Can you ask time machine to back up on command instead of waiting?

Can you ask time machine to back up on command instead of waiting for time machine to back-up on next back-up time?

ctrl (or right) click the TM icon in the Dock and say "Back up Now" is one way.
ctrl (or right) click the Backup Disk icon in the Finder and say "Back up Now" is another
This will give you an 'extra backup' as the regularly scheduled next backup will still take place.

Similar Messages

  • Can you use time machine to back up an external hard drive?

    I haven't used Time Machine so far and setting it up now.
    Because my retina MBP has the limited hard drive size of 500GB, I'll be using a 2TB G-Tech hard drive as external hard drive.
    I'll be partitioning it, 500 GB for the MBP as a time machine back-up, the rest as a hard drive for photography RAW files.
    Can I set up time machine to back up the larger partition (the one with the RAW files) to a second external hard drive? Or does Time Machine only handle back-up from the main computer hard drive?
    thanks!

    Try reviewing this information.
    Time Machine FAQ
    You will definitely need more than 500 GB to use Time Machine - see question 1.
    Time Machine works with the main hard drive and any locally attached storage, but I don't know of any way to make it backup the second partition without resetting the Time Machine Preferences. You can do that with a cloning program.
    Clone  - Carbon Copy Cloner
    Clone – Data Backup
    Clone – Deja Vu
    Clone  - SuperDuper
    Clone Software – 6 Applications Tested
    Two backups are better than one. Drives do fail.

  • Can you assign Time Machine to back up ONLY the starup drive?

    MacPro Desktops. OS 10.5.7 and 10.5.8. I want Time Machine only to back up the startup drive. We do have other internal hard drives and also an external RAID on these machines that all contain audio/video data only, and we back these up separately to various client external drives that are then stored in our office. Can this be done? Thanks!

    yes, you can add those other drives to TM's exclusion list in TM system preferences->options. drives attached to the computer for the first time are placed on the exclusion list automatically.

  • Can we use Time Machine to back up data on Time Capsule from the outside of network?

    I have Time Capsule at home.  Can I use Time Machine to back up data of portable nootebook when I am working at office?

    If you mean over the internet, you can but it will be so slow and more than likely so unreliable it is a poor method to use. Remember all internet is limited to upload speed.
    Lion does a temporary backup onto local hard disk.. which is useless of course if the hard drive is damaged.. but helps if you delete an important file. Then when you go back home and it discovers the TC is available it will then backup again from where it left off.
    I think it is only a major issue if you are away from home for major lengths of time, weeks or months.

  • How can I get Time Machine to back up an external hard drive (iPhotos) that is attached to airport extreme base station. Note: Time machine is usb to macbook pro and external drive with iphotos is usb to airport extreme base station. Help please. Thanks!

    How can I get Time Machine to back up an external hard drive (iPhotos) that is attached to airport extreme base station. Note: Time machine is usb to macbook pro and external drive with iphotos is usb to airport extreme base station. Help please. Thanks!

    Once you have the drive connected to your Mac, click System Preferences (gear icon) on the dock
    Click Time Machine
    Click Options
    Be default, the hard drive will be Excluded from backups. Click the drive to highlight it, then click the "-" (minus) button at the bottom of the list to remove the drive from Excluded items.
    The drive will be backed up on the next Time Machine pass
    Everything above assumes that the hard drive has been formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as Time Machine will only backup drives in that format.

  • Can I use time machine to back up via a hard drive connected by USB to a HomeHub router?

    Can I use time machine to back up via a hard drive connected by USB to a BT HomeHub router? Is there a better way to back up and store files than via the USB port on my new MacBook Pro? I'd like storage to be accessible from my earlier version MacBook too.

    I think you want to make backups without connecting a hard disk via USB. In other words, you want to have the data storage be shared in your home wirelessly.
    If this is the case, I recommend using a Time Capsule.
    Time Capsule works great with Time Machine. You can set up all your devices to automatically make backups on the Time Capsule wirelessly and effortlessly.

  • Can you use time machine on a networked hard drive

    Can you use time machine on a networked hard drive? 

    See if this helps: Using Time Machine with a networked hard drive

  • How can I use time machine to back up and play media?

    I just bought an external hard drive that I wanted to back up some media files onto (music and photos).  I also want to stove videos/movies on the hard drive and play them from there.  A few questions:
    1. Is that the same as backing up with time machine or is it referred to as something else?
    2.  Can I use time machine to add new files, or should I do that manually?
    3. Once the files are on my hard drive, can I remove them from my computer or should I keep them there?
    I know that these questions may seem obvious, but I'm concerned about losing files because I don't understand what time machine actually does.  Please feel free to ask me questions if you need to understand my question better.  Thanks!

