I told Time Machine no and now it won't detect my external drive...

Whenever I would plug in my external drive it would pop up with a Time Machine dialog asking if I would like to set it up for backup. I usually hit the ask me later option. Well last time I just hit no. It was starting to annoy me. Well now, when I plug in that drive, it won't detect it or pop up on the desktop. It works on my laptop. How the heck do I get it back?! I have files I really need to transfer!
I would appreciate any info you can give. My i7 is my first Mac in 10 years and I am a bit lost.

As far as I know the drive should still appear as an icon on your Desktop even if you turned down Time Machine's request to use it as the TM backup drive. What's on the external drive right now? Is it just stuff that you dragged and dropped onto it for backup? But if you've used it as a Time Machine backup on your laptop then maybe that's part of the reason you're having difficulty getting it to show up.
P.S. If you want TM to ask you again if you want to use this external drive as a TM backup, go to Applications and open Time Machine and then go to Time Machine preferences and make the selection you desire.
Regards,
Steve M.
Message was edited by: Steve M.

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I restored a Macbook Pro from a Time Machine backup and now none of my passwords are working (and I know they are the correct passwords). What can I do?

I restored a Macbook Pro from a Time Machine backup and now none of my passwords are working (and I know they are the correct passwords). What can I do?

First, make sure caps lock is not on.
Another reason why the password might not be recognized is that the keyboard layout (input source) has been switched without your realizing it. You can select one of the available layouts by choosing from the flag menu in the upper right corner, if it's showing, or cycle through them by pressing the key combination command-space or command-option-space. See also this support article.
If the user account is associated with an Apple ID, and you know the Apple ID password, then maybe the Apple ID can be used to reset your user account password. In OS X 10.10 and later, this option also works with FileVault, but only if you enabled it when you activated FileVault. It's not retroactive. Otherwise, see below.
Note: If you've activated FileVault, this procedure doesn't apply. Follow instead these instructions.
Start up in Recovery mode. When the OS X Utilities window appears, select
Utilities ▹ Terminal
from the menu bar at the top of the screen—not from any of the items in the OS X Utilities window.
In the window that opens, type this:
resetp
Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:
resetpassword
Press return. A Reset Password window opens. Close the Terminal window to get it out of the way.
Select the startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if not already selected. You won't be able to do this if FileVault is active.
Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.
Follow the prompts to reset the password. It's safest to choose a password that includes only the characters a-z, A-Z, and 0-9.
Select
 ▹ Restart
from the menu bar.
You should now be able to log in with the new password, but the Keychain will be reset (empty.) If you've forgotten the Keychain password (which is ordinarily the same as the login password), there's no way to recover it.

I just reinstalled from my time machine backup and now it is asking me for a user id. I never had one before

As part of the hard drive recall for imacs i had my drive replaced.
i just reinstalled from my time machine backup and now it set up a user id, I never had one before. Of course I don't know the password and cannot get in.
Why? How do I get around it?

Time Machine Restore and now says Scanner not found - when trying to use

the printers.
Had a faulty harddrive -(per the apple store - this after replacing the screen and logic board...) - so they installed a new one - I restored from my time machine backup - and then went to use my HP 1315 Scanner. Didn't work - get error - scanner not found - even though I can print to the device.
So - I uninstalled and reinstalled the printer in the system preferences - but get same error - so instead I uninstalled all the HP apps and reinstalled them (a pain because HP doesn't make 10.5 software yet).
Still same issue - Scanner not found.
I was using this same scanner prior to the hard drive freeze. HP posts a notice that if you really want the hp software to work you should downgrade to Tiger, install, then reupgrade - but that seems like a lot of hassle to get a scanner to work.
Does anyone have another suggestion?

Thanks Barry -
I wish Profile allowed to list all of my computers and all of My OS systems - but it doesn't - so I'm forced to post each and every time whatever OS is causing whatever issue I'm having.
I have deleted and reinstalled several times to no avail. I do get an error on install that the HPIOX cannot launch...
I am a bit frustrated - this is the 5'th device an Apple upgrade has cost me...
All my belkin devices for my iphone don't work with the new iphone (they altered a pin configuration for the power)
The 1,000 upgraded car kit for Mercedes that I bought just a month ago -- worked great with Iphone 2g - doesn't charge the 3g
Leopard has killed my scanning capabilities...
It wouldn't be such a hard pill to swallow except I keep seeing that ad where the japanese girl comes by and the Mac guy starts talking japanese and the tag line "it just works" -
No - in fact - it doesn't.
My camera only shares pictures with the mac - movies require a 3 way translation
My printer will print - but not scan
My Mercedes car kit will play music - but not charge
All of these things worked with Tiger and Iphone 2g - seems to me like either Apple is trying to force profitability of its partners by forcing consumers to constantly upgrade to new equipment - or - they just don't give a s_t ----

HT201250 i would like to use time machine but also back up other file to my external drive?

