How to back up an external hd with time machine
I just bought a 1Tb WD WD for MAC which i willuse as my Time Machine backup and I want to use my 500GB Maxtor as an external HD to store media, I am not sure how tom make sure Time Maching backs up my internal HD and me external HD or is that automatic?
beatsc wrote:
Ok so it just asked me which I wanted to exclude to I didn't select any
It doesn't really ask that -- and internal HDs are backed-up by default, but externals are excluded by default. Look at the exclusion list in TM Prefs > Options. Anything listed there is not being backed-up. To back it up, select it and click the minus sign at the bottom. If it's listed in gray, however, it's not formatted for a Mac and Time Machine can't back it up. See #10 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions for details.
How is is possible that my 500GB external is almost to capacity? Is it because it used to be my Time Machine and I must delete those backups?
Most likely. If you don't erase a disk, whatever was there is still there.
If you don't have other data on it that you need, just erase it with Disk Utility.
If you do, you've got a problem; OSX doesn't like deleting Time Machine backups via the Finder. If you feel you have no choice, do it when you have quite a bit of time. Deleting them will be quick and easy, but emptying the trash won't. If there's a problem, see #E6 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
Similar Messages
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How to back up a hard drive with Time Machine
Yesterday I left my MacBook Pro at the airport security check. I called today and they told me it was gone, probably stolen. Since I didn't want my files or data to fall into the wrong hands, I used iCloud and logged on to my account, found my MacBook device, and selected Erase Mac. Lo and Behold, as fate would have it, I received a call from airport security 15 minutes later that they had in fact found it. Unfortunately, my call to Apple Support indicated that once Erase Mac is selected, it's like pushing the launch button on a nuke. It cannot be undone. Further conversations revealed that in order to not completetly lose all my files, I need to back up my MacBook to another hard drive prior to connecting to WiFi.
So, here's my plan. I have another iMac at my house with approx 500G of available hard drive space. My plan is once Fed Ex delivers my MacBook, to use Time Machine to back it up. I've never done this before. I have a FireWire cable for this task.
Is my thinking correct for the following steps:
1. Open MacBook in a Non Wifi environment.
2. Click on Time Machine Preferences
3. Connect my MacBook Pro with my iMac using FireWire
4. Select the Hard Drive from iMac as the source.
Will there be additional instructions then to follow?
How will I know when the back up is complete?
After the back up is done, do I then open the MacBook up in Wifi and allow Erase Mac to run?
If yes, then how do I transfer the hard drive back to MacBook?
I know this is a long post, but I want to ensure I'm following the process completely. Thanks,
ScottJust turn off your wireless router until you can run Time Machine to backup your Mac notebook.
Or remove the drive from the system and connect it to another Mac and copy all your files off it. But again it would be best to disable any and all Wifi systems in your house before you do that.
Not sure but there may be a way to turn off the Wipe command and or it is only issued once. Never had to use it so I'm uncertain on how it actually works. -
How to back up a FAT32 Drive with Time Machine?
I recently bought a 3TB backup drive which I formatted to Mac OS Extended. As expected, Time Machine is able to back up my internal hard drive to this external drive, but I would also like to back up my other 2TB external hard drive (about 300gb full), which is formatted as FAT32 (so I could occasionally use it with a Windows/Linux machine, although this isn't wholly necessary). As I understand, Time Machine is able to back up Mac OS formatted drives, but not FAT32 drives. I am considering a copy and paste of this FAT32 drive to the new backup drive, formatting the drive to Mac OS Extended and then copying it back, so that Time Machine works. Alternatively, is anybody aware of a reliable, free incremental backup application? I know there are a few paid ones, but they're not really worth it for my situation. Finally, is there any way to get Time Machine to work with the situation I have now? I am using Mavericks (10.9.4).
Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.Time Machine doesn't backup external disks by default.
Open the Time Machine preferences (unlock the prefs panel if required).
Select the 'options'.
Remove the external disk from the list (it will only appear when connected).
I don't know if TM covers FAT formatted disk, but I suspect the following site may have that information…
http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html
It's great for TM tips & information. -
Had to wipe my drive so I could do a clean install of snow leopard. Now I have look every where on how to move bookmarks, address book and I cal settings. I have them back up on a external drive with Time machine but can not move, copy or restore my old settings. The instructions I have found or no help or needs more clarafication on what to do.
Use migration assistant to move your files. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4889
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Can I use a 2tb external drive with Time Machine to backup my Mac Mini (256gbSSD + 2tbHDD)?
Can I use a 2tb external drive with Time Machine to backup what I have on my Mac Mini?
My Mac Mini has one 256 SSD and one 2tb HDD. I want to use Time Machine to do a backup of everything.
