I want to set up Time Machine for my Macbook pro but I already have files on my seagate hard drive. Will i lose them if i set up time machine on it ?

So i have a 2 TB Seagate time machine. I had an older laptop that I had transfered things from onto that about 2 years ago. My current macbook has been acting up so i want to set up time machine. Will i lose everything on the hard drive if i try to set it up as time machine now?
I read about partioning it.. but Im still scared i will lose what is on it?
My macbook is about 2 years old running OS.X 10.9.1
Please advise.

Partitoning can be done on the fly.
However TimeMachine works best if it is Partition 1.
If you formate and repartition then yes you lose everything.
How about getting another drive.

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HT3275 Time Machine could not complete the backup. The backup disk image "/Volumes/ELBs Time Ca/ELB's MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use.

For the past couple weeks, my Time Machine has not been backing up file from my MacBook Pro. I've had the Time Capsule for a couple years now. Entering the Time Machine I discovered that there are no files before "yesterday" yet there are only 161.0 GB of 998.06 GB available. A "Failed" message apprears with a popup message: "The backup disk image “/Volumes/ELBs Time Ca/ELB’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” is already in use." How can it be in use when Time Machine takes hours looking for the device?
Another error code message also pops up from time to time: Finder error code -6584. What is that? And how is it fixed?
All software is up to date on this computer and Time Capsule.

Further to my earlier response (system re-start and firmware update resulted in full Time Machine backup) I waited until the next scheduled backup to determine success.
As it has turned out, the Time Machine's next backup was for 48 kb and ran for eight hours! The progress bar was complete (solid blue) and I therefore stopped the backup. It has been "stopping backup" for the past hour.
What is wrong with this process?

I want to buy a hard case for my macbook pro, but I don't know what year it is. When I use the serial number to try and find out, all it says is, "~VIN,MacBook Pro (15-inch Glossy)". When I type that into amazon for a case it gives me nothing!

I want to buy a hard case for my macbook pro, but I don't know what year it is. When I use the serial number to try and find out, all it says is, "~VIN,MacBook Pro (15-inch Glossy)". When I type that into amazon for a case it gives me nothing!

Hi T,
Either of these will give you the info you seek:
http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php
http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

HT3275 Has anyone encountered this message on their time capsule/machine? Time Machine couldn't complete the backup because the backup disk image"/Volumes/Patti's Time Capsule/Patti's MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use"?

Has anyone encountered this message on their time capsule/machine? Time Machine couldn't complete the backup because the backup disk image"/Volumes/Patti's Time Capsule/Patti's MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use"?

If you reboot the computer it should fix the problem. Also see the first link under More Like This to the right of this page:
I am received an error on my Time Capsule which states the backup disk image "Volumes/Data/MacBook Pro. sparse bundle? is already in use. so time machine couldn't complete the backup to time capsule - any suggestion

What do I do when I get this Time Machine message? The backup disk image "/Volumes/Mark McConnell's Time Capsu/Mark's MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use.

What do I do when I get this Time Machine error message?
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Unplug your Time Capsule from power. Wait 10 seconds and then power it on again. When the light goes green try backing up again.

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I've purchased a two 3TB Seagate hard drives that I'd like to use tosetup as time machine how do I go about this.

I'd like to set up Time Machine with an external hard drive. I've purchased two 3 TB Seagate hard drives and a Nex Star port. I can't find it on my computer. Mac OS X 10.6.8

I assume that you are asking about USB connections here, correct?
And, that the "Nex Star port" is a USB hub of some sorts, correct? ( I could not find this product on a quick Google search)
Please connect one of the Seagate hard drives directly to your Mac, bypassing the USB hub that you might have and check to see if the drive appears on the Mac's desktop. Then, eject the drive and check the other Seagate drive to make sure that it appears on the Mac's desktop.
If both drives appear when you test them with a direct connection to the Mac, then the next check would be to connect both drives to the USB hub, and then connect the hub to the USB port on the Mac.
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Examine the documentation that came with the drives to see how they are formatted. If you see something to the effect that the drives are formatted for both PC and Mac, then the drive is not formatted correctly for use with Time Machine.
Please report on your results.

When using a Seagate 1T external hard drive and Time Machine to back up hourly, if I delete photo files from the Mac hard drive before the next back up, are these retained on the Seagate drive or will they be lost (overwritten) in the next backu in the ne

Does Time Machine erase previously saved files if, say, photos are deleted from the Macbook upon the next update, or will they be stored indefinately despite the current status of the files stored on the computer? Eg. can I bckup photo files to a Seagate 1T disc and then delete them to make more room on the computer in the knowlwdge that they are always going to be on the Seagate disc? Sorry if this is very elementary but I have not used a back up before like this, and am not sure how successive backups are overlaid or retained. Thanks!!

TM is not designed to do what you ask. As Allan wrote TM is an incremental backup not an archival solution.
If you delete a file from the HD it will eventually be removed from the TM backup (if it ever makes it on to the backup at all).
How long before it is removed depends on a number of factors, TM disk drive size being one factor but not the only one.
Material that is impossible to replace and is important to you (image files usually fitting that description) need to be backed up to as least one other drive and preferably more for long term storage.

I want to set up Time Machine for my Macbook pro but I already have files on my seagate hard drive. Will i lose them if i set up time machine on it ?

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