Making a back-up without TIme Machine
Hi Everyone,
How can I make back ups (without using Time Machine) while still retaining information like the date and time the pictures were taken, the notes intact, and raw images still raw?
I've made notes using iPhoto and some images are in Canon's Raw file format. I've already tried just dragging pictures to a folder on the Desktop, but the Raw files become smaller jpegs and when I transfer them back to iPhoto, my notes are gone.
Make a copy of the iPhoto Library (in your Pictures Folder) to a new volume or disk. You can make incremental back ups with many apps - DejaVu and Chronosync are two, but there are many, many others. Search on MacUpdate.
FYI If you select the pic in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export then you have many more export options than drag and drop - including exporting the original file.
Regards
TD
Similar Messages
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Backing up without Time Machine
Hi,
I would like to back up my Macbook to an external drive, but not using Time Machine (I have one drive dedicated to Time Machine, but also another 500GB drive of photos etc., and would like to back up everything to that without losing anything on there, before going traveling).
How can I ‘manually’ back up things like Mail, iCal, Safari bookmarks, and so on ?
Is there a way of just manually dragging Mail, iCal, Safari files etc to the external drive, in the way I can do with Word files, PDFs, mp3s, etc?
Thank you in advance.G'day Stuart,
I've done this a couple of times with manual migrations (where I didn't want to use Migration Assistant).
As far as I can tell, the necessary folders & files for Mail are:
~/Library/Mail
~/Library/Mail Downloads
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist
The necessary folders & files for iCal:
~/Library/Calendars
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.ical.plist
The necessary folders & files for Safari:
~/Library/Safari
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.safari.plist
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.safari.RSS.plist
For a more rigorous approach, you could use one of the tools such as Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper! or even Backuplist+ (this is a very handy tool for small jobs).
Cheers,
Rodney -
I'm wondering what the options are for backups without Time Machine. I'm a tech support guy from a way back who's primarily worked with *nix and Windows machines, and I'm no stranger to setting up networks, NAS devices and filers, etc.
This is an all-Apple setup - MacBook Pros, iMacs, iPads, iPhones, etc. There were 2 Time Capsules in the mix, but they both began to fail so we replaced them with a single Seagate 4-bay NAS attached to 2 LAN ports. This is a 10/100/100 network with N-wireless and Gigabit switches.
Both before and after swapping out the Time Capsules for the NAS, we received the "
Time Machine completed a verification of your backups. To improve reliability, Time Machine must create a new backup for you.
message on the MacBooks, less often on the iMac. Post-NAS implementation, we are still seeing on the MacBooks. I've tried relaxing the backup settings to every 3-4 hours since all machines were set to backup every hour as default and I believe they were stepping on each other.
I'm not ruling out the network, or anything at this point, but it seems odd that Time Machine will complete a backup, then at some point in the future find that it's not valid and need to go again from scratch. It's not ideal to use Time Machine if it needs a new full backup every ~2 days or more.
So I'm simultaneously looking for any advice on how to resolve the Time Machine error, and/or how to perform routine backups to the NAS without Time Machine.
Thanks in advance.
MMI'm wondering what the options are for backups without Time Machine
Time machine is NOT a data backup, its a system (/emergency) backup. (whats the difference? the system is data?!, Yes, however the difference is huge).
....and most pros (nearly all) are absolutely NOT using Time machine as a source, and never as a single source to archive important data.
Time machine by definition is absolutely not a data archive, nor a storage nexus for vital data, which is secure by definition.
here you go:
Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection
Data Storage Platforms; their Drawbacks & Advantages
#1. Time Machine / Time Capsule
Drawbacks:
1. Time Machine is not bootable, if your internal drive fails, you cannot access files or boot from TM directly from the dead computer.
OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks include OS X Recovery. This feature includes all of the tools you need to reinstall OS X, repair your disk, and even restore from a Time Machine
"you can't boot directly from your Time Machine backups"
2. Time machine is controlled by complex software, and while you can delve into the TM backup database for specific file(s) extraction, this is not ideal or desirable.
3. Time machine can and does have the potential for many error codes in which data corruption can occur and your important backup files may not be saved correctly, at all, or even damaged. This extra link of failure in placing software between your data and its recovery is a point of risk and failure. A HD clone is not subject to these errors.
