Airport Express with printer & hard drive with Time Machine

I have a MacBook that I'd like to backup its data. Concerned about the following (in level of concern from highest to lowest): theft, crash, fire.
I currently have an Airport Express with a Brother printer attached to it that my PC and MacBook print to.
I am really in a dilemma as to what to do. I was looking into Carbonite to get an offsite backup location of my data. (I figured offsite would cover all concerns of losing data due to theft, fire, or just a crash) However, Carbonite does not hold onto data you delete (ie, my photos and videos will fill up my hard drive eventually and I'd like to just archive them in one central spot when I am done accessing them on a regular basis-- ie delete them off my MacBook hard drive). That is like $55/year to do Carbonite... but, the only thing that will help me with over a hard drive in my house is a fire (and theft if a burglar were to find where my backup drive was in the house).-- Of course, I'd probably want a different location for my hard drive for that reason -- so, I'd have to buy another airport or just a time machine that has the wifi built in.
I've read lots of issues with the Western Digital trying to download programs onto your computer... I have one for my PC that I backed up photos manually and it did try to install programs when I attached it to my PC... not so much my Mac when I took some photos off it. I looked into getting another portable hard drive at Costco for my Mac, but realized that it would require reformatting to use on my Mac (as it was built for a PC).... something I wasn't sure if I was computer-savvy enough to do or if I did do it, would I end up with issues later on?
Anyhow... in the end, what do you all do to backup your data, especially photos and videos? Do you have smaller hard drives that you back up to and then when full move them to an offsite location? Can you have more than one "hard drive" backing up..... I was thinking it would be nice to have one larger hard drive that would potentially hold all my photos and videos so I can access anytime, but then have smaller drives of the same data that I can take to a safe deposit box and use as my super secure backup (no fire, no theft, no crash).
btw, When doing time machine, does it keep all the metadata with each photo?
Burning CD's is time consuming.... and, I have heard there are different qualities of disks out there... archival v. not... how long do the archival last v. the non-archival... or is that more of an issue for future generations not being able to access our photos?

You need to remember that the Time Capsule is both a wireless router and a hard drive all in one enclosure. If you don't need a wireless router, around $150 of the $300 for a Time Capsule is going to be in the router portion of the device.
The nice thing about the Time Capsule is that it is a network drive. All Macs running Leopard or Snow Leopard will be able to back up automatically to a single device. The first generation of Time Capsules about two years ago had some power supply problems that affected some users. Apple announced a program for these users to replace their Time Capsules.
So, it depends on your requirements. If you are looking for a new, dual band wireless router and want to backup your Macs running Leopard or Snow Leopard automatically using ethernet or wireless, the Time Capsule is a logical choice.
If you don't need a new router, then you'll need to look at a separate hard drive that will be attached directly to the computer using the USB or FireWire port. If you have two Macs, you'll have to get two hard drives if you want to do Time Machine backups correctly.
Most hard drives can be reformatted to work with Mac if you don't mind a few extra steps and Disk Utility (Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility) does not look too complicated for you.
Message was edited by: Bob Timmons

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Help with external hard drive as time machine

specs of my kit
Processor 3.06 GHz Intel Core i3
Software OS X 10.8.2 (12C60)
iomega ego 1tb external hd
I ahve been using this hd for time machine but it is no longer connecting to the mac. i have tried using usb and firewire cables. no joy. i have tried restarting and shutsown on mac. no joy. in disc utilities no external hd found. in system information under firewire it states firewire bus - unknown device.
any help will be greatly appreciated. i have spnet a lot of jours on other forums with no joy
thnaks
leon

I once had a connection failure to an external Firewire Hard drive. It turned out that the Firewire port on the iMac had stopped working. The eventual solution that solved it and got the Firewire port working again was to reset the SMC and Reset the PRAM:
Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
Resetting the SMC for Mac Pro, Intel-based iMac, Intel-based Mac mini, or Intel-based Xserve
Shut down the computer.
Unplug the computer's power cord.
Wait fifteen seconds.
Attach the computer's power cord.
Wait five seconds, then press the power button to turn on the computer.
Resetting NVRAM / PRAM
Shut down your Mac.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command (⌘), Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.

