Can't access old files on time capsule

Thank you for your fast answer.

I'm opening my own sparsebundle. There is one for my girlfriend's macbook also.

I didn't know I was doing the worst thing possible as the Apple guy sold me this TC as a backup device...

Yes I formatted my Macbook HD and reinstalled everything. I didn't change my computer's name. Same old one. So I guess TM erase everything and started a new sparsebundle since it has the same name but can't find the same datas on my newly formatted computer?

There is nothing wrong with using a TC and TM for a backup..

Unfortunately it is how you did it. Giving the computer the identical name and continuing to use the same TM backup. Even then I do not understand how it managed to delete your earlier files unless it was corrupt or you didn't test the backup before you wiped the computer.

The situation you are in now is that TM appears to not contain your iphoto library. That no date prior to your wipe and reinstall of OS exists in TM backup.

You can pay and get an expert to double check. They can attempt recovery but after months of operation, I just don't see how it can change anything.

Very sorry..

Hi! I hope you figured this out... I just wiped my mac last night for the same reason, and I also wanted to choose what to copy over. I couldn't access Time Machine. After two hours of searching, I finally found it. I plugged in my Airport via ethernet, and opened Disk Utility. There it was! I then right clicked on "Time Machine" and selected "Show in Finder..." and tah dah! Click all the way through the folders - mine were: Backups.backupdb > [my MacBook's name] > scrolled down to date of the back up I wanted > Macintosh HD > Users > [my name] > Pictures > Photos Library.photoslibrary. I then right clicked on "Photos Library.photoslibrary" and copied and then pasted into my Pictures folder (not sure if this will overwrite your current library, so maybe save it to an external hard drive until you know!!!) I hope this helps you or someone!!