Delete entire backup of retired mac?

I've read the very helpful FAQs here but am still not getting anywhere with this issue...
1. I have a new iMac.
2. I've successfully migrated all of my files to that new iMac from my Time Capsule backup.
3. I've handed down my old iMac to my wife whose older iMac fried.
4. I've successfully migrated all of her files to my old iMac.
5. I'm now doing my Time Machine backups to a new 2TB drive and that's going perfectly so far.
6. The rest of the family (4 Macs) are still doing backups to the networked Time Capsule.
7. Most of the space on that Time Capsule is taken up by my old iMac's files which are now all on my new Time Machine backup and not needed.
Question: how do I delete my old backups from the family Time Capsule?
I can't seem to bring up other backups on the Time Capsule volume no matter what I do, including Option-select to Browse Other Time Machine Disks. I'm banging my head and would be incredibly eager for any guidance.

Lyssa wrote:
Excellent!
If you don't mind me asking (and perhaps I could continue this off-topic query through e-mail), how did you create your website?
Via iWeb of course!
I'm looking to do something similar for my "switcher" friends and would liketo put up my various self-help/FAQ-type documents so they can go to my website instead of e-mailing me all the time :P
Sounds like a good project!
I'm a newbie to iWeb, but would be glad to exchange ideas, etc. Being a bit paranoid about email addresses, go to my Contact page and send me an email. That's obviously an alias, but will get to me, & I'll reply with my real one.

Similar Messages

How do i delete iPhone backups on my Mac and Time Machine?

I used to back my iPhone to a Mac which was then backed up to my time machine…..I have decided to start using iCloud to back up my iPhone 5 and have purchased a monthly data plan to compensate. I now want to delete my iPhone backups which I believe is taking space on my time machine and Mac. How do I do this?

navigate to iTunes > Preferences > Devices, and select your backup and click on the Delete Backup button. This will remove the backup files from your computer.

Time Machine for backups for multiple Macs, disk space?

Hey there,
i have an Time Machine drive with backups of my old MacBook and a brand new MacBook Pro. Now i wanted to connect my new MacBook Pro with my Time Machine harddrive.
The Problem is this: First there were not enough disk space available on the harddrive, so i could not create a new backup of my MacBook Pro. Then i excluded some big folders and i could create my backup. My old Macbook is currently (and the next few month) not physically available at my place, so i could not delete old backups manually with this. But i want to keep this backups.
Now my question: In the future, will Time Machine delete my old MacBook backups or will it fail and my harddisk is full after 2 backups of the MacBook Pro?
Best regards and thanks
Johannes

Alright,
i have a few years of backups in this TM. I thought TM will delete old backups if the harddisk runs out of space, or am i wrong? The question is, if TM will delete old backups of other Macs synced with this TM.
Best regards
Johannes

199 GB backup file on Mac OSX HD

So I have a 199 GB file on my Mac OSX HD that's classified as "BackUp." I also have Time Machine on and I'm backing up to an external hard drive. How do I delete the backups on my Mac? Can I? Because they're taking up too much space now...

If you are referring to your laptop, then read this info regarding the backups from Time Machine (aka local snapshots):
http://pondini.org/TM/30.html

What's the right way to delete an entire backup ?

I've had two Macs doing wireless Time Machine backups to one Time Capsule.
Question: I got rid of one Mac, and want to delete its backup entirely (but leave the other computer's backups untouched). What's the right way to do it?

Bob Timmons wrote:
Jespes, welcome to the discussions!
Open your hard drive. Your Time Capsule icon should appear under the SHARED heading.
Click on the Time Capsule and a folder will appear to the right.
Double click the folder and you should see a xxxxxx.sparsebundle file for each computer that has been backing up.
Click on the xxxxx.sparsebundle file that you want to delete to highlight it and then click the gear shaped icon just above. Select Move to Trash. (Do not drag the file to the Trash as this will not work).
Be careful, as the file will be deleted instantly and you will not be able to retrieve it.
many thanks!