My external hard drive is 'seen' by my iMac and I can go into the Finder and open files and folders. I am using the hard drive for Time Machine back up. However Time Machine says it can't find the drive. Same thing has happened with Final Cut Express.

My new LaCie external hard drive is 'seen' by my iMac and I can go into the Finder and open files and folders. I am using the hard drive for Time Machine back up. However Time Machine says it can't find the drive.
The same thing happened recently between Final Cut Express and my other LaCie external hard drive used as the Scratch disk. It fixed itself.
I've run out of ideas. Help would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

have you done some searches on FCPx and time machine? Is there a known issue with using a TM drive with FCPx? dunno but ...wait...I'll take 60 sec for you cause I'm just that kind of guy.... google...." fcpx time machine problem" Frist page link
http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/fcpx-bug-best-practices-for-using-external-hard- drives-and-final-cut-pro-x/
You cannot have time machine backups on your hard drive if you intend to use it in FCPX.
booya!

Hard Drive for Time Machine for iMac with AirPort Extreme??

I just switched back to Mac after too many years with a PC. I bought an iMac 24" 2.8GHz with 4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM and 750GB Serial ATA Drive.
I'm planning on adding an external hard drive for Time Machine to attach to my AirPort Extreme. From reading information posted on the Apple site and my AEBS I understand that it needs to be connected to the USB port on the AirPort Extreme.
While I may be opening up a technological "can of worms," I'd like to know what will be the most dependable drive 1TB, USB 2.0 that I can buy. Noise and bright lights are not a consideration here. I just want a drive that I can depend on to work with Time Machine. The "original" data will be stored elsewhere. I've heard of, read about and experienced so many hard drive failures that I'm getting "gun shy" about this subject. Please feel free to let me know what's good and bad. Thanks.

Here is a quote right from Apple's site today:
Quote:
AirPort Extreme lets you turn your external USB hard drive into a drive you can share with all the >users on your network. It’s called AirPort Disk, and it’s a simple and convenient way to share files >among everyone in your family, office, or class.
I tried to return my AEBS to Apple but I was a few days beyond their 14 day limit on returns (limit is bases on shipping date of the item in question, not when all parts of the shipment are received). Part of my reasoning with the Apple Store CS was the posts like yours saying that this couldn't be done. The Apple Store rep. and the tech. rep. that he claims that he spoke to said it could be done. The only way I could return the AEBS, according to the Apple Store CS rep., and get a new Time Capsule would be if I bought a hard drive and discovered that my AEBS would not work with the hard drive. No, I'm not a happy new customer. So, I want to buy a good, reliable hard drive and want to know which one to get.

I recently purchase macbook air with OS 10.10.2. I want to use my Seagate external backup plus hard drive for time machine back up. How to partition my 1TB Seagate back up plus hard drive for use with mac and windows pc?

Hi All,
I recently purchased 13" Macbook Air with OS 10.10.2. I want to use my 1TB Seagate backup plus external hard drive as time machine and my windows 7 pc. Please suggest a method. Thanks in advance for your reply.

I strongly recommend having an external drive dedicated solely for TimeMachine. You could partition the drive but if something goes wrong you risk losing the data on both partitions. Should you decide to go ahead with splitting the drive for two different uses you’ll need to partition the drive either using the Mac’s built in Disk Utility program or Windows utility. I believe the built in Windows disk utility program will destroy the current partition and erase the data that’s on it - I use a third party Windows disk utility program for partitioning and it allows for non-destructive partitioning but warns to back up data first just in case. Apple’s Disk Utility can do non-destructive partitions but I don’t recall every trying to do a non-destructive partition on a disk originally formatted for Windows using it. Again - back up that data just in case.
Finally, your TimeMachine drive should be at least 1.5 times (I prefer 2 times) the size of the data you expect to be backing up a year or two from now. In other words, if you currently are using 50GB of your computer’s drive but expect to begin purchasing Mac software to replace software on your Windows computer and if you expect to be putting photos, music, and other data on it you might expect that two years from now you’ll have 100GB of stuff on the drive. So a 200GB partition is the smallest size you’d want. TM’s backup scheme keeps multiple copies of data as it changes so the extra room is important for this scheme.

