Deleted Time Machine File

E

evewitch

Registered
I am running OS X 10.8.4. I am currently using Time Machine backups on an external hard drive (WD My Book for Mac). The hard drive currently also contains some other files which I guess I will ultimately have to move elsewhere. When I first started using the drive, I didn't think to partition it, so there you go. I am really not sure I understand exactly how Time Machine works. I sort of "panicked" and decided to manually delete one of the files from the external hard drive. Even though TM has weird permissions, I had no problem deleting it. It is in my Trash. I am pretty sure I need it back where it belongs. (It is the first backup of my machine.) The "Put Back" command is not available. I am also not able to manually move it back where it belongs. My questions:

1. Do I actually need this file? I assume yes, since it is the initial backup file upon which the others build.
2. If yes, how do I get it back where it belongs?
3. If no, can I just empty the trash? Or am I going to have trouble due to the file size or the weird permissions?
 
Do you need this file? : It depends on what the file is. What is the title of the file?

Can you put it back? : Yes ! Just open the Trash window and drag the file from the trash to the Time Machine drive. You can have two windows open and drag the file from the Trash to the Time Machine.

Can you empty the trash: Yes, but depending on the file will depend on what the system will ask for. You may be asked to type in your password for permission to delete. You may be told that it is in use and it can't be deleted.

Time Machine does an initial back up of your hard drive. Then it does hourly back ups to include any changes such as additional downloads and documents. After 24 hours, it saves only one backup for the day. Then after a week, it will save only one backup for that week. After a month, it will save only one backup for the month. These saved backups will be the latest backup file. You can select which drives or folders to exclude from the back up by going to System Preferences>Time Machine>Options.
 
Pondini's FAQs cover just about any Time Machine issue.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

The backup that's in the trash can probably be just deleted (empty the trash)
You moved it improperly, so it's likely corrupted, and can't be used with Time Machine now.
Empty the trash to get rid of it. Your Time Machine will probably complete a full backup the next time it runs. And, it probably has already completed that, or at least started.

If you can't empty the trash, Pondini also has the steps to fix that, too!
http://pondini.org/TM/E6.html
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top