How does Time Machine works?

Hey, I'm a new mac user and started to use time machine. There are some questions I don't understand. For the size of the external drive, what size do I need if my internal drive on my macbook pro is 500GB? I only used 100GB. And does the external drive have to be connected to the laptop all the time? Can I just plugged it in every night as I'm in college and it's quite annoying to have a hard drive hangging with your laptop. Any answers are appreciated.

For all things about Time Machine, see the Great Pondoni's webpage - http://www.pondini.org/OSX/Home.html.
The general 'rule of thimb" is that you need an external drive 2-3x the size of your internal drive - this will allow to to keep incremental backups going for months (I've a 512GB SSD and my Time Machine disks, two 2TB drives, will let me restore as far back as June 24, 2012).
You don't have to leave the drive plugged in all of the time - local backups will be made to your internal drive until you plug your external drive back in again. You can also disable backups when you're running on battery power.
I recommend having at least two backups - one a Time Machine backup and one clone. You can read more about this at Pondoni's site as well.
Good luck,
Clinton

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How does time machine work when being used with a mac pro?

How does time machine work when backing up a mac pro?
Considering the fact that the mac pro can hold 8TB and a external (non NAS) hard drive can hold only 2TB does time machine only backup the OS disk.

macnewcomer22 wrote:
Considering the fact that the mac pro can hold 8TB and a external (non NAS) hard drive can hold only 2TB does time machine only backup the OS disk.
Time Machine will backup everything by default, on every disk in your Mac.
Choose System Preferences > Options to exclude items. You could exclude everything except your OS...but I'd think it is your data that's more important to you, if you have to make choices.
See...
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1964018
While it's true you can store almost 8TB, how much do you think you'll actually store? If you have 1TB of data you want to store then a 2TB drive can do it. Also when your TM drive begins to get full it will begin deleting the oldest backups to make room.
You could also get a Drobo with 8 bays...
http://www.drobo.com/products/index.php
-mj

How does time machine work, and what does it really do?

i just got my macbook pro, and just wiondered what time machine does, and how t works

Hi p,
Basically, it's an incremental, hourly backup application (you provide the HD). After the first backup, it only backs up new/revised data (plus some overhead), so it takes up much less space than all separate backups. Some reading for you:
Basics: http://support.apple.com/kb/VI29
How to back up and restore your files: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427
Recovering Your Entire System
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/15638.html

How does Time Machine work with Boot Camp?

Hello, I'm going to install windows (I don't know if 7 or 8.1 yet) by bootcamp,
and I need to know if TIME CAPSULE work also in Windows mode, and if I have to configure it in a particular way.
I apologize for my poor english. Thank you at all. Andrea.

I have no really knowledge of how Parallels work other than it is a Virual Machine software program that create a Virtual Machine, Mimics REAL Hardware (Virtual Hardware), to run Windows under Mac OS X. So with that all the files are OS X files, Mac Format files, and Time Machine can and will back those up. But that will not backup what is on the Boot Camp partition. To do that you need either a Windows backup program or WinClone to do it when you are booting from OS X.
Google WinClone to find out what it is.

How does time machine work for you ?

TimeMacine writes two files per time block and sometimes one like it should.
When I look over drive with Finder it seems okay to me. The plist telling
it which files are not included seems okay. The killer when I try to see what
could be restored TimeMachine silently fails to open.

Do you mean the "Star Wars" display won't appear? If so, see #E4 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
If not, please clarify.

How does time machine work

This is going to be a seriously dumb question perhaps... I just got a new external hard drive b/c the old one was originally used w/ a PC and I could not backup my movie files onto it without reformatting & erasing everything. When I plugged new one in, it asked if I wanted to use it for Time Machine. I knew TM was some sort of backup thing so I said yes & it did all the formatting, etc. and is currently backing up what I assume is everything on my computer?
So here is my question- if I just plug this thing into my computer every week or two, it will automatically backup everything I have on the computer, including all photos & video files???? Is it really that easy???? I don't want to assume this is what is going to happen & then go through & delete things off my hard drive to open up space and end up losing them altogether.
Thank you!

