Changing the Time machine intervals

I am running OS 10.5 Server on a dual g4 XServe. Adding time machine to the mix of obligations seems to be interfering with some of the more mission critical activities.
Is it possible to change the interval from hourly to daily as the "first" back up time? If so, How?

maurocam wrote:
plus that, for how long does the time machine keeps the oldest back up file?? is it possible to change those intervals in general?
TM will keep your oldest backup as long as there's room on the TM disk/partition.
Regardless of space, however, it does periodically "thin" expired backups, according to the schedule on the TM Preference panel. It keeps one backup per week as long as there's room; one per day (the first) for a month; all others for 24 hours. You cannot alter this schedule.
You might want to review these:
Time Machine Tutorial
Time Machine 101
How to back up and restore your files
Time Machine Features
Apple - Support - Mac OSX v10.5 Leopard Time Machine
and perhaps browse the Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* at the top of this forum.

Similar Messages

Changing the base station from Air Port Express to the Time Machine

Some years ago I bought an Air Port Express. I set it up to connect iTunes to my home stereo but it never worked very well and after a few months I gave up and put it in a draw.
Last year I bought a Time Machine and succesfully set it up. I also established a wireless network which connects to my PC and Blackberry.
Recently, I've been encouraged to try to set up the Air Port Express again. I had assumed that the Time Machine had been established as my base station and that I would now use the Airport Express as a wireless extender and try again to use it to connect to my home stereo.
However, in setting it up it become clear that my Air Port Express has the status of a base station with its own wireless network (which I don't want to use).
I can't figure out how to change the Time Machine so that IT is the base station and the Air Port Express is a secondary point connecting to wireless network created through the Time Machine.
Thank you in advance for any help or advice that you might have.
LS

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, this older "g" device is really going to drag down the performance of your Time Capsule.
You'll need to use a WDS type configuration, which is an older "g" technology. The setup for this type of configuration is complex and difficult for most users. If you get the configuration right, there are still unfortunately going to be two big negatives with this type of setup.
1) Since WDS is an older "g" technology, everything on your faster "n" Time Capsule will drop down to "g" level speeds. That's a huge loss.
2) When you add the Express to the network, the bandwidth will drop by 50%
Bottom line...you would wind up with an older "g" wireless network throughout that would be operating at one half of it's capability.
If your budget allows, a new AirPort Express 802.11"n" would provide far better performance and would be much easier to configure for your network.
Message was edited by: Bob Timmons

I have changed the name and password for my Time Capsule and now the Time Machine will not connect

Mac Book Pro
1TB Time Capsule.
Yesterday I changed the name and password on my time capsule and also the name and password of the wifi network as I was having problems with the speed of the internet when using Safari on any of my devices (1 Macbook pro, 1 macbook air, 27" iMac, iPhone and iPad) all other internet services were working fine (email etc.) This seems to have solved the problem.
However, since then, my time machine back ups will not reconnect and there is no option for me to reconnect to the existing back up for my macbook pro.
When I enter the time machine preferences it shows as below that there are no back ups.
Then, when I go to select a drive to use which should be the MacBook under the Backup disks the only option is for me to Remove Disk...
So, my question is, how do I reconnect to an existing Time Machine back up for my MacBook pro as I really do not want to erase and start all over again.
Warning - In my naiveté, I did click on the MacBook in 'Available Disks' but I got the impression that it was about to start a whole new back up and not work with the existing one.
(And does anybody have an inkling as to why there was a problem with Safari on all my devices? I downloaded Google Chrome and that worked fine).

Simply reset the Time Machine.
See A4 here http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
You can then mount the TC disk in finder after you reboot the computer.
You should be able to reselect the TC disk and then it will say it is going to start a new backup.
Ignore this.. when the TM actually loads the TC disk it will discover the existing backup and continue the backup.. but it will give no hint until it actually starts that it won't start a new backup. you just have to believe it won't.. and mostly it works..
Please also install the widget A1 so you have some idea what TM is doing.

HT3275 When I press "select backup location" in the Time Machine section of System Preferences, my external hard drive doesn't appear as an option. How do I change this?

