External Drive Time Machine and other files

I want to use an external drive for time machine and storing other files. Does time machine need the external drive exclusively or can one also put other files on the drive?

A backup strategy is one of individual choice. By having more than on HDD for your data, you are distributing the risk
I have 5 external HDDs. One is dedicated to Time Machine, the others have data that simply takes up too much room on the internal drive in the MBP (mostly video). Some of the data that I have on these HDDs is redundant copies of what I have on the MBP and in Time Machine. This is data that is important to me. This may seem excessive but I would argue not.
Ex: my iTunes is on the internal HHD, Time Machine and also on my secondary MBP (and the iPod). That for me is important an I do not want to lose it.
I have seen too many instances on this forum where individuals have lost data without adequate backups looking for answers on how to retrieve that information only to be disappointed. Please don't let that happen to you. Given enough time, ALL HDDs will fail!
Ciao.

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Encrypted Time Machine and Other Files

Hello. Is it possible to store other files on an encrypted Time Machine backup drive? I'm trying to find a place to store files such as raw images etc that I don't want to store on my MacBook but want to store on an external drive. I'm trying to avoid the need to purchase another hard drive as there is plenty of space available on the external drive I use for my Time Machine backups.
The external drive cannot be paritioned to accomplish this as Time Machine encryption only works if the drive has a single partion.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16037914#16037914

A backup strategy is one of individual choice. By having more than on HDD for your data, you are distributing the risk
I have 5 external HDDs. One is dedicated to Time Machine, the others have data that simply takes up too much room on the internal drive in the MBP (mostly video). Some of the data that I have on these HDDs is redundant copies of what I have on the MBP and in Time Machine. This is data that is important to me. This may seem excessive but I would argue not.
Ex: my iTunes is on the internal HHD, Time Machine and also on my secondary MBP (and the iPod). That for me is important an I do not want to lose it.
I have seen too many instances on this forum where individuals have lost data without adequate backups looking for answers on how to retrieve that information only to be disappointed. Please don't let that happen to you. Given enough time, ALL HDDs will fail!
Ciao.

I want to use my 1TB Seagate Hard drive for time machine and transferring files from Mac to PC.

For about a year I've been using my 1TB external hard drive for only time machine. To be honest, it wasn't until today that I tried to connect my hard drive to a PC and realize it isn't compatible. I read about partitioning the hard drive so that it can work both for time machine and transferring files between pc and mac. I'm not what you would call tech savvy, so I was wondering if I can get some advice on how to do this.
Thanks in advance.

To do it, you have to partition the hard disk, so you will have one partition for Time Machine and another one to store files and use them in a PC and Mac. To create the partition, follow these steps > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU3.html
In order to read and write in the external disk on the PC, you have to select "MS-DOS (FAT)" as "Format". If you choose any other option, the PC won't be able to read your external disk. Apart from that, note that you can't use files bigger than 4 GB with FAT. If you want to use the external disk with files bigger than 4 GB, you have to format your new partition in exFAT, and you have to do it on a PC

Using Time Machine and other uses on one drive

I want to get the Iomega Prestige 500 GB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive 34270 to back up some files from a Tiger machine, and possibly from some Windows machines to, but I also want to be able to use it for Time Machine in the future.
How do I format the drive for Time Machine? If I format it after I start putting files on, would the files be removed? If it's formatted for Time Machine, will it work with the Windows computers? If formatted for Time Machine, will I be able to use it for Time Machine AND regular file storage?

Prepare the drive as follows:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder. If you need to reformat your startup volume, then you must boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the number of partitions from the drop down menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Now, you cannot use a Mac formatted drive with Windows unless you install Windows software that enables this such as MediaFour's Mac Drive.
If you format the drive FAT32 instead of Mac OS X Extended then you can use the drive on both the Mac and Windows without anything additional, but the drive will not be usable with Time Machine unless it's formatted Mac OS X Extended.
Now, you can partition the drive so that one partition is formatted for OS X and the other for Windows, but to do that you must partition the drive using GUID instead of APM. The former is not compatible with Tiger or non-Intel Macs.
Note that to use Time Machine you must upgrade to Leopard. TM is an incremental archiving backup program so your backup drive will need to be at least twice the capacity of the drive you will backup.

Old computer I had is OSX Snow Leopard with Entourage. New one is OSX Mavericks. Using Mail where are my addresses and old address book. Transferred old computer backup by Time Machine and other things work? Can't see a symbol for address book.

Old computer I had is OSX Snow Leopard with Entourage. New one is OSX Mavericks. Using Mail where are my addresses and old address book. Transferred old computer backup by Time Machine and other things work? Can;t see a symbol for address book.

