Are all external FW drives used for Time Machine more prone to fail?

Within a period of just several months, I've seen three different external FW drives used for time Machine in three different locations fail terminally. They were different brands (Seagate, OWC and a nondescript generic from Fry's).
Is there something intrinsically different about how Time Machines disks function compared to plain data storage drives? Or was do these three drives amount to just a coincidence?
Thanks in advance.

Bus-powered seem not as robust as self-powered.
Soemtimes cables are flaky.
How did you decide these drives are "terminal?"

Similar Messages

External hard drive used for Time machine is full and having a hard time backing up. what should I do?

External hard drive used for Time Machine is full and having a hrad time backing up. What is my best option moving forward? NAS?

For All things Time Machine see Pondini's Excellent Infirmation here...
http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html
Start with FAQs and Troubleshooting.

Cleaning virus-infected files on external hard drive used for Time Machine

I am kinda reposting this with some extra explanation since I didn't really get any good respnses on my first post:
I am running McAfee VirusScan and it locates and cleans virus infected files just fine on my computer, but when it finds infected files on the external hard drive I use for Time Machine backups, it says "Repair Failed". Is there a way to clean infected files on my Time Machine backup drive?
I had found a virus in several documents on my Mac, which I cleaned, but it seemed to infect a bunch of the files located in Time Machine as well. I know these files shouldn't harm my Mac, but I still don't like having virus infected files. They seem to propagate and I don't want to give them to any of my Windows-using friends.

Hi,
Usually (but not always), virus-infected files aren't system-related, so if they cannot be repaired, there should be an option in VirusScan to delete them or quarantine them instead of repairing them. Assuming that you are archiving Mac-related files and not archives of Windows files, then it should certainly be safe to just have VirusScan delete or quarantine them. An alternative is that you could delete them manually. But before you do any of this, be sure to take a look at the filename and its location in the folder hierarchy to make sure that you aren't removing a file that's critical to the operation of some piece of software.
Hope this helps,
Ken

How do I part ion an external hard drive used for time machine?

I have a Seagate 1.5 T external harddrive I'm using for Time Machine. I would like to partition it so I can store other files and photos on it. How do I do it??
Thanks,
JD

In Disk Utility
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.7/en/mchlp1725.html
Message was edited by: b j t

How do I password protect the external hard drive used for Time Machine backup

Can anyone help me to put password protection on the external hard drive I use to Time Machine backup my iMac internal hard drive? I use Snow Leopard 10.6

I think that was FileVault 1. Starting with Lion (10.7) Mac OS X uses FileVault 2, which is whole disk encryption.
Based on complaints seen in these forums, I would say FileVault 2's only complaint has been when people forget their password/encryption key (it seems an encrypted disk does prevent anyone without the password from accessing the data, including the real owner). Otherwise it does not seem to be causing any serious issues. Your Mileage may vary and objects are closer than they appear in your side view mirror (standard disclaimer). Of course this is all academic while you are using Snow Leopard (10.6).
There are other whole disk encryption packages available, such as PGP Whole Disk Encryption, HOWEVER, I would not advise it for your Mac OS X boot disk, as it has been known to be a problem when you try to install operating system updates or upgrade to a new version. NOTE: I have not seen PGP Whole Disk Encryption discussed much, ever since FileVault 2 came along.

External usb disc used for Time Machine backup disconnects when Mac has been into sleep mode

I use a 1Tb External usb disc used for Time Machine backup which works fine, but when the Mac goes into sleep mode & powers back on I get a message stating that you should always eject the Drive before removing.
Any suggestions on how to get around this problem would be welcome

Look at the root of your hard drive for a folder called Backups.backupdb.
Or, a sparse bundle disk image for one of mobile computers that might have tried to back up to your Mac.
If you have those, remove them and try again.

External hard drive setup for time machine reading as a virtual cd

Why is my MacBook Pro reading my external hard drive setup for time machine reading as a virtual cd?
Thanks

Hi Christian,
Is this something that has happened from the start? If so, I would reformat the disk and setup TM from scratch again.
Prepare the external HD by connecting to the Mac, open Disk Utility, select the manufacturer’s name of the external HD, select Partition and choose GUID Partition Table, format to Apple OS Extended (Journaled); quit Disk Utility.
Open System Preferences.
Click on Time Machine.
Click on “Select Disk.”
Click just to the left of "On" to turn TM on if it's not already on.
Click on the disk or partition you want to use.
Click on “Use for backup.”
Leave external HD connected, and TM will automatically do its thing.