    Time Machine makes a backup of your hard drive, which you can restore from, but not use as a repository of data.
    Time Machine automatically makes incremental backups as you change things on the Mac HD.
    Time Machine is not an archive, meaning if you make a backup, and then delete the originals from your Mac, Time Machine will eventually delete the copies it has made.
    However, if you copy the files directly to the external, then you can remove them from the computer. But, those will be your only copies. If that disk dies, they'll be gone. So, that's really not a backup. It's the only source.
    You can back up to Time Machine and also store other files on the same disk.

  • Can't get Time Machine to back up server or attached drives

    Tried to use the search on these new discussion forums and was told I'm not authorized to search the server forums so sorry if this has already been asked and answered.
    I'm having a serious issue trying to back up my Mac Mini Server running 10.6.7.  The setup is I've got the main server hard drive running the OS and storing user folders, the second drive is storing all server data (mail, ical, etc).  I have an attached Drobo that is where all our company's job files are stored.  I want to back up mainly the job files to an external USB drive via time machine.  I wouldn't mind having the server and data backed up as well but it's not as essential as the customer files.  I have not been able to get a successful Time Machine Backup of anything.  Time Machine will start backing up and hang after what seems like a random amount of data has been backed up.  This can range anywhere from a few hundred Gigabytes or a few Megabytes.  The last attempt has stalled out at 17MB of 518GB.
    The troubleshooting I've done so far is to try to back up only certain things, so:
    Format the USB Drive then try to back up only the main server hard drive, excluding all else.
    Format the USB Drive then try to back up only the server data hard drive, excluding all else.
    Format the USB Drive then try to back up only our jobs folder on the Drobo, excluding all else.
    The result has been the same every time.  Seemingly random amount of data get's copied and then the backup hangs.  I do not get an error message the Time Machine backup icon on the menu bar just keeps spinning and I have the Time Machine window up that says:
    Time Machine Backup
    Backing up 269,376 Items
    17.3 MB of 518.7 GB
    This current attempt was to backup just our jobs folder and was started yesterday morning so it has been over 24 hours.  Disk Checks on the external USB drive come up with no errors every time I've scanned it.
    Hoping someone has a solution.  One of the main reason's the company owner decided to get a mac server was how well time machine worked on his mac at home and the idea of being able to go back to pervious versions of customer jobs if necessary.

    I agree with Sven.  I use TM to backup my server and have had EXCELLENT success.  I work in a school with many teachers that love to delete files and empty the trash on their user accounts.
    >>facepalm<<
    They promptly come-a-runnin' crying about how they've lost that ever important document.  Time machine to the rescue!
    About the hanging problem...  I've see it as well.  I fixed it by finding the document that it was trying to back up.  I copied it to a USB stick and deleted said file from the server.
    I ran the time machine backup again, and it worked!  I kindly asked the teacher to just remake the file in question.  Luckily it wasn't anything important.  I just chalked that one up to a corrupt or unreadable file.
    Another thing to beware of.  DO NOT expect time machine to be able to do a complete system restore on OS X server.  It's great for getting those lost files while the system is up and running, but it will not work when trying to replace your Open Directory.  It might get stuck on MySQL, and Mail as well.  These databases are VERY finicky.  If you need to back up your OD database, open up server admin and select "Open Directory."
    Click the "Archive" button at the top.
    To the far right hand side of the "Archive in" field, click choose. 
    Select the location that you want to save your archive to (the time machine drive will work) and click choose.
    Click "Archive..."  Type the name for your OD backup and type a password if desired.  You don't need to have one. 
    Lastly... Smile on the inside knowing that your OD is nicely backed up and safe!

  • Can I use Time Machine to back files on an External Hard Drive

    My MacBook Pro hard drive filled up with movies, pictures, and music, so I bought a 2TB Time Capsule.  I have a external hard drive that is about the same capacity as my MacBook hard drive. Sine the Time Capsule is by far the largest drive I have, I moved all my movies, music, and pictures to the Time Capsule and am using it as an external hard drive.  I attached a 500GB external hard drive to the Time Capsule and I use that as the backup drive for Time Machine. However, the problem I am encountering is that I can't seem to direct Time Machine to include all of my files on my Time Capsule in the back up on to the other external hard drive. 
    Can I use Time Machine to backup data that I store on my Time Capsule to a external hard drive?  If not, what is hte best method for backing up my files that are on my Time Capsule?
    Thanks,
    David

    You need to use a different utility .. eg CCC or Chronosync to backup from the TC to yet another drive.. the problem is, that drive should be connected to the computer.. if you use a USB drive on the TC.. the file copying will be slow as slow as you will not believe.. all files are copied to the computer, then back to the TC.. it cannot copy directly to the TC..
    As Neil said.. one way or another you need to use an external drive on the computer, even if you don't use it all the time.. the danger of course is not doing regular backups.. and forgetting their importance.
    A true NAS will have automated backup incrementally of the files stored.. The TC is not a NAS in that sense.. it is a backup target for TM above and beyond anything else.

  • I can not get Time Machine to back up an external WD Passport 2 TB drive!  Has anyone else had this problem?  The drive is new and I was running Snow Leopard and upgraded to Lion and it still won't do it.  Time Machine backs up the internal drive fine.

