Is this first back up with Time Machine too slow?

Question

I'm running my first backup onto a new Western Digital Essential 1 terrabyte via a USB connection.
It started at 2AM. It's now 9AM and the progress bar reads:
"16.5 Gigs of 118 Gigs"
That's a little better than two gigs an hour.
This seems very slow to me and I'd like to know if that impression is correct. At that rate it seems like the back up will take more than two days.
Is this "normal?"
The technical stuff from System Profiler is:
OS: 10.5.8
Model Name: Power Mac G4
Model Identifier: PowerMac3,6
Processor Name: PowerPC G4 (3.3)
Processor Speed: 1.25 GHz
Number Of CPUs: 1
L2 Cache (per CPU): 256 KB
L3 Cache (per CPU): 1 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 167 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.4.8f2
My Book 1110:
Capacity: 930.86 GB
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: Yes
BSD Name: disk4
Product ID: 0x1110
Vendor ID: 0x1058 (Western Digital Technologies, Inc.)
Version: 20.03
Serial Number: 574341563541373730353233
Speed: Up to 12 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Western Digital

Answer 1

vanderleun wrote:
I'm running my first backup onto a new Western Digital Essential 1 terrabyte via a USB connection.
It started at 2AM. It's now 9AM and the progress bar reads:
"16.5 Gigs of 118 Gigs"
That's a little better than two gigs an hour.
This seems very slow to me and I'd like to know if that impression is correct.
Yes, that's ridiculous. While Time Machine backups are slower than just copying things, and especially slower at the beginning, you should get roughly 40 - 60 GB/hour, on average.
First, make sure the drive is set up properly, per #C1 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
If so, try the things in the green box of #D2 there. Most of them can be done without cancelling the backup.