Time Machine wont backup

I bought an external hard drive and put files from my old computer on it before I bought my iMac. Now I want to use it for backing up my iMac but Time Machine wont backup to it without erasing the contents. Is there a way around this? Or will I have to buy a new EHD? Or is there a way to backup to cyberspace?
Thanks

jmhoskin wrote:
I bought an external hard drive and put files from my old computer on it before I bought my iMac. Now I want to use it for backing up my iMac but Time Machine wont backup to it without erasing the contents. Is there a way around this? Or will I have to buy a new EHD? Or is there a way to backup to cyberspace?
The drive is probably set up with the MBR (Master Boot Record) partition map, that Windoze uses. To use it for TM you must completely reformat it, which will erase it. If you have enough space (or can borrow another external temporarily), you can copy the data off, reformat it, then copy the data back.
TM works best with it's own, exclusive space, so you should partition the drive anyway. If you're going to use the other data with a PC, make the other partition MS-DOS (FAT).
For formatting instructions, see item #5 of the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* at the top of this forum.
Also see #1 of the FAQ Tip for size considerations.

Similar Messages

  • Time machine wont backup says backup failed

    Hi all .  I have had time maching running successfully for 5 years.  It is running on mavericks IMAC and using an external MYbook drive -  same setup 5 years.  My macbok also backing up remotely over wifi to this drive using time machine.  Recently my macbook stopped backing up and would not recognise the sparse file even though time machine could find the backups it would not backup.  I connected th Mybook directly to my Macbook and it recrreated the backup and now works fine over wifi.  However since connecting my Mybook back to IMAC time machine again recognises the Backups and history and the drive  -  but it wil not backup.  It goes through the motion of preparing backup but fails after 45 mins just stating "backup failed" !  I run disk utility on the Mybook adn it is fine.  I have deleted the in progress file but still does not work.  How can I force Time machine to work  -  mad that it will recognise the drive,  see all my previous backups but not use it as a backup drive  and fail the backup with no proper error message.   Any deas  ?

    Mister_E wrote:
    Hi:
    I have a mac that is about 3 months old. I am using Mac OS X 10.6.3. I am not using Time Capsule. I am using an external hard drive. My Mac's hard drive is 500 G the external drive is also 500 G.
    That's almost certainly much too small. See #1 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
    But of course, it depends on how much is on your internal HD, which you haven't told us.
    The message I get says I have 74.74 GB of 499.75 GB available.
    Under options I do have "Notify after old backups are deleted" checked.
    That means you're running Snow Leopard. PLEASE update your settings (click +My Settings+ at the right of this very page, and select the version of OSX you're running, and be more specific than "iMac" about your hardware) so we know what we're dealing with, as asked before! PLEASE
    That's one of the things that changed in Snow Leopard. Having that box checked in Snow Leopard does not prevent deletions.
    As I said, it backed up fine for a couple weeks but now what do I do? No matter how small I make the backup, if it just keeps adding backups it will eventually fill the drive.
    From your first post: +*"I started getting messages that TM failed to backup because is was full (something like that)."+*
    Now that we know you're on Snow Leopard, most likely the message says *+"The backup disk is full,"+* which is simply the notification you asked for by having the "Notify after old backups are deleted" box checked. See #C4 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
    Next time you get the message, take the time to note exactly what it says, and see #C4 in the Troubleshooting Tip.
    And PLEASE update your settings.

  • Time Machine Wont Backup On Its Own

    (Before I begin, I'm backing up to my iMac (not the one that -just- came out, but the one before that). It has a 500gb HD, and isn't used except for about 100gb of music/photo's/videos)
    So, I just went through the painful 15 hours of backing up wirelessly to find out it stopped about 75% through. I checked the forums, found out wireless was a bad idea, and found out wired is the way to go.
    So, I sat my new Macbook Pro up next to my iMac and let it backup via an ethernet cable I dragged across it and the iMac. The backup took about 30-50 minutes, but whatever. This stuff probably doesnt matter.
    Problem: time machine will only back up if I choose the "back up now" option. I heard it was supposed to do daily, weekly, and monthly backups. Whats wrong?!

