"Please...do yourself a favour...stop using Time Machine and start using Carbon Copy Cloner."
Tony sure has that right.
To the original poster:
I realize it may be too late now, but if you had been using CCC to create a bootable clone of your internal drive, you would have been up and running in a few minutes with 100% of your files "right there", in POFF (plain old finder format).
Just yesterday, I responded to a different poster who, having relied on Time Machine, could not "get his files back" in a moment of need.
Time Machine makes backup "look so easy", just connect the drive, flip the switch, and
. it takes care of everything, right?
Easy -- UNTIL you have to get your files back.
CCC, on the other hand, requires a bit more effort to initiate the backup, but once it's done, you'll have a good solid backup that you can BOOT FROM if need be. CCC gives you a better chance at recovery, when you most need it.