4. Time machine mirrors your internal HD, in which cases of data corruption, this corruption can immediately spread to the backup as the two are linked. TM is perpetually connected (or often) to your computer, and corruption spread to corruption, without isolation, which TM lacks (usually), migrating errors or corruption is either automatic or extremely easy to unwittingly do.
5. Time Machine does not keep endless copies of changed or deleted data, and you are often not notified when it deletes them; likewise you may accidently delete files off your computer and this accident is mirrored on TM.
6. Restoring from TM is quite time intensive.
7. TM is a backup and not a data archive, and therefore by definition a low-level security of vital/important data.
8. TM working premise is a “black box” backup of OS, APPS, settings, and vital data that nearly 100% of users never verify until an emergency hits or their computers internal SSD or HD that is corrupt or dead and this is an extremely bad working premise on vital data.
9. Given that data created and stored is growing exponentially, the fact that TM operates as a “store-it-all” backup nexus makes TM inherently incapable to easily backup massive amounts of data, nor is doing so a good idea.
10. TM working premise is a backup of a users system and active working data, and NOT massive amounts of static data, yet most users never take this into consideration, making TM a high-risk locus of data “bloat”.
11. In the case of Time Capsule, wifi data storage is a less than ideal premise given possible wireless data corruption.
12. TM like all HD-based data is subject to ferromagnetic and mechanical failure.
13. *Level-1 security of your vital data.
Advantages:
1. TM is very easy to use either in automatic mode or in 1-click backups.
2. TM is a perfect novice level simplex backup single-layer security save against internal HD failure or corruption.
3. TM can easily provide a seamless no-gap policy of active data that is often not easily capable in HD clones or HD archives (only if the user is lazy is making data saves).
#2. HD archives
Drawbacks:
1. Like all HD-based data is subject to ferromagnetic and mechanical failure.
2. Unless the user ritually copies working active data to HD external archives, then there is a time-gap of potential missing data; as such users must be proactive in archiving data that is being worked on or recently saved or created.
Advantages:
1. Fills the gap left in a week or 2-week-old HD clone, as an example.
2. Simplex no-software data storage that is isolated and autonomous from the computer (in most cases).
3. HD archives are the best idealized storage source for storing huge and multi-terabytes of data.
4. Best-idealized 1st platform redundancy for data protection.
5. *Perfect primary tier and level-2 security of your vital data.
#3. HD clones (see below for full advantages / drawbacks)
Drawbacks:
1. HD clones can be incrementally updated to hourly or daily, however this is time consuming and HD clones are, often, a week or more old, in which case data between today and the most fresh HD clone can and would be lost (however this gap is filled by use of HD archives listed above or by a TM backup).
2. Like all HD-based data is subject to ferromagnetic and mechanical failure.
Advantages:
1. HD clones are the best, quickest way to get back to 100% full operation in mere seconds.
2. Once a HD clone is created, the creation software (Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper) is no longer needed whatsoever, and unlike TM, which requires complex software for its operational transference of data, a HD clone is its own bootable entity.
3. HD clones are unconnected and isolated from recent corruption.
4. HD clones allow a “portable copy” of your computer that you can likewise connect to another same Mac and have all your APPS and data at hand, which is extremely useful.
5. Rather than, as many users do, thinking of a HD clone as a “complimentary backup” to the use of TM, a HD clone is superior to TM both in ease of returning to 100% quickly, and its autonomous nature; while each has its place, TM can and does fill the gap in, say, a 2 week old clone. As an analogy, the HD clone itself is the brick wall of protection, whereas TM can be thought of as the mortar, which will fill any cracks in data on a week, 2-week, or 1-month old HD clone.
6. Best-idealized 2nd platform redundancy for data protection, and 1st level for system restore of your computers internal HD. (Time machine being 2nd level for system restore of the computer’s internal HD).
7. *Level-2 security of your vital data.
HD cloning software options:
1. SuperDuper HD cloning software APP (free)
2. Carbon Copy Cloner APP (will copy the recovery partition as well)
3. Disk utility HD bootable clone.
#4. Online archives
Drawbacks:
1. Subject to server failure or due to non-payment of your hosting account, it can be suspended.
2. Subject, due to lack of security on your part, to being attacked and hacked/erased.
Advantages:
1. In case of house fire, etc. your data is safe.
2. In travels, and propagating files to friends and likewise, a mere link by email is all that is needed and no large media needs to be sent across the net.
