Time Machine won't do incremental backups after I restored my computer

I am using a macbook (2010 version) and operating Lion. I had a problem with my Macbook where it wouldn't log on, even in safe mode, so I restored it using Timemachine. Now that everything is back up and running well I want to keep backing up. But Time Machine now says that there is not eneough space on the backup disk as it wants to back up the whole computer alongside the exisitng back up. In short it will no longer do incremental backups on top of what has already been backed up. I don't want to wipe my backup disk for fear that something might go wrong again and I may want to go back to a version earlier than the one I restored. Is there anyway of getting round this problem? It seems like a fairly serious problem.
I would appreciate any help.

ms364 wrote:
I am using a macbook (2010 version) and operating Lion. I had a problem with my Macbook where it wouldn't log on, even in safe mode, so I restored it using Timemachine.
When you erased the disk, it got a new UUID (Universally Unique IDentifier), which is treated like a different drive, and Time Machine will back it up in it's entirety.
Did you do a full system restore, starting from the Recovery HD? If so, that should have left a "trail" so Time Machine should have automatically "associated" the restored disk with the existing backups.
If you did it "piecemeal," though, via the "Star Wars" display, it won't (that doesn't leave the trail for TM to figure out what happened).
You might be able to get it to do the association manually. See #B6 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
But Linc is right; you apparently need a larger TM drive. See #1 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.

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OS X Lion v10.7 Time machine won't do incremental backups.

Time machine under Snow Leopard used to do small incremental backups just fine. After upgrading to Lion though, every time I try to do a time machine backup, it attempts to perform a full backup (hundreds of gigabytes every time). Usually the first full backup completes fine but instead of doing subsequent small/incremental backups of the changed files, it starts over doing full backup but there isn't enough room on the backup drive for that so it fails.
I've found other people with the same issue here: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1745345
And attempted several suggested fixes/tests but none of them work just as in that thread. Am I alone in this issue? Any suggestions?
I have a 10.7.1 install on a mid 2010 15" MBP with two drives (one SSD, one HDD, no optical). As I mentioned before, time machine worked beautifullly under 10.6.x backing up to external 1TB FW 800 -> SATA bridges.
Thanks,
M

I have the same problem only full backups all the time I upgraded from Snow Leopard to Lion and on Snow Leopard I had no issues with Time Machine. So what I have done:
Formated the Time Machine Backup Disk (it's an USB-drive) - didn't help
I deleted all the Time Machine Settings (plists) - didn't help
Used Disk Utility to verify user rights and drive - didn't help
Used TechTool Pro 6 to verify the drive - didn't help
I still only get full backups. If I exclude the a catalogue/folder, the backup will be smaller, but it still takes a full backup of the items selected ...
My system is the same as before the upgrade - no new hardware and so on. This is really strange

Time Machine won't show old backups after reformat

Hi there -
So I have a time machine backup that I made about 1 year ago. I have let it do its thing, backing up files automatically every hour. I decided to reformat my computer to start fresh before downloading Lion, so I unhooked my external drive and went to work. The install went fine, but now my old time machine backups are gone!
For example, I will go into my Pictures folder, then enter time machine, I can only go back to July 18th, 2011. Previous to me reformatting my computer, I had no problem going as far back as I wanted. Now all of a sudden, I can't do that any more!
I have NO idea what's going on, and NO idea how to fix this. I've exhausted myself reading through the communities trying to get support, but to no avail.
Hopefully someone can help!

Many, many weeks ago there were articles (MacWorld and others) that described how to check and see if you had any PowerPC apps. It was stated that these apps would not work with Lion because Rosetta, which they require, will no longer be supported. Here is how you check. Hold down Option and click the Apple in the upper left. While holding Option click System Profiler. Under Software, click Applications and wait for the list to load. Toward the right side of the window click the column header called "Kind" to sort the column. Scroll the column to see if you have any Power PC apps. If you do, they won't work in Lion.
Regarding your Office 2004...... I do know that the new version of Office will work.
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Time Machine won't see my backup after resetting Time Capsule

i had to reset my TC because i got a new modem. once i got the network up and running again, now time machine wants to start over backing up my MBP, even though i can see the backup files on the TC....
how do i get time machine to recognize that this time machine has my backups on it already?
I had changed the name of the TC, then i changed it back. so i don't think that's the problem?
will i have to erase the time capsule and start over backing up?
thanks in advance...

TM may start a new backup sequence for any of a number of reasons. See #D3 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip* at the top of this forum.
Click here to download the +Time Machine Buddy+ widget. It shows the messages from your logs for one TM backup run at a time, in a small window.
Navigate to the first of the backup attempt that failed, copy and post the messages here. A clue should be lurking in there.
i'd like to keep those backups because there's some important stuff in there.
That's a curious comment. Have you been deleting things from your internal HD, relying on TM to keep it's copies archived?