When I press "select backup location" in the Time Machine section of System Preferences, my external hard drive doesn't appear as an option. How do I change this? My external hard drive is a FreeAgent GoFlex Drive.

Hi, what Format is the external Drive?
They usually come PC Formatted for Fat32/MSdos, or NTFS... is there anything on it now?
How to format your disks...
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/partitioning_tiger.html
(To Install OSX on an IntelMac the Drive it needs the GUID Partitioning scheme mentioned at the bottom.)
Thanks to Pondini, Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks...
http://Pondini.org/OSX/DU.html

Why is the Time Machine icon in menu bar not spinning when backing up? It stop working when I changed to Maverick.

Why is the Time Machine icon in menu bar not spinning when backing up? It stop working when I changed to Maverick.

my imac came with lion and don't think it ever span with lion and mtn lion and now maverick not sure if it's a setting

Can you restore only the files that have recently changed with Time Machine?

Greetings,
Before i ask my question, i'll give a bit of background as to my issue.
I was editing my $PATH within the ~/.bash_profile file and accidently overwrote my $PATH. So now simple terminal commands such as open or 'ls' no longer work. In order to edit the file, I need to change the defaults to allow me to see hidden files, but I can't do that because the defaults command stopped working after I screwed up the $PATH. Also, I used the echo commadn to verify that the previous $PATH no longer exists. The environment variable now just points to an empty folder I accidently set it to in TextEdit.
So, I have Time Machine running, and it backs up to a Time Capsule. I have the hourly backups that I can restore to, but when I start the restore, it crawled up towards 200,000 files before I finally decided that wasn't right and decided to post a question (it's still "preparing to copy"). I had to select the OS X Volume to restore from my one hour old backup, since I can't restore the folder the bash_profile exists within (it is hidden) or so I assumed.\
Now my question, it seems that Time Machine is doing a full restore of every file in the backup and not just the files it incrementally changed between its hourly backups. Why does it do this? My restore process should have just been a couple of minutes, restoring a couple hundred or so files at most. Restoring several hundred thousand files seems stupid when the I select a backup that is one hour old. Is there anyway to set it up so I can restore incrementally?
Thanks,
Johnathon.
Message was edited by: Scionwest
A quick note, I performed the restore from within the Time Machine while booted into OS X; the restore did not take place in the special bootup tool available. Why it does not provide an option to simply restore the files changed over the last hour is mind boggling to me

You are making this way too complicated. In Terminal, choose Shell > New Command…. In the text box that opens, enter bash --noprofile . A Terminal window will open that does not use your .bash_profile, so the bad $PATH will not be an issue. Now you can remove, move, or edit .bash_profile.

Time machine would back up only the first time after I shut off my imac and started it up again. Then it would fail or claim it could not locate my external Hard Drive even though it's icon was showing in the time machine dialog window.

Time machine only ever backed up the first time it runs immediately after I start up my computer after it has been shut off. All other back up attemps fail. Recently it stopped recognizing the icon for my external hard drive in the time machine dialog window where you select the hard drive to back up to, and turn on and off the time machine function. Now the external HD icon only shows up on the desk top but no longer in the dialog box. I just tried shutting the computer off and turning it on again and now the light is on, on the external hard drive but the icon does not even appear on the desk top.
The external hard drive is a 1TB Seagate. The drive still has plenty of unused capacity. I ran a diagnostic test on it. It said the disk needed repair but the repair function would not work. The message stated that it could not be unmounted and repair is not available because the disk can't be written to. The Mac OX utility said the disk can still be opened but can't be changed nor repaired. The external HD is not S.M.A.R.T. supported.
I haven't tried replacing the cable yet. Is that the next thing I should try?

What Mac OSX version are your running ("iOS" as shown in your profile cannot run on a Mac computer)?

I'm running Pages version 5.2 on a Desktop Mac version 10.9.2. with the Pages app open how do I use the Time Machine to go back five hours to see the work?

I'm running Pages version 5.2 on a Desktop Mac version 10.9.2. With the Pages app open how do I use the Time Machine to go back five hours to see my page? Can I access Time Machine within an app like Pages? How do I enter Time Machine within the application? It always takes me to the Finder. I apolgise for the mumbo jumbo. I simply do not know how to use Time Machine. It makes sense when I follow the Tutorial but then I lose it.

