Backing up a second Mac Book

Can I back up two computers to the same hard drive? If so, how do I do this? If I simply connect the USB cable to a second computer will it automatically crete a unique identity and back up file? If not, Do I alter a setting somewhere to make this happen? We do not want all the data from the two units merged into a single file.

ScottShepard wrote:
If I simply connect the USB cable to a second computer will it automatically create a unique identity and back up file?
Yes. When Time Machine conducts a backup and subsequently creates a backup file (called a sparsebundle image if you've ever gone onto your hard drive to see the file) they are unique to each computer. So you can back up several computers on one hard drive assuming the necessary space is available. Backups will not be attached or combined as that is not allowed by the Time Machine software.

Similar Messages

HT3728 I am trying to migrate my husband's back-up of his mac book pro (on our time capsule) to my old i-mac. He is now the new admin user of my old i-mac. But when I enter the TC from the old i-mac, only my back-up comes up. Cannot find his.

Continuing with above question, would it make sense to re-set the TC to factory settings? Can 2 computers back up to one TC?
thanks!

You can backup 2 computers as long as the TC has enough space.
Your access might be restricted if you set it up with users.. you must log in with the correct user to get access to the files.
Otherwise you should be able to see both sparsebundles just with finder.
Look at Pondini's excellent FAQ
this one in particular may help
http://pondini.org/TM/17.html

Time machine starts making new back up every time, and previous back up disappears. Mac Book Pro and all newest equipment and OS. What should I do?

System seems to have done it since beginning (actually first time the day that I moved to Mountain Lion) but it is now every other day. This defeats the purpose of having a back up. I did see more comments on this but no silutions. No red i displayed in time machine. Has Apple fooled me with this time capsule or is it just broken and they should replace it?

Check Time Machine Troubleshooting to see if it offers you any help.

How to restore back up from iCloud to my mac book air

i already backup all my data to Icloud ,now i want to restore all my back up to my Mac book air?help me please

iCloud can only create backups from iOS devices, not macs.
Also, you cannot copy a backup of an iOS device in icloud down to a mac.

Mac Book Pro heating up and fans working continuously

Hi,
This is my second Mac Book Pro, the first one "died" because of heating issues and only after an overhaul from the Mac Store, it worked again, but never the same, so I went to the Mac Store to get another one.
I purchased this one on March 2009 and three days ago it started heating up and using the fans constantly, consuming my battery very fast and making the annoying noise these little fans make. Not to mention the heat above the function keys is way beyond normal (normal: not burning your fingers when touching it for a couple of seconds).
Having had a bad heating experience with a previous Mac, I am freaking out now. Any advice on what should I look at before going to a Mac Store?
I don't use any games or very sophisticated software, basically Office, Firefox and iTunes with movies and everything included.
Here are some of my Mac's specs.
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Thank you very much indeed,
Roberto

Well it looks like there's a printer driver that is monopolizing your CPU. Do you have a Lexmark printer that you use? If so, here's a few things to try:
Download the latest print drivers for Lexmark and install them:
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL901
Open Print & Fax in System Preferences and delete your Lexmark printer. Then hit the "+" symbol and add the printer back. That will let it install the new drivers.
If that doesn't work, check out the response by "Pitch64" near the bottom of this thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2349755

My mac book pro won't let me log in

I wanted to set up a password for my mac book pro as it normally logged me in automatically as I opened the screen, on setting it up it asked wether I would like my name to should and for audio I ticked yes, now I'm having the problem that as I turn on my mac or open the screen I'm being asked to log in no name shows up and the audio asked me to type in my username, I type it in as in was and my normal password and it says it's incorrect and I can no longer log back into my own mac book pro :( pleaseeee some one expect/genius help me :)

