Initial time machine backup larger than actual computer harddrive

I've got an iMac with a 1TB harddrive and am trying to use a time machine set up to back up my harddrive. The external harddrive I'm using for my back up is also 1TB. I currently have about 135GB of free space on my iMac's harddrive and my external drive is completely empty. When I try to back up using time machine it tells me that the back up is 1.2TB and cannot fit on my 1TB external harddrive. What would cause the initial back up to be larger than the actual computers harddrive? Is there anything I can do to rectify this issue without me needing to purchase a larger external harddrive for back up?

Ikue wrote:
The external harddrive I'm using for my back up is also 1TB. I currently have about 135GB of free space on my iMac's harddrive and my external drive is completely empty.
That means you're trying to back up about 865 GB to a 1 TB drive; and that's not large enough for Time Machine.
Time Machine not only keeps copies of everything currently on your Mac, but also previous copies of things you've changed or deleted, so it needs a lot more space than the data it's backing-up.
What's causing your immediate problem is, TM adds about 20% to the estimated size of the backup, for workspace on the TM drive and in case the estimate is too small. So 865 GB + 173 GB = over 1 TB.
Long-term, you need a much larger drive for Time Machine, at least 1.5 TB, probably 2 TB.
Short-term, you can squeeze your backups onto the 1 TB drive by excluding some big stuff per Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #10 and running a backup.
Then remove the exclusion, and run another backup. Since the second backup will be much smaller, the additional 20% won't be so large as to exceed the size of the TM drive.
But TM won't be able to keep backups very long, and if it needs to do a large backup, there may not be room.

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Initial time machine backup larger than the original

I have been using time machine with a 1 TB time capsule without issue on a older Macbook in the house. I just got a Macbook pro and am attempting to backup on the same time capsule. During setup, Time machine states there is 118GB to back up when looking under options (which is correct). Then when it goes to back up after "processing" it states that it is backing up 330gb (larger than my harddrive of 250GB). I took off about 167 GB of files off the time capsule. I erased the backup file on time capsule and started over. It still says that there is correctly 118GB to back up before it starts but now after processing it says it will be backing up 163 GB. (330GB-167GB=163GB) Of note there is 45GB of other stuff including the backup of the other Mac still on the time capsule. (163GB-45GB=118 GB.) It appears to be calculating to re-back-up what is already stored on the time capsule. How do I deal with this issue?

Your backup drive has been use to backup both computers. TM may think it should still be backing up both computers. If both computers are on the TC network that would be the normal expectation.
If that's not the case but you've given the new computer the same Computer Name as the old computer, then TM may be trying to backup files that are non-existent but still located in the backup set. If this is the case, then reformat the TC.

Time Machine backup larger than my new HD

Hello,
I am planning on buying a Retina MBP with 512GB storage. I recently sold my iMac and backed up my 600GB worth of data. I want to make sure I can at least transfer my core OS settings, apps, and files first, but I know the process isn't easily configurable. Will I have issues setting up my new mac and has anyone successfully done this using the wizard?
Thanks,
Jonathan

ultimatist wrote:
but I know the process isn't easily configurable. Will I have issues setting up my new mac and has anyone successfully done this using the wizard?
You can omit things, like entire user accounts, or the content of one or more of the sub-folders (Desktop, Documents, Music, etc.) in a user account.
By all means, use Setup Assistant when your new Mac first starts up, not Migration Assistant later. See Using Setup Assistant on Mountain Lion or Lion for the gory details.

HT201250 How long should an initial time machine backup of tack for 675 GB?s with a USB external hard drive?

How long should an initial time machine backup of tack for 675 GB?s with a USB external hard drive?

Not much faster than 40 GBs-60GBs per hour. So, minimally, around 12 hours.

How can I use the Time Machine Backups from my Old Computer?

