Can I delete the files off of my MacAir after a Time Machine download to an External hard drive?

I need to free up space on my MacAir.  Does doing a Time Machine to an external hard drive allow me to delete the files off of my laptop without worry?  I have lots of pictures that I don't want to lose.
Thanks!

No. It is not an archival backup. It essentially is a mirror of what is on your hard drive. However, it will not delete those backups until it needs the space.
If you wish to archive them to other storage, you need to use something else (copying in Finder to an external would suffice).

Similar Messages

  • Re Time Machine I have an external  hard drive with files I backed up manually over the past 2 years 1TB of memory. I am finally taking the leap to use Time machine to back everything.   will I have to reformat that drive, thus wiping my previous bac

    Re Time Machine
    I have an external  hard drive with files I backed up manually over the past 2 years 1TB of memory.
    I am finally taking the leap to use Time machine to back everything.
    will I have to reformat that drive, thus wiping my previous back ups?
    can I split it the drive in two partitions?
    Also
    as I have two separate Macbook Pro's- one older than the other.
    OSX 10.68
    the other is
    OSX 10.75
    can I back them up separately?
    or even synch and merge files and folders etc? between the two?

    You CAN use a drive with files already on it to store Time Machine backups. But long term, that is not recommended. You do not need to reformat or re-partition the drive to do this. Once Time Machine Backups are established, you could remove the old files.
    But do not delete Time Machines files with the Finder -- that can cause it to lose its place and lose everything.
    With the cost of backup drives under US$100, it might be a better idea in the long run to get another drive. Best results from Time Machine is a drive about 3 times larger than the drive(s) you are backing up.

  • Hallo ,why is it that when I delete a photo ,which is backed up by time machine and western digital external hard drive , that I am able to restore the photo okay but not the titles and descriptions . I have  a Macbook 4.1, mac osx 10.5.8 . Iphoto 7.1.5 ,

    QUESTION.
    Hallo , my question is ;whenever I delete a photo and restore it through Time machine and Western digital external hard drive , I am able to restore the photo but not the titles and descriptions . Western Digital inform me that it isn't their external hard drive problem and suggest that it is an Apple software problem ?
    I am using  a Macbook 4.1 , with Mac OSX 10.5.8 . I photo 7.1.5 , last modifie4d 01/05/2010 -universal . Should I be upgrading  Iphoto ?
    I hope that someone is able to help in this matter , as i have to restore 12000 photos !
    Thanking you in anticipation.
    Alan from Wigton

    Hallo  Kieth ,
    I am not quite ready to restore the full iphoto library , as I have days of work re - imputting titles,descriptions and enhancement . I hope that your suggestion works , as I use my Macbook basically to work with digital photography. Through time , I will need to delete my library to recover more disc space and I would hate to have to spend more time re - imputting titles and descriptions all over again .
    Thanks for your interest and advice.
    regards  - Alan

  • I had to reformat my OSX 10.5.8 and i can't restore my emails from my time machine backup from an external hard drive - only the latest (post backup) time machine back ups are available to restore. Please can any help

    I had to reformat my OSX 10.5.8 and I can't restore my emails from my time machine backup from an external hard drive - only the latest (post backup) time machine back ups are available to restore. Please can any help? I can find the mail folder in my libraries, but the Restore Button is grayed out

    OSX treats the reformatted drive as a different one; it's the same as replacing it, and the old one is no longer connected.
    See #E3 in  Time Machine - Troubleshooting to see and restore from the "old" drive.
    And, you may not want to restore via the Finder; see the blue box in #15 of  Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.

  • I threw out 24 time machine backups from an external hard drive into my desktop trash and now I can't empty my trash.

    I threw out 24 time machine backups from an external hard drive into my IMac desktop trash and now I can't empty my trash.

    Since you didn't mention what type of error message you were seeing, I'm going to guess on what is happening.
    I'm guessing that since you threw away Time Machine backups, that Time Machine is probably active on your Mac. There is a chance then that the files you tossed are marked as in use. You can't delete files that are in use.
    Try turning Time Machine off, then restart your Mac. Then try deleting them again.
    Once done, turn Time Machine back on.
    Tom

  • I got a macbook pro 2008 and can not back up using time machine. it eject my external hard drive everytime. does someone has a fix???

    i got a macbook pro 2008 and can not back up using time machine. it eject my external hard drive everytime. does anybody has a fix???

    Does your external hard drive have it's own power supply?  It should.
    Is your external hard drive formatted with the NTFS file system?  It won't work.
    It needs to be formatted either with Mac OS Extended or FAT32.
    (There are drivers available to add NTFS support to OS X but their quality is unknown, especially the "free" ones.)

  • HT201250 How can I migrate a Time Machine backup from an external hard drive to a new TimeCapsuls?

    I just got a 2TB Time Capsule.  I want to migrate my time machine backups on an external hard drive to the new Time Capsule.  I have about 430Gb of files to back up; I don't want to wait 7-8 days for the backup, unless I have to.  I am using OS 10.7.5 (forget which cat that is).  I have mounted the TC drive as 10.0.1.1; I tried to drag and drop from old to "data" on TC, but I get the error "The volume is the wrong format for a backup."  Any ideas how I can move my old files to the new, and bypass creating a brand new backup file?
    Thanks.

    Rather than do that, which means starting over from scratch, losing all your edits, organisation and so on, why not simply use iPhoto Library Manager to revert the Library to the older version? Easier, less destructive.
    The instructions on that are here
    If you really want to start over: you can access the Originals folder simply by going to your Pictures Folder and finding the iPhoto Library there. Right (or Control-) Click on the icon and select 'Show Package Contents'. A finder window will open with the Library exposed.