Every time I try to back up my Macbook Pro with an external hard drive using Time Machine, I receive the error of "the disk does not have enough space". I have a 500GB hard drive and only 120GB Macbook. It worked fine before the latest Maverick's

Every time I try to back up my Macbook Pro with an external hard drive using Time Machine, I receive the error of "the disk does not have enough space". I have a 500GB external hard drive and only 120GB Macbook. It worked fine before the latest Maverick's update. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My guess would be it has created an entirely new backup of your drive when you upgraded to Mavericks.
See Here: http://pondini.org/TM/1.html
And here: http://pondini.org/TM/9.html
Peruse the whole site. There is a lot of information there.

I back up with an external hard drive using time machine. I am trying to reload my iphoto library from an earlier date then it will let me. How do I get to an earlier date in time machine?

I back up with an external hard drive using time machine. I am trying to reload my iphoto library but it won't let me get back to a date that I need to. How do I do this?

Try Pondini's articles;
http://pondini.org/TM/15.html - scroll down to the pink box for iPhoto restoation.
Also http://pondini.org/TM/15A.html to clarify how to use the timeline.

Can not fine external hard drive for time machine sence lion was installed

I can not fine external hard drive for time machine sence lion was installed, it don't reconise it at all.

I have a Mac Mini (late 2009) and I have an iomega 1TB external hard drive connected to my mini via firewire and usb (usb allows me to use the usb ports on the external 1TB drive to daisy chain other devices). Since I installed Lion, my Time Machine and this 1TB drive (and its partitions) is finicky. Sometimes it is mounted and sometimes it is not. This issue has only surfaced post Snow Leopard and in the Lion era. I am not the first to say this but the whole reason I went Mac was b/c of Vista. I am beginning to think that Lion is the new Vista. Sorry for the latter, just venting... b/c this ain't the first issue with Lion.

Is it possible to use more than one external hard drive for Time Machine backups?

I want to use two hard drives for Time Machine backups.
Bigger one keep at home and be sure it is safe.
Second one (very small pocket size) keep with me for travels.
I want to backup to both drives to be sure I can restore everywhere and to be sure if something bad happened with my small travel disk I can restore from home backup.
Is there any problem with listed schema? Is it normal for Time Machine to handle backups for different drivers and keep everything consistent and smooth?

I really need some help! I have been using an Iomega NAS 1TB HD for the past year. And I received an error message. I believe I have ran out of memory on this drive.
Then recently in the last couple of months I got a ReadyNAS Duo 2TB with 2TB RAID. Should I switch my back ups to this one and delete the other back up file or keep the old back up image file on the Iomega?
Can I transfer the old image back up to this new ReadyNAS? How do I do this?
I appreciate any help.

How do I access my encrypted User Account files from my Back Up hard drive? Time Machine was used to create the back up disk; File Vault was used to encrypt the files.

How do I access my encrypted User Account files from my Back Up hard drive? Time Machine was used to create the back up disk; File Vault was used to encrypt the files.

Thanks. I will try going through TM. Since my Simpletech is on the way out, I'll be plugging in a new external hard drive (other than the back-up drive) and trying to restore the library to the new drive. Any advice or warning if this is NOT the right thing to do?
Meanwhile, that is a great tip to do an alternate back-up using a different means. It's been tough to figure out how to "preserve access" to digital images and files for posterity, knowing the hardware will always fail/obsolesce sooner or later, and that "clouds" are only as good as their consistent and reliable accessibility. Upping the odds with redundancy will help dull the edge of my "access anxiety", though logically, it can never relieve it. Will look into
Carbon Copy Cloner.