    You may find some help below:
    Time Machine Troubleshooting
    Here are several articles to help troubleshoot Time Machine Problems as well as assist in properly setting up Time Machine.
    Mac 101- Using Time Machine in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
    Is Time Machine all you need?
    Some advice for those using Time Machine
    TidBITS Macs & Mac OS X- Time Machine- The Good, the Bad, and the Missing Features
    Mac OS X 10.5- Time Machine backups are not visible
    OS X 10.5- Time Machine stops backing up to external disk
    10.5- Disable the 'use this disk?' Time Machine dialog
    Time Machine tips and troubleshooting
    Mac OS X 10.5 Help- Restoring files backed up with Time Machine
    OS X 10.5- Using Time Machine and troubleshooting Time Machine issues

  • Time Machine, last backup = none?!?

    Hi,
    Suddenly Time Machine wont recognize my backups anymore.... Yesterday I renamed the TM USB disk from "unknown" to "Time Machine".
    When I wanted to make a new backup, Time Machine told me the latest backup was "None" so I quickly renamed the disk back to "unknown".
    But no TM still wont display my last backup and now TM is making a full backup of ALL my files?!? (about 400GB)...
    How can I fix this please?
    Thank you!

    Unfortunately you discovered that you cannot just simply "rename" your Time Machine volume without it "reformatting" the hard drive itself and erasing all the previous files.  Which is what is has done.  I am afraid at this point you must start from scratch acquring backup files to save for the future.  The old backups are gone.
    Hope this helps

  • My mac can't connect to my time machine for backup

    My mac wont connect to the time capule for backup - any ideas why this may happen and how to fix?

    Hello stianlo
    There are a few things that you can try that are located in the articles below to get you backing up again.
    Time Machine: Troubleshooting backup issues
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3275
    AirPort Time Capsule: Time Machine backups may not mount; "Backup volume cannot be found" may appear
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1170
    Regards,
    -Norm G.

  • I had a repair done at the apple store where the replaced my hard drive and copied my other hard drive over to the new one.  Everything is fine except the time machine wont reconnect to my old file and is trying create a new file but not enough space?

    I had a repair done at the apple store where the replaced my hard drive and copied my other hard drive over to the new one.  Everything is fine except the time machine wont reconnect to my old file and is trying create a new file but not there is not enough space for both files files? Do I need to do something to have it continue to update my old file instead of recreating a new one?

    Depending on what version of OSX you're running, and how the data was transferred, you may be out of luck.
    If you're running Lion, and your backups were made to a directly-connected external HD (ie, not a Time Capsule or other network location), you may be able to get Time Machine to "associate" the new disk with the old backups.  See #B6 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting, especially the pink box there.
    If you're running Snow Leopard, you might be able to do a full system restore of your backups to the new HD.  See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #14 for detailed instructions.  That should leave a "trail" that Time Machine can follow to "associate" the new drive with the old backups.  Unfortunately, that doesn't always work, and there's no way to do it manually, as there is with Lion.

  • HT1338 Time Machine wont boot!

    Time Machine wont boot although it still is backing up and works in the preferences. How can I fix this? Any ideas?

