Copying files is estimating 24 days to complete. Is this harmful to my iMac?

I have an external hard drive that wouldn't mount to my 27" iMac. I finally got it to mount but through USB 2.0 (normally through FireWire800). Once it mounted, my goal was to go into the iPhoto "masters" folder to back up all my original photos since this drive is on the fritz and you guessed it, I didn't have a back up of my files.
I have approximately 51,000 items to back up consisting of about 191 GB of photos. It took about 6 hours to "prepare to copy" to the target drive (my internal HDD). Now once it finished preparing, I was shocked at the estimate of "x.xx GB of 191 GB - About 30 days" in the status window. That has now settled to show a consistent 24 days to complete. It is copying at a very slow rate. My guess is that it is the external drive because my iMac runs perfectly, and it's not sluggish when running Safari and surfing around. Although, I've ceased all other apps during this process.
As far as I can tell, the process is moving along albeit very very slowly. I can see on the target drive the files are copying over. My question is: Will this long process be harmful to my iMac? As far as I can tell, the slowness is related to the external drive. When the iMac goes to sleep, the copy process continues. I'm very hesitant to stop the copy process and plug in my FireWire800 for fear that the drive will not mount.
Any feedback or suggestions are welcomed.
Thanks
27' iMac
v10.7.5
4GB 1333MHz DDR3 RAM
3.1 GHz Intel Core i5

Some thinking.
I understand that your external drive has both USB2 and FW800 connections.
Refuses to connect with FW but with USB2 works but gives times which are really too long even for USB2 and 191GB.
Question is why it does. According to your info I agree the MAc is OK and as John writes it should be the disc.
Can be the cable or the FW electronic in the HD but may be also the USB electronic Or the HD itself ?
The 24 days will probably reduce and do not affect the Mac but what about the HD ???
If it is in bad conditions will it survive 3 weeks of continous running ???
I hope to be wrong but. If the picture in that disc are the only copy you have I would open the disc and put it into a fres new enclosure with a fast connection which your Mac can use (FW800 or eSata or Thunderbolt).
If you think to go in this direction let me suggest this YouTube http://youtu.be/1Aa3BXmQVpc
Walter

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Hi All,
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HT3275 I keep getting the "Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to backup volume. The solution on the website is try try again. Its been trying for 5 days now. Now what? Obviously something else needs to be done.

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Verify the backup.
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A5 http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
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http://pondini.org/TM/Airport.html
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My Time Capsule has stopped backing up. I have an Apple Time Capsule which backs up by wireless. For the last 3 days it has not backed up. I get this message: "The backup was not performed because an error occurred while copying files to the backup disk.

My Time Capsule has stopped backing up.
I have an Apple Time Capsule which backs up by wireless. For the last 3 days it has not backed up. I get this message:
"The backup was not performed because an error occurred while copying files to the backup disk."
I have gone into Mac Help and followed this down to stage 4:
under shared it lists my time capsule and my husband's iMac - both use the time machine but we have switched his off temporarily. Clicking on my Time capsule I get "Connected" and "Sharepoint" - I didn't have to enter connect or password
I don't understand stage 5: how and where do I select the disk or volume that contains Time Machine backups ? How do I know which it is? My disk utility lists 160.04 TOSHIBA MK... with sub-heading Macintosh HD. It also lists (with a "CD" icon) HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS22N
Under stage 6, how and where do I Locate your backup ? I try dragging my Time capsule from Finder to the Disk Utility side panel but it won't go. What is my computer's name?
Please someone help! I'm completely stumped.
Thanks,
Maggie
Mac Help says:
If you back up to a Time Capsule or network disk:
Open the Time Machine pane of System Preferences, and slide the switch to Off.
Open Time Machine preferences
Open Disk Utility, which is in the Utilities folder in the Applications folder.
Open Disk Utility
Make sure the Time Capsule or network disk is turned on and available.
Open a Finder window, select your Time Capsule or network disk in the Shared section of the sidebar, and click Connect. If necessary, enter your user name and password.
On the Time Capsule or network disk, select the disk or volume that contains Time Machine backups. Depending on how your Time Capsule is set up, there may be one or more disks or volumes.
Locate your backup, and drag it to the Disk Utility sidebar.You can identify your backup by looking for your computer’s name in the backup’s filename.