Thank you!
When I plug it in the next time will a prompt come up asking if I want to backup or will I have to look for the icon in the top menu (or click on the drive when it pops up on my desktop)?
I hate not having all my files on my computer but currently I have 3 versions of every movie clip I've edited- some random one with no file extension, one with .mov and one with .mp4 and I need to clear them off b/c my startup disk is full. I have been transferring files from Flip video over to imovie, which has resulted in the extra copies but I want to be sure it is all backed up before I start clearing things out so I can continue to transfer the files over to use iMovie 100% of the time.

How does Time MACHINE work with the Verizon Fios Router and External Harddrive??

Hello,
I just got a laptop MBP for my daughter who has got Verizon FIOS as her carrier. The Router has wireless capability and ethernet capable connections.
I want to set her up with an external hard drive for Time Machine Backups and to make it easier, I was wondering if I can somehow connect the external hard drive to the router so she can use her laptop anywhere in the house and have it backed up.
I clearly recognize that I can hook it up direct to the laptop but I thought if someone had an idea, this approach might be easier for her.
I haven't gotten the external hard drive yet so I thought I would ask before I do.
Thanks for any help anyone can provide me,
Skip

You can restore from the larger disk since Time Machine makes a complete copy of the Mac on the first backup on any new disk.
So, the first time your Mac backed up to the larger disk, the entire contents of your Mac's hard drive (minus any files that you excluded) were copied over. Then, Time Machine began to back up the incremental changes on all subsequent backups.

How Does Time Machine Help If... iCal Data Lost?

Hi,
How does Time Machine help if, say, your iCal database gets messed up? Or, how does it help if you accidentally delete all your playlists from iTunes? I'd be interested to know.

That's a very good question (although probably better directed at Apple than us). Because Time Machine is new and Apple's in house programs handle data in different ways, there are a range of different means of recovering data for different applications. Not very user friendly and iCal is one of the least user friendly ones.
As an experiment, because I don't make much use of iCal and have no real idea how it works, I tried to find out how to restore its data. Starting with working with the application: nope, not TM aware at present. OK, where does it restore its data? Next step Spotlight where, as it happens, the obvious search "Calendars" brings up a folder in ~/Library labelled that with a whole lot of mysterious stuff in it. I'm pretty sure that restoring that folder would do the trick. No doubt, if you could figure out which Calendar belongs to what in the above folder you could restore a single calendar that was causing problems. Still, Apple's clearly got some work to do to make this more transparent. Roll on iCal4!
(By the way Mail also restores from within the program).

Does time machine work with the trash folder?

Does time machine work with the trash folder? So if I have the entire aperture library backed up to the time machine. Is it safe to empty the trash folder in aperture? I am able to recover files from time machine later?

So make a top-level Project called "_Circular File". Put Images in there that you what to have out of your way but not discarded.
It really is good and proper to treat the Trash as trash. I instruct everyone to _empty_ the Aperture Trash at the end of _every_ session. The reason is this: it is the only time you will remember whether it is safe to delete the items in there. If you wait, you will then waste time trying to answer "Did I really mean to throw that out?" or, periodically, you'll give up trying to remember, and will empty the Trash without reviewing it. At the end of every session, examine the Trash, confirm that the items there are trash, and empty it.
Shocking, perhaps, but you should also empty your system trash every day. The real-life equivalents are good guides here. No-one in an office hoards their trash. If you mean to throw something out, throw it out. If you don't mean to throw it out, do not put it in the trash.
I don't know how TM handles the Aperture Trash. I do know, however, that I would not expect this behavior to remain consistent, and would absolutely recommend against a workflow based on it.

How does time machine back up separate but computers on the same drive

Thinking about hooking up a hard drive to APBS to use as a time machine for several macs /iPads, how does time machine keep these different devices separate? How does it keep the backup info separate? Thanks

APBS is usually called AEBS or Airport Extreme Base Station.
You can only do Time Machine to the newest one.. it is not supported on earlier models.
See http://pondini.org/TM/Home.html
Look for Gory details about airdisk.
Also it is going to help you to actually read how Time Machine works on network drives.
What you are asking has all the answers there.
http://pondini.org/TM/Works.html
ipads do not backup like macs.. there is no time machine.
ipads backup to itunes or to icloud. The backup to local itunes can then be backed up by TM to the disk you are using.
Please note even though Apple now says it works.. I have seen reports where the old problem has come back.. it works for 6-8weeks and then the backup corrupts itself and you have to start over.

