Does Time Machine require add'l backup space?

I have two 2TB external hard drives which are pretty much full.
I want to partition a 4TB drive into two 2TB sectors and backup my two drives.
I don't need additional "archived" backups, those previous changes that Time Machine stores when additional space permits.  I just need an exact backup of the drives in their current state and that's all.
If one of my current hard drives is full to 99% capacity (say 1.98 TB) and my backup drive has 2TB capacity, will Time Machine let me backup?  Or does it require additional space?
I ask because I've been reading other posts that talk about "recommending" an additional 20-50% in size for saving previous changes.  I understand the suggestion, but I only have these two 2TB partitions and I don't believe I need those previous backups. 
Is that "additional" space mandatory or optional?

Thanks for the reply, ds store.
I wonder if you (or anyone else) can still answer a question or two for me. 
Are there any free options for making mirror backups of my drive?  I don't need the thing to be bootable.  It's all media files that don't change, but do get added to from time to time.
I would settle for a click-and-drag copy of the drive, but the occasional addition of a new file makes it a hassle to remember what I need to add to the backup drive. 
Sure would like a *free* solution to the problem of needing to backup a mostly full 2TB hard drive to another 2TB drive (ie, not much "work space") and not needing archived time machine-style backups ... just a system for knowing to add that occasional addition to my files.
Seems like time machine should do something like that ... simply pass on additional archived files ... just copy the disc at hand, but I get the idea it doesn't.  It insists on creating those additional archived files AND requiring me to allocate substantial extra space for "work space".
I don't want to buy another drive.  I want to back up my 2TB to another 2TB and make updates from time to time - without the wasted space of archived backups.
Any free solutions to that?  Possibly something already in my Mac that I'm not aware of?

Similar Messages

  • How does time machine use the external disk space??

    does time machine back up only the changed or new stuff or does it back up everything?  does this mean that if on "day one" it backed up 600 gb worth of data, the next back up on "day 2" would be 600gb+a few more things, or would it be 600gb+600gb+the few more things?  Does it back up "day one" in a whole package and "day two" in another package, or does it back up "day one", plus only the different things made from "day one" to "day two""?
    similarly, does it keep stuff from the first back up ever, plus anything new or modified in the following back ups, then when it is full, does it let just the oldest files drop off?  or does it drop off everything from the initial backup?  that is, if I had 20mb of changes would it erase only 20mb of data to make the new data fit, or would it erase all 600gb from say "day one"?
    thanks for the answer!
    iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)
    <Email Edited by Host>

    See Pondini's TM FAQs for starters.

  • Does Time Machine still do incremental backups after a restore?

    Hi --
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    felciano wrote:
    Hi --
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    See #C4 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

  • Why does Time machine not delete old backups

    I dont understand Why time machine is not deleting old backups. As it worked first time with the same size backup drive as the drive its backing up, I assumed it would just delete the old backup as needed. Do I need a bigger backup drive?

    Roglee wrote:
    I just want it to delete the old backup & replace it so i just have a copy. I guess i could just re format the drive each time but that just seems a waste of my time when TM should do this for me!
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    Buy Now!
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    Time Machine will keep making back ups and when it determines it needs space, it will delete older back ups. But it doesn't delete older ones each time it backs up.

  • Time Machine is out of BackUp Space?????? and Fails!

    Why doesn't Time Machine delete backup space to begin the latest backup? I keep receiving a "failed" message because there isn't enough free space... Anyone?

    James Bearde wrote:
    It's still telling me it's too large for the backup volume.
    Ah, that's different. TM has apparently already deleted as many backups as it could, which means it's probably made at least one new, full backup of everything on your system.
    This can be caused by certain hardware repairs, a full restore, or going several days without a successful backup.
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  • Time Machine is out of BackUp Space??????