Hello,
Thanks to the great Pondini...
http://pondini.org/TM/C3.html

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Steps I've taken: Latest Time Capsule firmware. Repaired permissions. Tried to backup by ethernet and wireless. Deleted "In progress" backup file and started again. Erased entire drive and started fresh. Made a Genius Bar appt today and they gave me a brand new Time Capsule, no go.
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Thank you for any help

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You can't repair a network volume in Disk Utility.
Backing up to a third-party NAS with Time Machine is risky, and unacceptably risky if it's your only backup. I know this isn't the answer you want, and I also know that the manufacturer says the device will work with Time Machine, and that it usually seems to work. Except when you try to restore, and find that you can't.
If you want network backup with Time Machine, use as the destination either an Apple Time Capsule or an external hard drive connected to another Mac or to an 802.11ac AirPort base station. Only the 802.11ac base stations support Time Machine, not any older model.
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Time Machine quit backing up files. Bought a new WD external drive. Worked for awhile, then quit backing up. Tried restarting computer, remounting drive. Message: Time Machine Error. Unable to complete backup. An error occurred when copying files. Suggestions?

Thanks so very much for your help!! I'm boggled by it and now just about ready to dump the whole idea of Time Machine and backup using a cloning program. Maybe TM is only guaranteed to work well with Time Capsule these days?
Today there again was no backup. I did as you suggested, looked into Console. It showed many lines of "(Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup" and also repeatedly "(Warning) DiskStore: Ignored bogus fetch...".
So I created a marker and attempted to initiate a backup, keeping Console open and refreshed. Here's what I got:
8/19/13 5:18:40.385 PM Console: Marker - Aug 19, 2013 5:18:40 PM
8/19/13 5:19:48.844 PM com.apple.backupd: Starting standard backup
8/19/13 5:20:00.484 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.484 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.484 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.494 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.494 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.494 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.494 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.494 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.494 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.494 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.494 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.494 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.494 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.502 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.502 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.502 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.502 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.502 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.502 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.502 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.502 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.502 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.502 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.506 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.506 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.506 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.506 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.506 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.506 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.506 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.507 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.507 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.507 PM mds: (Error) DiskStore: No block in wakeup
8/19/13 5:20:00.507 PM mds: (Warning) DiskStore: Ignored bogus fetch for <MDSQueryWithBlockTask: 0x7fd15ce03400>{taskID:0x0000103a age:37ms} (not live not complete) _kMDItemQueryPath=418546
8/19/13 5:20:00.507 PM mds: (Warning) DiskStore: Ignored bogus fetch for <MDSQueryWithBlockTask: 0x7fd15ce03400>{taskID:0x0000103a age:37ms} (not live not complete) _kMDItemQueryPath=418546
8/19/13 5:20:00.507 PM mds: (Warning) DiskStore: Ignored bogus fetch for <MDSQueryWithBlockTask: 0x7fd15ce03400>{taskID:0x0000103a age:37ms} (not live not complete) _kMDItemQueryPath=418546
8/19/13 5:20:00.507 PM mds: (Warning) DiskStore: Ignored bogus fetch for <MDSQueryWithBlockTask: 0x7fd15ce03400>{taskID:0x0000103a age:37ms} (not live not complete) _kMDItemQueryPath=418546
8/19/13 5:20:00.507 PM mds: (Warning) DiskStore: Ignored bogus fetch for <MDSQueryWithBlockTask: 0x7fd15ce03400>{taskID:0x0000103a age:37ms} (not live not complete) _kMDItemQueryPath=418546