How do i exclude internal hard drive from time machine?

I use OSX 10.7.4. My internal drive was maxed out so I copied it to an external and now I run my mac from this external drive. I want to use time machine to back up (to an additional external hard drive) but Time Machine fails because I don't have enough room. Whats happening is Time Machine wants to back up both my external drive (about 280 Gigs) and my internal (245 Gigs). I do not want or need my internal to be backed up however I cannot find a way to 'exclude it'.
In Time Machine/Options, my internal drive does not appear under devices. I have 3 external drives, (plus their partitions) but the proverbial Macintosh HD is not one of them. Even when I click the + to try and add to the devices which brings up the finder (and I check 'show hidden') still no dice.
Macintosh HD does appear in my finder.
I know one option would be to delete the contents of my internal drive, but I'm not ready to do that. I view it as my backup to my backup. It isn't updated, and it's missing things from the last few months, but in a critical failure, it might still be there.
Presumably all this is temp as I intend to replace my aging white imac with a new imac sometime this summer.
In the mean while though, I'd like time machine to do what its intended to do.
Thanks,
Bear

Open the TM preference pane, unlock it if necessary, and click Options. Click the "+" icon to add an exclusion. In the selection dialog, click the icon of your internal drive under DEVICES, then press return.

External Hard Drive and Time Machine questions

Hello, I am new here to the forums and I have looked all over for the answers to two questions that I have regarding external hard drives and the time machine feature.
For some background, I recently had a scare (water spill but luckily I had a keyboard cover on and the entire spill landed on the cover) with my Mid-2012 13" Macbook Pro (2.5Ghz) and due to almost losing all my data I've decided to invest in an external hard drive. However, rather than just purchasing a 500GB HDD to use as an external hard drive, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and upgrade my Macbook Pro as well by investing in the 480GB OCW Mercury Extreme Pro SSD. I'll be using the SSD as my internal drive so the original hard drive that came with my Macbook will serve as my backup external drive. Lastly, I plan to use the external drive solely for the purpose of backing up my MacBook in case something ever happens to my Macbook.
I am using this guide to help me with this whole process: http://circuitremix.com/?q=content/macbook-pro-solid-state-drive-upgrade-guide-a nd-performance-testing.
My two questions are:
1) When following the guide, it never mentions anything about the Partition Map Scheme. After being alerted to this and doing some additional research, is it better to go with the GUID Partition Table rather than the Master Boot Record?
2) After I have cloned everything onto my new SSD and replaced the HDD in my MacBook with it, should I erase everything on my HDD before setting it up with time machine? I was thinking about keeping the original data on the original hard drive (which would now be my external drive) just in case something goes wrong with time machine but I have read that people recommend solely dedicating the entire external hard drive for time machine backups.
Thanks in advance!

Format the new SSD in Disk Utility to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and that will solve question No. 1.
After formatting, clone the new SSD using Disk Utility>Restore or Carbon Copy Cloner (down load from the Internet). Test the new SSD and if it performs as expected, do the physical swap.
Question No. 2. Erase the Time Machine HDD using Disk Utility and then install Time Machine. See this excellent website regarding Time Machine.
http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html
If you want an external boot HHD, get another one and use Carbon Copy Cloner. This will give you redundancy in backups as well which is a good strategy. CCC also can update the contents in an incremental manner similar to Time Machine.
Ciao.