  • Is there any way to create a time machine backup to an external hard drive with content already on it?  I have a hard drive that i have used for pictures but when i try to run a backup it says i need to start from a blank drive. Can i get around it?

    Is there any way to create a time machine backup to an external hard drive with content already on it?  I have a hard drive that i have used for pictures but when i try to run a backup it says i need to start from a blank drive. Can i get around it?

    It would be much better if you had separate drives for the pictures and Time Machine backups.....but, if you want to use the same drive for both purposes, temporarily move the folder with the pictures to another location for safe storage.
    Run the Time Machine backup on the hard drive and verify that everything is working correctly. Time Machine will format the disk for you in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as part of the backup process.
    Then move the folder with the pictures back to the hard drive with the Time Machine backups.
    When you have tested to make sure that everything is working again, then and only then should you delete the folder with pictures from the temporary storage area.
    Again....it would be much better to keep Time Machine backups on a drive just for that purpose, and other data on another drive for that purpose. This is clearly one of those times when the fact that you can do something does not mean to imply that you should do it.

  • Is there a way to get my photos off an old time machine backup from an external hard drive?

    Is there a way to get my photos off an old time machine backup from an external hard drive?

    You will have to connect the Time Machine HDD and click on the Icon.  You will see one folder called Backups.backupdb.  Click on that and you will have to continue until you find the home folder.  The iPhoto library (where the pictures are, not the application) will probably be in your pictures folder.  You will have to drag that to your desk top.  Then you will have access to individual images.
    Ciao.

  • Can 'Time Machine' back-up other external hard drives

    Can 'Time Machine' back-up other external hard drives connected to your mac as well as the mac memory itself?

    As Neil says, yes, it can.  But external HDs are excluded by default;  you have to tell Time Machine when you do want to back one up.
    See the exclusions box in Time Machine Prefs > Options.
    If the drive is shown in black, just select it and click the minus sign at the bottom.
    If it's shown in gray, though, it's not formatted for a Mac, and Time Machine can't back it up (and you can't remove it).

  • Should I back up my files with another external hard drive when I am already backing up time machine with my current external hard drive?  Or, should I just get a flash usb to back up my audio files?

    I am not sure what is best to back up my audio lecture files?
    Thank you so much for your kind help...I am very grateful and Blessings to you!

    Two backups are better than one, especially if the files are important. So make sure Time Machine is set to back up your "audio lecture files", and copy them to a flash drive as well.
    (Keep in mind that no-one but you knows how Time Machine is set up on your computer, or where you store your "audio lecture files", or how important they are for you.)

  • Can Time Machine back on one external hard drive (work files) to another external hard drive (back up)?

    Can Time Machine on a Mac Book Pro 10.5.8 back up an external hard drive (working files) to another external hard drive (WD dual backup)?

    I have Mountain Lion here ready to upgrade, but I'm scared of what will happen - there's always something when you upgrade, but I guess that's for a different post!
    Yes, it's a different post, but let's make a comment any way.
    Your power pc apps will not work when you upgrade to Mountain Lion. You will have to replace all the apps you use.

  • Can Time Machine back up an external hard drive plugged into a Time Capsule

    I have iTunes and iPhoto libraries that have outgrown the hard drive on my laptop so I've moved them on to an external hard drive. Since I'd like to move around the house with the laptop, I've plugged the external hard drive in to the Time Capsule so that the files on the external hard drive will be accessible on the network. Now that my really important files live on an external hard drive, I want to back it up.
    Time Machine is backing up my laptop's internal hard drive to the Time Capsule drive, but I can't seem to figure out how to make Time Machine also back up the external hard drive that's plugged in to the Time Capsule.
    Is this possible?

    I understand that [Chronosync|http://www.econtechnologies.com/pages/cs/chrono_overview.html] ($40 U.S.) can do that, but I've never used it.
    If you do that, you'll want to back it up to a disk image on the TC's internal HD, or a separate HD. See #Q3 in [Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule|http://web.me.com/pondini/TimeMachine/TimeCapsule.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum) for details.

  • Can Time Machine back up a external hard drive connected to Airport Extreme

    I recently purchased a new macbook pro, and airport extreme.
    I attached a 750 GB external hard drive to the macbook pro, and reformatted it so time machine made the initial back up and hourly back ups from there.
    Is it possible to now to unattach the external hard drive and attach it to the airport extreme, where the mac book time machine will back up to the external hard drive through airport extreme?
    i have seen conflicting posts is if this is possible.

    That would probably be safest.
    Note that Apple's position on this got even more negative with Snow Leopard: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/15139.html
    It does work well for some folks, not so well for some, and not at all for others.
    I got a refurb dual-band model in September. It worked well for about 3 months, but lately I get the error 109 and corrupted backups every few days, that Disk Utility can't fix. Once, Disk Warrior could, but since then, if they're corrupted, nothing helps. That's on a year-old Seagate drive that seems fine otherwise, especially when connected directly.
    And I have an excellent wireless connection; it's only about 10 feet from my Mac, speeds are great, S/N ratio is good, etc.
    It makes no sense to me that a TC would work better, but they seem to.

  • Can I use Time Machine wirelessly to an external hard drive other than Time Capsule?

    Since I already have a wireless router, I don't want to get Time Capsule.  And since this is a laptop, I would prefer the external device *not* being physically connected to my MacBook Pro.  Any suggestions on external hard drives and methods to accomplish this would be appreciated.
    Chris

    You can, in some cases.
    If you have a desktop Mac, you can back up to a shared drive connected to it, over your network.  See  Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #22 for setup instructions.
    Some NAS drives work with Time Machine, to one degree or another, but I don't recommend that -- there are too many possible downsides.  See the pink box in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #2.

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