Does Time Machine work with a NAS?

Does Time Machine work with a network attached storage drive?
Thanks!
John

the only supported NAS for TM backups is Time Capsule. it also works with drives connected to an Airport Extreme Base Station. al other NASes are unsupported. there are hacks to make TM work with them but you are on your own if you use them
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080420211034137&query=time%2Bmach ine%2BNAS

How does Time Machine Handle separate Boot and User Volumes?

I recently installed an SSD and set it up as my boot drive, and I'm using another hard drive for my Home folder, if I ever run into a scenario that I need to restore my entire system, how will Time Machine handle it?
Will it restore my system back to the drives that they came off of?, in other words will my Boot volume be restored back to the SSD and my Home folder back to the hard drive, or will it restore everything back on the one disk it asks me to select before I click restore?

Michael Hoover wrote:
Ok, so if I tried to access a backup from booting with the Snow Leopard install disk I won't be able to select which volume I need to restore?
You would restore the OSX volume via the procedure in #14 of [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).
You would restore the data-only volume separately, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 in the FAQ.
I guess I would be better off doing incremental backups with Carbon Copy Cloner on 2 partitions on the same volume.
That would also take two separate operations to restore. (It would be a good idea to do such backups +*in addition+* to Time Machine backups, in case there's a problem with either disk drive or backup app, or a user error like erasing the wrong disk.)
Your scenario is actually quite unlikely; you'd rarely need to restore both volumes at once. If the SSD fails, you'd only need to restore it; if the HD fails, you'd only need to restore that.
It would get a bit more complicated if you get a new Mac, especially one with a single volume. That's one of the reasons it's a good idea to keep at least a minimal Admin account on the OSX volume.

How does Time Machine handle multiple profiles?

Hello,
I have an IMac with 3 users, does time machine handle all users?
2 users are admins, but when i change users the time machine does not handle well the external drive.
Can you give some info in this matter.
Thanks
Nuno

It should work fine. All of my machines have multiple users. What problems are you having?

External disk attached to APE - does Time Machine work with it?

Hi everyone,
I'm interested in getting the AirPort Extreme (802.11n) for a few reasons, but notably to attach an external disk and use it with Time Machine.
I've heard mixed results, however, about whether this is possible or not. After some Google-ing I've discovered this feature was initially not available for the official release of Leopard, but was re-introduced in 2008 sometime as a software update. But after reviewing the product page, it makes no mention to Time Machine and it's ability to backup to external AirPort disks. Only the Time Capsule product page gets this kind of treatment.
So the question is... does Time Machine play nicely with AirPort disks or not? I was hoping you guys would be able to debunk the myths so I can get a straight-forward answer so I can make a decision on if I'll purchase it or not.
And while on the topic... can multiple people use the external AirPort disk at the same time? For example, I currently have a DIR-628 router (which I'll be taking back if Time Machine plays nicely with AirPort disks) and with the silly proprietary software from D-Link, it only lets one computer use it at one time, having each user remember to connect and disconnect each time they want to use it to share files or backup using Time Machine. Not a biggie, but kind of annoying.
Thanks for any help I receive, I really appreciate it!

Duane wrote:
As I said above, Apple does not officially support this operation. So if you have any problems or questions about using the disk with Time Machine, Apple will not provide support.
True and correct. This is likely because of their misguided SOX interpretation, which they seem to think precludes the addition of features not available at sale time through firmware updates.
Sort of like putting a diesel engine in a Toyota Prius. You may be able to do it but it is not officially supported.
It’s really nothing like that at all.
To answer the OP, yes, you can. I’ve been backing up my machine to a disk attached to my AEBS since the day the firmware supported it, and it works great for me.

HT1284 Does time machine work with Mountain Lion?

I had time machine set-up on my old iMac and had everything copied over to my new iMac. Time machine isn't working. I can't get it to recongize my external hard drive to back it up. Does time machine not work with mountain lion?

Have you plugged the external drive to a different USB port? Also, I would suggest you reset the PRAM. If you still have the issue after you have done all this, it may be an issue with your external drive. Try testing it on another computer.
HT1379 About NVRAM and PRAM - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379.

How does Time Machine works?

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