Vcdiaz88,
so your model is a 13-inch Mid 2012 MacBook Pro. iOS 7 is an operating system that iPhones can run; it’s not something that MacBook Pros can run. Given the model that you have, you either have Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8.something) or Mavericks (OS X 10.9.something) installed. Rebooting your MacBook Pro will not cause your internal disk to lose everything; every time you shut down your computer and start it up again, you’re rebooting it.
To reset your password, you’ll need to restart your MacBook Pro into Recovery mode; to do that, hold down a Command key and the R key as it starts up. When the Mac OS X Utilities menu appears, select Utilities from the menu bar, and then select Terminal from there. In the Terminal window, give it the following command, pressing the Return key afterwards:
resetpassword
After following the instructions to reset your password, exit Terminal and select Restart from the Apple menu on the menu bar; that will restart your MacBook Pro into its normal mode. Try logging in as your user with your reset password to see if it now works properly.
To allay your concerns about losing everything on your internal disk, I’d highly recommend that you buy an external disk to act as a Time Machine backup destination. That way, in case of future disk problems, restoring your existing working environment will not be a problem.

Lost Screws for my Mac Book Retina 15"

Hi I purchased the new Mac Book retina when they were released in June 2012. I recently found a tiny screw on the floor and traced it back to my my Mac Book. When I examined it I found I was missing several screws. Does anyone know what I can do about this?
Thank you in advance.
Ben Kelly

Rush back to the store and request replacement. Regardless if you purchased AppleCare or not you do have a one-year base warranty.
But you may have to convince them of your innocence: that you weren't trying to get inside the non-serviceable Mac.

I made a big mistake to change the setting of my Mac book pro to "me only". Now ofcourse It cannot open the login page, for how would the mac know it is me? How can I change the setting back to "everyone"?

I made a big mistake to change the setting of my Mac book pro to "me only". Now ofcourse It cannot open the login page, for how would the mac know it is me? How can I change the setting back to "everyone"? I have back up in the past but the last month I have not. I really want to keep the data.
So how can I go in and change the setting, It stays ofcourse at the apple screen with wheel. All info is there and the computer works fine, just cannot use it or have been able to log in.

wjosten is spot on. If you really want iCloud, then you will need to acquire a new or second hand MBP that can run Lion.
Ciao.

Using Time Capsule to back up Mac Book Pro and external drive

we're changing our main computer in the house to our mac book pro, which is not currently backed up, so i'm thinking of buying a time capsule. our current main machine is an old pc with two external hard drives connected....one used as the main file storage location and the second as a back up location. the main large files on these drivers are photo's, videos and scanned documents. can i use the time capsule to back up the mac book with an external hard drive connected to it? i'm thinking of leaving all the photo's, videos, documents, etc. on the external harddrive but want to be able to back it up to the time capsule as well as backing up the mac book pro. can backing up the external hard drive be set up to activate automatically daily as I think the mac book can? thanks

This is not as simple as it could be..
Firstly the Mac can read the external drives via the PC if they are shared to the network.. it cannot read them directly plugged into the Mac or the TC.
Also the TC is not really designed to store files.. it is a location for backups by TM..
Read some of the stuff Pondini.. our local Time Machine expert.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
Q3 here is relevant. http://pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html
The hard drives would have to be plugged directly into the Mac to be backed up and they would have to be reformatted to Mac format. So you would need to offload the files.. format and then load the files back.. no trivial task.

Why can't I get Back To My Mac to work in both directions between my 2011 Mac Book Air and my 2012 Mac Mini?

Why can't I get Back To My Mac to work in both directions between my 2011 Mac Book Air and my 2012 Mac Mini? The network uses a Time Capsule. Everything works when connecting from the Mini to the Air, but the reverse is not the case, none of the Mini's drives are visible, and the screen sharing option is not available. I've tried the measures already suggested in online articles, everything seems to be configured correctly using my iCloud account. I'm at a loss, any suggestions would be appreciated.

I've now managed to get the service running in both directions, but not in the way I had anticipated. I had to create a second account on the Mac Book Air, this also has administrator privilages, everything works fine when connecting from this acccount. However, this is not the way I would expect to work, none of my documents, applications and settings would be available, unless I laboriously duplicated them to the new account.
Also, I've yet to get the service running from outside my home network.