3. Online archives are the perfect and best-idealized 3rd platform redundancy for data protection.
4. Supremely useful in data isolation from backups and local archives in being online and offsite for long-distance security in isolation.
5. *Level-1.5 security of your vital data.
#5. DVD professional archival media
Drawbacks:
1. DVD single-layer disks are limited to 4.7Gigabytes of data.
2. DVD media are, given rough handling, prone to scratches and light-degradation if not stored correctly.
Advantages:
1. Archival DVD professional blank media is rated for in excess of 100+ years.
2. DVD is not subject to mechanical breakdown.
3. DVD archival media is not subject to ferromagnetic degradation.
4. DVD archival media correctly sleeved and stored is currently a supreme storage method of archiving vital data.
5. DVD media is once written and therefore free of data corruption if the write is correct.
6. DVD media is the perfect ideal for “freezing” and isolating old copies of data for reference in case newer generations of data become corrupted and an older copy is needed to revert to.
7. Best-idealized 4th platform redundancy for data protection.
8. *Level-3 (highest) security of your vital data.
[*Level-4 data security under development as once-written metallic plates and synthetic sapphire and likewise ultra-long-term data storage]
#6. Cloud based storage
Drawbacks:
1. Cloud storage can only be quasi-possessed.
2. No genuine true security and privacy of data.
3. Should never be considered for vital data storage or especially long-term.
4. *Level-0 security of your vital data.
Advantages:
1. Quick, easy and cheap storage location for simplex files for transfer to keep on hand and yet off the computer.
2. Easy source for small-file data sharing.
#7. Network attached storage (NAS) and JBOD storage
Drawbacks:
1. Subject to RAID failure and mass data corruption.
2. Expensive to set up initially.
3. Can be slower than USB, especially over WiFi.
4. Mechanically identical to USB HD backup in failure potential, higher failure however due to RAID and proprietary NAS enclosure failure.
Advantages:
1. Multiple computer access.
2. Always on and available.
3. Often has extensive media and application server functionality.
4. Massive capacity (also its drawback) with multi-bay NAS, perfect for full system backups on a larger scale.
5. *Level-2 security of your vital data.
JBOD (just a bunch of disks / drives) storage
Identical to NAS in form factor except drives are not networked or in any RAID array, rather best thought of as a single USB feed to multiple independent drives in a single powered large enclosure. Generally meaning a non-RAID architecture.
Drawbacks:
1. Subject to HD failure but not RAID failure and mass data corruption.
Advantages:
1. Simplex multi-drive independent setup for mass data storage.
2. Very inexpensive dual purpose HD storage / access point.
3. *Level-2 security of your vital data.
Time Machine is a system hub backup, not a data hub backup
Important data you “don’t dare lose” should not be considered ultimately safe, or ideally stored (at the very least not as sole copy of same) on your Time Machine backup. Hourly and daily fluctuations of your system OS, applications, and software updates is the perfect focus for the simple user to conduct ‘click it and forget it’ backups of the entire system and files on the Macbook HD.
Bootable clones are the choice of professionals and others in that Time Machine cannot be booted from and requires a working HD to retrieve data from (meaning another computer). Your vital data needs to be and should be ‘frozen’ on some form of media storage, either in a clone, as an archived HD containing important files, or on DVD blank archival media.
A file that is backed up to Time Machine is unsafe in that if that file is deleted off the computer by accident or lost otherwise, that file will likewise vanish from Time Machine as it reflects changes on the internal computer HD/SSD. -
I want to transfer all my iPhoto, iTunes, contacts,documents, etc. files from my MacBook, which I am selling, to a MacBook Pro. What is the easiest and safest method of achieving this? Can the files backed up on Time Machine from the MacBook be transferred to the Pro in some way? I would like to capture the files as they appear on the MacBook, such as "Events" in iPhoto and the various song categories within iTunes without having to rename them all once saved on the Pro, which is the case with photos when I simply save them to thumb drive and import them to the Pro. Sny advice would be appreciated.
Best regards,
Rob.Michael,
Thanks for all your assistance. There is no need for apologies, Migration Assistant did indeed create a second account for the MacBook data. It has just taken me some time to figure out how to access it. I now have all the MB data in one account and the MBP files in another, which suits me fine. In fact, it is an advantage in my case as it keeps the private and business aspects separated.