OK. You've kind of skipped over the reason why you want to go back five hours, but my assumption would be that you've made changes to a Pages file that you want to revert.
There are two ways to tackle this. From Pages itself, open the current version of your document, and from the File menu, click Revert To, and Browse All Versions. You'll then be in the Time Machine interface for that file, and can browse back to the version you want.
Or, outside of Pages, you can select the file (or the folder it was originally in, if you've since deleted it) and enter Time Machine from the TM menu (it sounds like you've already tried this?)
best
Matt

I want to set up the Time Machine and I would love to use the Time Capsule but since I already have a wireless router I need suggestions on what other external disks Apple could recommend to use with the Time Machine and how to configure that disk

I want to set up the Time Machine and I would love to use the Time
Capsule but since I already have a wireless router I need suggestions on
what other
external disks Apple could recommend to use with the Time Machine and
how to configure that disk.
A complication that I need to resolve is the fact that I am using Vmware
Fusion to be able to use Windows on my Mac. Now it seems that Time
Machine is not backing up my files
on that virtual Windows without additional configuration and my question
is whether you can advise me here or whether this is only a matter for
the Fusion virtual machine.

If you want to use Time Capsule you can.. you simply bridge it and plug it into the existing router.. wireless can be either turned off or used to reinforce the existing wireless.. eg use 5ghz in the TC which is much faster than your 2.4ghz.
You can also use a NAS.. many brands available but the top brands are synology, qnap and netgear readynas series. These will all do Time Machine backups although how well always depends on Apple sticking to a standard. There are cheaper ones.. I bought a single disk zyxel which was rebadged and sold through my local supermarket. It actually works very well for TM at least on Snow Leopard. Major changes were made in Lion and again ML so do not instantly think it will work on later versions. I haven't tried it yet with those versions.
Any external drive can be plugged into the mac. Use the one with the fastest connection or cheapest price according to your budget. USB2 drives are cheap and plentiful. But no where near as fast as USB3 or FW800. So just pick whichever suits the ports on your Mac. Interesting Apple finally moved to USB3 on their latest computers.
TM should exclude the VM partition file.. it is useless backing it up from Mac OS side.. and will slow TM as it needs to backup that partition everyday for no purpose.. TM cannot see the files inside it to backup just the changes.
You need to backup windows from windows. Use MSbackup to external drive.. if you have pro or ultimate versions you can backup to network drive. But MSbackup is a dog.. at least until the latest version it cannot restore the partition without first loading windows. There are about a zillion backup software versions for windows.. look up reviews and buy one which works for you. I use a free one Macrium Reflect which does full disk backups and is easy to restore.. to do incremental backups though you have to pay for it.

How can I use the Time Machine Backups from my Old Computer?

I have two months of Time Machine backups made using my old Macintosh computer which died and I no longer have. I have now purchased a new computer and am trying to use the Time Machine back ups from the original computer, but it will not recognise them. How can I get my new MacBook Pro to use the Time Machine Backups from my old Computer? I phoned the Apple help line and they said I cannot use them and would have to delete them. This sounds crazy if you can only use the Time Machine back up file with one computer and have to delete it when you buy a new Mac. Surely there must be some way to transfer ownership (not files) from an old to the new Mac?
Thanks
Richard

Thanks Kevin for the suggestion posted on MacOSXHints how to "Repair Time Machine after logic board changes".
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080128003716101
It seems as though I am not alone with my frustration with the way Time Machine uses the MAC address of a computer to tell one system from another. This means that if you have your Mac repaired with a new logic board, or replace your system with a new one, you can't resume backups where you left off. Reading through the readers who used the fix using Terminal, it appears that the fix does not always work. I contacted Apple again, but they were no help. Surely Apple should come out with a solution as more and more people use Time Machine/Time Capsule.
It is CRAZY that after a change computers or a switch in the computer logic board that you cannot resume your Time Machine back ups.

HT201250 How do you set what the Time Machine window shows?