    I've been using Time Machine for back ups. But for whatever reason it failed the last attempts at backing up my HDs. Doesn't Time Machine delete older content when it is updating new backup data?
    This would make sense to me. But doesn't seem to be the case.
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    Ah, that's it. After a restore, TM's next backup is a +Full Backup.+ Everything it just restored gets saved again: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1338
    What to do now depends on how much space you have.
    What is the total "used" on your 2 internal HDs (less any exclusions)?
    How big is your TM drive/partition?
    If TM's space isn't at least twice the total used on your internals, all you can do is use Disk Utility to erase your TM drive/partition and let TM start a whole new sequence.
    If there's considerably more than twice the space, you can manually delete backups from the "old" sequence. Do NOT use the Finder for this, but the TM interface.
    If you can't see the old backups via +Enter Time Machine,+ hold down the Option key while selecting the TM icon in your Menubar. The +Enter Time Machine+ option will change to +Browse Other Time Machine Disks+. Then select the oldest backup, click the "gear" icon and choose +Delete Backup+. Repeat until there's sufficient room.
    To tell how much room you need, look at the messages from a failed backup attempt via the widget. There should be a message like "... xx GB requested (including padding) ..." The figure for "xx" will probably be the total used (less exclusions) plus about 20%. (TM needs a fair amount of workspace to do it's magic.)

  • Does time machine write over old backups?

    I use time machine on 2 external drives. I have a 500gb drive in my macbook and I am trying to back up to a 1tb external drive that is partitioned into 2. The backup fails because I only have 85gb left on my Time Machine partition which totals 532 GB and Time machine needs 400 and something gb for the backup.
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    Clone – Data Backup
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  • Does Time Machine require a dedicated external drive, or can it include other files?

    After a misplaced library file, I'm having problems restoring some of the content on my MacBook Pro. I have a Time Machine backup on an external drive, but the drive also includes lots of other files that I want to exclude from the restore process. I'm concerned whether the Migration Assistant will scoop up everything on the drive.
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    David Henderson7 wrote:
    Another good idea. Thanks, FatMac!
    For a long time, I was leery of putting too much stuff on one drive. It breaks, and you lose everything. But you're right -- the prices allow for even two 3TB externals that could manage backups of backups for paranoid types like me. And that's in addition to the internal drive.
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  • HT201250 Every time I add/delete music to itunes, does time machine backup my entire library?  If so can I limit backup just to added music?

    Usimg time machine-every time I add/delete music in itunes library does time machine backup entire file? If so,an I set it up to just backup added music?

    It shouldn't be backing up the whole thing again, just the changes.

  • HT201250 Does time machine compress the data in backup?

    I have got to replace my internal hard drive so have to back up just everything to an ext drive.
    When I use 'time machine' to back up to an external disk, does that disk have to be larger than the file size on my iMac?
    Does Time machine compress the data?( eg will 1TB fit on a 500 gig external drive?)
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    No, Time Machine doesn't compress the data. I recently started a new TIme Machine backup, and the first backup required the same amount of space as it was backing up (actually a little bit more during the backup process).

  • Does Time Machine Backup When You are NOT logged in?

    I do not normally leave myself logged in since there are multiple people in my family and they have their own accounts.
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    If TM does not backup when I am NOT logged in, should I leave myself logged in by switching users back to the login screen?
    (On a side note:) Is there a way to make it so that when a screen saver activates, and someone hits a key, it goes back to the login screen instead of the desktop?

    Mike Delaney wrote:
    I do not normally leave myself logged in since there are multiple people in my family and they have their own accounts.
    Does time machine run backups when I am not logged in?
    Don't know
    Does it wake the computer from sleep to run a backup every hour? Day?
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    (On a side note:) Is there a way to make it so that when a screen saver activates, and someone hits a key, it goes back to the login screen instead of the desktop?
    Yes, in System Preferences->Security check "Require password to wake...."
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  • If i move itune to external drive does time machine still have backup?

    if i move itune to external drive does time machine still have backup?
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    i cant find this answer anywhere!!! thanks so much!!!