    Please try each of the steps below that you haven't already taken.
    Step 1
    From the menu bar, select
     ▹ System Preferences ▹ Time Machine
    and make sure that at least one backup destination is selected and available.
    Step 2
    If you're entering Time Machine from the Finder, make sure no Finder windows are open in other Desktop spaces in Mission Control. You must enter from a window open in the current space.
    Step 3
    If you're backing up to an external hard drive attached to your Mac, open the backup volume in the Finder. You should see a folder with the name "Backups.backupdb". If you instead see a file with a name ending in "sparsebundle," the backup was created over a network. You have to mount the backup volume manually when you want to restore from it by double-clicking the sparsebundle file.
    Step 4
    Select the "Backups.backupdb" folder and open the Info dialog. Either "staff" or "everyone" should have Read onlyaccess. If not, click the lock icon to unlock the access settings and make the necessary change. If you're not sure how to do that, consult the built-in help or ask.
    Step 5
    Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it, then copy the text to the Clipboard (command-C):
    ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
    In the Finder, select
    Go ▹ Go to Folder...
    from the menu bar, paste into the box that opens (command-V) and press return.
    A folder will open with a file selected. Move the selected file to the Desktop, leaving the folder open for now.
    Relaunch the Finder by selecting  ▹ Force Quit from the menu bar, then selecting Finder and pressing return. Your Finder settings will be lost.
    Try again to enter Time Machine. If you still can't, put back the file you moved to the Desktop, replacing the newer one that will have been created in its place.
    Otherwise, close the folder you opened and delete the file you moved to the Desktop. Recreate your Finder preferences.
    Step 6
    Do as in Step 5, but with this line:  
    /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
    This time you may be prompted for your administrator password. Reboot, recreate your settings in the Time Machine preference pane, and run a backup to test.
    Step 7
    Launch Disk Utility and select the icon of the backup drive in the pane on the left (not any of the volume icons below it.) At the bottom of the window, you should see this:
    Partition Map Scheme : GUID Partition Table
    If the partition scheme is anything else, the drive has to be repartitioned (with the loss of all data.)
    Step 8
    Skip this step if you're backing up to a network device, such as a Time Capsule.
    Boot in safe mode. Try again to enter Time Machine.
    Note: If FileVault is enabled on some models, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t boot in safe mode.
    Step 9
    Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
    Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Try again to enter Time Machine. Select any messages that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard (command-C). Paste into a reply to this message (command-V).

  • My HD is shrinking/ Time Machine wont back up

    So my Macbook pro has been running really slowly lately, like getting progressively worse, and now the external hard drive that I back up to time machine is spinning all the time, Time Machine wont back up, it just says "Calculating changes" and now I noticed that I have 3 less gigs on my internal HD although I have written nothing to it today. The external HD works fine other wise, I can move files manually to and from it, but I'm getting really freaked out that I maybe have a virus or something, although I have never know anyone whos had one on a mac. I have a genius bar appointment tomorrow, but I need to work on my machine now. I my main log in got so slow yesterday that it was unusable, so I created a second log in which work much faster last night, but now seems to be slowing down too. Oh, my right fan has been noisey for some time too, and my system runs at 140-160 degrees, which I have read is fairly normal, although it is often hot to the touch. Any Ideas??!?!
    THB

    tylerhbrown wrote:
    So my Macbook pro has been running really slowly lately, like getting progressively worse, and now the external hard drive that I back up to time machine is spinning all the time, Time Machine wont back up, it just says "Calculating changes" and now I noticed that I have 3 less gigs on my internal HD although I have written nothing to it today.
    That sounds like something corrupted on your internal HD. Verify it, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum). As noted there, if that shows errors, you'll have to repair it, per the yellow box there.
    The external HD works fine other wise, I can move files manually to and from it,
    Was that just an experiment, or are you keeping other data there, in the same partition as your Time Machine backups? If so, that's not a good idea. See #3 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

  • Can I use Time Machine to backup ONLY an external drive?

    I am having problems with the internal HD on my iMac and Disk Utility is telling me I need to reformat the drive and restore from backup. Only problem is that my 3TB Lacie Thunderbolt drive I was using for Time Machine recently failed (think it may have happened during an electrical storm brownout). Yep, I know, ***** to be me
    The issues with the internal HD are preventing the iMac from booting and I would prefer not to have to purchase various repair software to find one that really works such as Disk Warrior or similar ((despite it getting very good reviews). I suspect it make be HFS corruption but no way to really tell that I am aware of.
    I have setup an external drive with Yosemite and booted from that so now my old internal drive is seen as an "external drive".
    I am using Disk Utility to make an image copy to a new 3TB external drive I purchased. Writing the DMG is going to take some time.
    What I would like to do is to set up Time Machine to backup to a separate external 3TB hard drive (the second one I purchased) and have TM create a backup of ONLY the old internal drive - not the new system as well as the old internal unit.
    Is this possible and if so can anyone advise how to do this. Does not seem I can exclude the system drive I am now booted from so that it is not backed up. (This makes sense that TM would be designed this way given its primary purpose is to backup a system).
    If TM cannot be configured in this way, is there another option I can use?
    Thanks
    Andrew

