Greetings. 2011 MBP running 10.10.5 with 2TB AirPort. I would like to see the files on my AirPort Drive. How would I go about doing that? The only link I can find is http://pondini.org/TM/17.html and it didn't work and seemed outdated.
Thanks in advance for any help.
MacBook Pro
You can into TM drive and its files just like any other drive. Be warned: TM files are not meant for human interaction. If you delete, move, or add anything to that folder you will, without question, totally mess up TM.
Is there a reason you can't "look into" the backup via the Time Machine interface? That's the only safe way.
Are you trying to see Time Machine backup files that the 2011 MBP made previously on the Time Capsule?
or
Are you trying to use the 2011 MBP to see Time Machine files that were backed up from another Mac?
or
Are you trying to see normal data files that have been backed up on the Time Capsule drive?
or
Something else?
We need as much information as you can provide. Please assume that we know nothing, and that we will only know as much as you can tell us about your issue. Thanks.
Does TM and AP always mirror each other perfectly? In other words if I check TM that mean for sure those files have been backed up in the AP?
I reset my AirPort and set it back up from scratch to backup my MBP and I just want to know that it's working properly. It backs up every two hours it says, so I would just like to look on the hard drive of the AirPort and verify some very important files are there.
You don't want to look on the hard drive to find Time Machine backups.
You want to use the Time Machine interface to open Time Machine, select a previous backup date from the timeline on the right side of the window, then navigate using the Finder interface to the location of the file that you want to see.
Please review this Apple support document: Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple Support
"You want to use the Time Machine interface to open Time Machine, select a previous backup date from the timeline on the right side of the window, then navigate using the Finder interface to the location of the file that you want to see."
Are these files mirrored exactly on the AirPort?
Please....read the document. A backup is a copy of the original data on your Mac.
I don't know what document you are referring to. Everybody keeps talking about the TM. I don't care about that. What is the relationship between the TM and the Airport. Arn't they two different things. The TM is a back up of files on the local disk. Or at least I think it is. And the AP is an external hard rive that backs up the system in its entirety through a wireless connection. I don't care about the TM right now.
If you will look back a post or two, you will see that I provided a link for you to the Apple Time Machine support document. Here it is again. Please read the document.
Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple Support
As I said above, Time Machine is an application on your Mac that backs up all of the data on your Mac to another hard drive, like a Time Capsule......which you appear to be calling an AP. Apple does not make any product called an "AP".
You use the Time Machine application on your Mac to go back and look at the backups of your Mac on the Time Capsule or another Time Machine destination drive where you have directed Time Machine to back up the data on your Mac.
From this point on, you will need to wait for another user to respond.
Thank you! I didn't see anywhere that I've read that said TM necessarily backs up to an external device. And AP is my shorthand for AirPort.
If Time Machine backed up to your Mac and the hard drive failed on your Mac.....then you would not have a backup, would you?
Unless you have a backup of your important data on another hard drive......you don't have a backup at all.
I've got the APTC that the TM backs up to (just learned that). Side note: if you don't have anything external to backup to, then the TM is just something to use as a recovery devise? Like if you updated some software and it made your system go batty or something and you wanted to go back in time to an earlier version of your system?
If you will read the document, you will have your answers. Over and out.
see files inside airport