Mac book pro is not beinng switched one but screec back light (apple logo) is lighting and screen is also in dim light os x yosemite is not run

my mac book pro with retina display is not gtting log in prompt. back apple logo is glowing and screen also glowing in dim but i am get getting login prompt?
hy my mac book pro with retina display is not getting login prompt

Try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account. Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear and again when you log in. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don’t do them all at once.
Safe Mode - About
Safe Mode - Yosemite
What does the screen show - anything?

I have been using time machine to back up my Mac Book Pro 3.1 to my Time Capsule. Now the Time machine hangs up on "calculating time remaining".

I have been using time machine to back up my Mac Book Pro 3.1 to my Time Capsule. Now the Time machine hangs up on "calculating time remaining".
Mac Book Pro - 3.1-15-inch 2.4/2.2GHz), Processor 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Operating system : OS X 10.10.1
Time Machine Version 1.3, Copyright 2007-2014 Apple Inc., Modified Tuesday, September 9, 2014 at 6:03 PM
Time Capsule: 500 GB C 2007
This Time Machine software worked satisfactory until Monday Nov, 10 2014 and I have backups until that time. For several years, the software deleted the oldest back up to save the latest one. This is acceptable to me as I have off site storage that is updated every 3 months. How do I get Time machine working again?

I have spent a couple of days trying to respond to Linc Davis. Finally I figured it out . The following is a copy of data from my console from the initiation of a time machine backup until it gets stuck trying to calculate the time remaining. There is no indication that anything starts saving. I copied about 3 minutes of data. This is probably way too much data, but I do not know what is relevant.
Thanks for the help,
calcool
12/22/14 3:16:54.655 PM com.apple.backupd[551]: Starting manual backup
12/22/14 3:16:55.057 PM com.apple.backupd[551]: Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://”name”%20”lastname”@Home%20Network%20Time%20Capsule._afpovertcp._tcp.loca l./Time%20Capsule
12/22/14 3:16:57.262 PM mds[33]: (Volume.Normal:2464) volume:0x7fed5ab54000 ********** Bootstrapped Creating a default store:0 SpotLoc:(null) SpotVerLoc:(null) occlude:0 /Volumes/Time Capsule
12/22/14 3:16:57.565 PM com.apple.backupd[551]: Mounted network destination at mount point: /Volumes/Time Capsule using URL: afp://”name”%20”lastname”@Home%20Network%20Time%20Capsule._afpovertcp._tcp.loca l./Time%20Capsule
12/22/14 3:17:08.000 PM kernel[0]: hfs: mounted Backup of “name” “lastname”’s MacBook Pro on device disk3s2
12/22/14 3:17:09.625 PM com.apple.backupd[551]: Disk image /Volumes/Time Capsule/”name” “lastname”’s MacBook Pro (2).sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of “name” “lastname”’s MacBook Pro
12/22/14 3:17:11.112 PM com.apple.backupd[551]: Backing up to /dev/disk3s2: /Volumes/Backup of “name” “lastname”’s MacBook Pro/Backups.backupdb
12/22/14 3:17:24.931 PM “name”[593]: audit warning: soft /var/audit
12/22/14 3:17:24.944 PM “name”[594]: audit warning: allsoft
12/22/14 3:17:24.958 PM “name”[596]: audit warning: closefile /var/audit/20141222201654.20141222201724
12/22/14 3:17:26.544 PM com.apple.backupd[551]: Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
12/22/14 3:17:34.767 PM com.apple.backupd[551]: Deep event scan at path:/ reason:must scan subdirs|new event db|
12/22/14 3:17:34.768 PM com.apple.backupd[551]: Reading cached event database from: /Volumes/Backup of “name” “lastname”’s MacBook Pro/Backups.backupdb/”name” “lastname”’s MacBook Pro (2)/2014-12-22-151726.inProgress/F85FEA51-E137-471A-84DA-A2C00E4ECB42/.1BEF88C6 -20C3-3DDC-AE30-05EAB2AFCC15.eventdb
12/22/14 3:17:38.115 PM com.apple.backupd[551]: Using cached disk scan
12/22/14 3:17:39.114 PM com.apple.backupd[551]: Saved event cache at /Volumes/Backup of “name” “lastname”’s MacBook Pro/Backups.backupdb/”name” “lastname”’s MacBook Pro (2)/2014-12-22-151726.inProgress/5BC46A53-25E8-4C4A-8947-AFB221D1FA0C/.1BEF88C6 -20C3-3DDC-AE30-05EAB2AFCC15.eventdb