I will however try the fatcatsoftware to transfer all the iPhoto files to my iMac, where I keep my main photo library. and it will be of help to keep the events, etc in the transfer. As far as iTunes is concerned, I have HomeSharing on all my computers and this has obviated the need to worry about playlists being transferred successfully. However, HomeSharing did not appear to share the iPhone/iPod apps that were stored on the MB and although these have now come across with the new MacBook account on the MBP, I was wondering whether my iPhone and iPod will be recognised by the MBP and sync with it? Will I need to have the MB account open to achieve this or will the MBP recognise and sync with the iPhone/iPod automatically irrespective of which account is open?
Thanks for the tip on deauthorising my iTunes account from the MB before sellng. This I will do and I believe the best way to remove all of my data from the hard drive is to reinstall the MacOSX operating system software. Is this the right approach to securely delete everything?
Thanks again for sharing your expertise and your guidance through this exercise.
Best regards,
Rob. -
Can I back up to Time Machine from hard drive of failed Macbook?
My Macbook has just completely failed (I think an issue with power supply).
I had a bulging battery and have a new Macbook Pro on the way, but as I live in a very remote area this is taking a while. So, one day, my Macbook just wouldn't start again.
I hadn't backed up to Time Machine for about a week and would really like to get all the missing data. When the new computer arrives I'm planning to use Migration Assistant to migrate all my data from Time Machine.
So, my question is, is it possible to back up to Time Machine from the hard drive of my dead Macbook? I was thinking either cloning it somehow, or making a disk image and booting it from another Macbook, but this is stretching the limits of my limited IT skills. I don't want to interfere with the other Macbook I'm using or inadvertently wipe the data on the hard drive or Time Machine disk.
Any advice much appreciated!
My Macbook ran Snow Leopard and was up to date with software updates as of two days ago. It was purchased about two years ago, but I think it's manufacture date was about March 2008.Thanks Noondaywitch and Pondini!
The HD of the failed Macbook turned out to be fine. Just to be safe I did a full functional back-up of my Time Machine disk to another external disk as well as cloning my Macbook hard drive using Carbon Cloner to another partition of the external disk.
I then booted from a friend's Macbook and did an incremental Time Machine backup from the original Macbook HD to the original TM backup (making sure I excluded the host computer's hard drive from the backup!); when I did the backup it asked whether I wanted to "Reuse backup" I clicked yes.
As said, the hard drive was fine, but at setup I needed an ethernet or firewire connection, which I didn't have on the enclosure, so I migrated my data to the new Macbook Pro using the original TM backup. Strangely, the backup said it was transferring only 120GB, whereas the HD had 150GB of used space. Redundant files, etc. perhaps? Anyway, it's just transferring now, so will sit back and read the paper and see what it looks like in an hour and a half!
Thanks very much again!
Now, if anyone's got any suggestions to fix my old Macbook, which I was going to give away to impecunious friends if they bought a new battery……
HD is fine, power seems buggered, the rest, I don't know. Suggestions welcomed (I live 300+kms from the nearest service centre, so it's strictly DIY or go to local computer shop who know nothing about Macs). -
How can I downgrade my Os x Maverick to Os x mountain lion without time machine
downgrade os x maverick to os x mountain lion without time machine back up and disc
To downgrade you have to have a copy of the Mountain Lion installer, download from the Mac App Store but be sure to go to System Preferences > App Store first and uncheck boxes that will automatically install the download.
You will have to erase the hard drive and then install from a saved copy of the installer, saved to a flash drive for instance.
This is going to be a time consuming exercise, so is there a specific reason for wanting to downgrade? -
IPhoto Library not backed up by Time Machine
I recently reformatted my hard drive and restored everything from my Time Machine Backup. Everything came back except for my iPhoto Library. I have searched and searched through my Time Machine backups (which go back about 6 Months) and there is no iPhoto library at all. What did I do to exclude iPhoto from being backed up by Time Machine? What can I do to prevent this from happening again?
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. I don't know what might have unadvertantly excluded the iPhoto Library from the backup but you might try the following:
1 - open the TM preference pane
2 - in the Options section add the Pictures folder to be excluded.
3 - close the TM preference pane.
4 - open the TM pref pane and take the Pictures folder out of the excluded status.