I have two months of Time Machine backups made using my old Macintosh computer which died and I no longer have. I have now purchased a new computer and am trying to use the Time Machine back ups from the original computer, but it will not recognise them. How can I get my new MacBook Pro to use the Time Machine Backups from my old Computer? I phoned the Apple help line and they said I cannot use them and would have to delete them. This sounds crazy if you can only use the Time Machine back up file with one computer and have to delete it when you buy a new Mac. Surely there must be some way to transfer ownership (not files) from an old to the new Mac?
Thanks
Richard

Thanks Kevin for the suggestion posted on MacOSXHints how to "Repair Time Machine after logic board changes".
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080128003716101
It seems as though I am not alone with my frustration with the way Time Machine uses the MAC address of a computer to tell one system from another. This means that if you have your Mac repaired with a new logic board, or replace your system with a new one, you can't resume backups where you left off. Reading through the readers who used the fix using Terminal, it appears that the fix does not always work. I contacted Apple again, but they were no help. Surely Apple should come out with a solution as more and more people use Time Machine/Time Capsule.
It is CRAZY that after a change computers or a switch in the computer logic board that you cannot resume your Time Machine back ups.

Initial Time machine backup was interrupted

I interrupted my initial Time Machine backup. How do I reinstate the initial backup?

Turn off TM, erase the external with Disk Utility, turn on TM and re-select the external HD.

Just bought a used MacBook pro after my previous died. I want to migrate my applications, data, etc from a time machine backup of the old computer to the new. Will this affect, or overwrite the Apps., data, etc existing on the new machine?

Just bought a used MacBook pro after my previous died. I want to migrate my applications, data, etc from a time machine backup of the old computer to the new. Will this affect, or overwrite the Apps., data, etc existing on the new machine?

No. Only those Apps that are not installed on the new will migrate over.

HT201250 when restoring a time machine backup to a new computer, does it affect the new operating system on the new computer

when restoring a time machine backup to a new computer, does it affect the new operating system on the new computer?

That depends on how you do it.
By far the best, easiest, most reliable method is to use Setup Assistant when your shiny new Mac first starts up, to transfer your apps, users, data, etc. That doesn't disturb either the OS or basic Apple apps that came with the new Mac. See Using Setup Assistant on Mountain Lion or Lion.
There is a facility to restore an entire system from Time Machine backups, including the version of OSX on the backup, but that's for use when your internal HD has been erased or replaced only. It's not a good idea to restore the full backup of one Mac to a different one. Depending on the circumstances, the installer may not allow it. Even if it does, the Mac may not start up, or may kernel panic, or not work properly.

Initial Time Machine backup 60 GB smaller than HD content?

Hello,
I've just performed an initial backup with TIme Machine on an external HD. The result is that TM's backup's size is 360 GB, but my internal HD that has 420 GB of data...
I had no problems during the backup, no warning messages. I don't understand, so I'm not very confortable pursuing with this backup.
The only explanation could be that I've a lot of duplicates on my iMac (2x big iTunes library with same files...) at the moment: does TM save only one copy of same files that are in different directories of the source HD?
Thanks :)

You can verify your Time Machine backup.
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, press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the page that opens.
Drag or copy – do not type – the following line into the Terminal window, then press return:
sudo tmutil compare
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.
The command will take at least a few minutes to run. Eventually some lines of output will appear below what you entered.
Each line that begins with a plus sign (“+”) represents a file that has been added to the source volume since the last snapshot was taken. These files have not been backed up yet.
Each line that begins with an exclamation point (“!”) represents a file that has changed on the source volume. These files have been backed up, but not in their present state.
Each line that begins with a minus sign (“-“) represents a file that has been removed from the source volume.
Files that you’ve excluded from backup, or that are excluded automatically, are ignored.
At the end of the output, you’ll get some lines like the following:
Added:
Removed:
Changed:
These lines show the total amount of data added, removed, or changed on the source(s) since the last snapshot.