Hard drive, SSD, Time machine question

I was using a Macbook Pro mid 2012 13" for this problem.
About a month ago, I upgraded my hard drive to a Crucial Solid State Drive (SSD) 240 gb m500. I used Carbon Copy Cloner and everything went very smoothly and my computer worked great for about two months. Randomly one day, I turned on my computer and got a WHITE SCREEN. I have tried several things to try and correct this SSD but none of them will work. I have come to the conclusion that it is a broken/unusable SSD and am returning it.
My problem comes that my time machine backup is on my old macbook pro hard drive. I want to put back in that hard drive into my MBP with all my files intacted, but of course it is not in the right format to run.
I have access to another MBP, a 500 gb external drive, as well as a internal hard drive enclosure to plug my old hard drive into USB externally.
My question is would it be to risky, if I backed up my friends MBP to the 500gb external hard drive using time machine. Then I put my time machine backup on his computer. Then make a copy from his computer of my time machine backup to my old MBP hard drive. Then put my newly copied hard drive back into my MBP. And then take my friends MBP and time machine his backup back from the external drive back onto his computer.
Let me know if you have any other ideas. Thanks
~Katherine

With the SSD still in the MacBook, hold down the Option key at Startup. This will draw an icon for each potentially-bootable drive.
Now go away from your Mac and leave it powered on doing nothing for 20 to 30 minutes.
Sometimes an SSD gets so clogged with data it needs idle to do a major Garbage collect, but thinks it is still being accessed, so it delays the Garbage Collect. Leaving it alone for 20 minutes or more MAY allow it the time to fix itself.
If this helps, read this article on TRIM:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRM
consider installing TRIM Enabler from Groths.

Hi everyone, after updating to 10.6.8, i've been unable to backup to my external hard-drive on Time Machine. anyone having same issues?

I did a software update to 10.6.8. and I've been unable to back up my files to my external hard-drive on Time Machine. The error message it gives says "he backup was not performed because an error occurred while copying files to the backup disk."
It recommends using Disk Utility to repair the backup disk and i've tried that but it finds nothing wrong with the disk!
I even tried copying files off it so i could re-format the drive but it apparently can't do that and the error message is that there's a wrong case sensitive file. Please help, I really need a solution.
Thanks,
Regards,
Chi.

If you mean you're getting the same message:
see #C3 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting. It will show you how to locate the message(s) that describe the problem, then help you fix it. If that doesn't help, post back with details, including all the messages, your setup (especially the destination for the backups), what you've done, and the results.
If that's not the message you're getting, please clarify.

How do I restore a failed external hard drive using Time Machine?

I have an external hard drive connected to my iMac that is being backed up with Time Machine. I just realized that should it one day fail and no longer appear as a connected device, I'm not sure how to restore its data to another external drive. When I disconnected the external hard drive (to mimic a drive crash) and entered Time Machine to see if I could verify that the external hard drive was, in fact, being backed up - I didn't know where to find it. Under the Today (Now) information, I didn't expect to see it there as it was no longer connected to the machine. But when I went back a few days, I expected to see its backup appear in the Sidebar. But no!
So - how do I restore a failed external hard drive using Time Machine?
Searches for this information on Google yielded "iffy" results. I'm hoping someone here is able to offer some clear steps to follow. Perhaps I'm missing something silly. Thank you very much!

I came across this discussion after encountering the same problem. Since my internal HD was cose to full I added an additional external HD to my setup. I moved my iPhoto files to an external HD and backed both this external HD and my internal HD up with Time Machine to another external HD. So far the theory. When I wanted to test if this setup worked I noticed that I could only see my iPhoto libraries on the external HD in Time Machine when the external HD was connected to my computer, but not if I turned it off. This led me to search for a solution on the Apple Support Communities discussion board.
The suggestions made Kappy seem right, at least in my experience, in that my Time Machine simply did not back up the external HD until I followed the steps he suggested above. These were the following:
"So, if you want it backed up then here's what you need to do:
1. In Time Machine preferences remove the external drive from the Exclude list.
2. Verify that it is now included with your other drive in the backup list.
3. Do a Backup Now to create a new backup of the external drive."
After doing this, my external HD showed up in the Backups.backupd as a seperate folder. I could clearly see the Time Machine back-up for my internal HD and my external HD. In addition, in Time Machine itself I was able to find the external harddrive by clicking on my own computers name under "Devices". I hope my experience helps to resolve your issue as this discussion board has helped me resolve mine (which I believe to be very similar).
Cheers!

Airport Express with printer & hard drive with Time Machine

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