HT201250 Do I have to have an external hard drive to back up to Time Machine?

I have never set up Time Machine on my iMac and I'm having a little trouble. It's not giving me the option to use Time Machine as the backup. Does it require an external hard drive?

Does it require an external hard drive?
Short answer: Yes (or a time capsule).
Long answer: Mac 101: Time Machine - Support - Apple
charlie

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HT201250 I have two external hard drives. One is my Time Machine backup drive. The other I use for external storage of files (documents, photos, movies, etc). Can I set Time Machine to backup BOTH my Mac hard drive and my other external hard drive?

I have two external hard drives. One is my Time Machine backup drive. The other I use for external storage of files (documents, photos, movies, etc). Can I set Time Machine to backup BOTH my Mac hard drive and my other external hard drive?

Yes you can make multiple backups on one hard drive, for example if you’ve 1TB hard drive installed in your PC and you’ve two Mac Machines with 500GB drive each then you just make two backup images with size of 500GB each.
http://www.halfspot.com/use-your-pc-hard-drive-for-time-machine-backup/

I have an external hard drive set up as a Time Machine backup on my IMac. I want to add a second external hard drive and put my Aperture Photo Library on it. Is there a way to have the photos on this second hard drive automatically back up to the Time Mac

I have an IMac with an external hard drive set up as a Time Machine for automatic backups. I want to add a second external hard drive and load my Aperture Photo Library on to it so that the library can be shared by both me and my wife. Is there a way to automatically backup the photo library that will be on the second hard drive to the Time Machine hard drive?

Open System Preference > Time Machine
Click Options....
Ckick on external disk in list and hit the - button below the list to remove from the Exclusion list
Allan

HT4718 I have an external hard drive that I used as Time Machine Backup. I have not used it for a while and now, when I plug it in computer says: This disc is not readable. I want to recover the backups and not erase and reformat the disc. Thank you in

I have an external hard drive that I have used as Time Machine backup, but not for a while. Now when I plug it in, computer says this disc is not readable.
I want to keep the backups on it and not erase and start over.
Thank you in advance.
Gregor

It sounds like something went wrong with the drive. Did you drop it? How long has it been sitting around unused?

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

External Hard drive not backed up on Time Machine

One of my Seagate external hard drives has failed. I thought that the Time Machine was backing up its contents onto my other external hard drive - I set it to back up everything including the external HD. However I've looked into the Time Machine & gone back to before the HD failed, & there is no sign of it. Surely its contents should have been saved on there even if it has now failed? I don't understand the Time Machine anyway; it seems to only show me certain parts of the computer contents; it's really hard to see all of what is on there.
Second question; what is the best brand of external HD to buy? I thought Seagate was reliable but I no longer trust it after this failure. Someone on this forum recommended OWC Mercury ProElite series?

Thanks all,
This is helpful. I am 100% certain I set it to back up everything except the HD it is backing up onto - I remember specifically telling it to back up the other HD - but strangely, when I open the TM window I cannot see anywhere to specify the folders etc to back up; please see screenshot. All it shows is that the TM back-up drive is excluded. I don't understand where all the preferences have gone? I got this window by clicking 'options'; the only other choice was 'select disk'.
Anyway, if as you say they are not included even if you expressly tell it to back them up, maybe including them has no effect. I will try the shift-command-C thing & see if that helps.
Thanks.

Do I need an External Hard drive to Back up with Time machine?

     I probably have all kinds of misconceptions about Resetting to an earlier time for the computer I have. It's a 2009 macbook, running OS 10.8.5. I got it last week, previous to this machine I have been running a powerbook G4. It does not have a backup with Time Machine either.
Let me tell you a funny story,
      Back in the year 2000 I got a powerbook G4, it was tops (in my Book) and my boss paid for it. David, my boss is the owner -operator of a manufacturing business turning out soft-weapons for martial artist's I call it the Chinese Stick Fighting Factory. <Sof-Stx.com> . While going to work one fine summer day on my Harley Super Glide,( I saw in my rear-view mirror that the back pack (packing the G4) had left the Vehicle with out authorization, and was bouncing down the road in the opposite direction. Anyway to make a long story short, I developed inoperable Colon Cancer in 2008, I had to retire for the second time in my life, this time collecting a fixed income. and when I was able to fit it in my budget (in 2012) I got a used G4 and last week I got the MacBook running Maverick.
     So… any input ?

Answer to your question....yes, buy an external HD. You do not need an expensive one and you do not need a huge one. I run two 500 GB externals - both attached (occasionally) to my MacBook Pro.
Barry

I have an external hard drive hooked up to my time capsule how do i get iTunes to recognize the external hard drive

i have an external hard drive hooked up to my time capsule andi can not get my macbook pro with itunes to recognize the hard drive. does the hard drive need to be formatted to my mac. it has been formatted and does have existing fles on it. Thanks for the help in advance.

Well sometimes it won't boot, but the drive is fine.
You'll have to run through these steps and depending what occurs (or doesn't) will give you a clue, if you need to replace the drive and restore from the TM drive.
Step by Step to fix your Mac
My computer is dead, is my personal data lost?
Create a data recovery/undelete external boot drive
In the future, consider bootable clones, they are bootable, but TM drives are not.
Most commonly used backup methods

I run an itune 10.4 and would like to back up my entire library to a DVD, because I do not have an external hard drive to back it up to (as the "help" topic is sugesting). Is it possible and if so, can someone help me please.

