TM only uses a sparse bundle image for networked backups like to a Time Capsule. A local backup like say to a USB drive is just a regular HFS+ file format and you can see the files in Finder.
OP > If you install something like Paragon HFS or the software
@green86 mentioned, you should be able to see the files in Windows Explorer and just drag out what you need.
https://www.paragon-software.com/home/hfs-windows/
Thanks for the link! Once I installed the trial version of that software, Windows Explorer recognized the Time Machine partition right away.
But now I'm having trouble actually finding my files. Or when I do, they read as having a file size of 0. The whole HDD itself registers as 1 TB filled almost to capacity, but one level in, the only visible folder has a file size of just 1.02 GB. Going deeper, I can see a folder I stored thousands of family photos in, but each of those sub-folders appear as files that register as "0 KB" in size, and this appears to be the case for any other file I try to access ... the file or folder name will appear, but it'll seem to have zero contents.
Am I accessing the wrong thing here?
EDIT: Revealing hidden folders uncovered multiple other folders, including one labeled ".HFS+ Private Directory Data" that appears to have like 98.1% of the data on the 1TB HDD according to WinDirStat.
So now I appear to have the folder with my files in it ... but once inside, I have a more than 120,000 folders all labeled "dir_" followed by a sequence of semi-sequential numbers (I can't see an exact pattern). Inside those folders are lots of assorted files, all with garbled text as file names, most of which have a file size of "0 KB" but every once in a while one will register as having a few MB of size... but everything is garbled text file names, and nothing can be read on Windows 10. Still stuck. :/
EDIT 2: Attempting to transfer all those files over to my PC's 2TB HDD through Windows Explorer is doable, but could take a few hours, and I don't know if that would even help. I did stumble upon
this video that suggests a possible solution (the guy is even using the same WD Passport that I've got for the Time Machine data) so I plan to try that once I get home from work. Please advise if this is a bad move.