Can I have several Time Machines in Mavericks?

I have several boot partitions over several disks. Am I allowed to have more than one Time Machine partition - each backing up different drives?
The same question was ever asked against Snow Leopard here, and the answer was no, "You can't have more than one Time Machine destination disk active at any one time."
Is it still the same limit today for Mavericks?
I have 1 x SSD and 3 x HDD, I just want to use one 1TB HD to back up the 500GB SSD, and the 4TB HD to back up the 2TB HD.
Possible please?
Thanks heaps in advance.

Called Apple Care Support and confirmed that only one Time Machine backup can be active, in other words, only one destination drive can used to perform Time Machine backup automatically.
Therefore I had to hoose the largest internal HD (4 TB) to back up all other drives (total 2.5 TB).
Barney-15E wrote:
I don't think this was the question you were asking, but you can have multiple backup drives, now, but they are just redundant backups, not different backups.

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Can I have several Time Machines?

I have several boot partitions over several disks. Am I allowed to have more than one Time Machine partition - each backing up different drives?
Looks like I can, but I thought I'd check.

Thank you for your suggestion. It's the second time for me that Carbon Copy Cloner was suggested, will give it a try anyway.
sanjampet wrote:
I would also consider having a clone back up drive (drives are cheap, data is not), and set it to back up the entire HDD.
something like this:
http://www.bombich.com/
http://download.cnet.com/SuperDuper/3000-2242_4-46651.html
I have a redundant backup in addition to Time Machine, (what if my only drive falls off the table and breaks)
Plus clones are BOOTABLE, which means you can boot from them...big plus and something to consider

Can I have 2 Time Machines for 2 backups?

I have an external hard drive that I use for my time machine. Recently I've been having some problems with my iMac that are hard drive related. I wasn't able to repair using disk utility and had to erase and reinstall Snow Leopard and then transfer everything back from time machine.
After this I realize just how fragile this all is. I have many photos and videos of my family from years ago and was relieved that I had everything backed up. Hard drives are so inexpensive these days, I feel it may be wise to have another backup in the unlikely event both hard drives were to have problems at the same time.
Can I have two Time Machines? If not, what are my options?
Thanks for any suggestions on this topic.

Yes, but not simultaneously. You can switch the desired backup drive using TM preferences, but TM cannot backup to two drives concurrently. However, I would suggest not using TM for your second backup. Instead consider making a bootable clone on the second drive. You can then use a third-party backup utility to incrementally update the clone. Because this software is running independently of TM you can have both a TM backup and a third-party backup. With TM backing up hourly you can set the second backup schedule to backup weekly and/or monthly.
If something does go amiss with your main system drive, then you can boot from your clone in order to restore function to the main drive.
To avoid using up space on the TM drive be sure you add your second backup drive to the TM Exclude list.
Basic Backup
Get an external Firewire or USB drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. (Note: Most PPC Macs cannot be booted from a USB drive.) You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial)
2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
5. Carbon Copy Cloner (Donationware)
6. SuperDuper! (Commercial)
7. Intego Personal Backup (Commercial)
8. Data Backup (Commercial)
9. SilverKeeper 2.0 (Freeware)
10. MimMac (Commercial)
11. Tri-Backup (Commercial)
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
Although you can buy a complete FireWire drive system, you can also put one together if you are so inclined. It's relatively easy and only requires a Phillips head screwdriver (typically.) You can purchase hard drives separately. This gives you an opportunity to shop for the best prices on a hard drive of your choice. Reliable brands include Seagate, Hitachi, Western Digital, Toshiba, and Fujitsu. You can find reviews and benchmarks on many drives at Storage Review.
Enclosures for FireWire and USB are readily available. You can find only FireWire enclosures, only USB enclosures, and enclosures that feature multiple ports. I would stress getting enclosures that use the Oxford chipsets (911, 921, 922, for example.) You can find enclosures at places such as;
Cool Drives
OWC
WiebeTech
Firewire Direct
California Drives
NewEgg
All you need do is remove a case cover, mount the hard drive in the enclosure and connect the cables, then re-attach the case cover. Usually the only tool required is a small or medium Phillips screwdriver.

Can I have two Time Machine backup external drives on one Mac?