I just got a WD T3 external hard drive and I would like to use time machine but also back up other files that to the drive. Can anyone help me out.
Thanks Mark

You would need to go to your Applications folder>Utilities>Disk Utility> and there create Two Partitions on your external hard drive, naming them differently. Then you could go back to your desktop, open the dock, right click on the Time Machine icon and select "Open Time Machine Preferences". In there select the external hard drive Partition that you want to use for TM. The other external drive partition will be available for other uses.
Hope this helps

Time Machine restore and now can't open application

Sorry if this is long but I'm not sure how much is relevant to the current problem. It all started when I received an email with a small excel file. The email would not finish downloading and the color wheel of death was spinning on mail and Safari. Eventually Safari came back to life but mail never did. I could not force quit mail so holding down the power button was the next step. Upon re-booting the screens were blue alternating between three shades. Trying over and over gave the same results. Booted into a different hard drive, opened Windows XP on Boot Camp and brought the email in with no problem. Checked it with McAffee and found no problems.
Went back to OX on a hard drive that was fine, used Disk Utilities and attempted to repair disk with no luck. Tried to re-install both 10.5 & 10.6 and neither would install. Erased the hard drive and tried again with no luck. Got a replacement hard drive 1T from Seagate, put in 10.5 DVD and in utilities chose restore from time machine. Went to a restore point a couple of hours before the problem started just to be safe. When restore was complete, about a hour for 350G, I rebooted as directed. The gray screen with the apple logo appeared then darkened and a message appeared directing to shut down using the power button. Several tries produced the same results. I then went to a different hard drive and opened applications for the problem hard drive. It appears the restore brought back everything but almost all application icons are grayed out with a slash across them, not third party stuff either but iTunes, Safari, System Preferences, Mail etc. When clicking on them I get the pop up "You can't open the application ____ because it is not supported on this type of Mac"
Many of the steps described have been tried over and over again with hopes of a different result (Yes, I know that is the definition of insanity). I have even repeatedly switched the hard drives to different bays wondering if it could be a hardware problem. So far I have over 20 hours invested in this problem so any help would be greatly appreciated.

PCRinAZ wrote:
The gray screen with the apple logo appeared then darkened and a message appeared directing to shut down using the power button.
Is that the one in several languages? If so, that's a *kernel panic.* They're usually hardware, but not always. Disconnect everything, except keyboard and mouse. Reconnect one at a time to see if you can find the culprit.
If that's no help, disconnect everything again and run the Apple Hardware Test, from the separate disc that came with your Mac. Instructions should be printed on it (in very tiny type).
If it passes that, you might want to download and run the Rember app, a free and much more extensive memory test: http://www.kelleycomputing.net/rember/
more kernel panic info:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1392
http://www.index-site.com/kernelpanic.html
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/kernelpanics.html
Several tries produced the same results. I then went to a different hard drive and opened applications for the problem hard drive.
You lost me there. What is the "different hard drive"? A clone? Of the same Mac?
Which is the "problem hard drive," the replaced internal?
It appears the restore brought back everything but almost all application icons are grayed out with a slash across them, not third party stuff either but iTunes, Safari, System Preferences, Mail etc. When clicking on them I get the pop up "You can't open the application ____ because it is not supported on this type of Mac"
This almost sounds like you got PPC stuff restored onto an Intel, or vice-versa.

Time Machine freezes/stalls now that I have a new external HD

I have been using a LaCie HD for years to back up my computer with Time Machine. All has been fine. I have an iMac/OS 10.5.8. But a few months ago, I got an EZQ 1 TB external HD to store my video. The Time Machine is still set to store my backup on the LaCie. But now, every so often, Time Machine will freeze up and stall while trying to back things up. I can't force quit anything, so I need to do a hard restart of the computer. It takes forever to reboot, and when it does, it can't find my EZQ HD. What's going on? Thanks for the info.