I have a mid2009 MacBook Pro for which I have been using a USB WD HD for Time Machine. I'd like to get a wireless HD and start a new Time Machine backup for this Mac and retire the 5 year old WD drive. Can I start over?

I have a mid2009 MacBook Pro running Mavericks for which I have been using a USB WD HD for Time Machine. I'd like to get a wireless HD and start a new Time Machine backup for this Mac and retire the 5 year old WD drive. Can I start over?

no archive/ backup is perfect, HD clones can be set to make incremental additions, same as time machine however, though they are more time involved in doing so.
See the + and - of all data backup/ archives below and "spread it around".... or the "dont put your eggs all in one basket" philosophy.
Peace
Data Storage Platforms; their Drawbacks & Advantages
#1. Time Machine / Time Capsule
Drawbacks:
1. Time Machine is not bootable, if your internal drive fails, you cannot access files or boot from TM directly from the dead computer.
2. Time machine is controlled by complex software, and while you can delve into the TM backup database for specific file(s) extraction, this is not ideal or desirable.
3. Time machine can and does have the potential for many error codes in which data corruption can occur and your important backup files may not be saved correctly, at all, or even damaged. This extra link of failure in placing software between your data and its recovery is a point of risk and failure. A HD clone is not subject to these errors.
4. Time machine mirrors your internal HD, in which cases of data corruption, this corruption can immediately spread to the backup as the two are linked. TM is perpetually connected (or often) to your computer, and corruption spread to corruption, without isolation, which TM lacks (usually), migrating errors or corruption is either automatic or extremely easy to unwittingly do.
5. Time Machine does not keep endless copies of changed or deleted data, and you are often not notified when it deletes them; likewise you may accidently delete files off your computer and this accident is mirrored on TM.
6. Restoring from TM is quite time intensive.
7. TM is a backup and not a data archive, and therefore by definition a low-level security of vital/important data.
8. TM working premise is a “black box” backup of OS, APPS, settings, and vital data that nearly 100% of users never verify until an emergency hits or their computers internal SSD or HD that is corrupt or dead and this is an extremely bad working premise on vital data.
9. Given that data created and stored is growing exponentially, the fact that TM operates as a “store-it-all” backup nexus makes TM inherently incapable to easily backup massive amounts of data, nor is doing so a good idea.
10. TM working premise is a backup of a users system and active working data, and NOT massive amounts of static data, yet most users never take this into consideration, making TM a high-risk locus of data “bloat”.
11. In the case of Time Capsule, wifi data storage is a less than ideal premise given possible wireless data corruption.
12. TM like all HD-based data is subject to ferromagnetic and mechanical failure.
13. *Level-1 security of your vital data.
Advantages:
1. TM is very easy to use either in automatic mode or in 1-click backups.
2. TM is a perfect novice level simplex backup single-layer security save against internal HD failure or corruption.
3. TM can easily provide a seamless no-gap policy of active data that is often not easily capable in HD clones or HD archives (only if the user is lazy is making data saves).
#2. HD archives
Drawbacks:
1. Like all HD-based data is subject to ferromagnetic and mechanical failure.
2. Unless the user ritually copies working active data to HD external archives, then there is a time-gap of potential missing data; as such users must be proactive in archiving data that is being worked on or recently saved or created.
Advantages:
1. Fills the gap left in a week or 2-week-old HD clone, as an example.
2. Simplex no-software data storage that is isolated and autonomous from the computer (in most cases).
3. HD archives are the best idealized storage source for storing huge and multi-terabytes of data.
4. Best-idealized 1st platform redundancy for data protection.