I have been using Time Machine for over a year and like it very much. The thought occurred to me that I should buy a new external drive that I can backup to and store at a remote location. I plan on making a backup each week, then taking this new drive to my office. That way, if my house ever burns down, I have a backup at my office too that will be a fairly recent backup.
When I unplugged my older external drive and tried to launch a backup using the new one, my Mac said it couldn't find my Time Machine drive. Won't it let me backup to two different drives? Or does it always need to backup to the same one?
Thanks!

polishedstaple wrote:
Won't it let me backup to two different drives?
Yes. All you have to do is tell it you've changed destinations, via +Time Machine Preferences > Select Disk.+ (Use different names for the drives, so you know which one is which.)
Try not to go too long between "swaps," though. After several days, especially if there's been a large volume of changes, Time Machine might do a new, full backup, instead of an incremental one.
However, I've learned over the years (mostly the hard way, of course ), never to trust my backups to a single app or piece of hardware: no app is perfect, and all hardware fails, sooner or later.
Like many here, I keep both full Time Machine backups, plus a "bootable clone" on a separate external HD. I use CarbonCopyCloner, many use the similar SuperDuper. That gives me the best of both types of backups, plus of course a completely separate, independent backup.
CCC is donationware; SD has a free version, but you need the paid one (about $30) to do updates instead of full replacements, or scheduling. Either is easily found via Google.
And/or, see Kappy's post on Basic Backup, complete with links to the web sites of each product.

I Can See It, But I can't Have It - Time Machine Issue

I can't get my files (saved in S.L.) back out of Time Machine since I upgraded to Mavericks. The files are there, they show up in T.M. But I can't retrieve them. I'm a little desperate for a solution. Help!
Thanks,

In the Finder, right-click or control-click the folder icon and select
Show View Options
from the contextual menu. In the dialog that opens, select None from the Arrange by menu. Close the dialog, enter Time Machine, and try again.
Another reason why items in a snapshot might not be selectable is that the time-travel view is open on a secondary display. Move it to the primary display, or if necessary, exit and disconnect the external display.

How can I have the Time Machine animated wallpaper as my desktop background?

I really love the animated stars when you go in the time machine app. Is there a way to have this as your desktop background?
I've found and tested a few apps that do this (animated desktop pictures), but I really want the time machine animation.
I've also found an app that lets you use the old time machine animated picture, but I don't even nearly like it as much as the new one.
If anyone knows... please tell me

Open System Preferences (gear icon on the dock)
Open Users & Groups
Click the Login Items tab (next to the Password tab)
Click the + buttton at the bottom of the list
Use the Finder interface to locatet the Time Capsule drive and open it on the desktop
Click Add
Now the Time Capsule drive....named "Data", unless you have renamed it, will mounta and appear on the desktop when your Mac starts up.

If I update from 10.6.8 to Mavericks and I have a time machine backup, can I do a full restore back to 10.6.8 and resume as if I had never updated?

If I update from 10.6.8 to Mavericks and I have a time machine backup, can I do a full restore back to 10.6.8 and resume as if I had never updated if there is a problem? Probably an answer I should know but I don't. Thanks in advance! (instruction suggestions welcomed)

Upgrading the OS is a system wide thing. So all users will receive the upgrade.
It should not delete files and such. However, if you have for example files made with Pages '09. Then the new Pages that comes with Mavericks will make a copy of those files so you can continue to edit them. But those new files can not be opened in Pages '09. BUT again, some people perfer Pages '09 and they use that still. Mavericks will just hide Pages '09, it's still usable in Mavericks just hidden.
To be safe, make a back up of your system before doing any major upgrade.
KOT

TS3423 Mac book pro stops responding after Maverick OS restart. Currently have a circle with a line through it after 20+ hours. Tried to shut it down and use the Time Machine to restore but no response. How can I restore with Time Machine if it will not s

Mac book pro stops responding after Maverick OS restart. Currently have a circle with a line through it after 20+ hours. Tried to shut it down and use the Time Machine to restore but no response. How can I restore with Time Machine if it will not start?

sonjadg,
you can purchase a replacement pair of grey installation DVDs for your MacBook Pro from either Apple or iFixit. If Startup Manager is only showing an OS X Installer volume, then it sounds like the Mavericks installer had a problem midway through its installation process. To fix this, you’re going to need to erase your internal disk and reïnstall your original version of OS X from the grey Mac OS X Install DVD, use Software Update to get it back to 10.6.8 (presuming that your MacBook Pro originally came with Snow Leopard), and then restore from Time Machine.

