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How can I access Time Machine backup data for other computers?I have a Mac OS X setup in my office that includes an Apple Time Capsule in the middle of the network, streaming backups of every computer and laptop in our organization. One of the laptops was stolen, however, and I can't figure out how to access the backed up data from it on the device. Though my tale is a bit less dramatic (fortunately!) I too recently found myself needing to dig around on a Time Machine backup. Here's how I solved it... For clarity, "Time Machine" is the backup software system that's included with Mac OS X and a "Time Capsule" is a physical device that serves as a backup storage system, along with an 802.11g wireless station and simple Ethernet hub. It's quite a versatile box, actually, and I'm a big fan. I first tried just launching "Time Machine" on one of the other Macs on our network, but while that offered a neato view of versions of my existing computer, there was no apparent way to get to other backups of other computers. Not useful. Instead, a quick search of VersionTracker.com produced one splendid sounding match: "Back-In-Time... Transcend Time Machine restoration possibilities. Back-In-Time offers an easy access to all the data backed up by Time Machine. Features that you can do with Back-In-Time only: Show how many versions of each document are available, and when they were saved. Show items that were deleted. Drag and Drop to copy items anywhere. Open multiple browsers at the same time. Handle multiple Time Machine disks. Access Time Machine data from other Macs. Preview different versions of each document. And much more..."What caught my eye was "Access Time Machine data from other Macs." That's what I seek. So I downloaded Back-In-Time 1.0 the first thing I get to decide is if I really want to open up a disk image from a remote Internet source
Yeah, I do, so I click on "OK" and proceed:
Hold on a second, pardner! Are you sure you want to open a disk image that has an app downloaded from the Internet?
Yes, Mr. Big Brother, I do. (actually, it's very useful to get these reminders before you do something dumb and install some malicious software on your computer without thinking about it) Now, just to make this scary, you need to actually tell this new application you just downloaded your Mac OS X administrator password:
Since it's going to be working with Time Machine disk images, it does legitimately need access to root so it can manipulate files and get to the file system. Go for it, I'm 99% sure it's safe. :-) Now you finally start the actual application, which immediately prompts you for your registration serial number:
If you have one, enter it here, but if you don't just wait a few seconds and you can click on "Demo" and proceed with a fully functional application anyway. When I finally got the app running, I promptly hit this error:
Aww jeez, that's frustrating! Since I am working with a Time Capsule (e.g., remote network backup device for Time Machine on my Mac OS X system) I need to do what it indicates, namely mount the remote volume and actually open the disk image. The fastest way to get to the right spot in this situation is to click on the Finder (or Desktop) then type Shift-Cmd-K, which shows you all the network drives visible to the computer. One should be your remote drive. Connect to it by double-clicking:
When I double-click on the actual icon for the Time Capsule (in this case, the "Dave's Time Capsule" icon in the above screen shot) I see information for each of the two computers I back up to the device:
The file I'm seeking is on the system identified as "Lighter than Air" (any guesses what kind of laptop it is? :-) so I double-click on that to open it, and see this:
The first time I did this, I waited. And waited. And waited for the "check" to finish up. Literally 90 minutes later I clicked on "Skip" and *poof* I was ready to proceed. Further tests show that you can also click on the "Skip" button faster than 90 minutes into the process, in fact immediately works pretty well too! My theory is that because of how the Time Capsule stores its data, it's a very, very long process to verify the data remotely. Whatever the reason, once you're past - or skip - the verification step, it mounts the remote drive:
Now Back-In-Time suddenly looks like a darn useful app as it automatically detects the newly mounted Time Machine archive and shows a summary of what's there:
The file I seek is in "Documents", so that's what I open up by simply double-clicking on that entry on the screen and see a helpful listing of what's there:
It's the 2007 tax worksheet that I was seeking and it's conveniently right on top. Good. To grab a copy of it is simplicity itself: I just drag and drop the file entry onto my Desktop and... I have recovered the file from the Time Machine backup! Very nice job, Thierry Rolland (the programmer who wrote Back-In-Time). If you ask me, Apple should just buy your application and include it with the Time Capsule subsystem. It's that useful. No question, if you're going to use this at all, though, do also register your copy. It's $29 well spent the first time you use it!