Kyrak21 wrote:
Thanks for the suggestions. I tried all of them, but I'm still having problems. Could the new hard drive be messing up Time Machine, even though they are not connected?
Possibly, directly or indirectly.
Is Time Machine backing-up anything on the EZQ drive? If so, exclude it for a while and see if the problems stop.
How are these drives connected to your Mac? If they're not on separate ports, try that if at all possible, at least temporarily. If a hub or daisy-chaining is involved, try connecting directly if at all possible. Those should narrow down the possibilities.
If not, it's possible that OSX is having trouble with the EZQ, slowing things down, but not too badly until Time Machine also needs some resources. What happens if you eject and disconnect it -- do the problems stop?
Another way to see what's happening is to watch your CPU usage via the +Activity Monitor+ app (in your Applications/Utilities folder). When it starts, select either +All Processes+ or +Active Processes+ in the toolbar, and sort the list by the +% CPU+ column, so the highest numbers are on top, and select the CPU tab towards the bottom. For this purpose, also select +View > Update Frequency > Less Often+ or Normal from the Menubar.
Various processes will "spike" up and down normally as they do things, then are idle, so you need to watch it for a while and get a feel for the processes that are using the most CPU, and the +% Idle+ at the bottom.
Let it run; try to keep at least the first few lines visible at all times, so you'll be able to see them when your Mac slows down or freezes. When that happens, see what process(es) are using the most CPU.
If the process(es) involved aren't familiar to you, post their names here (and or check this out: http://triviaware.com/macprocess/all)

Time machine questions... how to use with an external drive etc.

Hi,
I am about to start using Time Machine. I have a few questions:
1. Can Time machine be used to restore data and applications / application settings?
2. I have a CalDigit VR eSATA drive which is 1TB RAID 1 which I was going to use as the Time Machine target drive.
Does Time machine store all of its data files in one main folder with many sub folders?
If my TM backup data takes up 600GB on the drive can I safely store other data on the 400GB or is it best to partition the drive HFS+ Journaled 600/400 and leave TM to its own dedicated partition?
3. Does TM keep adding data until it runs out of disk space and only then delete older BUs?
4. Is TM a good backup software for total recovery or is something like SuperDuper better? I would almost never use TM to recover a file that was deleted... but I am looking for a way to protect against data lost in the case of HD failure.

If you haven't found this yet, take a look here: http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/#tutorial=leopardtimemachine
That should give you a rough idea of the "look and feel."
1. Can Time machine be used to restore data and applications / application settings?
Yes, unless you tell it not to, it saves everything (except some system caches, temp files, etc.). If your HD fails, you can recover your entire system to a new/repaired HD via your Leopard install disc (it has the restore utility) and your TM backups. OS, apps (Apple and 3rd-party), preferences, settings, data, the whole system.
Does Time machine store all of its data files in one main folder with many sub folders?
As you may be able to see in the video, the small Finder window is very much like the main one; you can see your data in the same way. TM presents a "picture" that appears to be a full, separate backup of the way your Mac looked at any time. Of course, that's an illusion. It only actually copies files/folders that have been added or changed since the last backup.
You can't tell which items are "real" and which are the "multi-links" representing a file that didn't change on that particular backup.
For more info on the internals: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/10/12/roadto_mac_os_x_leopard_timemachine.html
3. Does TM keep adding data until it runs out of disk space and only then delete older BUs?
Sort of. After an initial Full backup, it does incrementals (hourly, if you let it). Then it converts the first of the day to a daily backup, which it keeps for a month, and deletes the other hourlies after they're 24 hours old.
After a month, it converts one per week into a weekly backup and deletes the dailies.
It keeps the weeklies until it runs out of room, then begins deleting the oldest. But because of the "multi-links," it doesn't delete it's copy of anything that's still on your internal HD. So it manages it's space and deletions automatically and intelligently.
4. Is TM a good backup software for total recovery or is something like SuperDuper better?
They both have their advantages and disadvantages. Many of us use a clone plus TM. The clone advantage is, of course, being bootable. TM isn't. TM's advantages are the very fast incremental backups (it doesn't have to examine every file and folder to see what's changed): the ability to restore old items; and the ability to restore your entire system to a previous state, even if that's a prior version of Leopard!

TS1550 Time Machine fails to backup after I've repartitioned the external drive

Just got this new iMac running OS X version 10.8.4 and can't get Time Machine to complete the back up... It is extremely slow... makes me think of the Windows environment I'm trying to escape from... and then after several hours (only achieving about 200MB back up) I get a message that the back up failed.
I've repartitioned the 1T HP drive several times to the Mac OS as advised by the Apple on-line advisory, and have run rhe Disk utility repair function... but still can't get it to work.
? suggestions

Hi, I never use TM, but...
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.

