Is there any way to stop using Time Machine and still keep all data?

I would like to know if it is possible to stop using Time Machine and still be able to keep all of my data that is on the hard drive. It's currently on a 500GB external, but the way the Time Machine works, is that it has all my data from previous dates are not on my MBP HD, so i don't want to lose it.

open system Preferences (open on finder menu bar) and pick time machine and turn it off. but you will not be able to just open the drive and see the files and drag and drop to another location if you need them. you can only get them via the time machine software by highlighting and picking "restore"

I hope i understood your question.

You do not have to use Time Machine to grab files from the TM backup.

Simply turn off TM if you don't want to use it any longer. Stopping Time Machine does nothing related to the data already stored. If you decide later to start using it again, turn TM back on and it will continue adding to the backup.

To browse the backup simply open Finder and browse to the TM sparse bundle on your external drive and double click on it. You'll get a pop up window indicating a volume check is being done. This can take a long time, but you can stop the check if you want. I have no clue what the ramifications may be for not allowing the check to run it's course, but I don't do it.

Once the check is done, you'll see a drive on your desktop called "Backup of xyz's computer". Double click on that drive. It'll open a new Finder window from where you'll be able to browse the folder structure, open files, drag and drop from there to your desktop or wherever you'd like.

If multiple TM backups are kept on the same partition, any machine can browse any backup, not only your own, in this way.
I have used this method for grabbing files and from the backup of my wife's MB.