12/22/14 3:17:39.355 PM com.apple.backupd[551]: Not using file event preflight for Macintosh HD
12/22/14 3:19:14.782 PM CoreServicesUIAgent[294]: unexpected message <OS_xpc_error: <error: 0x7fff77befc60> { count = 1, contents =
"XPCErrorDescription" => <string: 0x7fff77beff70> { length = 18, contents = "Connection invalid" }
}>
12/22/14 3:20:15.207 PM locationd[182]: Location icon should now be in state 'Active'
12/22/14 3:20:17.267 PM locationd[182]: Location icon should now be in state 'Inactive'
12/22/14 3:20:17.884 PM locationd[182]: Location icon should now be in state 'Active'
12/22/14 3:20:18.483 PM sandboxd[296]: ([310]) com.apple.metada(310) deny mach-lookup com.apple.cfnetwork.cfnetworkagent
12/22/14 3:20:21.646 PM com.apple.metadata.SpotlightNetHelper[310]: [SLSUGGESTIONS] Location managed failed with error Error Domain=kCLErrorDomain Code=0 "The operation couldn’t be completed. (kCLErrorDomain error 0.)"
12/22/14 3:20:23.892 PM WindowServer[143]: disable_update_timeout: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "Spotlight" for over 1.00 seconds. Server has re-enabled them.
12/22/14 3:20:26.526 PM WindowServer[143]: common_reenable_update: UI updates were finally reenabled by application "Spotlight" after 3.63 seconds (server forcibly re-enabled them after 1.00 seconds)
12/22/14 3:20:28.298 PM sandboxd[296]: ([310]) com.apple.metada(310) deny mach-lookup com.apple.cfnetwork.cfnetworkagent
12/22/14 3:20:29.094 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.quicklook[599]) Endpoint has been activated through legacy launch(3) APIs. Please switch to XPC or bootstrap_check_in(): com.apple.quicklook
12/22/14 3:20:30.670 PM bird[263]: Assertion failed: ![_xpcClients containsObject:client]
12/22/14 3:20:30.670 PM bird[263]: Assertion failed: ![_xpcClients containsObject:client]
12/22/14 3:20:32.294 PM com.apple.InputMethodKit.UserDictionary[600]: -[PFUbiquitySwitchboardEntryMetadata setUseLocalStorage:](808): CoreData: Ubiquity: “name”~00000000-0000-1000-8000-001B63947FCF:UserDictionary
Using local storage: 1
12/22/14 3:20:32.317 PM bird[263]: Assertion failed: ![_xpcClients containsObject:client]
12/22/14 3:20:32.769 PM locationd[182]: Location icon should now be in state 'Inactive'
12/22/14 3:20:34.580 PM Console[601]: Failed to connect (_consoleX) outlet from (NSApplication) to (ConsoleX): missing setter or instance variable
12/22/14 3:20:35.540 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent) The _DirtyJetsamMemoryLimit key is not available on this platform.
12/22/14 3:20:36.388 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.auditd[604]) Endpoint has been activated through legacy launch(3) APIs. Please switch to XPC or bootstrap_check_in(): com.apple.auditd
12/22/14 3:20:36.693 PM “name”[608]: audit warning: soft /var/audit
12/22/14 3:20:36.718 PM “name”[607]: audit warning: allsoft
12/22/14 3:20:37.045 PM “name”[610]: audit warning: closefile /var/audit/20141222201724.20141222202036
12/22/14 3:20:37.438 PM bird[263]: Assertion failed: ![_xpcClients containsObject:client]
12/22/14 3:20:42.437 PM QuickLookSatellite[611]: CGSConnectionByID: 0 is not a valid connection ID.
12/22/14 3:20:42.437 PM QuickLookSatellite[611]: Invalid Connection ID 0
12/22/14 3:20:42.477 PM QuickLookSatellite[611]: CGSConnectionByID: 0 is not a valid connection ID.
12/22/14 3:20:42.477 PM QuickLookSatellite[611]: CGSConnectionByID: 0 is not a valid connection ID.
12/22/14 3:20:42.612 PM QuickLookSatellite[611]: [QL] No sandbox token for request <QLThumbnailRequest stackshot.log>, it will probably fail
12/22/14 3:20:42.613 PM QuickLookSatellite[611]: [QL] No sandbox token for thumbnail request file:///Library/Logs/stackshot.log, it will probably fail
12/22/14 3:20:42.615 PM QuickLookSatellite[611]: [QL] No sandbox token for request <QLThumbnailRequest stackshot-syms.log>, it will probably fail
12/22/14 3:20:42.615 PM QuickLookSatellite[611]: [QL] No sandbox token for thumbnail request file:///Library/Logs/stackshot-syms.log, it will probably fail