How can I delete time machine backup folders moved into the trash from an external drive?

I made the mistake of moving Time Machine backup files into the trash, but I can't seem to delete them. I tried the option key when clicking on "Empty Trash" and "Secure Empty Trash" (before and after rebooting), but that always led to error 8003. The files won't allow me to change their name. Using approchaes to Terminal from three different Mac-related webpages also failed. I also tried Trash It, but it seemed to be making little progress after letting it run 48 hours. Any other suggestions before calling Apple?

Assuming these were not backups made over a network (thus not in a sparse bundle disk image), see #E6 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
But any way you empty the trash on that disk/partition is probably going to take a very long time -- there's no doubt several hundred thousand files there, perhaps a million or more.
You may have to just erase the disk (with Disk Utility) and start over.
You really shouldn't have to delete Time Machine backups, as it will do that automatically when the destination gets full. But if you really want to, see #12 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.

Time machine cannot backup my 4GB Macbook Pro to 500GB external drive

I have used Time Machine to back up my MBP (4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3) for over a year. I back it up to a 500GB LaCie external drive that currently has ~272 GB of available space. I am no longer able to back up to this drive via TM due to insufficient space, per TM. I recently upgraded my OS to Yosemite OS X 10.10, but I'm not sure the backup problem coincides with my upgrade. I launch TM, the back up begins but times out due to unavailable space on my LaCie, which seems incorrect. I'd appreciate input/ideas on how to resolve this.

See if the problem is answered here:
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Ciao.

HELP!!! iPhone randomly reset and now it won't detect SIM card?

Ok so here's what I was doing when this all happened.
I had called the Linksys support for a new router I just bought that wasn't working right. After waiting about 8 mins I was connected to a gentlmen in India, we worked on my problem for about 10mins or so and then all of sudden my phone just reset, or at least went to the apple logo and just sat there.
then after 30 seconds it started ringing (before it fully restarted) and it was the tech gentlemen call me back. So I slide the thing to answer and the screen froze with the slider on the right but not unlocked but I could see the time and my back ground, just no buttons and I could still hear him and talk to him.
After we fix my problem with the router he hung up, but my phone was still froze and then it started ringing (a friend had tried to call me before it reset while I was on the phone so I assume it was him again). I couldn't answer and it just kept ringing and ringing so I held the wake button and slide the red slider to shut it off.
Left it off for 30 seconds or so then press and held it again to turn it on. Now it says restore need, connect to itunes!
ok, so I did and after wait about 30sec to a minute after connecting it to itunes it comes up with this error:
*"iTunes cannot activate your iPhone because the SIM card is not inserted or a SIM PIN is required. Disconnect your iPhone, make sure the SIM card is inserted correctly and, if you use a SIM PIN, tap Unlock to enter it, and then reconnect your iPhone."*
What the heck?! I've had it randomly reset once before about a month and a half ago and which point I did have to restore, and it did and it worked fine after that.
The SIM card IS in there, and I have no idea what my SIM PIN would be, nor do I see the option for it they speak of! And this happened about 9:30pm, well after any Apple or AT&T stores are closed! I even turned off the phone, took the SIM card out and put it back and it still did the same thing!
What would cause this to randomly just mess-up like this? I loved this phone when I got it but now that this is the 2nd time this has happened and much worse I'm pretty ticked about it. And it's not like I hacked it or unlocked it or whatever that is even called, the only things I've put on my iphone are music, pictures, and programs I all got thru itunes!
PLEASE HELP!

Hi Guys,
I'm writing this from the UK. Got an iPhone 3G bought a few weeks ago and activated (no jailbreak or other stuff)it. It worked fine but last night it gave the same error as originally reported in this thread.
Went into the O2 store (this is the provider selling iPhones in the UK) and they told me is the SIM card. Got a new one but still the same...
There is something going on here because I've seen lots of claims with the exact same description. Its almost like there is a bug in the software that gets activated on the 3rd of January.
Will go tomorrow again and ask for a new phone.