5. *Perfect primary tier and level-2 security of your vital data.
#3. HD clones (see below for full advantages / drawbacks)
Drawbacks:
1. HD clones can be incrementally updated to hourly or daily, however this is time consuming and HD clones are, often, a week or more old, in which case data between today and the most fresh HD clone can and would be lost (however this gap is filled by use of HD archives listed above or by a TM backup).
2. Like all HD-based data is subject to ferromagnetic and mechanical failure.
Advantages:
1. HD clones are the best, quickest way to get back to 100% full operation in mere seconds.
2. Once a HD clone is created, the creation software (Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper) is no longer needed whatsoever, and unlike TM, which requires complex software for its operational transference of data, a HD clone is its own bootable entity.
3. HD clones are unconnected and isolated from recent corruption.
4. HD clones allow a “portable copy” of your computer that you can likewise connect to another same Mac and have all your APPS and data at hand, which is extremely useful.
5. Rather than, as many users do, thinking of a HD clone as a “complimentary backup” to the use of TM, a HD clone is superior to TM both in ease of returning to 100% quickly, and its autonomous nature; while each has its place, TM can and does fill the gap in, say, a 2 week old clone. As an analogy, the HD clone itself is the brick wall of protection, whereas TM can be thought of as the mortar, which will fill any cracks in data on a week, 2-week, or 1-month old HD clone.
6. Best-idealized 2nd platform redundancy for data protection, and 1st level for system restore of your computers internal HD. (Time machine being 2nd level for system restore of the computer’s internal HD).
7. *Level-2 security of your vital data.
HD cloning software options:
1. SuperDuper HD cloning software APP (free)
2. Carbon Copy Cloner APP (will copy the recovery partition as well)
3. Disk utility HD bootable clone.
#4. Online archives
Drawbacks:
1. Subject to server failure or due to non-payment of your hosting account, it can be suspended.
2. Subject, due to lack of security on your part, to being attacked and hacked/erased.
Advantages:
1. In case of house fire, etc. your data is safe.
2. In travels, and propagating files to friends and likewise, a mere link by email is all that is needed and no large media needs to be sent across the net.
3. Online archives are the perfect and best-idealized 3rd platform redundancy for data protection.
4. Supremely useful in data isolation from backups and local archives in being online and offsite for long-distance security in isolation.
5. *Level-1.5 security of your vital data.
#5. DVD professional archival media
Drawbacks:
1. DVD single-layer disks are limited to 4.7Gigabytes of data.
2. DVD media are, given rough handling, prone to scratches and light-degradation if not stored correctly.
Advantages:
1. Archival DVD professional blank media is rated for in excess of 100+ years.
2. DVD is not subject to mechanical breakdown.
3. DVD archival media is not subject to ferromagnetic degradation.
4. DVD archival media correctly sleeved and stored is currently a supreme storage method of archiving vital data.
5. DVD media is once written and therefore free of data corruption if the write is correct.
6. DVD media is the perfect ideal for “freezing” and isolating old copies of data for reference in case newer generations of data become corrupted and an older copy is needed to revert to.
7. Best-idealized 4th platform redundancy for data protection.
8. *Level-3 (highest) security of your vital data.
[*Level-4 data security under development as once-written metallic plates and synthetic sapphire and likewise ultra-long-term data storage]
#6. Cloud based storage
Drawbacks:
1. Cloud storage can only be quasi-possessed.
2. No genuine true security and privacy of data.
3. Should never be considered for vital data storage or especially long-term.
4. *Level-0 security of your vital data.
Advantages:
1. Quick, easy and cheap storage location for simplex files for transfer to keep on hand and yet off the computer.
2. Easy source for small-file data sharing.