    Check to see whether or not it's excluded in the Time Machine pane of System Preferences.
    Items deleted from the hard drive won't be deleted from the backup until the backup location runs out of space.
    (63157)

  • I am trying to get space on an external hard drive which has some old time machine back up files that I do not need but can not eliminate, even by going into the time machine, clicking on the backup file to be eliminated and using the drop down eliminate

    I am trying to get space on an external hard drive which has some old time machine back up files that I do not need but can not eliminate, even by going into the time machine, clicking on the backup file to be eliminated and using the drop down menu with the gear box symbol to eliminate

    I cannot find this 300GB "Backup" in the Finder, only in the Storage info when I check "About This Mac".
    You are probably using Time Machine to backup your MacBook Pro, right? Then the additional 300 GB could be local Time Machine snapshots.  Time Machine will write the hourly backups to the free space on your hard disk, if the backup drive is temporarily not connected. You do not see these local backups in the Finder, and MacOS will delete them, when you make a regular backup to Time Machine, or when you need the space for other data.
    See Pondini's page for more explanation:   What are Local Snapshots?   http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
    I have restarted my computer, but the information remains the same. How do I reclaim the use of the 300GB? Why is it showing up as "Backups" when it used to indicate "Photos"? Are my photos safe on the external drive?
    You have tested the library on the external drive, and so your photos are save there.  
    The local TimeMachine snapshot probably now contains a backup of the moved library.  Try, if connecting your Time Machine drive will reduce the size of your local Time Machine snapshots.

  • Does Time Machine backup sparesebundle?

    Hi, I'm a newbie mac user and a little paranoid about backups. I tried searching under support and forums, but did not seem to find the answer to my question:
    Does Time Machine automatically backup a separate partition that has been created:
    1) I created a separate sparsebundle where I store my iPhoto library/files in order to be able to share the library between multiple users based on this Apple knowledge article http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1198.
    2) The sparsebundle is located under Users -> Shared -> and named "iPhoto Library.sparsebundle" and automatically set to mount at login.
    When I go into Time Machine, I don't see the mounted partition, but it looks like the sparsebundle under the shared directory is backed up. Just want to confirm that if my machine goes down, I can restore the backup of my iPhoto files from the sparsebundle even though the partition does not show as mounted.
    Apologies if this is a basic question, just making sure that there is not another setting I need to specify for additional partitions that have been created.
    Thanks in advance!

    george in sf wrote:
    Hi, I'm a newbie mac user and a little paranoid about backups. I tried searching under support and forums, but did not seem to find the answer to my question:
    Does Time Machine automatically backup a separate partition that has been created:
    1) I created a separate sparsebundle where I store my iPhoto library/files in order to be able to share the library between multiple users based on this Apple knowledge article http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1198.
    2) The sparsebundle is located under Users -> Shared -> and named "iPhoto Library.sparsebundle" and automatically set to mount at login.
    When I go into Time Machine, I don't see the mounted partition, but it looks like the sparsebundle under the shared directory is backed up. Just want to confirm that if my machine goes down, I can restore the backup of my iPhoto files from the sparsebundle even though the partition does not show as mounted.
    yes, you can. the sparse bundle is backed up by TM unless you specifically exclude it from backups.
    Apologies if this is a basic question, just making sure that there is not another setting I need to specify for additional partitions that have been created.
    Thanks in advance!

  • Does Time Machine backup iCal?

    I had a problem with some lost todo items the other day and checked to see if I could see a backup calendar as a quick way to solve the problem. If I am on address book and enter time machine, I see backups of my old address books and if I am on mail, I get all my old mail messages on the screen (though the todo item is grayed out), but if I am on iCal, I simply get the Finder window.
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    Since reading some of the first messages, I have been backing up my calendar each week and putting the backup file in my documents folder. I know that file is backed up, so I assume in case of a major problem, I could pull it from Time Machine and restore the data.
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