I just bought a Time Capsule and started using Time Machine. The window that appears when selecting "Enter Time Machine" shows the desktop, but not the Hard Drive. I want to see the contents of the HD, not the desktop.

erickfrombloomfield wrote:
I thought Time Machine made a clone of my boot drive.
TimeMachine copies your entire boot drive, but it's not a clone. Clones are near 100% exact copies of your boot partition.
TM every so often updates with a "state" representing a day, it only saves the changes between states so this way it's not making your external drive full in a couple of days.
You go through the "states" to pick the copy of the file you want to restore with or the entire drive.
So that is not true?
TimeMachine is not a clone.
Aclone is a exact image of your boot partition, just like you picked up all your software and placed it on another drive.
Clones can be updated, and now even save the "states" between clones, but then it's not a clone anymore as it's not a 100% copy, but a bootable clone + backup.
How can I make the Time Machine copy on the Time Capsule bootable?
You can't, a TimeMachine can only restore, not bootable although I hear it's possible to boot to restore only.
Or how can I make a clone on Time Capsule?
You don't. The softwre and technology is not compatbile.
If you want a clone be able to boot from it, and see everything on the drive like any other, then you need to use a new blank drive and Carbon Copy Cloner, then it's a option key bootable clone drive.
TM or TimeCapsule can't do this, it's a backup system, not a clone.
If you want to learn more about TM you can visit this site
http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html
I don't use TM at all, it's for newbies mostly. It takes a long time to restore with as it has to go through all the states to grab files.
Power and seasoned users use clones so they also can boot from them, make more clones or run the computer if the drive dies etc.etc.

The time machine Icon does not does not show up in my menu bar

The time machine icon does not appear in my menu bar. The desk top icon for the external hard drive is green. I've checked preferances and the time machine is turned on and the box is checked that has the icon appear in my menu. I've turned off the time machine and rebooted and then turned it on and rebooted again. Nothing seems to work. I'm running Mavericks and I have an Intel I5 processor.

the box is checked that has the icon appear in my menu
Uncheck it and check it again. Any change? If not, see below.
Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
Step 1
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.
Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”
While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your personal files or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.
Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?
After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.
*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.
Step 2
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of Steps 1 and 2.

I have moved to rural Texas USA and have Exede satellite internet (only source available). A time machine is connected to the Exede satellite box. Besides the time machine I have one Airport Express. Both devices show function. Daily lose internet service

I have moved to rural Texas USA. Only ISP is Exede, a satellite service. I connect with a time machine and an Airport Express. Daily service gets dropped and requires disconnecting and reconnecting the time machine to the satellite box. The dealer is working the problem without success. He is not very familiar with Apple products. Any solutions?

You are going to need to do a few things. And there might not be a simple resolution at all.
I would ring the ISP again and ask if they support any routers.. because in the end, replacing the router might cost you $100 but save a lot of pain. You can keep the extreme for wireless connections to those devices that work ok with it.
I would also note, the issue might not be extreme but Mountain Lion.
Do a search .. many people have experienced issues with the wifi refusing to join when it wakes. I have experienced it myself. There was no problem with the wireless.. it was some sleep issue in the laptop.
But one thing I would do, on the last screen shot you gave me..
Where the ip range is 10.0
Please change that to 192.168
Because of the private addressing used by the ISP.. you will run into issues with routing.
When you change the value.. you will need to then reboot everything.. and everything will change to 192.168.1.x addressing. This is important.
Secondly, change wireless names to all meet the lowest common denominator.. ie SMB protocol.
So names that are short, no spaces and pure alphanumeric.
I recommend you change all names to that spec.
C9 here gives some more info for why this is important, although the specific issue is different.
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Thirdly I want you to install 5.6 utility unless you are running Snow Leopard or Lion still this is a bit tricky. But only 5.6 can access the Extreme's log. Also you can see the actual wireless connection graphs.
All of this was chucked away with v6.
How to load 5.6 into ML.
1. Download 5.6 for Lion.
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1482
Click to open the dmg but do not attempt to install the pkg.. it won't work anyway.
2. Download and install unpkg.
http://www.timdoug.com/unpkg/
Run unpkg on the desktop.. it is very simple.. drag the AirPortUtility56.pkg file over to unpkg.. and it will create a new directory of the same name on the desktop.. drill down.. applications utilities .. there lo and behold is Airport utility 5.6 .. drag it to your main utilities directory or just run it from current location.
You cannot uninstall 6.1 (now 6.2 if you updated) so don't try.. and you cannot or should not run them both at the same time.. so just ignore the toyland version.. the plastic hammer.. and start using 5.6.. a real tool.
For screen shots see this post.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4668746?tstart=0

What happens when the Time Machine drive is full?