HT201250 After Time Machine has backed up my files, can I delete my originals from my Mac and do something in Time Machine to ensure it will never automatically delete them from the backup in the future?

I'm new to using Time Machine - I'm making my first backup right now - and I have a few concerns.
So let's say my precious photos are taking up most of my Mac's hard drive space. I back them up with Time Machine on an external hard drive. After that, I want to delete my photos from my Mac because I want more space and my photos are now stored in the external hard drive. I have a few questions about that.
First, does Time Machine's backup system follow the same concept as having extra storage (so would this be a reasonable decision to make)?
Second, if it does, then could I access/open these photos from Time Machine's backup anytime I want?
Third, would I need to use the restore backup function of Time Machine every time I want to open my photos are there alternative ways of accessing my photos, like through opening directory paths to the photos?
Lastly, when the external hard drive becomes full and Time Machine wants to delete my oldest backup files, what can I do to ensure that these photos will never get deleted unless I manually do it? Like, is there a way to lock and secure these files? Or, is it like if these photos are the only copies saved in the backup, I can rest assure that Time Machine will never delete them?
Thanks

NeuroBrain wrote:
Since my new external hard drive is have a lot of space, I'm thinking of splitting it for Time Machine and external storage.
This is a common mistake and I highly advise against it.
1: TimeMachine saves states of changes and thus requires more room on the TM drive than the boot drive it's backing up.
2: Something happens to the TM drive, loss, theft, dropped, power surge, etc., you lose both backups.
3: The storage drive might become a portable need, with it being on the TM drive, now your increasing the risk to the TM backup that something could happen to it along with the storage drive, due to increased movement.
Seriously, have a read,
Most commonly used backup methods
it's ASC User Tip that saves us regulars all the trouble of having to repeat ourselves over and over again in the posts, because we tend to forget things too, or not here sometimes etc.
"Plan for the worst and the good will take care of itself" - Donald Trump

How do I view and manage certain files that I have stored in iCloud? I know that I can delete an entire backup, but is it possible to delete certain photos/contacts/notes etc. from that backup?

How do I view and manage certain files that I have stored in iCloud? I know that I can delete an entire backup, but is it possible to delete certain photos/contacts/notes etc. from that backup?

No.

If i delete my backup for iphone from my mac can i returne it back

if i delete my backup for iphone from my mac can i returne it back

No, not unless you have a backup for the important data on your Mac stored on an external drive or some other external media that includes the iPhone's backup.

How to delete entire time machine backup folder? as well as any backups placed in the trash

trying to free up a drive by deleting the back ups folder. Tried to do it via trash and ended up getting error 8003 or somthing. tried deleting a backup individualy but found that i now have the file stuck in my trash. Did not think it would be this hard tbh. Is there any fast and effeciant way of getting rid of these files?

Just to be sure I understand ... you do not want to erase the TM drive because there are files that are not part of TM on that drive?
If that is the case you can copy those other files to some other drive, before you erase.
Or do you just want to purge the drive of theTM files and leave the rest in place?

In iTunes 11.1 (I26) , I cannot find how to delete podcast listings showing undownloaded podcasts. Delete does not work. Option Delete does not work. Dragging to the trash does not work. Under Edit, Delete is greyed out. Mac OS 10.6.8

in iTunes 11.1 (I26) , I cannot find how to delete podcast listings showing undownloaded podcasts. Delete does not work. Option Delete does not work. Dragging to the trash does not work. Under Edit, Delete is greyed out. Mac OS 10.6.8.
Tom at the Genius Bar told me that Option Delete would work. It does not.
I had to upgrade to iTunes 11.1.(I26) because it is required with OS7 on my iPod Touch (5th Gen). I have tried shutting down iTunes, then shutting down the entire system. This is the first in many visits that the Genius Bar gave me a solution that did not work.
This is a big awkward computer locked to my desk. I would rather not unlock it and then carry it through a shopping center to the Genius Bar if i can avoid oit.
When I installed iTunes 11.1, I discovered that Ihad to resubscribe to virtually all of the podcasts that I had previously been subscribed to. That was a surprise.

Hello Achates:
I did not read the rather long post. If you wish to reinstall OS X 10.4, use your software install DVD. Backup is essential. To minimize your risk, I would use an archive and install:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120
In that way, you will have a fresh copy of OS X and your current settings will be preserved.
Incidentally, I do not agree that the printer problem is best solved by reinstalling OS X. I have had HP printers for sometime and, on one occasion, had difficulty after an upgrade. HP technical support walked me through uninstalling all traces of the HP driver and then reinstalling.
Barry

When Time Machine deletes old backups......