Time Machine Backup smaller than the actually used storage on my Mac

Hey there. I just made my first Time Machine Backup on my Time Capsule, but I was surprised to see, that the backup is only 118.73GB big, while my "Macintosh HD" says that I have already used 120.43GB. Fortunately everything works (further backups, entering Time Machine etc.).
Is that possible and normal? If yes: Why?
Best wishes,
Alexander Weis

Hi there,
I have the exact same issue, just on my hard drive, it didn't back up about 6gb of my files.
In the initial window that showed me the progress of the backup it told me that it was
going to back up 64gb of my data, which was correct. It then stopped so that there were
6gb of files that were not backed up.
I'll call AppleCare sometime to let them know, but until I suggest visiting
this site: http://shiftedbits.org/2007/10/31/time-machine-exclusions/
It shows which directories are not backed up by time machine,
so this could add up to your two missing 2 gb.
I hope I could help,
Sebastian

Initial Time Machine Backup Stuck on "Indexing Backup"

I have Mac Mini running 10.7.2. I just got an external hard drive and am trying to run an initial back up using Time Machine. I am running my computer in Safe Mode as it won't start in regular mode. I formatted the HD and began to run Time Machine back up. HD is connected via USB 2.0 wire.
It has now been 12 hours and is still on Indexing Backup... Is this normal for initial back up? I know it takes a long time for initial but this doesn't seem right.What do I do to correct if it isn't correct? Should I stop and try again?

Thank you very much. With your info I gave up on the back up and ran Disk and Permission Repair for the 3rd or 4th time and crossed my fingers and restarted my machine and it WORKED! I ran time Machine back up and when I woke up this morning it was all done! Yeahhhh!
I wasn't sure what was causing it not to start in regular mode and as I'm not too much of a techie I was scared that I was teetetering on the brink of losing everything. The machine would run so I didn't think it was a hard drive issue, but not knowing for sure I was concerned and after losing everythign once before years ago, I was worried. I have it backed up on line but wanted a 2nd (local) version that wouldn't entail tying up bandwidth for days. In the end it worked out!
But the short answer is, Time Machine Backup does NOT work in Safe Mode...

Making a Time Machine Backup from a networked computer

I have two identical macbook pro laptops with identical os Mac OS X 10.6.7 (10J869)
Macbook one has a frozen screen from a bad logic card. This macbook never had time machine implimented.
Macbook two is now tied to Macbook one via firewire and I can access all of macbook one's files.
My question is, can I make a time machine backup of macbook one using the current firewire connection and then reinstall that to macbook two?
Thanks in advance for any help.

Download and install SuperDuper on MBP1's hard drive.
With MBP1 in FireWire Target Disk Mode, connect your external USB drive to MBP2 and open SuperDuper. Select MBP1's drive as the source and the external drive as the target for the clone, and select "Backup — all files". Click the Copy Now button and enter your admin password. This will make the external drive an exact, bootable replica (clone) of MBP1's hard drive, erasing anything that was on the external drive previously. It may take anywhere from half an hour to several hours, depending on how much is stored on the drive, and it will show you a progress bar to indicate how far along it is. It's a very good idea not to use the computer for anything else while this process is going on. Plan to leave it alone until the cloning is finished.
Once that's done, restart MBP2 while holding down the Option key to invoke the Startup Manager, and select the external drive to start up from. If the startup goes normally (it may be slower than normal, but otherwise should be about the same) and the computer seems to run the way you would have expected MBP1 to run if it were working, you're ready to clone the external drive onto MBP2's internal drive. This will erase everything that's now on MBP2, so make sure anything that you need to back up is taken care of before proceeding. You'll need to back that stuff up to a different external drive from the one that contains the clone of MBP1, or to burned CDs or DVDs.( In a pinch, you can back it up to the drive in MBP1 if there's room for it there, but if you do so, keep it separate from the stuff that was on MBP1 before you cloned it, so you won't have trouble finding and identifying the MBP2 backed-up data again. And don't overwrite or erase any of the stuff that was already on MBP1 until it has been safely installed on MBP2.)
When you're satisfied that everything from MBP2 that needs backing up has been attended to, open the copy of SuperDuper that now resides on the external drive. Designate that drive as the source and MBP2's drive as the target, and repeat the cloning process. When that's finished, MBP2's drive too will be an exact, bootable replica of MBP1's drive (and of the external drive, of course), and you will need only to copy back onto it whatever data you backed up from it before the second cloning operation.
The success of this procedure in producing a bootable copy of MBP1's drive on MBP2's drive relies very heavily on your statement that the two MBPs are exactly the same model. If that isn't true, all bets are off.