External drive use for Time Machine change to "Read Only"

I have an external hard drive set up for backing up with Time Machine on my Mac. It has been working well. Now when time machine tries to back up it tells me the external disk is read only. The hard drive does mount to the computer and will let me open the Time Machine folder. When I am in disk utility it also sees the external hard drive but will not let me click on repair disk permissions. Under the drive info's sharing & permissions window it said " You can only read." , After unlocking everything is grayed out, but the permission is set to read & write. Any thoughts on how to get this drive back to read and write? Its a 2TB drive with 1.79TB on disk. The drive has not been ever used on a windows machine or use on any other computer and is use only for Time Machine backups. One day it was read/write next day read only. Thanks!

The backup drive has malfunctioned and corrupted itself. If that has ever happened before, or if it ever happens again, replace the drive. You may want to consider replacing it anyway for the safety of your data.
You should start another backup now, on another drive, if you don't already have one. One backup is never enough to be safe.
If you choose to keep using the problem drive, turn Time Machine OFF temporarily in its preference pane, then launch Disk Utility, select the backup volume, and run Repair Disk. This operation may take several hours. If the volume can't be repaired, you'll have to erase it and start over. Don't do that unless you have at least one other complete backup. Remember to turn TM back ON.

How to format an external drive used for time machine

My 150 Gig external hard drive showed too full for a time machine backup. It only showed 20 gig left. So I moved the time machine backup on it to the trash to make room for a new one. This did nothing. With the files in the trash the drive still shows full even though it has no time machine backup on it.
So I would like to know how I can format this drive again to get it to accept a brand new time machine backup. Or how do I get time machine to recognize the drive as empty instead of full.
I now know I should have at least a 500 gig drive to let time machine make it's plethora of backups. But the 150 gig drive is what I have right now to backup an 80 gig hard drive and I would like to start from scratch.
Thanks,
JJ Bula

With the files in the trash the drive still shows full
You need to empty the Trash before anything is actually removed from the drive.
If you want to completely erase the drive, launch Disk Utility, select the drive, go to the Erase pane and click "Erase".

External Hard Drive only for Time Machine?

I just bought a 500GB external HD and just ordered Leopard. I'm wanting to use the hard drive for my iTunes library rather than keep it on the internal HD due to the size.
My question is, if I then use it for Time Machine, will it be only for TM or can I do both?
And if I can do both, will it erase what is currently on there while setting it up for TM?

Apple doesnt recommend it, but it shouldnt be any problem. Time Machine creates a backup directory in which it keeps all the backup info. As long as there's space you can use the drive for other items. I have an internal 500GB drive I use for backup, and I keep some large files on it. The problem will be sooner or later the drive will just fill up with backup info, and time machine at that point will dynamically erase the oldest backups but will not have space for storing other files. Basically dont rely on the drive to have space for storing extra stuff. Partitioning the thing will prevent this, but it will make your backup drive smaller.

External hard drive partition for Time Machine wont mount

I have an external HD that I've partitioned half for Time Machine, and half for external storage. Today the Time Machine partition wouldn't show up on the desktop. I checked Disk Utility and it recognizes both partitions, but the Time Machine partition is greyed out. When I selected it, in the stat list at the bottom it said "Mount Point: Not Mounted." I then clicked on "Mount" at the top, and after a bit a popup told me it couldn't mount and I should attempt to repar the disk. So I clicked "Repair Disk," and after a while, I finally got the message "Error: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files."
Why is only one partition affected? Can I reformat one petition but leave the other untouched? Are there any other options before I do this?
One other item that is probably related: I've been having an issue with a flash drive that seems to constantly unmount itself, giving me "error, disk ejected improperly" messages. Earlier today I believe I had the same thing with my external HD.

Why is only one partition affected?
The drive malfunction that caused the problem only affected that partition.
Can I reformat one petition but leave the other untouched?
Yes.
Are there any other options before I do this?
This is not an option, it's mandatory: start a new backup on another drive. The one you have has lost data once already. If it were mine, it would be in the recycling bin now. You need more than one backup to be safe anyway. Apparently you have no backups at all of the data on the other partition. That means you're going to lose that data, sooner or later.