Time Machine won't use existing backup folder

Time machine gave me the can't find back up drive error. I did what the support site says, went into the preferences, and reselected the appropriate drive, but now it won't use the existing backup folder. It keeps making a new one called 'user's MacBook Pro 2'. How do I force it to use the old folder, so that I can access my old back-ups?

gilesrulz,
First, you need to determine WHY it's not choosing to continue using the previous backups.
Has your computer changed in some way? Logic board replaced by Apple?
You reinstalled the Mac OS X system software?
*_Time Machine Always Performs a Full Backup After a Full Restore_*
Actually, this is normal. Anytime your hardware has changed, or you have reinstalled the operating system again, Time Machine will perform a new full backup. Consider the following according to the KB article below:
*Full Backup After Restore*
Bear in mind that in all cases Time Machine will perform a full backup after a full restore. This is normal. Time Machine will resume incremental backups after the full backup has completed. To view previous backups, Control-click or right-click the Time Machine icon in your Dock or Option-click the Time Machine menu extra and Choose "Browse Other Time Machine Disks," then select your previous backup volume. You will enter Time Machine and be able to browse your previous back ups and restore files. [http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1338]
So even on unchanged hardware, if you reinstall your system software and restore your user data, Time Machine starts anew, and you will not be able to resume backing up with the same history as the previous backups.
While there may be ways to fool/hack Time Machine into recognizing previous backups without performing another full backup, they are likely rather elaborate.
Ultimately, though, in a couple of months, all the effort to preserve old backups may seem pointless. After all, Time Machine will eventually purge away that data anyways as it replaces it with new files.
It may simply be easier to begin a fresh series of backups while saving the previous backups until your satisfied that you have enough history built up. Then delete the old backups.
Hope this clarifies some things.
Cheers!

Time Machine Won't Continue Old Backup

My computer was being repaired at Apple for a few weeks and I just got it back. No hard drive data was modified during the repair; the optical drive needed work. Anyway, I plugged in my external hard drive a few moments ago and it's backing up the whole system and won't let me return to the previous backups that I already have. I'm trying to recall a few files and Time Machine won't let me find them even though they're on the external drive. I did, however, accidentally rename the external hard drive when I was using it without Time Machine a few days ago.
Is there a way for me to continue where I left off with my old Time Machine backups? I'd hate to lose them all and I don't want to re-install the entire system from a previous one from a month or so ago; I just need to look at a few old files. Thanks for any help!
Greg

So, here's what happened.
Time Machine uses the xattr system to assign specific folders hidden attributes. Time Machine sets each folder up in its hierarchy with a xattr tag for the Ethernet MAC address of the machine it is backing up. This is all done invisibly. So, when I got a logic board, and a new MAC address, it wouldn't treat the old archive as concomitant with the new machine. So, here's how you fix this:
- remove the ACLs from the Time Machine DB
- use the xattr command at Terminal to put your new MAC address on the folder.
Full details are available here:
http://www.tombridge.com/rta/2008/01/after-the-apple.html

I just updated to Mountain Lion and now time machine won't recognize my backups from before the update.

I updated from Snow Leopard OS X 10.6.8 to Mountain Lion OS X 10.8.2 on my MacBook Pro
I used disk utility to restore my external hardrive because I read somewhere that that would fix the problem.
It did fix the problem but only temporarily. I was able to view my backups from Snow Leopard, but as soon as I tried to backup again, time machine was stuck
"preparing to backup" for 5 hours and when I quit the prepare I could no longer access my previous backups.

So what happens if you go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General? Are you able to go there at all? If you are able to go there, can you unlock the preferences using the lock in the lower left and your login name and password?
If you are able to do this, can you change the "Allow applications downloaded from:" to Anywhere?
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Can Anyone Tell Me Why Time Machine Won't Create A BackUp Folder for a Programed Backup?

Does anyone know why my Time Machine is NOT creating a backup folder on and regular scheduled backup? Just recently I downloaded the Time Machine Editor and it said to turn off the regular Time Machine (ON/OFF) switch, and just run off the TM Editor. However, at 1am in the morning, it comes up with the error saying it can't create a Backup Folder. I'm sure this is a simple solution but I really don't know how to handle this... Would appreciate any and all help in this matter... Thanks, Gary

Were you already backing up with Time Machine - ie, did you have an existing backup folder on the drive before you started using Time Machine Editor? If not, you probably need to do at least one full backup with TM, and then start using TME to schedule backups.
Matt

Does Time Machine still do incremental backups after a restore?

Hi --
We have a 500GB external iomega drive that just died and I have been working to restore it's files from Time Machine onto a new 500 GB drive. I formatted the new drive and gave it the same name as the old one, and it looks like Time Machine was smart enough to do the right thing and restore the files to their original locations.
However, this morning -- within 24 hours of completing the restore -- we see an error message from TM saying it is out of space and it cannot perform a backup. It claims that about 450 GB are needed, which is about the same size of all the files we restored. Is it possible that once backup files are restored they are not longer considered backed up, and thus Time Machine immediately tries to back up all the files it just restored? I assumed it would still do incremental backups but recognize that restored files do not need to be backed up again unless / until they are edited...
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felciano wrote:
Hi --
We have a 500GB external iomega drive that just died and I have been working to restore it's files from Time Machine onto a new 500 GB drive. I formatted the new drive and gave it the same name as the old one, and it looks like Time Machine was smart enough to do the right thing and restore the files to their original locations.
That's quite unusual. Normally it does a full backup immediately: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1338
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).