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Categorized:
Mac OS X Help
(Article 8626,
Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: backups, mac os x, recovering backup, restore, time capsule, time machine Previous: How do I unlock or jailbreak an Apple iPhone? Next: How to remove password protection from a Microsoft Excel worksheet file? Reader Comments To Date: 18Chris Thomerson said, on December 4, 2008 12:57 PM:
Option clicking the time machine menu icon changes the menu from 'Enter Time Machine', to 'Browse Other Time Machine Discs', which may be all some folk need. eddie douglas said, on June 29, 2009 10:33 AM:
This worked fine for me using a macbook pro with OS X 10.5 but is there a way of doing the same using an Imac which has OS X 10.4? Oliver Haas said, on August 13, 2009 2:31 PM:
Thanks for this tutorial. I have been battling with this problem for ages! Your efforts are very much appreciated! Luke said, on October 3, 2009 7:52 PM:
Works like a charm, my harddrive crashed, and I wasn't sure if Time Machine had captured the files since I had been bouncing around different machines. Now I have all the files I need from all my machines. Perfect program, well worth the $29. Did the job that costs hundreds for private services to dig up. Jan Berger said, on March 2, 2010 3:07 PM:
I have downloaded Back-In-Time and followed the steps. It works fine for the back of my computer which I don't really need. But the backup of my co-worker is on the Time Capsule and it is telling me it is unavailable now. Do you have any suggestions? The machine I am running is a PowerMac G5 and the backup I'm looking for if from a MacPro 4-core. Could the originating processor be making the difference? HELP! I convinced my boss that Time Capsule was secure and now her data isn't showing up while her machine is in the shop. Dominic said, on March 4, 2010 3:11 PM:
Hey i think right clicking on the time machine icon in the dock and selecting "browse other time machine disks" as shown here http://creativetechs.com/tipsblog/access-files-from-other-time-machine-backups/ will also work. i just had to do it and it works flawlessly. thought i'd mention it here. cheerio, Brian said, on April 19, 2010 1:23 PM:
I tried this software. It shows the .sparsebundle data however it is grey and unaccessible even though I clearly have accessed the Time Capsule drive. Other files on the drive show up as accessible. Has anyone else had this problem? felix said, on May 17, 2010 2:08 PM:
Any way to access files on a time machine drive from a PC? Markus said, on September 6, 2010 1:49 PM:
another hint: If you do not see a certain computer backup on your time capsule, reboot it! Vivian Kwan said, on October 27, 2010 10:44 AM:
The latest version of "Back in Time" work space is much more complicated and I'm afraid to push any buttons. I want to grab a file to test the software but I can't tell if it's going to delete it off my Time Capsule or not. It seems to be telling me it will. I want to leave my Time Capsule intact as it is. My main desire is to get my 14,000 photos off my Time Capsule. I'm afraid that if I try to copy it to my computer and the copy "fails", I'll be out of luck if it has also been deleted off my TC. Cipher said, on January 12, 2011 7:38 AM:
Just want to say thank you ;) Cipher Michele said, on February 27, 2011 11:56 AM:
Please can someone help me by a step by step set of instructions of how I can INTERGRATE my previous /older mac backups made on a 500GB TCapsule that I've copied the Sparsebundle to my new 1TB TCapsule but I cant seem to INTERGRATE it If anyone can help I will be so grateful ,it's driving me crazy. The TC is new ,I upgraded from a 500 to 1TB. Please somebody must know an answer. I no it's possible but don't no how to do it. I have the app Back In Time but I'm confused completely ,Many Thanks Grant Romancia said, on March 12, 2011 6:05 PM:
When I get into my time capsule and double click to open the spare bundle folder, it says the disc images could not be opened.. "Resources temporarily unavailable". Thanks pblachere said, on October 3, 2011 3:02 AM:
Great article, very helpful ! Thx ! harto de Mac said, on January 14, 2012 9:54 AM:
What about going back to usual hard disk until mac creates something useful... DavidT said, on March 2, 2012 9:54 PM:
maybe I'm missing something but I think the easiest way to access the Time machine backup data from another machine is to simply press the 'Alt' key while clicking on the Time Machine icon in the menu bar. hans Figi said, on March 15, 2012 1:58 PM:
This is ridiculous. A back up hard drive that takes this much effort to retrieve information from? Seriously, am I the only one that thinks it should not be this complicated? i have been trying for two days to access info form a Time Capsule that was attached to our now DEAD iMac. all our family photos from the last 10 years, and important current projects are on there - I think. It should NOT be this complicated. next time i will just use an external hard drive and back up when i remember to. Time Machine makes you feel good and safe, but all I read on t 'net is people w problems retrieving their data and complicated "solutions". Completely defeats the reason I am a Mac user.
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Am I the only one who gets a giggle every time I see my Time Capsule's "arsebundle"?
Thanks for the writeup, I'd not heard of this bit of software.