I cannot retrieve my files from Time Capsule

Is the OS the same on the hard disk now as when you backed up the files?

Is the OS actually Mavericks?

Is the sparsebundle of the previous backup able to be mounted and opened in Finder.

If so you can manually recover your files.

See Q14-17 of pondini.

http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

You are looking at the sparsebundle and not recognising it.. Shawn's MacBook Pro is your sparsebundle. (You are using icon view which tells you less info.. if you move to file view then you would see that it is a sparsebundle.)

Double click the icon.. and under devices the TM backup will show up.

Click on that.

Inside of it you will see the main backup.

Click on that. You will find your computer name again

Click on that.. you will see the actual dated backups.

Click on that the name of your hard disk.

Click on that.. drum roll from 2001 Space Odyssey.

and behold.. your files.

All of this is explained in the reference I gave you..

However it is much easier to use Migrate.. did you try to use migrate yet??

Did you use TM yet??

I am giving you the lowest common denominator method which is used for when all else fails.. since you say you have tried everything else.

Did you read the direct info from apple on how to recover your files for Maverick or Yosemite.

This is the fully kosher method.

OS X Mavericks: Restore items backed up with Time Machine

An alternative is to do a full restore to a different location.. this has got me out of trouble before when the system was acting up.. use a USB drive plugged into the computer and copy and paste the backups.backupdb to the drive.. exactly as pondini explains here. http://pondini.org/TM/18.html#id21

This will not just copy but will translate the files out of the sparsebundle to an easier to use form for TM to use.

What is in Recovered Files? Is that a recent directory? You didn't do another backup in there??

I followed the instructions and my old backups do not show up. Only backups after I installed my new hard drive.

So if you look at the backups there are none dated earlier than the new disk install?

If they don't show up in finder they don't exist. The screenshots I showed you yesterday just had Latest.. but here is what I see.. all the dates going back to when the backup of this computer began. If none of those are there.. they don't exist.. and your backup is wiped.

Let me get this straight..

You backed up the files of the computer using TM.. had you been doing that continually before changing the hard disk?

ie you had a history of backups from that particular laptop to the TC?

You opened the laptop and changed the hard disks.. but you wiped the old one before removing it??

That was a shame.. because that could have saved you? never ever wipe the old disk until you copy the files across.. and trusting one source is never wise.

If this was the one and only backup by TM you ever made did you actually check the backup was working before you wiped the old disk?

Did you install the new OS and give the computer the identical name it had with the old disk? Thus making no difference between the old and new backup names? If you had two different computer names you would have two different sparsebundles.. so I suspect you used the same name before and after and this could have destroyed your old backup .. because you backed up before you restored.. !!

Did TM request to use the same name or same backup before you backed up the new install? Or tried to restored the computer?

There is a good chance you wiped out the old backup by doing a TM backup over the top of old one.. if you didn't change the name of the computer.

You always recover the files before you start using TM anyway.

Do you still have the old hard disk??

If so did you just do a quick reformat or did you do a low level format (several hours) and really wipe the files..??

A quick format will allow recovery using software like disk warrior or data rescue. A low level format will write zeros over all your data.. making it impossible to recover.

Do all the sizes make sense on the TC disk.

So if you look at the available space in both TM and airport utility.

You can see i have 979GB free.. that means of 1.8TB I should have used up 800GB or so..

Do the calculations.. use get info from finder and see how big your sparsebunde is. And how big your other directory is.

Could there be a hidden sparsebundle in there?? It should be named exactly as your old setup of the computer was named. it is now lost but it could be hidden.

Turn on view hidden files in Finder.. and see if that might show you a bit more what is on the TC.. remember when you change OS strange things can happen.

Or check it with windows.. which tends to ignore file attributes..

If it all makes sense.. ie used space plus free space = available space.. (not exact but within 10%) and no hidden or deleted stuff using up space that is clear and obvious.. then sorry your files are gone.

I would recover your files from the old hard disk.

“If so did you just do a quick reformat or did you do a low level format (several hours) and really wipe the files..??” Quick.

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It is possible you can recover files but only by pulling the hard disk out of the TC.. that is not so hard in the early Gen4 type and older. Much harder in the new Gen5.

Since you already have a disk that is possible to recover. assuming you haven't copied anything over it.. use your old laptop drive with unformat software as I listed above.

ShawnSaysWTH wrote:

the old HD that was wiped clean via quick reformat.

This is the one that has your files.. the new hard disk in the laptop doesn't have your files.. and the TC disk probably has already wiped over them with the new backup you did.

•Remove the hard drive from the Time Capsule. Why?

No,, I am saying DO that only as the last resort and it is already too late sadly.. you have used the disk since you deleted the backup.. unbeknown to you by doing new backups to it.

•Where would I install my old laptop drive to use the unformat software? My Macbook?

Buy a USB disk holder/enclosure.. for peanuts. Any and every large computer store has them.. there about 10,000 of them for sale on ebay.

eg. http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORICO-2588US3-2-5-SATA-External-HDD-Hard-Disk-Enclosure- Box-Case-USB-3-0-2-0-/181786622487?pt=LH…

Put the disk from your laptop in it and plug it into your Mac.. the unformat software can only run when the disk is connected directly to the Mac but it can use any port you have.. USB, Firewire, Thunderbolt,

Using the internal is useless.. because you wiped the drive so cannot boot from it. But if you have access to a Mac Pro.. old model at least.. they have multiple SATA connections inside.. or an older MacBook with a DVD drive.. which can be removed and use that.

However I am sure USB is what 99% of people use since the enclosure is <$10.

•Is the Time Capsule hard drive larger in dimension than the one from my Macbook?

The TC uses 3.5" drive .. very large and heavy.

The Macbook uses 2.5" drive.. very small and light.

But both now use identical sata connectors.. at long last.

You can now buy a USB to SATA adapter.. if you want something even easier than the enclosure.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB3-0-to-2-5inch-HDD-SATA-Hard-Drive-Cable-Adapter-for- SATA3-0-SSD-HDD-/141530968200?pt=LH_Defa…

It has two USB ports to provide enough power.. one is for signal.. but the later laptops have a charge port for iphones with 2A available and that is more than enough to run external drive.. USB 3 also has more power than USB2.

You cannot run 3.5" drive like this.. you must use power supply in addition.. and a much larger enclosure.