Would an external 2tb My Passport Drive by Western Digital work for the backup?
It seems like it would not work because the total storage on the Mac Mini is 2304 gigabytes (SSD + HDD).
And the external Western Digital drive is only 2048 in gigabytes versus 2304 gigabytes the Mac Mini has.No. A Time Machine backup drive should have at least twice the capacity of the drive it backs up. You would need at least a 4 TB backup drive for Time Machine.
Might I suggest as an alternative that you not use Time Machine but a third-party backup utility that simply overwrites older files with new ones such that the backup drive can be the same capacity as the drive backed up.
Suggested Backup Software
1. Carbon Copy Cloner
2. Get Backup
3. Deja Vu
4. SuperDuper!
5. Synk Pro
6. Tri-Backup
Others may be found at MacUpdate.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files. -
External Drive with Time Machine, booting from external drive with utilitie
I'm using Time Machine now with
a LaCie 1TB external hard drive.
Everything works fine.
But, I've been wondering:
Can I place a program like TechTool
on the external drive (that Time Machine uses)
and boot from that external drive.
I would like to be able to do that,
because diagnostics and repair programs
only works properly and fully when they run from
external drives. Anything on the internal drive can be repaired
and examine. Impossible to do if Techtool is on the same
drive that's been examined.
Any thoughts as to what I should do?
Thanks
iMac, Leopard, Time Machine, Lacie Quadra 1TB drive.
P.S. Stupid question: If my computer crashes, and I reboot from Time Machine
(from the external drive) how does the computer know which backup to take ?!?
Isn't there many versions of the OS on the Time Machine backup taken at different times?pitou wrote:
P.S. Stupid question: If my computer crashes, and I reboot from Time Machine
(from the external drive) how does the computer know which backup to take ?!?
Isn't there many versions of the OS on the Time Machine backup taken at different times?
As V.K. says, you can't boot from TM backups.
But you can restore your entire system from any one of them, per the procedure in #14 of the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
You can also selectively restore from them, while running normally. See #15 in the FAQ Tip.
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 rest of the FAQ Tip. -
I backup to an external hdd with Time Machine, when it ran out of space it did not delete old backups, now my internal hdd says its full when before it had heaps of space. I have searched for extra files but cant find any. Can anyone help, please.
First, empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. Then reboot. That will temporarily free up some space.
To locate large files, you can use Spotlight as described here. That method may not find large folders that contain a lot of small files.
You can also use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one.
Proceed further only if the problem hasn't been solved.
ODS can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
Back up all data now.
Install ODS in the Applications folder as usual.
Triple-click the line of text below to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C):sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means.
When you're done with ODS, quit it and also quit Terminal. -
Using the same external drive with Time Machine on new mac?
I recently got a new mac because my old one broke. Thankfully, I had a fresh backup on Time Machine ready to restore onto my new computer. But when I try to use Time Machine with my new computer, it keeps wanting to do a whole new backup. It won't recognize the latest backup to only add new or changed files.
Here's a breakdown of my events:
new computer
restore Time Machine on new computer at install
want to continue using the external drive with Time Machine from where I left off (only adding new files since the last backup) on my new computer
Time Machine wants to do a whole new backup
Question: How can I continue to use my existing external hard drive with Time Machine on my new computer, picking up where I left off (not a new, complete backup)?
My old computer was Snow Lepoard, my new one is Lion.Bergers wrote:
new computer
restore Time Machine on new computer at install
That should have left a "trail" in your SystemMigration log, so Time Machine can figure out what happened and automatically "inherit" the old backups. But sometimes, obviously, that doesn't work.
Since it didn't, there's a chance you can do it manually. See #B6 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting. -
Can I use the ipod classic as an external hardrive with time machine as well as an ipod for my mac book pro OS X?
No. Time Machine has been specifically written not to back up to an iPod.
(58364) -
I've recently bought a Time Capsule (3TB); then I've added an external HD of 2TB to my TC via its USB port in order to store my iTunes Libraries.
I would like to backup my external HD with Time Machine in the HD of TC. Is it possible?I would like to backup my external HD with Time Machine in the HD of TC. Is it possible?
Sorry, but not possible.
Time Machine can only back up the internal drive(s) in a Mac....or a drive that is connected directly to a Mac via USB or FireWire.....provided that the drive is formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
I am not recommending this, but you might be able to move the drive from the USB port to the Mac, and have Time Machine back it up that way.....then move it back to the USB port on the Time Capsule......but this will involve doing some risky things.....and manually changing settings around everytime you make the swap. Something will surely go wrong....but up to you if you want to try it.
