Thoughtful, detailed coverage of the Mac, iPhone, and iPad, plus the best-selling Take Control ebooks.

 

 

Pick an apple! 
Become a TidBITS member!
 

 

TidBITS Watchlist
 
Extract Directly from Time Machine

Normally you use Time Machine to restore lost data in a file like this: within the Time Machine interface, you go back to the time the file was not yet messed up, and you restore it to replace the file you have now.

You can also elect to keep both, but the restored file takes the name and place of the current one. So, if you have made changes since the backup took place that you would like to keep, they are lost, or you have to mess around a bit to merge changes, rename files, and trash the unwanted one.

As an alternative, you can browse the Time Machine backup volume directly in the Finder like any normal disk, navigate through the chronological backup hierarchy, and find the file which contains the lost content.

Once you've found it, you can open it and the current version of the file side-by-side, and copy information from Time Machine's version of the file into the current one, without losing any content you put in it since the backup was made.


Link to this tip

Submitted by
Eolake Stobblehouse

Share your own tip! | Search TipBITS

 

 

Related Articles

 

 

Published in TidBITS 989.
Subscribe to our weekly email edition.

 

 
Tech News | 03 Aug 2009 | Listen  | Print Printer-Friendly Version of This Article

TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 03-Aug-09

by Doug McLean Send Email to Author

Send Article to a Friend

Flash Player 10.0.32.18 from Adobe is a security update to the commonly used browser plug-in. The update addresses a critical vulnerability previously identified by Adobe (see "Adobe Warns of Critical Flash Vulnerability", 2009-07-24) that could be exploited by an attacker to take control of a user's system after a program crash. (Free update, 5.66 MB)

Adobe Acrobat 9.1.3 and Reader 9.1.3 from Adobe are security updates to the longstanding PDF software. The updates address the critical vulnerability in Flash (see "Adobe Warns of Critical Flash Vulnerability", 2009-07-24) that could be exploited by an attacker to take control of a user's system after a program crash. (Free update, 6.1/3.1 MB)

Path Finder 5.1.4 from Cocoatech is a feature-focused update to the advanced file search utility that Matt Neuburg recently praised in "Path Finder 5 Beats the Finder's Pants Off" (2009-06-29). Changes include added support for Back to My Mac, the capability to remove the Finder icon from the Dock, adjustable desktop grid spacing, compatibility with trackpad swipe gestures for moving forward and backwards, and the capability to display WebDAV volumes. A full list of changes is available on Cocoatech's Web site. ($39.95 new, $19.95 upgrade, 22.2 MB)

SpamSieve 2.7.5 from C-Command Software is a maintenance update to the powerful Bayesian spam filtering software. Changes include improved FAQ and instruction sections, new scrollable search fields, an enhanced crash reporter, and updated Dutch, Japanese, and Korean localizations. Also, two bugs have been fixed; one that would cause Apple Mail to freeze on launch if you had a created a rule involving address book groups, and one that would cause the program to crash if more than one copy was installed on your machine. ($30 new, free update, 3.9 MB)

Fetch 5.5.1 from Fetch Softworks is a maintenance update to the longstanding file transfer software. Several issues have been addressed, including rare crashes due to missing default editors when uploading files and opening preferences. Also fixed are rare freezes that could occur when getting file lists, and delays that could occur while renaming items when the list of recent folders is especially long. Several other smaller bugs have also been fixed and can be found in the update's full release notes. ($25 new, free update from 5.5, 16 MB)

 

BBEdit 10 from Bare Bones Software — All the editing power you
need, with more than one hundred new features! The leading
professional HTML and text editor for the Mac keeps getting better!
Download the demo and see for yourself! <http://barebones.com/>