    Thanks for that advice. I have heard of it but a friend who does IT support at a University nearby suggested using Disk Utility to save an image - hence this is currently underway at present. Once this is finished I will try Carbon Copy Cloner.
    I have another friend who has an older version of CCC - do you know if an old version will work ok or if only the latest supports Yosemite?
    Also once I have the clone completed from CCC, is the process then to reformat the old internal drive and then clone from the CCC external drive back to the internal and then reboot and trust all is well?
    Appreciate your help Csound1.
    Regards
    Andrew

  • On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture.  How can I access the Aperture Library  on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup?  I can only access the application but not the library..

    On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture.  How can I access the Aperture Library  on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup?  I can only access the application but not the library..

    Go into Time Machine (the program not the bundle on the extrnal disk) and using Time Machine's browser go to the Folder where the library lives. You could look in the library bundle in Time Machine but that won't really tell you much,
    If you want to make sure it truely has backed up your library you will need to restore it and open the restored library with Aperture.
    If all this still has you confused you need to read up on Time Machine in order to get a feel for how it works, for what it is doing and for how to restore files from it.

  • How do I use time machine to backup to an external hard drive plugged into my airport extreme

    How do I use time machine to backup to an external hard drive plugged into my airport extreme?  I used to be able to but now time machine will not recognize my hard drive to select as a backup when plugged into my airport extreme.  I'm not sure what happened or changed.  Any help is greatly appreciated.  Thanks

    First thing to do is go to the Pondini tips page, then follow the link to his full TM site for all the details.

  • HT201250 I have two external hard drives. One is my Time Machine backup drive.  The other I use for external storage of files (documents, photos, movies, etc).  Can I set Time Machine to backup BOTH my Mac hard drive and my other external hard drive?

    I have two external hard drives. One is my Time Machine backup drive.  The other I use for external storage of files (documents, photos, movies, etc).  Can I set Time Machine to backup BOTH my Mac hard drive and my other external hard drive?

    Yes you can make multiple backups on one hard drive, for example if you’ve 1TB hard drive installed in your PC and you’ve two Mac Machines with 500GB drive each then you just make two backup images with size of 500GB each.
    http://www.halfspot.com/use-your-pc-hard-drive-for-time-machine-backup/

  • Using time machine to backup Logic Projects

    Hi
    I was wondering if it is possible to use time machine to backup my Logic Projects. I have a seperate internal drive that I use to keep all my user data on, like my Logic projects. I want to use time machine to back up these projects onto a external firewire drive.
    Can timemachine only backup your systems drive and therefore I would need to have my Logic projects based stored on it?

    Yes - time machine can back up any drive. I am using 3 drives: system drive, a USB2 drive for Time machine backups and a firewire 800 drive for Logic Studio projects, instruments, samples, audio, etc. TM backs up my system and FW drives to the USB drive.
    Time machine options (in system preferences) allow you to exclude/include drives so you just need to set it to include your second internal drive.
    The only thing I'm not sure of is whether this effects the loop browser. Oddly, when I was experimenting with using aliases for Apple loops, Logic actually found the TM backup files when it couldn't locate the original GB loops! After some file moving and index deleting I cleared all loops but now I have duplicate entries again in Logic - possibly due to TM, but I have not verified this.
    -Scott

  • Using Time Machine to backup a iMac G5 and restore to an intel iMac

    Is it possible to use Time Machine to backup my iMac G5 and restore my backup to a new intel iMac?
    The reason being is that I my mother-in-law's company bought her a new intel Mac and she wants to trade with me since she only uses her Mac for e-mail, photos and accounting software.
    I was thinking of making sure her data is preserved by using the migration assistant to transfer her data to my iMac G5 and then using my time machine backup to restore to her intel iMac. I have concerns about this method after reading about the intel/powerpc issues with time machine. I also have concerns that perhaps the version of MacOS 10.5 installed to my iMac G5 will not be optimized for intel.

