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Level 1

6 points

Can't access old files on time capsule

Hello!

I bought a new macbook in June and migrated my old profiles to the new laptop. However, since the new macbook had somewhat smaller hard drive and the photos took up so much space I decided to skip migrating the photos for the time being. Now, when I finally have bought a large extra drive and try to find the photos from my old laptop to migrate them I can't find them on the time capsule. In fact, it seems like time capsule has erased all data from my old computer and only kept what I migrated in June. When I try to scroll back on the time wheel it seems like I can't go further back than June. Does this mean that time capsule has forgotten all older backups? Are my photos gone for good?

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

Time Capsule-OTHER, iOS 7.1.2

Posted on Aug 22, 2014 1:42 PM

Best reply

LaPastenague

Level 9

67,226 points

Posted on Aug 22, 2014 2:41 PM

Try doing it manually.. open the sparsebundle in finder and go to a date before you migrated the data to the new computer.

Use Pondini's instructions in Q15 and 16 here. http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

What you did was wrong.. just to be clear.. once you migrated the data to the new laptop you should have archived the old TM backup and started a new lot.

TM does not work the way you might think.. with a new OS like Mavericks it is less predictable than ever. It can at any time delete your older backups for files that are no longer on your computer.

It is essential when using backups to understand how to preserve the files you want. Sorry as I realise this might be too late.. !!

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18 replies

Jan 18, 2016 9:01 AM in response to LaPastenague

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?

Jan 18, 2016 12:19 PM in response to jobrunelle

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..

Apr 9, 2016 3:14 PM in response to jobrunelle

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!!

Can't access old files on time capsule