My Time Machine disk is about to be full. I realize that when the disk becomes full, Time Machine will delete old backups.
I am not clear, however, exactly what this means.
Is what are deleted:
1. older disk pseudo-images?
2. files which no longer are on the computer?
Or is Time Machine actually deleting files which are still on the computer (but were in the old now-being-deleted backup)?
I suspect it is #1 and #2. So if you had a computer where files are added over time (without meaningful deletions), this strategy will not help a lot---you just need to get a new disk.
Is another option to just make a complete new full Time Machine backup (losing all the intermediate backups)? How is this done?

Jeffrey Folinus1 wrote:
Is what are deleted:
1. older disk pseudo-images?
I have no idea what that is.
2. files which no longer are on the computer?
Yes. More to the point, files that were changed or deleted long ago.
Or is Time Machine actually deleting files which are still on the computer (but were in the old now-being-deleted backup)?
No.
When Time Machine does it's first, Full backup, it of course copies every file and folder on your system. It also makes a folder in your backups, named with the date and time of the backup. This folder appears to contain all those copied items.
But it doesn't. It contains "hard links" to the backup copies. Think of these as extra-fancy aliases.
Thereafter, TM does "incremental" backups. It copies only the files and folders that were added or changed, and makes another dated folder for that backup. In that folder are links to the new items, plus links to the items that didn't change: so they're cleverly named "multi-links." This is how TM appears to have many full, complete backups of your system when it obviously doesn't.
When TM deletes a backup, all that's really deleted are the folder and the links.
Consider what happens when you do a normal (not secure) deletion of a normal file: OSX basically "forgets" where it was, so the space can be re-used. TM is a little fancier: as long as there's even one link to a file, it isn't forgotten, so it's available to be recovered from any backup that has a link to it, and the space isn't re-used. When the last link is deleted, the copied file is forgotten.
Thus, when you delete a backup, the only actual backup copies that are deleted are the ones that have links in no other backup. So, for example, once you've done a Full backup and a single Incremental, you (or TM) can delete the Full without losing it's copy of anything current.
Another way to look at it is, *each backup is, in effect, a full, complete copy of your entire system the way it was at the time of that backup.*
So much for "fancy." The "extra" fancy part is, TM doesn't necessarily make another link for every single file and folder that didn't change. Instead, if a folder wasn't changed, and nothing in it was changed, TM makes only a single link, to the folder. When you consider that your System folder, for example, contains many tens of thousands of sub-folders and files that rarely change, you see how efficient this is.
For more details: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/10/12/roadto_mac_os_x_leopard_timemachine.html
and: http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2007/10/mac-os-x-10-5.ars/14

Time machine not deleting oldest backup on full network drive

Hi All,
I backup my iMac over the network to a share on a mac Mini. After around three months, the share is full. I expected Time Machine to just start deleting old backups, but it is not.
Time Machine gives me the following error:
"This backup is too large for the backup volume".
This is correct, but i thought Time Machine should have just deleted the oldest backup in this instance? Or does this not work when backing up over the network?
Thanks in advance for help and advice.
Cheers,
mdavis75
Message was edited by: mdavis75

I have the exact same problem, but I am not using TM over a network... Only my local Mac Pro w/ a 600gb external drive. I recall back when I first got Leopard that time machine did in fact ask me if I wanted it to delete old backups after the drive filled up. Then one day it randomly decided to not delete old backups anymore... Instead displaying the same error message you get.
Can anyone help? (Besides telling me not to back up certain files, and to do it less often. Those are BS solutions! I want my entire HD backed up every time automatically erasing old backups when necessary. Is that too much to ask for?)