Time machine won't back up anymore after it failed? HELP!!

Hey all,
My time machine used to back up to my hard drive fine, but after it had a fault half way through a back up, i think the cable was disconnected it won't back up or start a back up again. I've looked at the help and it actually has my hard drive in the "Don't back up" section, when i select it to remove it from that it won't let me remove it.....
Really need to back up and no idea how to get this done...
HELP

Open up Disk Utility and Verify your external had drive. It sounds as though there could be some damage from when it was unplugged in the middle of writing, which is preventing Time Machine from working properly.
Try to get Disk Utility to repair the drive if it finds any errors.
If this does not work the most likely thing is that the Disk Image being written to by Time Machine is perpetually locked. In that case, it might be worth deleting the back-ups (since they are unusable now anyway) and starting a new time machine backup from scratch.

Why does time machine make a second/different backup after new installing a hard drive?

Hi all,
Long time reader, first time poster...
after having to install a new hard drive on my MacBook Pro, the new Time Machine backups are not recognising the original/older backups on the external hard drive connected via network router and has created a new/second backup caller 'xxx Mac Book Pro 1' instead of updating/reading the orginal 'xxx Mac Book Pro backup'?
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Thanks!

Hi gb69,
If you are having issues with Time Machine backups after a recent hardware change, you may find the following article helpful:
Time Machine: Troubleshooting backup issues
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3275
Regards,
- Brenden

Time Machine won't overwrite oldest backup ? ..says not enough space

Seemed to start sometime after installing Snow Leopard..
Used Time Machine Buddy, it says:
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/LaCie Disk/Backups.backupdb
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|new event db|
Starting pre-backup thinning: 56.32 GB requested (including padding), 5.69 GB available
No expired backups exist - deleting oldest backups to make room
Error: backup disk is full - all 0 possible backups were removed, but space is still needed.
Backup Failed: unable to free 56.32 GB needed space
Backup failed with error: Not enough available disk space on the target volume.

HI and Welcome to Apple Discussions...
*"Backup failed with error: Not enough available disk space on the target volume."*
Make sure you have sufficient disk space on your startup disk to back up to...
Right or control click the MacintoshHD icon. Click Get Info. In the Get Info window you will see Capacity and Available. Make sure you always have a minimum of 10% to 15% free disk space at all times.
*"Backup Failed: unable to free 56.32 GB needed space"*
In this case you need a minimum of 60GB of disk space for that back up.
Carolyn

Had to reset TC, Time Machine won't recognize old backups

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To Reformat the TC Hard Disk:
Go to Airport Utility --> Manual Setup --> Disks --> Highlight "Time Capsule Disk" on the left --> Select "Erase" on the right.

Time Machine does not recognize older backups after restore

Leopard Server OSX.5.8, Mac Mini Intel
After a severe failure I had to restore the server (I used a fresh, spare Mini to restore to) from a Time Machine backup.
Everything went fine so far.
I tried to continue the backup on the same external harddrive, but the backup history is no more recognized by Time Machine, it want to backup the whole drive from the beginning.
The disk is full which is normally not a problem, as Time Machine deletes the oldest backups to deallocate space.
I don't want to lose the old history. What can be done to make Time Machine using this backup set again?

Hi Pondini,
I got it fixed today, thank you everyone for your help. The thing that ended up fixing it was deleting the hidden files ".com.apple.timemachine.supported" and ".002332b4a7fc" on the root directory of the time machine disk. Now my months worth of backups are viewable again!
I didn't find this on your website (maybe I didn't look hard enough). If it's not there, perhaps it would be a good thing to add to your site? Hopefully it will save a few people some frustration! Thanks for making the site - it looks like a great resource.
--Hayden

Time Machine won't allow second backup drive?

I want to create a second backup of Time Machine on another external hard drive. However it won't give me an option to backup to both drives. When I insert drive II, it only allows me to use it if I delete backup drive one. I attached photos of the prompt.
Any help appreciated greatly. Thank you :-)

Howdy Kgkgkg12,
It sounds like this drive you are wanting to use with Time Machine is not in the same format that Time Machine needs to operate. According to this article:
Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac
Your Time Machine drive needs to be formatted as Mac OS X Extended (Journaled). If you select an NTFS or FAT-formatted drive, Time Machine prompts you to reformat the drive. Important: Reformatting erases any files on the destination drive. If you're not sure if you want to erase the drive you connected, choose a different drive.
You can check the format of the drive with these steps:
OS X Yosemite: View file, folder, and disk information
Get individual item info: Select the item(s), then choose File > Get Info, or press Command (⌘)-I.
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Cheers,
Sterling

Time Machine won't do incremental backups after I restored my computer

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