8/19/13 5:20:00.508 PM mds: (Warning) DiskStore: Ignored bogus fetch for <MDSQueryWithBlockTask: 0x7fd15ce03400>{taskID:0x0000103a age:38ms} (not live not complete) _kMDItemQueryPath=418546
8/19/13 5:20:00.510 PM mds: (Warning) DiskStore: Ignored bogus fetch for <MDSQueryWithBlockTask: 0x7fd15ce03400>{taskID:0x0000103a age:40ms} (not live not complete) _kMDItemQueryPath=418546
8/19/13 5:20:00.511 PM mds: (Warning) DiskStore: Ignored bogus fetch for <MDSQueryWithBlockTask: 0x7fd15ce03400>{taskID:0x0000103a age:41ms} (not live not complete) _kMDItemQueryPath=418546
8/19/13 5:20:00.511 PM mds: (Warning) DiskStore: Ignored bogus fetch for <MDSQueryWithBlockTask: 0x7fd15ce03400>{taskID:0x0000103a age:41ms} (not live not complete) _kMDItemQueryPath=418546
8/19/13 5:20:00.511 PM mds: (Warning) DiskStore: Ignored bogus fetch for <MDSQueryWithBlockTask: 0x7fd15ce03400>{taskID:0x0000103a age:41ms} (not live not complete) _kMDItemQueryPath=418546
8/19/13 5:20:20.000 PM kernel: USBF:          58091.976          AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800a927000]::Found a transaction past the completion deadline on bus 0xfd, timing out! (Addr: 7, EP: 1)
8/19/13 5:20:51.000 PM kernel: USBF:          58122.985          AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800a927000]::Found a transaction past the completion deadline on bus 0xfd, timing out! (Addr: 7, EP: 1)
8/19/13 5:21:22.000 PM kernel: USBF:          58153.992          AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800a927000]::Found a transaction past the completion deadline on bus 0xfd, timing out! (Addr: 7, EP: 1)
8/19/13 5:21:53.000 PM kernel: USBF:          58185. 2          AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800a927000]::Found a transaction past the completion deadline on bus 0xfd, timing out! (Addr: 7, EP: 1)
8/19/13 5:22:24.000 PM kernel: USBF:          58216. 14          AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800a927000]::Found a transaction past the completion deadline on bus 0xfd, timing out! (Addr: 7, EP: 1)
8/19/13 5:22:55.000 PM kernel: USBF:          58247. 25          AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800a927000]::Found a transaction past the completion deadline on bus 0xfd, timing out! (Addr: 7, EP: 1)
8/19/13 5:23:26.000 PM kernel: USBF:          58278. 41          AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800a927000]::Found a transaction past the completion deadline on bus 0xfd, timing out! (Addr: 7, EP: 1)
8/19/13 5:23:57.000 PM kernel: USBF:          58309. 51          AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800a927000]::Found a transaction past the completion deadline on bus 0xfd, timing out! (Addr: 7, EP: 1)
8/19/13 5:24:28.000 PM kernel: USBF:          58340. 59          AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800a927000]::Found a transaction past the completion deadline on bus 0xfd, timing out! (Addr: 7, EP: 1)
8/19/13 5:24:59.000 PM kernel: USBF:          58371. 68          AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800a927000]::Found a transaction past the completion deadline on bus 0xfd, timing out! (Addr: 7, EP: 1)
8/19/13 5:25:30.275 PM xpchelper: for uid: 501 -- timeout while waiting on FSEvents flush; clearing cache.
8/19/13 5:25:30.000 PM kernel: USBF:          58402. 82          AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800a927000]::Found a transaction past the completion deadline on bus 0xfd, timing out! (Addr: 7, EP: 1)
8/19/13 5:26:01.000 PM kernel: USBF:          58433. 96          AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800a927000]::Found a transaction past the completion deadline on bus 0xfd, timing out! (Addr: 7, EP: 1)
8/19/13 5:26:32.027 PM com.apple.backupd: Backing up to: /Volumes/TMBackups/Backups.backupdb
8/19/13 5:26:32.000 PM kernel: USBF:          58464.112          AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800a927000]::Found a transaction past the completion deadline on bus 0xfd, timing out! (Addr: 7, EP: 1)
8/19/13 5:27:02.653 PM com.apple.backupd: Error: (22) setxattr for key:com.apple.backupd.HostUUID path:/Volumes/TMBackups/Backups.backupdb/David‚Äôs iMac size:37
8/19/13 5:27:02.657 PM com.apple.backupd: Error: (22) setxattr for key:com.apple.backupd.HostUUID path:/Volumes/TMBackups/Backups.backupdb/David‚Äôs iMac size:37
8/19/13 5:27:03.000 PM kernel: USBF:          58495.121          AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800a927000]::Found a transaction past the completion deadline on bus 0xfd, timing out! (Addr: 7, EP: 1)
8/19/13 5:27:12.668 PM com.apple.backupd: Backup failed with error: 2
During this 9-minute timeframe Finder also was inoperative - according to Activity Monitor: "Not Responding".
I'm thinking it's the standalone Buffalo backup drive not waking up, and so everything comes to a screeching halt. Do you also think I should abandon TM and just do manual backups every day using a clone program?

Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the...

Add me to the list of those with TIme Machine backup failures.
I am repeatedly getting the following error message:
"Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume."
I do have work-around.
1. Open Time Machine Preferences... (from the Time Machine menu in the menu bar)
2. Change Disk...
3. Re-select the disk you are already using and select "Use for Backup"
4. Back Up Now (from the Time Machine menu in the menu bar)
The error eventually comes back, but following the above procedure keeps it at bay for a few days.
I have only had these errors since 10.5.3.

Mle,
Take a look at the following...
*_“Unable to Complete Backup. An Error Occurred While Copying Files to the Backup Volume.” (Console: “Error: (-43) copying”, “Copy stage failed with error:11”)_*
There are several reasons why this error message can appear. Consider each topic individually. If one does not resolve the issue, move on to the next one. The following topics have resolved this issue for others.
*If A Backup Is Interrupted* #
“If an interruption occurs, Time Machine will wait for a period of time to see if the Time Capsule becomes available again. After this time expires you will see a alert message stating "Time Machine Error. Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume." In Time Machine preferences, the "Latest Backup:" field will state "Failed".” [http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1176]
You will need to reestablish communication with the Time Machine backup disk.
*Anti-Virus Software* #
Have you been running anti-virus software? xClav, Norton, Sophos, Macaffe etc... According to many posters in the forums this software can play havoc with Time Machines attempt to function properly.
*Firewire Devise Interferes with Time Machine Backups* #
If you are backing up to an external hard disk by means of firewire, do you happen to have another firewire device attached as well? An iSight camera or video recorder maybe? Sometimes additional firewire devises can interfere with the signal/power to the backup drive. Unplug it and attempt a backing up again.
*Corrupt File / Incorrect Permissions* #
One poster observed: “I searched my system logs and found a file that caused my connection to the TC to fail. I erased that file (after checking what it was - a temporary file connected to my Epson scanner) and tried again to back up for the first time. This time it worked, and in under 10 hours (I had been expecting about 20-24 hours, based on the data transfer speed).”
Initially this might be resolved without deleting the offending file. Simply use Disk Utility to “Repair Disk Permissions”. Or failing that, booting from the Mac OS X Installation DVD and running “Repair Disk” on the Mac’s internal hard disk. Now try backing up
Otherwise, you may need to track down the specific file causing Time Machine to choke.
Before attempting another backup, go into Applications --> Utilities --> and launch Console.
Under “LOG FILES” on the left select "system.log".
In the search field in the upper right, type in backupd. This is the process Time Machine uses to perform backups. By searching just for this process we'll isolate only Time Machine activities.
With the Console open, attempt another backup and note the time it starts and the time it stops. Often, the activities reported will identify the very file or event that caused the attempt to choke. (You can copy and paste the events for this backup attempt from the log into a post here and we may be able to tell you exactly what is happening.)
Once you determine which file or event it is, you can decide whether to move, delete, or modify certain things and then attempt another backup. For Instance, if the logs report something like this:
+Error: (-43) copying /Users/Home/Library/Application Support/Quicksilver/Actions.plist to+
+/Volumes/Backup HD/Backups.backupdb/My Mac Pro//Users/Home/Library/Application+
Support/Quicksilver
Then it’s telling you Time Machine is choking on the file labeled Actions.plist and it’s having trouble copying to the backup disk.
On your computer, Navigate to that file ( Actions.plist ) and move it to the Trash, but DON’T empty it yet. Now try backing up again. If it succeeds, you can launch Time Machine and go back 24-48 hours and restore a copy of Actions.plist and replace it. Then empty trash.
*Partition Scheme/Formatting Issue*
This KB article explains one reason you may be seeing that error message [http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1550]. It's a partition scheme issue. Time Machine is incompatible with disks partitioned as Master Boot Record (MBR). Unfortunately, this describes nearly every hard drive you can buy because MBR is a Windows partition scheme. You will likely need to repartition the drive and start again. (Naturally, this DOES NOT apply to Apples’ Time Capsule.)
One article on Time Machine made this observation: “Virtually everybody will have to open Disk Utility and repartition the disk as APM or GUID. It doesn't really matter which one because the Time Machine disk will not be bootable anyway. APM allows a disk to boot a PowerPC, GUID allows the disk to boot an Intel processor but both are easily digestible by Time Machine on either kind of processor.” (http://www.girr.org/mac_stuff/backups.html)
Once the external hard disk is repartitioned, select it again in Time Machine preferences and use it for your backups.
Let us know if any of the suggestions above resolved your issue.
Cheers!

