I despise Time Machine and want to "free" all my files.

SabaiSamurai · Oct 22, 2014

I have tried everything. Manually changing the .backupdb directory to be Read/Write isn't allowed by the OS. I tried using Data Migration Assistant to restore all my files, but I don't know which snapshot date to use. I have around 30 snapshots. I just want to consolidate all of my files to their latest version.

Any tips for how to go about this? I'm sick of having so much space on my external taken up by multiple versions of the same documents.

HELP!

maflynn · Oct 22, 2014

Use Carbon Copy Cloner. TM is limited in options, as Apple likes to provide solutions that are one touch/turnkey. This limits some users ability to change the application to suit their needs.

freeskier93 · Oct 22, 2014

I haven't found a better backup solution than Carbon Copy Cloner. Unlike Time Machine it can create bootable clones. It can archive deleted/changed files similar to Time Machine but gives you more control over it.

Dave Braine · Oct 23, 2014

I'm sick of having so much space on my external taken up by multiple versions of the same documents.

They're not multiple versions. TM saves a copy of the document on it's first backup. On subsequent backups, if that document hasn't been changed, it does not make another copy. What you see is just a link to the original backup.

SabaiSamurai · Oct 26, 2014

Thanks for the recommendations of CCC. I will definitely be checking that out... but the issue I'm having is not "how to find a better backup alternative to TM", but simply, how to "un-timemachineify" all my TM backed-up files. Basically, how to free them from the TM architecture so that I can just access them via finder.

Is there no easy way to do this?

Dave Braine said:
They're not multiple versions. TM saves a copy of the document on it's first backup. On subsequent backups, if that document hasn't been changed, it does not make another copy. What you see is just a link to the original backup.

Dave, you're right. They're not multiple versions after all. They appear to be simple aliases, however, time and again I cannot find the "original" file when I get info on the alias.

mfram · Oct 26, 2014

It's not clear to me why you would want to 'un-timemachineify' the files. What problem are you trying to solve? You can access any of the TM snapshot directories with Finder if you'd like. It's like any other file or directory on the disk. I'm assuming we're talking about a directly connected disk here.

As for which are "aliases" and which are the "original", there is no distinction. Hard links are multiple entries in different directories for the same file. The data in the file is only freed after all directory entries which point to the file are deleted.

The latest files are whatever is in the latest snapshot.

SabaiSamurai · Oct 26, 2014

mfram said:
It's not clear to me why you would want to 'un-timemachineify' the files. What problem are you trying to solve? You can access any of the TM snapshot directories with Finder if you'd like. It's like any other file or directory on the disk. I'm assuming we're talking about a directly connected disk here.

As for which are "aliases" and which are the "original", there is no distinction. Hard links are multiple entries in different directories for the same file. The data in the file is only freed after all directory entries which point to the file are deleted.

The latest files are whatever is in the latest snapshot.

Let me explain a little clearer... I simply want to re-organize all my files manually, as I have lots of photos and audio files that are currently in many different locations... I want to consolidate them into organized directories.

I can't do that while the files still reside in the TM directories, because the OS doesn't give me permissions. Does that make sense?

Cameront9 · Oct 28, 2014

Can you not just reorganize them in the Finder on you computer and then back up via Time Machine? Time Machine copies the folder structure, too. Are you trying to work with files on a Time Machine drive as if it were a normal external harddrive? I dont' think it's meant to work that way. Time Machine is meant to be a "dedicate one drive and forget about it" solution. You might get a second external HD and use that for file storage rather than Time Machine.

Fishrrman · Oct 28, 2014

OP wrote above:
[[ Basically, how to free them from the TM architecture so that I can just access them via finder..]]

The answer is simple and has been posted above, but I will also recommend it:
CarbonCopyCloner.

There is also SuperDuper, which is a similar cloning app. But it doesn't offer everything that CCC does.

Search

Search

I despise Time Machine and want to "free" all my files.

SabaiSamurai

macrumors newbie

maflynn

macrumors Haswell

freeskier93

macrumors 6502

Dave Braine

macrumors 68040

SabaiSamurai

macrumors newbie

mfram

Contributor

SabaiSamurai

macrumors newbie

Cameront9

macrumors 6502a

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn

Our Staff