I'm on my second iMac. My first one (G5, 1984) died, and I replaced it early 2010 with an Intel mac. The transition when exceedingly well largely due to Time Machine. I just hooked the Time Machine drive to the new system, and I was soon back up running!
My home folder has 70GB of data. The Macintosh drive has 105GB of data and 395GB free. The Time Machine drive has 220GB used and 30GB free.
1. What happens when the Time Machine drive is full?
2. Do I have control over what backups get deleted?
3. If lightning strikes twice, will I still be able to restore my Intel mac like my G5 mac, even if backups get deleted?
4. Is there anyway to control what backups/backup files get deleted?
5. Any other thoughts?
Thanks.

maxseven wrote:
i have deleted the time machine folders and they are now in my trash. when i try to secure empty my trash it will delete everything but the t/m folders. how do i delete them?
Do you mean all of them? The entire Backups.backupdb folder?
That's a large mess. First, even a normal delete will take a very long time, as there are probably hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of files. Your best bet by far is to simply erase them with Disk Utility -- that will only take a few moments. If your TM drive has a single partition, see #1 in [Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/DU.html]. If there are other partition(s) on the drive, see #2 there.
If not, and you only deleted some of the folders, you have a different, worse problem. Unfortunately, Apple doesn't do a very good job of warning folks: +*Never move, change, or delete anything in your backups via the Finder or Terminal.+*
You shouldn't have to delete backups at all, since Time Machine will do that automatically when the disk/partition gets full. But you can do it without harm via Time Machine. See #12 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
A normal delete will take a very long time, as there are probably tens or hundreds of thousands of items, each of which must be individually deleted. A secure delete will take much, much longer, as each deleted file must be overwritten with zeros.

Lost In The Time Machine - Help!

Hello,
I sincerely apologize, in advance, if I am repeating old history here and for all the questions.
Time Machine has got me confused… I’ve read the FAQ’s/Threads but still not sure about how to proceed. I’m a ex Microsoft Windows guy and Mac newbie. And I am completely in love with this MacBook. I’m never going back to Microsoft land.
The Setup is - External 1TB LaCie HD with two partitions to backup a MacBook Pro and a Macbook (250 GB HD’s each). Both MacBook’s are on home wireless network using the Airport Extreme (not Time Capsule).
Time Machine is optimized to do hourly backup's (which I personally think is crazy...). The documentation I read strongly suggests not to change the backup time since the Time Machine SW is optimized to work that way. However, there is reference to a "Time Machine Editor" software (assume third party SW?) to modify the time settings of these backups. But, it seems the literature does not recommend using it or better yet, use it at your own risk type of thing. I don't do enough "stuff" to merit hourly backups. I think daily would be optimum.
My initial thinking was, if I have to do hourly backups then it seems that the external HD would have to be directly connected to my MacBook Pro. Which means the other MacBook is not being backed up. However, that was my most likely flawed initial thinking.
So, some questions (tried to limit it to five):
1. I first need to do an initial full backup on both MacBook’s. So, assume I would direct connect the ext. HB to each machine to accomplish that?
2. Then, I am assuming, the only way to properly set this up is to connect the ext. HD to the Airport Extreme? That way the hourly backups can be done for both machines over the wireless network. Personally, I would prefer to directly connect the drive to each machine, at the end of the day, and do a daily backup. But, I guess that would not be the best way to proceed and probably a bit painful to do.
3. The Airport Extreme has one USB port which is being using for sharing a printer. So, again I am assuming I would need a USB hub to connect the printer and the ext. HD?
4. If backup's have to be done hourly, how does that work when the computer is in Sleep mode? How does it work if I am working on something when it tries to backup? For instance, I read that iPhoto needs to be closed when doing backups. And I use iPhoto a lot. Do, I have to stop everything, every hour, for it to do its incremental hourly backup?
5. Is the “Time Machine Editor” SW a safe way to change the time of backups?
I really don’t get the hourly backup thing. I know these HD’s are mechanical hardware and can fail. But I’ve got to believe they are more reliable than needing to be backed-up every hour.
I would greatly appreciate any help in getting this setup correctly. Thanks, in advance, for the help!
DMerz

