Have backup disk, but Time Machine is not recognizing it...

I have tried 3 different external hard drives, all of which have come up in Finder and I am able to explore them, but when I ask to set up Time Machine, it has no options of any backup disks for me to select? Help! Right now I have Western Digital 500 GB drive connected.

Using Disk Utility. First, make sure there is no data on the drive you want to keep. Everything that's on the drive already will be destroyed in the conversion process.
Open Disk Utility (from the Applications > Utilities folder) and select the backup disk from the left-hand pane. Make sure you select the correct disk, otherwise you may lose valuable data! In the main section of the window, select 'Erase' and make sure that "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' is selected. Change the name if you want, then click 'Erase...'.
When this is complete, your freshly formatted disk should appear in the Time Machine preferences.

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  • How do I choose a backup disk for Time Machine?

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  • How do i make a make a backup disk for Time Machine?

    I need a backup disk for Time Machine

    You need an external hard drive. Here's a cheap SATA external hard drive case on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-NexStar-2-5-Inch-External-Enclosure/dp/B002JQNXZC/r ef=pd_cp_pc_0
    For a hard drive try Newegg.com http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=380&name=Laptop-Hard-Dr ives&Order=PRICE
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  • Restored system from Time Machine backup disk but the system could not start-up

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    BTW, I also tried Repair the system disk, Fix permissions via Disk Utility.
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    Just bought a samsung 500gb external hard drive because I need to backup my mac to do a full system reboot because it is completely messed up after downloading the new yosemite update.
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  • Do I need to encrypts backup disk for Time Machine to encrypt backups?

    I have a new LaCie disk that I want to dedicate as my backup.  In case it is ever stolen, I don't want others to be able to retrieve files.
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    See #31
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