I changed user account and now Time Machine won't back up.

A few months ago I had a problem with my user account. I can't remember the details but i think it would no longer accept my password. After doing some hunting around for answers i made a new user account with administrative priviledges and transferred all the files over to that account. I also changed the permissions on those files to allow me to access them as a new user identity. For the most part that seems to have worked for me, although possibly i have not done the right thing.
Anyway, i have just realised recently that although the little circular arrow that indicated that Time machine is backing up my files, it hasn't actually made a backup since the end of august, which was possibly when i did this funny thing with my user account.
I am assuming that Time Machine has just got very confused about the disappearance of my files from the previous user account and change of permissions etc.
What can i do? I read on 'pondini.org' that i could reset my time machine by deleting the preferences file from my system library and then rehooking up my external hard drive as the desired backup volume. It would then, i assume make a full backup to begin with?
Any advice gratefully received. I am a graphic designer and i do need to have my files backed up!
thanks
Lesley
ps i had some extra  RAM installed a little while before the user account problem and only mentioning it here in case that is an issue with Time Machine as well.

Hi Lesely, sadly the great pondini has passed away.
Have you looked through Pondini's extensive TM help site?
http://Pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Can't imagine something not being covered there.

Similar Messages

  • I upgraded to Mavericks and now Time Machine won't back up to my external hard drive.

    I upgraded to OS 10.9 on my iMac and now I get messages that Time Machine will not back up to my G-Force external hard drive. What do I do to restore back up capability?

    Check the More Like This section at the right particularly i upgraded my imac hard drive to a 2tb drive. how do i use time machine to get my computer back to normal?

  • I just updated to Mountain Lion and now time machine won't recognize my backups from before the update.

    I updated from Snow Leopard OS X 10.6.8 to Mountain Lion OS X 10.8.2 on my MacBook Pro
    I used disk utility to restore my external hardrive because I read somewhere that that would fix the problem.
    It did fix the problem but only temporarily. I was able to view my backups from Snow Leopard, but as soon as I tried to backup again, time machine was stuck
    "preparing to backup" for 5 hours and when I quit the prepare I could no longer access my previous backups.

    So what happens if you go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General? Are you able to go there at all? If you are able to go there, can you unlock the preferences using the lock in the lower left and your login name and password?
    If you are able to do this, can you change the "Allow applications downloaded from:" to Anywhere?
    Best of luck.

  • I moved files off my computer to an external hard drive now time machine won't back up like it used to.  It says there is not enough room.

    My hard drive was completely full (mostly with pictures) so I moved several years worth of photos from the hard drive to an external hard drive I regularly use with the laptop. (Basically my master copies of all my photos back to 1997)  I have always had Time Machine set up to back up both the laptop AND that external drive.  It's always worked seamlessly until I moved those files.  Time Machine has been full for a while now and regularly gives me a message that the oldest files will be deleted.  That's fine. 
    I don't understand why moving files from the laptop to the external hd would now cause the following message (not an exact quote): Time Capsule cannot complete backup.  You need 233 gb to backup and time capsule only has 107 gb available. If time capsule was already set to backup up both the laptop and the external hd, why would moving those photos from one hd to the other cause a space issue?  It should equal out.   And now when I look at the files on the time capsule, it only shows me a recent backup and a partial incomplete backup.  None of the older backups are visible anymore. I have not deleted anything directly from the time capsule so I'm thinking somehow the index got damaged.  How can I fix this?  The error message says to change the settings but I really don't know what settings to change.  Help!!

    It does not immediately delete the files that are missing.. it merely tries to backup the new files it has discovered on the external drive. Since you moved the files there, the backup at least for a while will contain both copies.. and that is why it doesn't have enough space to backup.
    Fixing the problem.. hmm pondini is the expert.. you should be able to delete the backup of the photos in existing backup.. there are instructions to do it.. but it is a very poor way to do things.
    Much better. .archive off the existing backup.. this is long and slow but worth it. you need a usb drive of the same size as the TC drive. Then erase the TC and start a fresh set of backups.
    The alternative is to use the USB drive as a new target.. but it is much slower than the TC internal drive.
    http://pondini.org/TM/12.html

  • Time Machine won't back up after system restore

    I just restored my system after a failure, and now Time Machine won't back up my hard drive. It gets about 40 out of 90 Gigabytes done, and then gives me an error message that just says that there was an error while backing up, and doesn't give any other information. I ran a Verify Disk with Disk Utility, and there is nothing wrong with the backup drive, and there is more than 200 Gigabytes of space left on that drive.
    Thank You.

    zhoffmanster wrote:
    Ok, so here's the thing: I tried backing up again today, and it worked just fine. Before, what would happen is a message would pop saying "an error has occurred during backup" (or something close to that). The point is, the message didn't give any detail.
    No, the point is, you seem to have ignored this:
    See the Time Machine - Troubleshooting post at the top of this forum.