Initial Time Machine Backup with Time Capsule

Hello,
I just started to back everything up with Time Capsule and Time Machine. The backup is 45 GB so it's going to take a while. Two questions:
1. There is a Volume created on my Desktop called "Backup of [My Computer Name]". Is this supposed to happen?
2. In the actual drive, there is a Sparse file, not the usual backups.backupdb folder that is created when attaching a drive via USB. Is this supposed to be like that as well?
Thanks!

Thank you for the response. I have a couple more questions.
1. Is there a way to manually go through the files? I used to be able to when it was backing up locally through USB.
2. If I change the folder name of the location of the Time Machine backups, do I have to start my backups all over again?
Thanks!

Problems trying to restore Time Machine backup to a new computer

Hi there-
I recently purchased a new MacBook Pro and want to downgrade it from Lion to Snow Leopard. I have Time Machine backups from my slightly older MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard. However, when I attempt to restore from the Snow Leopard backup, I get a message stating I can't restore that backup because it was done on a different computer. Is there a way around this so that I can essentially just overwrite my new computer with my latest backup of the older running Snow Leopard? Thanks in advance-

I should say though, I don't know for sure if a complete disk wipe will allow you to boot off the 10.6.3 Snow Leopard disks or not, as I don't fully understand how the firmware works. There are two parts I know of, the hardware firmware and the EFI software firmware.
EFI supposedly has it's own partition on the drive, which should be able to be completly erased.. When I installed rEFIt however (it's a alternate firmware allowing me to boot other operating systems), it required two reboots for it to take hold.
I also should say I've never taken a factory Lion installed machine and put Snow Leopard on it.
So far what I've been able to determine is the firmware is blocking the booting of the 10.6.3 disks (the only retail version there is) so you can't install Snow Leopard, if the firmware can be flashed to a earlier verison the 10.6.3 disks should boot as the hardware drivers for 2011 MBP's reside on the 10.6.3 disks.
But if you have a second Mac, then the target disk mode of the link above should work, you can also create a large HFS+ journaled partition in Disk Utility in Lion and then use Target Disk mode of the other Mac to install Snow Leopard there.
I wish you luck, you might have to visit MacRumors or another Mac site to get further information. The Lion machines are very new, Apple is resisting attempts to downgrade from Lion to Snow Leopard and not many have done it yet.
I bought my machine pre-Lion so I can stick with Snow and avoid the Lion pain, but have it on another older Mac for experimental puposes (quad boot).
I'm pretty sure rEFIt will allow you to boot off the 10.6.3 disks.
I'm sorry if I couldn't have been more help, I'm still learning how to get around this 10.6.3 block myself.
If I had a factory Lion machine, I would most certainly post a blog how to downgrade the SOB to 10.6 somehow.

Time Machine backup smaller than source

Hi everybody -
I just did my Time Machine backup, and I've noticed that the content on the backup is about 5 GB smaller than the content on my MBP's source. (And yes, this deficit is taking into account the items I have already excluded from backup.)
In fact, when I open up Time Machine options, and I see the list of excluded items, the "approximate size of backup" says 240GB, but the actual size of the backup is 235GB. Any idea what's going on here? Assuming that everything is working as it should, I'm not terribly concerned about this discrepancy, but if it's indicative of something not working properly, I want to get it taken care of, should I experience a need to restore to a previous backup at some point.
Ideas? Thanks!

Try a new post in the 10.6 Time Machine forum.
DALE

Initial time machine backup larger than actual computer harddrive

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