On a 500G MBP running Lion what's the best size to partition a 2T WD external hard drive to for Time Machine? Thankse

Just picked up a 2T WD external HD for my new MBPro with 500 G drive. Looking to use part of the external drive for Time MAchine. Not sur if I should designate 1T of it or 750G. I'm running Lion. What's the best way to format the external drive. Disk Utility?
Thanks,
Dennis

Ask in Lion: TimeMachine / MacBook Pro even - this is workstation territory
I would not use the same drive for data and for backups.
If I had to, I'd make a partition large enough to boot your Mac from though, whether 50-500GB to clone your system.
You should still be able to use Lion's Recovery boot mode.
I don't think there really is much choice in what to format with, unless you want to spend over $100.

Can I drag files to an external drive used for Time Machine to store them?

Is that possible without doing partition? if so, what's the difference (with partition and without)? I'm undecided on whether to partition or not. Thanks!

stellamaris5 wrote:
Sorry to chip in - I'm having a similar issue.
Aaargh.
I want to delete about 8Gb worth of data from my internal HD on my iMac. Will I still have a copy in time machine?
For a while, until time machine runs out of space and deletes its copy.
Is timemachine then deleting them from the TM backup disk if they are gone from the internal HD.
Eventually, yes.
I have done a similar thing as the OP and cut the 8Gb folder from my MacHD and pasted it into the external disk where TM is doing its backups.
Then you are wallowing in a state of sin.
1. Should I leave it like that?
No.
or
2. should I cut and paste it back into my MacHD, leave TM to do a few backups and then completely delete it from my MacHD?
Neither. If you want to keep it, keep it on your MacHD, if you want to delete it delete it. Leave the Time Machine disk the **** alone.
Thanks
Not at all.

Simpletech drive used for Time Machine

Hi,
I am using a SimpleTech drive for my Time Machine backup drive and I run into the issue of the drive not reconnecting when I restart my iMac. Actually I have two Simpletech drives connected to my iMac, the other one holds all of my music and it does automatically reconnect. I don't know if the issue is the power source for the two drives, both are USB, but the one that does reconnect is powered through a USB hub, while the other drive requires an AC power source.
Is this an unusual situation?
Also, if I were to upgrade to a different external drive, could I use it for both the Time Machine drive and the drive where I store my music?
Thanks.

sedmiston3 wrote:
Hi,
I am using a SimpleTech drive for my Time Machine backup drive and I run into the issue of the drive not reconnecting when I restart my iMac. Actually I have two Simpletech drives connected to my iMac, the other one holds all of my music and it does automatically reconnect. I don't know if the issue is the power source for the two drives, both are USB, but the one that does reconnect is powered through a USB hub, while the other drive requires an AC power source.
Is this an unusual situation?
Not sure.
Also, if I were to upgrade to a different external drive, could I use it for both the Time Machine drive and the drive where I store my music?
Yes, but I would recommend you create a separate partition for the two.

Moving iPhoto Library to External HD also used for Time Machine?

Hi,
I know the moving of iPhoto Libraries seems to be a pretty common topic, but I want to throw this out there because everyone situation seems to be a little different and have slightly different variables. Like many others, I want to get my iPhoto Library off of my local HD to save space.
In my case, I am wondering if there is any problem with moving an iPhoto 09' Library (28K+ images/149GB) to an External HD (2TB Western Digital) that is also currently set up to do Time Machine Backups or do I need to reformat that drive to be used as an external only and not for TM?
Lastly I want to confirm that when I transfer this Library, I simply need to drag the iPhoto Library from my PIctures folder over to this External HD and then hold the Option key when I launch iPhoto next and tell it to choose the iPhoto Library on my External so it will open that one from that point forward.
Thanks in advance for the information and confirmation on how to do this transfer. Take care and have a great evening.
Joe Sabella

In my case, I am wondering if there is any problem with moving an iPhoto 09' Library (28K+ images/149GB) to an External HD (2TB Western Digital) that is also currently set up to do Time Machine Backups or do I need to reformat that drive to be used as an external only and not for TM?
You need to partition the drive with one partition for TM and one for normal external drive use - you should not have your iPhoto library or other dynamic file on the same partition with TM - TM grows until it fills its partition and at some time this will push up against your iPhoto library and cause failure for iPhoto
Lastly I want to confirm that when I transfer this Library, I simply need to drag the iPhoto Library from my PIctures folder over to this External HD and then hold the Option key when I launch iPhoto next and tell it to choose the iPhoto Library on my External so it will open that one from that point forward.
That is correct - and be sure that the external drive is available anytime you launch iPhoto
LN

Are all external FW drives used for Time Machine more prone to fail?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for