Carbon Copy Cloner will back up the drive connected to the USB port on the Time Capsule to the Time Capsule disk, but these will not be Time Machine backups. SuperDuper claims to also be able to do this.....but I have not tested it. -
Time Machine spends hours partially backing up and then fails with "Time Machine couldn't complete the backup due to a network problem." I've tried various suggestions I've seen on the forum but nothing has worked. TIme Machine worked fine for the last two years and just suddenly started having this problem every time. The only thing that was a little different is that the computer was off for a week while on vacation and then I added a large amount (20 GB) of photos. Now the requested backup size is 82GB, which is large, and process proceeds very slowly for 2-3 hours before failing with the message mentioned. I have more than enough available backup storage space for it. Before failing, Time Machine has backed up no more than 12GB or so of the backup. It fails during different files each time.
I've turned off the computer sleep feature, and I've checked that the NAS is set to never automatically power down. I normally backup over Wi-Fi, but I've also tried connecting to Ethernet and it still has the same problem. It's odd because I also have a MacBook Pro that is still backing up fine to the same NAS using the MacBook's Time Machine.
I am using an iMac with OS X 10.6.8 and an Iomega StorCenter ix2-200 NAS.
I have system logs that I can share if helpful. The logged messages vary a bit from run to run, but here are some messages that I've been seeing:
I always get this message near the beginning of the backup:
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
I've gotten this messsage a number of times:
Bulk setting Spotlight attributes failed.
One Day
Stopping backupd to allow ejection of backup destination disk!
Another day
1/7/12 10:44:20 AM
mDNSResponder[18]
PenaltyTimeForServer: PenaltyTime negative -112916, (server penaltyTime -1132397006, timenow -1132284090) resetting the penalty
1/7/12 10:46:37 AM
kernel
ASP_TCP Disconnect: triggering reconnect by bumping reconnTrigger from curr value 0 on so 0x1106be94
1/7/12 10:46:37 AM
kernel
AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect started /Volumes/TimeMachine prevTrigger 0 currTrigger 1
Another Day
1/6/12 8:03:22 AM
Google Chrome[164]
Cannot find function pointer CMPluginInFactory for factory 3487BB5A-3E66-11D5-A64E-003065B300BC in CFBundle/CFPlugIn 0x16f99e20 </Users/smarmer/Library/Contextual Menu Items/Google Notifier Quick Add CM Plugin.plugin> (not loaded)
1/6/12 8:04:02 AM
com.apple.backupd[193]
Copied 7.5 GB of 67.0 GB, 8866 of 8866 items
1/6/12 8:06:58 AM
/System/Library/CoreServices/CCacheServer.app/Contents/MacOS/CCacheServer[1013]
No valid tickets, timing out
1/6/12 8:29:44 AM
mDNSResponder[19]
PenaltyTimeForServer: PenaltyTime negative -148702, (server penaltyTime 2056822773, timenow 2056971475) resetting the penalty
1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
kernel
ASP_TCP Disconnect: triggering reconnect by bumping reconnTrigger from curr value 0 on so 0xa5ac380
1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
kernel
AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect started /Volumes/TimeMachine prevTrigger 0 currTrigger 1
1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
kernel
AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect: doing reconnect on /Volumes/TimeMachine
1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
kernel
AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect: soft mounted and hidden volume so do not notify KEA for /Volumes/TimeMachine
1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
kernel
AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect: Max reconnect time: 30 secs, Connect timeout: 15 secs for /Volumes/TimeMachine
1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
kernel
AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect: connect to the server /Volumes/TimeMachine
1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
kernel
ASP_TCP asp_SetTCPQoS: sock_settclassopt got error 57
Another day
1/5/12 3:48:55 PM
mdworker[2128]
CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): Old-style plist parser: missing semicolon in dictionary.
1/5/12 4:24:54 PM
mDNSResponder[19]
PenaltyTimeForServer: PenaltyTime negative -42698, (server penaltyTime 1148718961, timenow 1148761659) resetting the penalty
1/5/12 4:29:58 PM
com.apple.backupd[2074]
Copied 586.4 MB of 67.0 GB, 9891 of 9891 items
1/5/12 4:39:00 PM
kernel
ASP_TCP Disconnect: triggering reconnect by bumping reconnTrigger from curr value 0 on so 0xa1c0380bokon0n wrote:
1/11/12 8:53:30 AM
com.apple.backupd[1169]
Warning: Destination /Volumes/TimeMachine does not support TM Lock Stealing
1/11/12 8:53:30 AM
com.apple.backupd[1169]
Warning: Destination /Volumes/TimeMachine does not support Server Reply Cache
Those indicate that your NAS is not fully compatible with Snow Leopard.