Can't copy file to network drive as "The operation can't be completed because the [Filename] is in use

Following upgrade to Yosemite I now can't copy files from iMac to my network HDD in external media center. I have iMac connected by wi-fi to airport extreme and media center connected to airport extreme by cable. I can see the HDD as a network drive on my iMac and can initiate the copy but right when copy process is finished I see "The operation can’t be completed because the [Filename] is in use". I am trying to copy different media files downloaded from internet which are not used by any program and stored on my hard drive. I actually can copy small files of 1mb and it works but anything above 20mb is halted. I can also move/copy/delete the file on iMac. Cant understand the nature of the problem. I tried to format external HDD as EXT2/EXT3/NTFS but same outcome.
OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 | iMac late 2009 | Apple Airport Extreme | Dune HD Base 3D mediacenter

Have you tried a restart or logging out/in?
Some more ideas.
Re: The operation can’t be completed because the item “ " is in use.

Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to backup

I erased and restarted my time capsule numerous times and tried re backing up. Little more then have way through i get this message "Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume." With about 80gb left out of 198. On the apple support page ALL it says is ".Restart, then try the backup once again" Here is the link http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3275#3 ....PLEASE Help Me .. What Do I do.. I have read almost every topic and article regarding this ERROR 11 and found nothing and i tried i think all all..The new snow leopard comes out tomorrow so im going to install that and try again.. also if this does not ever work is there a way just to store all my music and photos in the tc and restart my whole computer the archive my files from there ??
All Your Help Will Be Greatly appreciated as i tried to do the research on my own.. This is my last resort
THAN YOU
RAM
Torrance Los Angeles Ca.