Where are addresses kept on MAIL? I don;t like the new format at all. Frances
Begin forwarded message:
From: Frances Topping <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: - Old computer I had is OSX Snow Leopard with Entourage. New one is OSX Mavericks. Using Mail where are my addresses and old address book. Transferred old computer backup by Time Machine and other things work? Can't see a symbol for address book.
Date: August 25, 2014 at 9:46:01 AM EDT
To: discussions-replies <[email protected]>
Old Entourage is POP and new Mavericks MAIL is IMAP I believe. I don;t know how to export in the forms you mention. Frances

I named my external hard drive "Time Machine", and now it no longer appears on my desktop.

I attached an external hard drive to my iMac, renamed it "Time Machine", and then set it up as the backup drive for Time Machine. Now the drive no longer shows up on my desktop, tho the Time Machine backup appears to be working. Is it not supposed to show up on the desk?

Hello:
When you designate an external drive as the one to use for Time Machine backups, that volume will be named "Time Machine" and a blue Time Machine icon will appear on your desktop. In my own case, I have a two partition external disk - one for Time Machine, and one for making bootable clones.
I never name my external HDs - only the volume(s) contained on them. If that is what you did, get rid of (or change) the drive name.
Barry

HDD for Time Machine and other stuff

Just a very short question.. Can I use my external harddrive for Time Machine and for example putting files on it to take it to my friend, or the otherway around, put files on it and take it back home?
The reason I ask this is that I hooked up a USB HDD and it said I needed to clear all the data on the disk first before using Time Machine.

As you probably already figured out.. I don't know anything about External HDDs. That's why I want you to ask which of those LaCies you would suggest for TM with 40GB of used data and it needs to be fast:
1: http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=11022 (320GB)
2: http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=11013 (320GB)
3: http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10695
4: http://www.lacie.com/nl/products/product.htm?pid=10811 (only a Dutch link, I'm sorry)
Hope you're able to help because your help is fabulous so far!
Message was edited by: FiveMenM

Itunes, Time machine and 4Gb files. Getting a FAT32 error.

Using Itunes to purchase a movie in 1080.
Something I have done many times before...
I have a remote itunes disk, it is a Apple 3Tb Time Capsule.
Now I get a can't download the file to a FAT32 file system error that stops me dead... the error I get is generated by itunes... I have many >4Gb files on the Time Capsule and they are no problem.
Any insight? Thanks
John

Hi Damballa,
Time Machine's backup folder can coexist together with other files, however it would most likely be better practice to partition the drive into 2 parts in disk utility. 1 part for time machine, the other for your audio files. That way, it keeps them separate from each other, which is always better imo, especially for time machine.
OR, since you have a Mac Pro, put those 4 HD slots to good use! Buy 2 HDs!
They are so affordable right now. I'm not sure your main drive size, but Western Digital 640GB drives are simply awesome: speed, price, size. $75 for what you get..is sick.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218
If I were you, use the WD 640s as your main drive, great boot times.

Time machine and extra files?

Hey yo,
If I get an extra Hd to use for Time Machine can I also use that Hd to store and access say Audio files for Pro Tools? Im looking into getting an additional HD to store a image of my Hd for backup purposes and figure while Im at it I could just get a larger HD and store my audio files for PT to it. Since the logic is that Pro Tools runs faster and better if you put your audio files on another HD that is not you boot hd. Can I do this?

Hi Damballa,
Time Machine's backup folder can coexist together with other files, however it would most likely be better practice to partition the drive into 2 parts in disk utility. 1 part for time machine, the other for your audio files. That way, it keeps them separate from each other, which is always better imo, especially for time machine.
OR, since you have a Mac Pro, put those 4 HD slots to good use! Buy 2 HDs!
They are so affordable right now. I'm not sure your main drive size, but Western Digital 640GB drives are simply awesome: speed, price, size. $75 for what you get..is sick.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218
If I were you, use the WD 640s as your main drive, great boot times.

HT3275 Lacie external drive/Time Machine errors

I am using Lacie external drive with Time Machine and now have an "invalid node structure." Wants me to back up and restore...again. I have had problems in the past and have restored twice so far. Other problems include "Incorrect number of thread records" and "Invalid directory item count." Why does this keep happening? Is it normal to keep restoring your external hard drive? Where else should I back up my hard drive?

Terriodo wrote:
I wonder if this is a problem with Time Machine or my external hard drive.
Hard to tell, unfortunately. As posted earlier, that can be caused by lots of things.
Our Lacie hard drive is backing up everything that is on our computer. Meaning there isn't anything getting backed up that has been deleted. But it is annoying to erase the darn thing every couple of weeks and load it all on again.
My advice would be to get another drive. Since you have a desktop Mac, get a desktop drive, with it's own power supply. Plug it (and your Mac) into a same good-quality surge suppressor; or, better, U.P.S. (battery backup) system.
It's always prudent to keep secondary backups. See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #27 for an explanation and some suggestions.
That recommends using a different app, but in your situation, you might want to use both drives with Time Machine temporarily; you'll have to switch back and forth manually via the TM Preferences panel (Mountain Lion allows multiple destinations, but Snow Leopard doesn't). If the new drive works fine, but the old one doesn't, that will implicate the LaCie, or it's connections, etc.
If you determine it's ok, then use one (probably the desktop) with Time Machine, and the Rugged with another app. Consider taking it off-site, as mentioned in #27.
If it's not ok, replace it.
I am running 10.6.8 and have Lacie 1T Rugged external hard drive connected by firewire on my Mac desktop.
I have a smaller version of that drive, as do several folks here. It gets good reviews, but like any drive, won't last forever. If it's over about 3 years old, it could be starting to develop a problem.