    Well, not entirely. You cannot install or restore a PPC version of OS X to an Intel Mac because the PPC system will not work on an Intel Mac. You can copy your personal files, most preference files, and third-party applications (although it would be preferable to update all PPC-only apps to universal binaries which perform better on Intel machines.
    Another possible concern is if your mother's company is transferring the ownership to her or simply purchasing the unit for her to use. In the latter case the computer belongs to the company, not your mother. She cannot then give it to you because it isn't hers. This problem should be resolved beforehand because the company may one day want the computer back.
    Folders You Can Move to Your new Mac
    From the Home folder copy the contents of Documents, Movies, Music, Pictures, and Sites.
    In your /Home/Library/ folder:
    /Home/Library/Application Support/AddressBook (copy the whole folder)
    /Home/Library/Application Support/iCal (copy the whole folder)
    Also in /Home/Library/Application Support (copy whatever else you need including folders for any third-party applications)
    /Home/Library/Keychains (copy the whole folder)
    /Home/Library/Mail (copy the whole folder)
    /Home/Library/Preferences/ (copy the whole folder)
    /Home /Library/iTunes (copy the whole folder)
    /Home /Library/Safari (copy the whole folder)
    If you want cookies:
    /Home/Library/Cookies/Cookies.plist
    /Home/Library/Application Support/WebFoundation/HTTPCookies.plist
    For Entourage users:
    Entourage is in /Home/Documents/Microsoft User Data
    Also in /Home/Library/Preferences/Microsoft
    For FireFox:
    /Home/Library/Applications Support/FireFox
    /Home/Library/Preferences/org.mozilla.firefox.plist
    Credit goes to another forum user for this information.

  • Can I set Time Machine to backup both my hard drive and an external hard drive?

    Hi. I've been working with a lot of family video lately and my internal hard drive has filled up significantly. iMovie doesn't seem to have a good archiving facility like Adobe InDesign which I use at work were all the relevant files are gathered together into one folder. Apple advised me to relocate my movie files to an external hard drive and herein lies my query.
    Is there a way for me to set Time Machine to backup both my iMac's internal drive and the external hard drive that would contain my movie files? I've been using Time Machine for my backups for a few years now, but backing up the external as well has me stumped. If Time Machine could be used then all the necessary file accociations etc would be safely backed up as well - that's why I don't want to have to manually backup the external.
    Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

    7string48 wrote:
    Thanks so much Pondini!!  You just quickly answered a question that none of the Mac people in 3 stores or Apple Care have been able to answer.If you can format it HFS+ (any variation of Mac OS Extended), it will work.  If not, it won't.  
    I'm not too surprised about the Apple Stores, as they don't get much training on Time Machine.  But AppleCare sure ought to know. 
    Oh...what about if the external drive is an array...like a Drobo with it's own proprietary formatting...I guess that would not work...??
    I've never used a Drobo.  A number of folks here have used them as their Time Machine drives, but I don't recall seeing anyone try to back one up with TM, so can't say for sure.  But if you can format it as HFS+ (any variation of Mac OS Extended), it will work.  If not, it won't.
    At least part of the reason is, Time Machine uses the File System Event Store, a hidden log of changes that OSX keeps on each Mac-formatted disk/partition, to figure out what's changed and needs to be backed-up.  See How Time Machine works its Magic for details.
    See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #32 for details and considerations of backing-up multiple volumes with Time Machine.
    However, even if it will work, that may not be your best strategy, depending on your circumstances:
    Since Time Machine keeps copies of things you've changed or deleted, the destination needs to be considerably larger than the data being backed-up.  How much larger varies widely depending on how you use your Mac, but a general "rule of thumb" is, it needs at least twice the space to be able to keep a reasonable "depth" of backups for you.
    If you have a large internal HD, fairly full, plus a large external HD, and the files on the external don't change frequently, you might want to use Time Machine for the internal, and a different app to a different disk or partition, on a different schedule, for the external.  Especially if space is a consideration, you might not need to keep previous versions of files on the externals.  See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #27 for some alternatives.

Maybe you are looking for