I want to use two separate Lion Time Machine backups and use them to create two separate profiles on one new computer

This is something I need to do temporarily but I must do it.
I have an iMac 27 (end of year 2009) I5. It has 1 TB internal and I want to replace it with a 2 TB internal.
I have time machine backups on an external hard drive that has been connected via Firewire.
I have another iMac (my son's)Imac 24 Intel Core 2 Duo that has it's own separate Time machine backup to it's own separate firewire connected external drive. Both machines are completely up to date with the latest version of Lion and all other necessary software updates.
When the internal hardrive is replaced - I want to use my latest time machine backup to create one profile on the imac and then use my son's latest time machine back up for a second profile. The end goal being to have everything from my current set up ie: apps, documents, itunes, etc existing in one profile and everything in my son's current set up existing in the other profile. We can both be administrators for the time being as well. I should note even though we both have some of the same apps, we both also have other apps that the other does not.
My profile will be using about 900 gigs of total space.
My son's profile will be using about 250 gigs of total space.
This is temporary until the new iMac is released. Then I will want to transfer my profile to that leaving my son's intact on the iMac 27 I5.
I realize that during the temporary period that Time Machine will be making backups of this entire two profile setup, which I am now understanding as I write this will create a new issue for me when I want to transfer only my profile to the new computer as well. But one bridge to cross at a time, I guess.
I need to do this because we must bring his current computer to my father - as his iMac G5 is inoperable. We have been doing this round robin hand me down in our family since IMac DV special edition :-)
Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated. And any other suggestions as well.
Thanks very much.

Hey Shootist000, Thanks for the replies. First off, I am actually okay if we both have each other applications so I am not concerned about that. It is still unclear from what you have said as to whether I can in fact, use these two separte time machine backup to create two separate profiles on the new hard drive. If that in fact can be done, then - will it create two copies of the apps we both have in the ROOT of the drive as well as placing all the ones we each have separately?
And reading your second reply, makes me think that maybe the partition is the way to go to begin with and then down the road - after I am in the new iMac, I could reformat the iMac 27 with only one partion and restore my son's latest back prior to the reformat thus giving him full access to the 2 TB of the drive.
If this is still making sense, does this mean :
replace the 1TB with a 2TB - but have it partitione - 1.5 TB & 500 GB.
Install(Restore using Time Machine) my latest back up prior to the 1.5 partition
Install (Restore using Time Machine) my son's latest back up prior to the 500 gig partition
Lastly, in order for us both to be using the partioned computer - I am assuming Switch user can no longer be used - so would we need to restart and select our respective partions in order to use the computer? And if so, how would we each be able to be using time machine to back up - two separte external hard drives - with each one dedicated to only one partition? Or ?
Thanks so much.
Ironically, I am only trying to do this so that I don't need to manually install all his apps, setting, games, blah blah for this temporary period. :-)

Had a recent crash on my macbook, was previously using OS 10.6 I think. Restored from recent Time Machine backup and updated to OS 10.8.2 and now I cannot open Logic Pro 9. I get a 'No entry' Icon and a not supported on this type of Mac message. I cannot

Had a recent crash on my macbook, was previously using OS 10.6 I think. Restored from recent Time Machine backup and updated to OS 10.8.2 and now I cannot open Logic Pro 9. I get a 'No entry' Icon and a not supported on this type of Mac message. I cannot update either as anything up to 9.1.1 tells me I don't need it yet 9.1.2 tells me I need an eligable Logic Pro Version was not found in applications.
All of my files are stored in a separate hard drive with only the actual app having been on my Macbook. Should I just reinstall?

Hi
To run Mouitain Lion you need to update Logic.
For the updaters to work the Logic application must be:
a) Within the Applications folder, and not in any sub-folder
b) Named "Logic Pro" with no extra numbers or spaces
CCT

I went to Mac Store and had replaced hard drive because I encountered 4HDD ERROR(hard drive failure). I had backed up my old hard drive by TIME MACHINE regularly. Now how can I restore everything I had?

I went to Mac Store and had replaced hard drive because I encountered 4HDD ERROR(hard drive failure). I had backed up my old hard drive by TIME MACHINE regularly. Now how can I restore everything I had?

Thanks for your response.
I had tried COMMAND+ALT+R which led me to directly to INTERNET RECOVERY via wifi. After 1 hour or so it dropped me at the same point.
I've tried MIGRANT ASSISTANCE as well, it kept on LOOKING FOR OTHER COMPUTERS even though I clicked on TIME MACHINE BACK UP USING EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE
so what to do now?
P.S. Guys at MacStore were so careless to even listen to me when I asked them about retrieving back up :(
Please help

I told Time Machine no and now it won't detect my external drive...

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