    I bought 2 2TB WD Passport Drives with the intention of housing my iTunes/iPhoto libraries off my older MacBook.  I have successfully transferred the Libraries to one and am using the other one for Time Machine.  In Snow Leopard I could back up my computer to Time Machine no problem but when I did not exclude the iTunes/iPhoto drive the back up fails.  Both drives have been reformatted, permissions repaired and checked in Disk Utility and one was replaced.  I have been to the Genius Bar now 5 times.  I have tried using USB drive and FireWire.  Both drives are recognized and are working properly otherwise regardless how they are connected.  Finally yesterday the Apple store installed Lion to see if that fixed the issue and it did not.  Time Machine successfully backed up a USB Flash drive, and today I will try an older external drive.  Any ideas on what else to try??? Do I have to resort to third party software like Carbon Copy Cloned to get this done?  Any ideas why this wont work?  I am using a FireWire converter but as I said, both drives are working normally otherwise (libraries working, time machine working for the computer's hard drive.  Any ideas would be appreciated!!?

    Thanks so much but none of that helped.  It was driving me crazy because it would back up another external drive.  I just changed the name of the drive from iPhoto/iTunes Library to Media Libraries and IT WORKED!! I guess for some reason it didn't like the drive being called iPhoto or iTunes ???? I don't understand but I have tried so many solutions and exchanging things out but the name change did it????!!!
    Thank you for your help and replying to this.  Guess I made my own issue!

  • Can I Use Time Machine To Back Up a FAT32 Disk Containing Image Files?

    New iMac User Here.  I just bought a brand new but mid-2010 27" i7 iMac.  Although I've used recent MacBooks when traveling I've got no experience with Time Machine or other similar third party back up software.
    I moved to the iMac from a desktop PC running Windows XP Pro SP3.  I use the computer(s) mainly for photo image storage and processing.  My workflow is based upon Adobe Lightroom (now v3.4.1) and I plan to stick with it.  In the PC I had three internal hard drives, 2 of which were dedicated to image files.  They were formatted as Windows NTFS.  In preparation for the switch I formatted an external drive as FAT32 and copied all the image files to it.  Now with the iMac I have Lightroom installed on its internal hard drive but keep the image files on the external hard drive and access them as needed.  So far, so good.
    The problem arose when I tried to set up Time Machine to back up both the internal hard drive and the external external drive.  It will back up the former but not the latter.  It tells me it does not interact with FAT32 disks.
    Any thoughts, explanations and/or solutions for establishing a simple, single back up routine for both internal and external drives will be most appreciated.

    Thanks very much for the quick response.  You confirm my intial suspicion, but your suggestion relies on my memory to accomplish on a regular basis (not the best of solutions) and further would be an extended disk run every night because it would not just be backing up new additions but the whole large disk, right?

  • Can you use Time Capsule as back-up without using Time Machine (ie 10.4.x)?

    I have not upgraded to Leopard but own a Time Capsule (long story). Is it possible to back-up my data on the TC without using Time Machine (since that works with Leopard but not with 10.4).
    Thanks for help, thoughts, free cookies, etc

    I just called Apple technical support with the same question... Here's what worked for me: go to the Utilities folder and open the application called 'Airport Disk Utility'. When it opens, make sure both 'Automatically discover AirPort Disks' and 'Show Airport Disks in the menu bar' are selected. An icon will appear in the status bar. Click on the icon, then select your time capsule from the 'Airport Disks' list. The Time Capsule icon should show up on your desktop as a network-type icon. After that, you can 'drag & drop' your files onto drive the Time Capsule -- same as with any generic hard drive...

  • Can you use Time Machine to...

    Back up and restore a system?
    I'm planning on backing up my hard drive so I can reformat and reinstall os x... is time machine the correct way to back up my data to use when I reinstall, or is it intended to be just for retrieving lost files, etc... if so what's the best method of backing up my stuff? Hope that makes sense...

    Qdelta wrote:
    Okay thanks, that sounds like a plan... my HD is 250gb, and the time machine backup is 140gb or so, so plenty of room if I make say, a 30-40gb windows partition I guess...
    yes, that should be fine.
    And I think it'd be better to use time machine because I've already got everything backed up with it, and also I wouldn't feel as safe using third party software... especially if it was a trial version or something.
    safety is exactly why I prefer the cloning method.
    those programs are not trial. both superduper and CCCloner are very reliable programs and people trust them a lot more than they do TM. I certainly do. TM on the other hand is still extremely buggy. if something goes wrong with the restore from TM process you have nothing to fall back on as the old internal drive is already erased. the chances of that with the cloning method are basically nil. and even if the cloning process fails you still have your original drive intact.

  • Using snow leopard 10.6 snd can't get time machine  to back up

    Every time I try back up my computer with time machine a error message comes up and says unable to complete backup, an error occurred while creating the backup folder. How do I fix

    See if the late great Pondini's site can help you http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

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