Hi there!
I am having exactly the same problem. I have experienced this before, I reset TC and it worked again, but it is not working now. Have you installed Snow Leopard? Did it solve the issue?
Thanks,
Adriano
Malaysia

I keep on getting this error when i try to copy files to my 2T Time Capsule, Please help im running out of space on my MacBook Pro.... The operation can't be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -50)

I keep on getting this error when i try to copy files to my 2T Time Capsule, Please help im running out of space on my MacBook Pro....
The operation can’t be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -50)

I would get an external drive today and copy all your stuff off the TC.. forget trying to load more onto it. There is a good chance after 3years (A 2TB should be only about 2years tops), the disk or the TC itself is on the way out. Do it immediately. If TM is also failing to backup you need to recognise symtoms of impending doom.
Unfortunately the error messages are archane and it is hard to discover their meaning.
You also cannot verify a network drive.. you can verify the TM sparsebundle though so do that.
A5. http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Reboot the whole network from off.. certainly if you run later OS it can simply lose the drive..
If you still fail to be able to copy to the TC.. then get that external and copy off it. Tell us if you can do that.

Time Machine will not complete a system backup and terminates with "Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume. This follows a problem when Time machne terminated when the volume was almost full.

On 11/1/2011, Time Machine (TM) terminated with an error message I did not record. I noted that the drive was full and decided to do a separate complete bootable system backup using Carbon Copy Clone (CCC), before clearing the TM volume and trying to start it over clean. Part way through the full system backup CCC put up a message that there was a Physical Problem "Library/Application Support/Techtool Protection/McIntosh HD/Directory Backup 2011-11-01-16-28-16". That was about the time that TM malfunctioned, so I assumed they were related. After starting CCC over a couple of times, and getting the same error message, I let it go through to completion of the backup, which took three or four hours. I then ran tests using Disk Utility and verified that there was nothing physically wrong with both the internal hard drive and the TM volume. I also erased and reformatted the TM volume. However, every time I started Time Machine, it would record a few GB and terminate with "Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume". I restarted the computer with no change in results. Note that prior to starting the CCC backup, I "Repaired Permissions", "zapped the PRAM" and "re-set the SMC", hoping to have a clean bootable system on the backup. I ran Techtool and no problems were found.
I'm running this on an Intel iMac under 10.5.8 and recording to a 500GB My Passport drive. My hard drive is only about half full at 246 GB. My assessment is that something happened at 16-28-16 on 11/1/2001 to screwup the Backup Directory in the file at "Library/Application Support/Techtool Protection/McIntosh HD/Directory Backup 2011-11-01-16-28-16". My question is, how do I fix it?
I had just completed writing everything above here, explaining the problems I had been encountering for the past 24 hours. I had the Time Machine window standing open on the desktop where I could see it, having recentlycleared it after the last termination. As I was proofing what I had written, I looked at the window and noted that the clock had started a new run for a full back up, since all prior efforts had failed and the TM volume was empty. As I watched and waited for it to fail again, as it had been doing at about 13 GB, it kept going and going until it just finished a complete backup, about 4.5 hours later, with my having done nothing. Now my question would have to be - what could possiibly have happened to make it perform this way? It will be interesting to see if it continue to operate normally, or if the problem will return, in a later backup run.

jcm21 wrote:
CCC put up a message that there was a Physical Problem "Library/Application Support/Techtool Protection/McIntosh HD/Directory Backup 2011-11-01-16-28-16"
You should not keep those files for long, and probably shouldn't back them up (if you need them at all -- since you do regular backups, I'm doubtful just how worthwhile that feature is).
"Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume".
One of Apple's maddeningly incomplete messages. Most likely, there's a problem with a file (quite possibly the one CCC didn't like). See #C3 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting for details and instructions on finding and fixing it.
If you continue running the Directory Protection app, be sure to exclude your Time Machine drive from it (as it will just take up lots of room, and won't help repair your backups if there's a problem); and exclude the folders it creates from being backed-up by Time Machine (as they'll create large backups, and you probably can't use the backed-up folders anyway), per #10 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.

Copying files is estimating 24 days to complete. Is this harmful to my iMac?

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