  • MAC OSX 10.5.8 and 2TB Time Machine would not back up. Saw discussion  that suggested you change name without apostrophes etc. Went into Time Machine and did a manula backup without a name and it appears to be backing up now. Does this remove delete the o

    MAC OSX 10.5.8 and 2TB Time Machine would not back up. Saw discussion  that suggested you change name without apostrophes etc. Went into Time Machine and did a manula backup without a name and it appears to be backing up now. Does this remove delete the old backup's ?

    Does this remove delete the old backup's ?
    No, they are all just fine.

  • I upgraded to Maverick and now Time Machine will not connect to the external hard drive to back up files.  The external hard drive is a Western Digital "My Book Live" 2 TB.  How do I solve problem?

    I upgraded to Maverick and now Time Machine will not connect to the external hard drive to back up files.  The external hard drive is a Western Digital "My Book Live" 2 TB.  How do I solve problem?

    I also had problem accessing my WD MyBookLive after upgrading to Maverick.
    To resolve the problem, I used  Connect To Server (Cmd K) to specify the IP address.
    Then I enter a user id and password I created in the MyBookLive.
    You can also verify that you have admin access to the MyBookLive using Safari or Chrome.
    Just enter the MyBookLive IP address as the URL.

  • I had to change my payment information on my apple account and now my purchase won't download and  my payment information won't save in i tunes...what do I do? I have an ipad 2

    I had to change my payment information on my apple account and now my purchase won't download and  my payment information won't save in i tunes...what do I do? I have an ipad 2

    What id shows in Settings > iTunes & App Store ? If it's the old one then tap on it and log out of it and then log in with the updated version

  • HT201250 I disconnected My Passport by mistake, and now Time Machine can not find it.  Although connected, it does not appear in the My Devices section of Finder.  What do I do?

    I disconnected My Passport by mistake, and now Time Machine can not recognise it.  It no longer appears in the My Devices section of Finder.  What do I do?

    Hello rjhc49,
    Thank you for the details of the issue you are experiencing with your external hard drive.  I found an article with steps you can take when an external device is not being recognized.
    I recommend following the steps in the section titled "Top troubleshooting tips" in the following article:
    USB and FireWire Quick Assist
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1151
    Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
    Best,
    Sheila M.

  • I ereased my external drive now time machine doesn't back up. What should I do?

    I ereased my external drive now time machine doesn't back up. What should I do?  the reason I ereased was because backups wouldn't finsh because of disk error. I did disk repair. Still wouldn't back up so ereased the back up drive. Now nothing appears on it. On the internal drive of my imac in Appllications Timemachine is still there. When I click on it it goes to a screen that looks like a night sky and nothing more happens. Do I need to download some software?

    Time Machine doesn't work on 10.4.7.    It didn't become available until 10.5.   Use a different backup software if you are going to use 10.4.7*:
    http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html

  • My Time machine won't back up.  Recently updated to OS x 10.7.5.  Error message is as follows:  "The backup disk image "/Volumes/Time Machine Backup/Scott's MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use."  What is wrong and how do I fix it?  Thanks.

    My Time machine won't back up.  Recently updated to OS x 10.7.5.  Error message is as follows:  "The backup disk image “/Volumes/Time Machine Backup/Scott’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” is already in use."  What is wrong and how do I fix it?  Thanks.

    Have you tried restarting the computer? Also, see Time Machine Error from this pages sidebar under More Like This.

  • Time Machine won't back up onto Time Capsule

    I upgraded to Mountain Lion last week, and Time Machine won't back up to my Time Capsule. When it fails, I get the message:
    Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to "Tom's Time Capsule".
    The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/TomsMac.sparsebundle" could not be created (error 60)
    I sometimes get the same message, but with "error 17"
    I also get the following error message popup (even though the disk is the one in my Time Capsule):
    The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer.
    The popup offers three choices: Initialize, Ignore, Eject.
    My local Apple Store Genius concluded that the problem must be with the Time Capsule, so I bought a new one. That didn't fix the problem.
    Time Machine Buddy messages:
    Starting manual backup
    Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://Tom%[email protected]/Data
    Mounted network destination at mount point: /Volumes/Data using URL: afp://Tom%[email protected]/Data
    Creating disk image /Volumes/Data/TomsMac.sparsebundle
    Error 60 creating backup disk image
    Failed to create disk image /Volumes/Data/TomsMac.sparsebundle, status: 60
    Backup failed with error: 20
    Failed to eject volume /Volumes/Data (FSVolumeRefNum: -108; status: -47; dissenting pid: 0)
    I did Repair Disk Permissions and Verify Disk and everything's OK.
    I erased the Time Capsule using AirPort Utility and did a hard reset on the Time Capsule.
    I did a re-install of Mountain Lion and that didn't fix anything.
    My MacBook Pro is accessing the Time Capsule wirelessly, as it always has.
    Help!