Need some help deleting TM backups

I have read through many posts but still cannot remove a TM backup of a hard drive I do not wish to backup.
I have:
Selected TM from the Menu bar while holding down the option key - it only shows one backup - Jim Mols Computer - that's my computer, but it does not show any option for selecting the main hard drive or the clone (backup) hard drive backup.
Once in TM I select the clone from the list on the left side, select a file, go to the gear drop down and select Delete all backups of "this file" and nothing seems to happen. I check the TM disk and it still has the same amount free even after trying to delete a 14GB iMovie.
Under options in time machine, all additional drives are set at Do not back up. The clone was not, but now is.
History: I have a clone (298GB) of my hard drive (279GB) that I sometimes use to trouble shoot issues on my main hard drive (started this before TM and still keep it up). Its name is slightly different. TM decided to backup the entire HD a few weeks back and said it did not have enough room. This problem should have been taken care of automatically by TM, but was not. I looked at the TM HD (700 GB in size) and it only showed the main hard drive. I then took out OmniDiskSweeper and it showed that, in addition to my Hard Drive, there were several backups of the clone totaling 300 GB. This is what I want to delete.
How do I do it? Any ideas? Everyone says don't use finder, which I can't since the clone backup does not show up in finder, only in OmniDiskSweeper.
If all else fails, what will happen if I use OmniDiskSweeper to delete the backups?
Thanks for your ideas

James Mol wrote:
Selected TM from the Menu bar while holding down the option key - it only shows one backup
Why are you using +Browse Other Time Machine Disks+ via the Option key, not +Enter Time Machine?+ That may be the clue to what's happening.
Once in TM I select the clone from the list on the left side, select a file, go to the gear drop down and select Delete all backups of "this file" and nothing seems to happen. I check the TM disk and it still has the same amount free even after trying to delete a 14GB iMovie.
After selecting +Delete all Backups of <file>,+ Do you get a confirmation prompt, then one for your Administrator's password?
If you select your computer name in the sidebar, the center should list all your drives, and you should be able to select the drive in question, then click the "gear" and select +Delete all backups of .."
History: I have a clone (298GB) of my hard drive (279GB) that I sometimes use to trouble shoot issues on my main hard drive (started this before TM and still keep it up). Its name is slightly different. TM decided to backup the entire HD a few weeks back and said it did not have enough room. This problem should have been taken care of automatically by TM, but was not.
How do you mean? What should TM have done, and why?
How do I do it? Any ideas? Everyone says don't use finder, which I can't since the clone backup does not show up in finder, only in OmniDiskSweeper.
Yes, they are right, do not try to delete via the Finder.
If all else fails, what will happen if I use OmniDiskSweeper to delete the backups?
I'm not familiar with it, but it will probably do the same as with the Finder -- choke your Mac completely.
Give us answers to the questions above, then we can probably figure this out.
The main thing is, what happens differently when you +Enter Time Machine+ vs. +Browse Other Time Machine Disks.+

What does "delete oldest backup" mean?

My chief interest in Time Machine is to backup the User file, especially the iPhoto library. I've also backed up the applications. Presently, I am using my Lacie 160 GB hard drive, and the backup uses only about 113 GB. The only substantial additions as time goes on will be photos. Time Machine says it will delete the earliest backups when the disk is full. But i am confused as to what that actually means. I presume it is checking the User file daily and then backing up only what is new. Sooooo, the original backup of photos would only be updated every day — and the original backup would still be available (with intervening additions) in the most recent backup . Is that correct? I guess what I am asking is whether I have anything to worry about as the disk gets full and a deletion takes place.

enahs wrote:
My chief interest in Time Machine is to backup the User file, especially the iPhoto library. I've also backed up the applications.
If you have room, please consider letting Time Machine back up your entire system. That's what it was designed for, and protects you best that way.
I guess what I am asking is whether I have anything to worry about as the disk gets full and a deletion takes place.
In a word, no.
Time Machine backups are very different from traditional backups. After the first full backup, yes, it only backs-up what's new or changed since the last one. But it makes "hard links" (sort of like aliases) to the backups of the things that didn't change. That means that every backup is, in effect, a full backup, and is how TM can show you a "snapshot" of your entire system the way it was at the time of any backup.
When it deletes a backup, it deletes that set of "hard links." The only time an actual backup copy is deleted is when there are no more links to it (meaning, it was not on your system at the time of any remaining backup).
So TM will always have backups of the current contents of your Mac, plus previous versions of things you've changed or deleted for as long as there's room.
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.

Delete entire backup of retired mac?

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