Hello, TeenTitan, Csound1 and Pondini:
Thanks all for taking the time to provide excellent and thorough replies!
Ok, so I think I'm getting it straight now but just a couple more questions to completely cement this in my head.
TeenTitan wrote:
When you setup timemachine, one of the things your telling time machine is how to get to the hard drive. If it's directly connected, then it's going to continue to look for the drive being directly connected.
If you want to have time machine work over the network; then you should configure the drive to be on the network, and then do you first backup over the network. It's a good idea to connect the computer to the network by ethernet, with wireless off, so the first backup happens over 1000 mb/s ethernet instead of 5-50 mb/s wireless.
Having the drive on the network would make it easier and more convenient to do backups. It would take less work out of making backups. You wouldn't have to remember to 'plug-in.' If some thing stops working there is more to trouble shoot.
Direct connecting the drive is more stable, there is less to troubleshoot if some thing breaks. this also give you a very easy way to control when backups will happen. if you only want to backup ones a day, then only plug-in the drive ones a day.
*Excellent! And also straight inline with what Pondini wrote below. Plus, I was missing the fact that, if I chose the Airport Extreme method I would need to first configure the wireless network with the ext. HD and then do the initial backup via the ethernet port on the Extreme.*
*Also, please see my summary below/final questions to check if I am going on the right path now.*
Csound1 wrote:
Please ignore any advice about connecting TM drive to the USB port on an Apple Extreme, that method is neither reliable or supported by Apple!
*I appreciate your comment but it seems contradictory to what Pondini and TeenTitan have said. Plus, if memory serves when I first bought the MacBook's and Extreme, I seem to remember the Apple store dude telling me I could connect a ext. HD to the USB port and do backups (though he didn't provide details on how to do that). So, I don't want to dismiss your comment but it was a fairly strong statement. Do you have a document link that expressly says that or is it from personal experience?*
DMerz wrote:
Personally, I would prefer to directly connect the drive to each machine, at the end of the day, and do a daily backup.
Pondini wrote:
Yes, you can do that. It's faster and more reliable than any wireless backup, and much better than via an Airport Extreme. Time Machine won't object to it, either. Just be sure to eject the drive before disconnecting it. Then Time Machine will just wait patiently until you connect it again to do a backup (using no CPU).
*Ok, so Time Machine will sense that the ext. backup drive (used for initial backup) is not connected and wait until it "sees" it is connected again. This is a major point I was hoping was the case. This, in essence, let's you avoid the hourly backup time constraint.*
*So, when I properly eject the ext. drive, do I need to adjust any settings in Time Machine? I noticed there was this big "On/Off" button. Or do I just leave it alone and let it look for the ext. HD? If it can't find the ext. HD (when it goes for the hourly backup), will it hang up the system? I think you answered that by saying it will "wait patiently" until I hookup the ext drive again. When I hookup the ext. drive, will I need to start Time Machine or will it do it on its own?*
I'm not crazy about the wireless Extreme method (though it sounds like it would work), so I think I will go the direct connect route.
*Here is my summary of what I propose to do based on the excellent responses you all provided (please correct me if I'm going in the wrong direction):*
a. Do direct ext. HD connects for initial backups to both MacBooks.
b. Leave the ext. HD connected to my MacBook pro, at all times, when I am on it. Which it will do the hourly backups. And this is even more appropriate since I use my MacBook Pro more hours in the day.
c. The second MacBook, which my 87 yr. old Mom uses (LOL), is most definitely not needed to be backed up hourly. She just uses the internet (Facebook, online bridge) and iPhoto once in awhile. So, I can backup her's once a day after I am done using mine and it is shut down.
Does, that sound like a good plan?
Please let me know if a., b., and c. are ok to do and any comments to the other questions I had.
*You all have been FANTASTIC and I immensely appreciate the help!*
DMerz

Changing the Time machine intervals

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