RESTORING THINGS from external harddrive

MDHEdison wrote:

I can't open anything from my external hard drive because I keep getting the message:

You can’t open the application “.......” because it is in a Time Machine backup. But when I try to open Time Machine I get the message:

You can’t open the application “Time Machine” because it is in a Time Machine backup.

What do I do?

Use Time Machine to restore deleted files or older files - Apple Support https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209152