Time machine and hidden files

Hi all
Apples old Backup software didnt backup hidden files (which i think really *****), but the question is does Time Machine backup hidden files as well?

The best way I have found to restore hidden files using Time Machine is to download the "HiddenFiles" widget from the widgets downloads here:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/developer/hiddenfiles.html
Once you have hidden files enabled, then they also show up in Time Machine, and appear to restore just as easily as normal files
Steve
(a recent switcher feeling somewhat chuffed at his findings)
Message was edited by: stevesant

Can I have two Time Capsules in the same network, use one as Time Machine and other to expand network?

I need to purchase a divice to expand my Wi-fi network. I was looking at the AirPort Extreme, but a friend has a brand new Time Capsule for sale. So, for the same price of the AirPort Extreme, I´m getting the Time Capsule.
I already own one and using it as Time Machine and wireless router. If I decide to purchase another TC would it have any conflict with the one that I already have?
Is it possible to use one as Time Machine and wireless router and the other to just expand network and storage only (not as Time Machine)?

If I decide to purchase another TC would it have any conflict with the one that I already have?
No
Is it possible to use one as Time Machine and wireless router and the other to just expand network and storage only (not as Time Machine)?
Yes. The important thing to remember is that the "extending" Time Capsule must be located where it can receive a strong wireless signal from your "main" Time Capsule.

HT201250 Do I need to partition my external hard drive if I'm using Time Machine and other storage?

I never used Time Machine before. I was storing select files on my external hard drive as well as using my libraries (IPhoto, ITune, IMovies) directly off of the external hard drive. That hard drive is giving me problems, so I bought a new one. I want to set up Time Machine on this one, but I also want to keep my active libraries on it. Do I need to partition the external hard drive?

You can partition the new drive, just don't make one of the partitons a TimeMachine drive, save a TM for a entire drive with more space than the boot drive as it saves "states" thus requires more room than most people expect.
I highly advise one drive to one drive for backups, and not placing too many backup eggs in one vulnerable hardware basket basically.
Drives are cheap, data is not. Hardware can fail just as often as software, so you need a multiple backup and storage stragedy to protect even against theft and fire.
Most commonly used backup methods

Why does Macbook Pro rename my Time Machine and other external hard drives?

Why does my Macbook Pro rename my Time Machine to "Time Machine I" and then back again periodically. Last night it was one name, this morning it is another. It also does it on other external hard drives - usually by adding a I after the name. It is frustrating for me because I store a large runtime folder on an external hard drive and end up losing a lot of time with my computer not being able to find files because of the renaming.
And even though it still looks like Time Machine under "Get info: - when I open a folder window or Disk Utility it has a new name, and there is no way to change it. I've seen other questions that mention Macs renaming themselves, so it seems like a similar issue. I did try deleting the preferences plist file, but that did not work.
Is this a glitch with this particular model or operating system?
Specs: Macbook Pro A1297 - 2009 model.
Snow Leopard 10.6.8
2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
8GB ram
Many thanks for any advice.

nachdenki wrote:
strange, my external HDs were added to the exception list automatically. maybe because they wouldn't fit on the time machine volume.
It seems to depend on when the drives were connected. When you first turn Time Machine on, it only excludes the TM drive itself, and any drives not formatted HFS+.
If you connect a drive later on, that drive will be excluded automatically.

Using an External Drive for Time Machine and Other Things

I have a 2TB external drive which I use for Time Machine Backups on my 2 macs. The macs have HDs of 500GB and 160GB so the external drive has ample space for backups.
Is it okay to use the external drive for other things that I don't care if they aren't backed up (like digital copies of DVDs)? i.e. Will Time Machine cause any issues if a drive is used for more than just Time Machine backups?

rgraves wrote:
I have a 2TB external drive which I use for Time Machine Backups on my 2 macs. The macs have HDs of 500GB and 160GB so the external drive has ample space for backups.
Maybe. See #1 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).
Is it okay to use the external drive for other things that I don't care if they aren't backed up (like digital copies of DVDs)? i.e. Will Time Machine cause any issues if a drive is used for more than just Time Machine backups?
It's best to put such things in their own partition. See #3 in the FAQ.
You may also want to make separate partitions for each Mac's backups, if you're backing-up either one directly (ie, not over your network). See #4 in the FAQ.

External Drive Time Machine and other files

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