I run an itune 10.4 and would like to back up my entire library to a DVD, because I do not have an external hard drive to back it up to (as the "help" topic is suggesting). Is it possible?...and if so, can someone help me please.

This is no longer done via iTunes.
Use whatever CD/DVD burner software is installed on your computer.
Add the iTunes media folder to the list of files/folders to burn to disc.

Working in adobe illustrator - computer crashed - will not soft boot or reset PRAM - should i reinstall from CD snow leopard 10.6.3? I have an extra hard drive in my MAC with time machine on it set to do auto back ups. How do i recover ?

working in adobe illustrator - computer crashed - will not soft boot or reset PRAM - should i reinstall from CD snow leopard 10.6.3? I have an extra hard drive in my MAC with time machine on it set to do auto back ups. How do i recover ?

Well first you have to figure out what is wrong with the machine and solve that problem first.
Your post is very vague on what occured, and there are many types of "crashes" it really depends upon what see on the screen and what the hardware does, we can't see it to tell you, so you have to tell us.
I suggest you run through these user tips and provide more information about your hardware.
Disconnect the TimeMachine drive for now
..Step by Step to fix your Mac
Help us to help you on these forums
Create a data recovery/undelete external boot drive
If this is going way over your head, there are local PC/Mac techs that will assist you for a fee, Apple only does hardware repairs and is advised to use them if you discover it is, especially if under warranty/AppleCare.
Hard drive and RAM upgrades can be handled yourself or by a outside tech in many older models of Mac, but don't expect Apple to cover the new parts.
Install/upgrade RAM or storage drive in Mac's

I am trying to get space on an external hard drive which has some old time machine back up files that I do not need but can not eliminate, even by going into the time machine, clicking on the backup file to be eliminated and using the drop down eliminate

I am trying to get space on an external hard drive which has some old time machine back up files that I do not need but can not eliminate, even by going into the time machine, clicking on the backup file to be eliminated and using the drop down menu with the gear box symbol to eliminate

I cannot find this 300GB "Backup" in the Finder, only in the Storage info when I check "About This Mac".
You are probably using Time Machine to backup your MacBook Pro, right? Then the additional 300 GB could be local Time Machine snapshots. Time Machine will write the hourly backups to the free space on your hard disk, if the backup drive is temporarily not connected. You do not see these local backups in the Finder, and MacOS will delete them, when you make a regular backup to Time Machine, or when you need the space for other data.
See Pondini's page for more explanation: What are Local Snapshots? http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
I have restarted my computer, but the information remains the same. How do I reclaim the use of the 300GB? Why is it showing up as "Backups" when it used to indicate "Photos"? Are my photos safe on the external drive?
You have tested the library on the external drive, and so your photos are save there.
The local TimeMachine snapshot probably now contains a backup of the moved library. Try, if connecting your Time Machine drive will reduce the size of your local Time Machine snapshots.

Can I switch external hard drives and still access old Time Machine backups?

I have a Mac Book Pro linked to 2 1TB external hard drives, one used as my Time Machine Back up, the other used as a manual ad hoc back up and to store even older files.
The TM back up drive is now full. If I just unplug it/switch it off and plug in and set up a new 2TB hard drive as my TM back up, will I still be able to access the back ups on the original TM drive if necessary, through TM?
Wil it be a start over situation with the new drive, performing a complete back up to begin with?
Or would you advise me to transfer the old back folder to the new drive, given that it will be larger?

Hi den.thed,
Thank you for this - I think the easy option by far appears to be to leave existing backups on disk 1, and plug in disk 2 and start over.

Can you unplug the external hard drive you are using for time machine

can you unplug the external hard drive you are using for time machine and then plug it back in and it work normals because i have a mac book and don't want to always be carrieing the external hard drive every where i go so can you ?

Yes, that will work fine. It will back up normally once you plug it in again. I do this with my MacBook.

On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture. How can I access the Aperture Library on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup? I can only access the application but not the library..

On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture. How can I access the Aperture Library on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup? I can only access the application but not the library..

Go into Time Machine (the program not the bundle on the extrnal disk) and using Time Machine's browser go to the Folder where the library lives. You could look in the library bundle in Time Machine but that won't really tell you much,
If you want to make sure it truely has backed up your library you will need to restore it and open the restored library with Aperture.
If all this still has you confused you need to read up on Time Machine in order to get a feel for how it works, for what it is doing and for how to restore files from it.

Why is my external hard drive showing up twice on Time Machine?

This is the first time I am using Time Machine because somebody recently gave me an external hard drive.
The external hard drive is appearing twice on Time Machine preferences. One of them is currently backing up and the other one says "Waiting to back up" but I don't want it to back up twice on the same disk.
Here's a screenshot:
Does anyone know why it is doing this?

Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
tmutil destinationinfo
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
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).
Post any lines of output that appear below what you entered — the text, please, not a screenshot.

HT201250 Do I have to have an external hard drive to back up to Time Machine?

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