After migrating a new Mac Book Pro from Time Capsule, I noticed that I lost a group of Favorites on the older iMac. The puzzling thing is that the Favorites are on my iPhone--not the old iMac or the new Mac Book Pro. How do I get the Favorites back?

After migrating a new Mac Book Pro from Time Capsule, I noticed that I lost a group of Favorites on the older iMac. The puzzling thing is that the Favorites are on my iPhone--not the old iMac or the new Mac Book Pro. How do I get the Favorites back?

If you are syncing using iCloud, try going to System Preferences/iCloud (computers) and checking Safari. If it is checked, try deselecting it, wait 10-15 seconds, and then check it again.

Mac Book Pro 17" CS6 crashes when setting output to second monitor.

I am testing out the trial version of Premiere CS6 and the program keeps crashing when I try to set the video output to my second monitor via a DVI connection. Anybody else having this problem with the Mac version?
Mac Book Pro 17"
2.2Ghz I7
8 GB
AMD 6750M 1025MB

I am using a mini display port to DVI adapter and it is a thunderbolt port.
I just tried it again and now it seems to be working. I have tried it dozens of times and everytime it would do nothing and when I opened prefrences to change it back CS6 would lock up.
I just tried it a couple more times by closing the program and openning it up again and now for whatever odd reason it seems to be working great.
I also have been trying the trial version that was released last week but I have since removed that version since it wasn't a stable release but it had the same problem. I am using the official trial version as of this morning and the problem was still there but now it is gone.
Not sure what happened but no matter what I do it now works. huh Perhaps a left over preference file from the unstable version or something like that.

My wife has a small Mac book. I'd like to get her an inexpensive second monitor. What are my options?

My wife has a small Mac book. I'd like to get her an inexpensive second monitor. What are my options?

You'll probably need two things: Most MacBooks don't have a standard video plug so you'll need a dongle to connect the computer to the display. Which dongle she needs depends on which computer she owns and whether you buy an analog or digital display. I recommend digital. I have two displays that I like a lot, one is a Dell 22" HD - rather expensive but gorgeous and the other is a 24" Samsung digital - much less expensive but very good. If you aren't sure which dongle to get look under the Apple menu for About this Mac and then click on the more information button and you'll get the exact computer model use that information to search the net or come back here and let us know which model she owns.

Backing up a second Mac Book

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