level 3 (548 points)
    Jan 26, 2014 10:31 PM in response to Bella13

    Ok then, in Finder, from the menu, choose "Go", "Go to folder" and type "/Volumes/Time Machine Backups" in the box then return. Is only one "Backups.backupdb listed? If you go into that, do you see the names of both the old and new computers? If so...

     

    1. Click on the Time Machine icon in the Mac menu bar (top of screen) - a small menu should fly out. Hold down "option" key and select Browse other backup disks...". There should be only one disk listed but when you go into it, do you see the two different computers?

  • by SilverSkyRat,

    SilverSkyRat SilverSkyRat Jan 26, 2014 10:58 PM in response to Bella13
    Level 3 (548 points)
    Jan 26, 2014 10:58 PM in response to Bella13

    Or, when you "Browse other backup disks" you might see the two computers listed right there?

  • by Bella13,Solvedanswer

    Bella13 Bella13 Jan 26, 2014 11:10 PM in response to SilverSkyRat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 26, 2014 11:10 PM in response to SilverSkyRat

    So, I believe I found the solution with some of your help.

     

    I went to the folders I want to open in the finder for the old computer backups, and hit command+i for more info, and hit the lock on the bottom right to unlock it. I added my new user to the permissions at the bottom. Before, this appeared to have done nothing. But I restarted my computer and then it worked!

     

    THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH for all you help! I was ready to pull my hair out. I am glad there are such helpful people like you on these forums.

  • by SilverSkyRat,

    SilverSkyRat SilverSkyRat Jan 26, 2014 11:25 PM in response to Bella13
    Level 3 (548 points)
    Jan 26, 2014 11:25 PM in response to Bella13

    You're welcome, I didn't  do much lol but after trying to get TM to restore the old computer's files, permissions on the actual files themselves was to be my last thing to try and I'm glad it worked for you.

  • by Zerbabilon,

    Zerbabilon Zerbabilon Mar 8, 2014 6:37 AM in response to Bella13
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 8, 2014 6:37 AM in response to Bella13

    I have the same problem but with the same computer. I wiped my computer clean, upgraded to Mavericks and changed the name. Now I can't access my old files. I tried to unlock the files but my lock is shaded.. When I browse other backup disks from the time machine menu there's only 1 disk. I changed where it says no access to read & write, then restarted. It reverts back to no access though. Any ideas?

     

    Screen Shot 2014-03-08 at 9.26.21 AM.png

  • by SilverSkyRat,

    SilverSkyRat SilverSkyRat Mar 15, 2014 5:44 AM in response to Zerbabilon
    Level 3 (548 points)
    Mar 15, 2014 5:44 AM in response to Zerbabilon

    Well, it looks like the user account you are using is "Theresa", but the folder you are trying to access is the Desktop folder for a user called "Paul". Try:

    1. Log in using whatever user account is the administrator

    2. Create a user called "Paul"

    3. Log in as "Paul" and go to the same place as in your screenshot and try the lock again. Give Paul read and write to all the folders you need and see if that change sticks.

    4. If "Theresa" needs the files, make them available by, as "Paul", moving the files to a common area, say /Users/Shared and adding "Theresa" for read and write permissions

  • by TheRedMan01,

    TheRedMan01 TheRedMan01 May 22, 2014 3:13 PM in response to Bella13
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 22, 2014 3:13 PM in response to Bella13

    I think there is an easy solution to this, if this works for you reply and confirm as there seems to be much talk about a simple permission problem.

     

    The problem I had was a different laptop+different username time machine backup was unreadable with a new laptop/username.

     

    Launch a terminal and use CLI to browse to the folder you are having permission problems with.

     

    chown -R <newusername> <folder>

    Once done use Finder to browse to the same folder, right click 'get info'

    Sharing and Permissions and I just selected 'Everyone' read+write access and access was restore using Finder and the foreign time machine backup

  • by Boidman2020,

    Boidman2020 Boidman2020 Mar 10, 2016 10:11 AM in response to Bella13
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 10, 2016 10:11 AM in response to Bella13

    After hours working on this problem, I've found the answer:

    1. Drag the locked folder from Time Machine to your desktop.

    2. Do a "Get Info" on the folder and in "Sharing & Permissions" simply add "admin" with "Read & Write" to the list, and that'll do it!

    Simple is good!