    Just to be sure, we're talking about a Time Capsule -- not an AirPort Extreme connected to an external hard drive. Right?
    If so, proceed as follows.
    Please read this whole message before doing anything.
    This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
    The purpose of this exercise is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode* and log in to the account with the problem. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:
    Be sure your Mac is shut down.
    Press the power button.
    Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
    Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).
    *Note: If FileVault is enabled under OS X 10.7 or later, or if a firmware password is set, you can’t boot in safe mode.
    Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
    The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
    Test while in safe mode. Same problem(s)?
    After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

  • Time MAchine won't back up due to not enough space, but there is

    TIme Machine won't back up. Displays this:
    Actual capacity of the external backup drive is 999.68 GB and available is 135 gb .
    The imac internal HD capacity is 999.01GB and used space is 636.321 GB.
    This problem has occured periodically in the last 12 months or so, so prior to OS version10.8 install in Jul 2012.
    I previously called AppleCare, as I have a contract, and tech said I just need to reformat the external drive and start over.
    I did that the last time this happened a few months ago, but I don't like that option, as it eliminates all the prior backups,
    What if I needed to try to recover something I deleted 3 weeks ago, for example.  I couldn't do so as all backups would have been deleted, of course, by me having refomatted the drive and basically starting over.  Also, I noted in another post about a person having a problem due to using a partitioned drive.  Mine is not partition, as far as I can tell.  See this:
    Any ideas?  Thanks

    The solution is essentially "simple." You need a larger hard drive for these backups or you need to use a different backup solution. By this I mean using backup software that does not preserve an archive of old copies of a file, but simply erases old copies in order to replace them with the new copies. By replacing your backup drive can always accommodate the drive it backs up if it is large enough - say the same size. I can suggest:
    Backup Software Recommendations
    Carbon Copy Cloner
    Data Backup
    Deja Vu
    SuperDuper!
    Synk Pro
    Tri-Backup
    Others may be found at VersionTracker or MacUpdate.
    Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore.  Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
    All of the above are capable of being scheduled. Synk Pro makes immediate backups of any changed file on the hard drive. You may configure it to archive changes (like Time Machine) or to delete prior copies.

  • After installing Mountain Lion, my Time Machine won't back up ... says the sparsebundle is in use

    After installing Mountain Lion, my Time Machine won't back up ... says the sparsebundle is in use

    Standard problem in ML.. apple do not seem to want to recognise.
    Reboot the TC .. if that fails restart the whole network in correct order.. modem.. router/TC... clients.. with 2min gap.
    There are other suggestions like changing the password.. all they do is the same as reboot.
    Read C12.. most quoted Q in pondini website history. This is asked 10 times a day.
    http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
    Here is another way to get a useful utility in ML.. rather than toyland version.
    How to load 5.6 into ML.
    1. Download 5.6 for Lion.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1482
    Click to open the dmg but do not attempt to install the pkg.. it won't work anyway.
    2. Download and install unpkg.
    http://www.timdoug.com/unpkg/
    Run unpkg on the desktop.. it is very simple.. drag the AirPortUtility56.pkg file over to unpkg.. and it will create a new directory of the same name on the desktop.. drill down.. applications utilities .. there lo and behold is Airport utility 5.6 .. drag it to your main utilities directory or just run it from current location.
    You cannot uninstall 6.1 so don't try.. and you cannot or should not run them both at the same time.. so just ignore the toyland version.. the plastic hammer.. and start using 5.6.. a real tool.

  • Time Machine won't back up external drive to Time Capsule

    I recently got a Time Capsule, and successfully set it up to back up my iMac's primary drive, but for some reason Time Machine won't back up my external drive to the Time Capsule.
    I removed the external drive from the exclusion list in System Preferences > Time Machine > Options, and from what I've read this should be sufficient to make Time Machine back up the drive.
    The external drive is connected to my iMac via Thunderbolt > Thunderbolt-to-Firewire adaptor > Firewire 800 input, and the Time Capsule is connected via Ethernet to my LAN.
    Since I'm using Ethernet, I've disabled Wi-Fi on the Time Capusule by going to AirPort Utility > My Time Capsule > Edit > Wireless > Network Mode > Off.
    The reason I believe the external drive is not being backed up is because when I click the Time Machine icon in the upper-right status bar and choose "Enter Time Machine", none of the folders on external drive show any older versions.
    Furthermore, when I click Finder > Time Machine Backups > Backups.backupdb, I can see only one sub-folder which has the name of my iMac's primary drive. I can't see any equivalent folder for my external drive.
    Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

    I don't see anything you have done wrong.. perhaps it does backup in a different way.
    Load the widget.. A1 here... http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
    That will allow you to track the log of TM to see what it is doing.
    I would also try rebooting the computer.. exclude the drive again.. reboot.. and remove the exclusion.
    You should be able to check the actual settings of TM in plist file.
    And you can do a full reset of TM as well.. See A4. Check what is in the file. Pondini lists the location for you.
    Nothing surprises me with Mountain Lion ...!!

Maybe you are looking for