Can I restore Yosemite Public beta from Time Machine with Mavericks bootable recovery drive

I had Yosemite beta running on an SSD in my Mac Book Pro. This drive has failed and is no longer recognized. I do have a Time Machine backup of this drive. When I restored it to a new SSD it would not boot.(formatted to MAC OS Extended (Journaled) with a single GUID partition) I do not have a Yosemite recovery drive. My question is, can I boot to the SSD using the Mavericks recovery USB drive and do a full restore of my Yosemite drive from Time Machine? I am unable to re-download the Yosemite beta as my code has already been redeemed.

Yes, this did work. I booted to the Mavericks recovery drive and pulled the backup off of Time Capsule and resolved the issue.

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can I have several itunes libraries on one computer at the same time?

Thank Niel
I have already got a library hosted on another computer and have homeshared my apple id for my home laptop, but I'm not sure what to do there after - any help would be appreciated! I' worried I make my husband's library disappear......

I have just installed a 2TB time capsule on my iMac i7, it see my second 1TB hard drive but the 256 SSD doesn't come up in the list of hard drives I can back up. How can I enable the time machine to see my first SSD 256gb hard drive?

I have just installed a 2TB time capsule on my iMac i7, it see my second 1TB hard drive but the 256 SSD doesn't come up in the list of hard drives I can back up. How can I enable the time machine to see my first SSD 256gb hard drive?

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I deleted a contact from my phone and it synced with all my other devices including my Mac. However, I have setup time machine and have many previous backups. Can I open or use a file in back ups to get my contact back? Where and which one? Thanks!

Its all in the question.
I have backups from months ago.
And ICLOUD deleted my contact from others devices.

Bring the Contacts window forward, then enter Time Machine and scroll back to a snapshot that includes the contacts you want to restore. Select the contacts and click the Restore button in the lower right corner of the screen.
If you don't have a Time Machine backup, but your contacts are all on iCloud and haven't been overwritten, then you can recover them by following the instructions on this page. Double-click the downloaded file to import it into Contacts. This procedure will not work if you've synced an empty Contacts database to iCloud.

I have a 1TB external hard drive (NTFS) that has all my files from my old PC, how do I create a partition on it for HFS without formatting it so that I can use it for Time Machine and the like?

I have a 1TB external hard drive (NTFS) that has all my files from my old PC, how do I create a partition on it for HFS without formatting it so that I can use it for Time Machine and the like?

There aren't any 3rd party apps or anything. I use PC's and Mac's at school and the only computer connected to a printer at my house is a PC so i need access to both

I am out of space on my Macbook Air and have a Time Machine Backup. I want to complete reset my mac, but wonder if I can pick and choose what I restore to my computer? Can I also use my time machine backup and external storage as well?

I am out of space on my Macbook Air and have a Time Machine Backup. I want to complete reset my mac, but wonder if I can pick and choose what I restore to my computer? Can I also use my time machine backup as external storage as well for the files I don't need everyday?

If you are using "Restore from Time Machine Backup" option from OS X Recovery, you can only choose from the broad categories presented.
... Can I also use my time machine backup as external storage as well for the files I don't need everyday?
To be clear, if you are asking if you can use the volume containing your Time Machine backup to store additional, non-Time Machine files, the short answer is yes.
It's not a good idea though, since the Time Machine backup will eventually fill all available space, after which it begins to remove old, "expired" backups to make room for newer ones. The presence of additional files doesn't change that fact, and Time Machine will not erase them, but you will encounter a dilemma should you want to store additional files on that volume when there is no remaining space. You will have to make room for them on your own, by deleting existing files. Furthermore, since Time Machine cannot back up its own volume, those additional files will not be backed up by Time Machine.
The easy solution for what you describe is to purchase additional external storage. External USB hard disk drives have become very inexpensive; about $55 will buy a perfectly suitable 1 TB drive.
You can also choose to replace your MacBook Air's internal storage with a larger capacity one. Look for a suitable replacement from OWC / MacSales:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/Air-Retina
That gets a little more expensive but it is the optimum solution.

My MacBook was stolen over Christmas and i cannot find my serial number, i have a time machine which my macbook was backed up to can i retrieve my serial number from it and how?

Anyone able to advise how to trace the serial number of my macbook pro that was stolen, I used it to purchase from iTunes and i have a Time machine with back up info. It was bought in 2009 and i cannot find my receipts for the police but need to provide a serial number? Help please

If you enabled the Find My Mac application, than you can locate it from http://icloud.com
If you do not have, than you should contact apple through the Apple Support Lane: https://expresslane.apple.com
You can contact me by Private Message anytime for more help.

Can I have several Time Machines in Mavericks?

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