1/11/12 8:53:35 AM
kernel
jnl: disk2s2: replay_journal: from: 67182592 to: 78680064 (joffset 0xa7b8000)
1/11/12 8:53:39 AM
kernel
jnl: disk2s2: examining extra transactions starting @ 78680064 / 0x4b09000
1/11/12 8:53:39 AM
kernel
jnl: disk2s2: Extra txn replay stopped @ 79056896 / 0x4b65000
1/11/12 8:53:49 AM
kernel
jnl: disk2s2: journal replay done.
1/11/12 8:53:49 AM
fseventsd[41]
event logs in /Volumes/Time Machine/.fseventsd out of sync with volume. destroying old logs. (253512 14 253512)
1/11/12 8:53:50 AM
kernel
hfs: Removed 1 orphaned / unlinked files and 0 directories
That looks like a problem was found with the file system (data) on the TM disk. I don't know the details, but OSX tried to recover it from the journal, and found extra data on the drive. Likely a result of the incompatibility mentioned above.
1/11/12 9:47:40 AM
com.apple.backupd[1169]
Bulk setting Spotlight attributes failed.
That's a problem writing to the NAS drive.
But the backup continued after all this.
1/11/12 1:25:07 PM
kernel
ASP_TCP Disconnect: triggering reconnect by bumping reconnTrigger from curr value 0 on so 0x9d00b44
Something caused a disconnect. Can't tell from the log what it was.
I doubt it's a problem with something in OSX being damaged or corrupted, but reinstalling OSX isn't a major hassle, so might be worth a try.
To be incompatible with Snow Leopard, this NAS must be at least a couple of years old. It may be beginning to fail.
Contact the maker. See if there's an update to make it compatible with Snow Leopard. If so, that might fix it.
If not, or if that doesn't fix it, see if they have any diagnostics that will shed any light. -
I lost everything in my iphoto library how can i restore the entire library with time machine?
i lost everything in my iphoto library how can i restore the entire library with time machine? help!!!!
Open the folder that contained the library and then enter Time Machine. Select the most recent date that contains the library and then restore.
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When using Time Machine to back up to external drive, does Time Machine back up content in your Trash folder?
Go to System Preferences (under the Apple menu) > Time Machine and click the Options button. Click the "+" button in the lower left. In the resulting dialog, check the Show invisible items checkbox. Go to your home folder and look for Trash. Click the Exclude button in the lower right.
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I have an external hard drive that I use to hold photos and other files on that no longer fit on my macbook. I also use the external hard drive for back ups set up with time machine. I don't believe I ever did anything to partition it, I've just always had separate folders (Photos, Music, etc) with one being called "Back Ups" (or Backups.backupdb) that my time machine back ups would automatically go into. Recently, I made the switch from my HDD in my macbook to a new SSD of the same size. I used the back ups on the external hard drive to restore all my content, which all worked out fine. My problem now is in using my external hard drive. When I plug it in, it no longer seems to be working with time machine. Also, I was organizing some files within the external hard drive, and when I dragged one into a folder, it took a while to load. Before, it was instantaneous moving a file already on the external hard drive to another location within it. Can anyone help me in getting the external hard drive to work with my new SSD? I don't want to delete any of the folders or back ups that are already on it, since that's the only place I have some of those files. Please let me know if you need anymore details. Thanks! (sorry if this is posted in the wrong forum)
First, she has to be logged in to the same iTunes account as she used on the old computer.
Second, when she plugs the iPhone in to iTunes, right click on the phone name and select transfer purchases.
Third, enter one contact and one calendar entry into the new computer's addressbook/calendar.
After that, she should be fine. -
Trouble backing up external drive with time machine
I have a small USB stick that I use to store important documents but documents that I don't access very often. I have an additional 500 GB hard drive that I use for backing up with Time Machine. I want Time Machine to backup both my internal hard drive (Macbook Air 2011 Lion) as well as the small USB stick. I've searched the forum and discovered that I needed to reformat the USB stick, which I did (it is now Mac OS Extended). The USB now appears in the list of excluded drives in Time Machine preferences, which I removed. Thinking that Time Machine would be backing up my USB stick now, I backed up and then turned the computer off. The next day, I looked at the external drive, and it didn't seem to have a backup of the USB. I entered Time Machine and the USB is "greyed out" which means it wasn't backed up. I've retried backing up several times by including the USB in Time Machien preferences, but it seems that when I click "save" it doesn't actually save because when I open Preferences up again, the USB stick is in the list of excluded items again. Have I done something wrong? Any imput would be greatly appreciated.
I don't use Time Machine but my view is that it is too dangerous for sticks which may be removed - I understand that it may delete previous backups if it discovers that the stick no longer exists.
You could:
manually copy the stick to your main drive from time to time
use Carbon Copy Cloner to backup the stick
use a utility to mirror the stick to your main drive
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