Backup disk full but Time Machine wont over write?

My Seagate Drive is full, and I get a report every day that the drive is full.
I understand that Time Machine should delete old files to make room for the new Backup.
Any suggestions to get this problem solved would be appreciated.
I can not see any options in Time Machine that can be changed?

See #C4 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
If that doesn't help, please clarify what's going on.  See #A9 in the same link for what we need, and how to get it.

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    Have you tried restarting the computer? Also, see Time Machine Error from this pages sidebar under More Like This.

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  • Backup disk not available - Time Machine

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  • "the backup disk image "volumes/time machine/ Macbook (2).sparsebundle" is already in use."

    everytime  I try to run time machine I get this message:
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    Open > http://pondini.org/TM/C12.html

  • Time Machine wont backup

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    jmhoskin wrote:
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    Also see #1 of the FAQ Tip for size considerations.

  • 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?

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    Depending on what version of OSX you're running, and how the data was transferred, you may be out of luck.
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  • I bought a new external hard drive for backups, but time machine won't do a full back up.  I think it is remembering backing up onto previous external hard drives, which I don't own anymore.  How do I do a new full backup?

    I bought a new external hard drive for backups, but time machine won't do a full back up. 
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    Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
    tmutil compare -E
    Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
    Launch the Terminal 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 Terminal in the icon grid.
    Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
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    Each line that begins with an exclamation point (“!”) represents a file that has changed on the source volume. These files have been backed up, but not in their present state.
    Each line that begins with a minus sign (“-“) represents a file that has been removed from the source volume.
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  • Hi there. just bought a TC, installation was succesfull, but time machine won't work. can't select Backup disk. get transferred to TC install again. Called Apple, 25 min. later no succes, have to call on monday again!!!! Can anyone help me?  Thanks a lot.

    Hi there. just bought a TC, installation was succesfull, but time machine won't work. can't select Backup disk. get transferred to TC install again. Called Apple, 25 min. later no succes, have to call on monday again!!!! Can anyone help me?  Thanks a lot.

    See #Q1 in Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule. 
    If you have a problem, please tell us exactly what, and on which step there.

  • Attach/mount machine a's time machine backup disk from other (b) machine?

    I looked around for a discussion of this, I'm sure it's here, sorry could not find.
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    Sure, it would be hard to design a system which could mount any repository and do the right thing with respect to all the files there when backing up. Still, any ideas greately appreciated.
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    Answering "No" to that prompt doesn't prevent you from using the drive as a backup disk; it just stops that from happening automatically. I suggest you watch a video to familiarize yourself better with Time Machine:
    Mac OS X: Time Machine Basics
    Any other questions you have should be answered in this support article:
    Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac - Apple Support

  • Time Machine wont mount backup, wants to create new one.

    I'm running OSX Lion 10.7 on an iMac 27 with an intel i5 2.7 GHz processor.
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    Somehow the external backup drive became disassociated with TM. So I re-selected it and TM began preparing for a backup. A few moments late a warning popped up stating there was not enough space on the disk to complete the backup.
    I entered Time Machine to free up space however, TM had created a new backup file and now it won't mount the original one. I've tried deleting the new backup file, hoping TM would mount the original, but it just keeps creating new ones.
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    I've read through a number of trouble shooting sites and I've already checked for and installed all updates with no luck.
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    No, I don't think playing around with the sparsebundle is very good idea ever.
    If you are now down to that level. Move the old sparsebundle off the TC. Either delete the whole thing and start over.. or save it beforehand.
    It is possible to archive off the old sparsebundle, although it is pointless if it is corrupted.
    You can copy it to a USB drive on the computer.
    See Q18 here. http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
    That will take a long long time so be warned.. and do it with ethernet.. otherwise it will take forever.
    You can also do the archive directly to USB disk plugged into the TC. You need a hard disk at least as large as the data.
    And you will need to use v5.6 airport utility because Apple deleted it in the new version.
    If you run Mountain Lion (Lion is easy) you can download it and install by a trick.
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    For screen shots see this post.
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4668746?tstart=0

  • Time machine disk is full?, time machine disk is full?

    I have a mac pro and an MBP that has been using a network drive as a time machine for over a year now. I keep getting error messages that time machine is full. How can I delete all but my last backup so bother machines can start backing up again?

    See C4 & C18 for possible solutions.
    Time Machine Troubleshooting
    Time Machine Troubleshooting Problems

  • I bought an external hard drive for backups to use with Time Machine, but however when I try to connect it with the other windows laptop it doesn't work ? intact it doesn't work on any other device except my MAC ?

    I bought an external hard drive for backups to use with Time Machine, but however when I try to connect it with the other windows laptop it doesn't work ? intact it doesn't work on any other device except my MAC ?

    Do not worry about it.
    Time Machine needs that your external drive is formatted in HFS+, or better known as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)". This filesystem is used by Apple on Macs and Windows cannot read or write drives formatted with this filesystem, being this the reason why all your devices do not read the external drive except your Mac.
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  • Is there a way to combine two backups on separate disks created by time machine into one on a single disk?

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