Timemachine weird glitch?

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Hello everyone,

So this is my first post, I've been using macs for about 5 years now, I'm a reasonably competent user but nothing pro, only use the terminal or go into system files if I have a clear explanation of what to do.

Today a strange glitch had me completely stumped while trying to retrieve a file, until I figured out the problem (not the solution).

When RESTORING a file by going into time machine from the TM icon in the finder menu bar, I restored a file as it WAS LAST SAVED (today) rather than the date I'm going back to (3 days ago). When I select the file, it marks as last saved today (even though I am looking at a file from 3 days ago). It contains all new information from today.

HOWEVER, if I open the TimeMachine desktop icon and go in this way, I get the CORRECT (3 day old) file.

So I have managed to circumvent the issue (which is good!) but what can be a more thorough problem/solution? Going into the TM through the desktop icon ads quite a few extra steps (and is less fun) than going through the cool GUI.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Harry
 

chscag

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So I have managed to circumvent the issue (which is good!) but what can be a more thorough problem/solution? Going into the TM through the desktop icon ads quite a few extra steps (and is less fun) than going through the cool GUI.

Not sure what you mean by "desktop icon"? If you're referring to the TM icon on your top menu, then, that's the correct way to open TM. When TM opens it displays like the Finder but with the date the backup was made. Backup dates are listed in Pink-Red on the right side of the screen. And yes the graphical interface is meant to be easy to understand and follow.
 
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Hi and thanks for your reply.
No, what I meant by the "desktop icon" is the one that appears on the desktop - the TM disk (hard drive) icon. This is the one I went through to get it to finally work.
The menu bar icon (in the top menu) goes into TM with the cool GUI - and that is what failed to work, by retrieving a file that was actually the latest saved version of the file (instead of the version saved on the date of the backup)
 

chscag

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It sounds like you may have a corrupt TM backup. Unless you're specifically saving those backups for a rainy day, it might be time to erase the TM backup external drive and start over.

Get hold of a copy of either Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper to do a bootable cloned backup of your Mac's system. That way you'll always have redundancy with your backups.
 
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Hmmm, corrupt TM backup, that's annoying. Strange though that only the GUI is corrupt, but the files (when accessed as normal drive files) are ok.
I was sort of hoping I could rely on TM for my backups, but I guess I'll have to look into clones for extra security.
Thanks for the tip!
 

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