5 - start a TM backup and check to see if the library is included when it's done.
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. Just put the application in the Dock and click on it whenever you want to backup the dB file. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.
Note: There's now an Automator backup application for iPhoto 5 that will work with Tiger or Leopard. -
I deleted a pop email account from mail. How can I recover those sent messages without Time Machine?
I deleted a pop email account from mail. How can I recover those sent messages without Time Machine?
Thomas,
"Note that you were warned that this would happen and approved it. When you delete an e-mail account in Mail, you are shown a message like the following:"
You didn't read my problem - I said I deleted a POP email account. I always read the messages that pop up and in Mail when you delete a POP account - IT DOESN'T TELL YOU NUTHIN! It just deletes it - which *** for me. Fortunately, I had an iPhone and on that device I had about a 1000 messages that I could recover but on all my POP accounts I download them from the server onto my Mac so they were only on Mail (the really old ones that I wanted to keep.) I had to move them into another directory one by one basically because when I would move 50 some of them would move and some wouldn't and I never did figure out that problem. Basically the ones that would not move are the ones that were associated with my domain changes with GoDaddy, and there were a lot of those. Have no idea as to why only those were resistant to moving but I can get all that data from GoDaddy anyway.
This thread is now moot seeing as how I've recovered everything I can and am going to just move on - and back up more often. ;-)
Apple and Mail need to rewrite that program to include a WARNING MESSAGE when deleting an Account in Mail that says ALL YOUR MESSAGES ARE GOING TO DISAPPEAR NEVER TO RETURN IF YOU DELETE THIS ACCOUNT, SO YOU DANG WELL BETTER HAVE A BACK UP IF YOU WANT TO KEEP ANYTHING BEFORE PRESSING THAT MINUS SYMBOL! ;-) -
i got a macbook pro 2008 and can not back up using time machine. it eject my external hard drive everytime. does anybody has a fix???
Does your external hard drive have it's own power supply? It should.
Is your external hard drive formatted with the NTFS file system? It won't work.
It needs to be formatted either with Mac OS Extended or FAT32.
(There are drivers available to add NTFS support to OS X but their quality is unknown, especially the "free" ones.) -
Photos.
They are on my macBook, backed up on time machine. There are 19,000+ of them, some rescued from a pc crash- which I used the nifty iPhoto to put back into date order.
I want to take them all off my laptop, now............as I need to use it for WORK!!
Copied them (hours and hours) to another external hard drive.
They are now in alphabetical order (all 19,000+ of them) NOT IN THEIR EVENTS or date order. (-They have also been taken with different cameras over the years and some of the generic camera numbering remains.)
I have tried to copy them (only a few as an experiment) one event at a time, but that again "opens up" the Event "folder" and tips them out as individuals and therefore just lists image letters and numbers alphabetically.
How can I copy
the whole library still in "Events" to an external hard drive?
the folders/albums I have already made on to this hard drive?
and how can I add to this back up monthly, again keeping events and folders separate and updated?
Mac is so user friendly - there must be a way.........
ThanksUPDATE : I have re-installed from disk, various apps that were no longer functioning such as iLife, iWork etc. So, I now can access my photos again.
Also, I had to re-install all the software for my printer ( Stylus Pro 4880 ) and reset it so the printer is working again.
Photoshop CS4 won't open. I think I will have to get in touch with Adobe as basically, I guess they have a built-in "blocker" which prevents me from opening the app as the license is for only 1 user and having re-installed the OS, there are now, in effect, 2 users ( Me and Me 1, I think ).
So, having added on a new external HD, Time Machine has made a copy of most of the files, folders, apps etc onto the external HD. The internal HD is still nearly full ( 220 GBs out of 232 GBs ).
I am guessing the way to go now in order to free up space on the internal HD is to delete/trash older photos from my iPhoto library and hope that if needed, I will be able to access them on the external HD.
Am I correct ? Please advise before I do something I will regret.
Thanks, Sean. -
My Lacie External backed up on Time Machine after the first back up but now says there's not enough room. I thought TM deleted old back ups to save new versions. What am I doing wrong. This happens to me constantly. Every single external hard drive I've purchased for the MacBook Pro (5 of them) has not worked either initially or at the second back up. It either isn't formatted properly so I have to go to Genius bar to help me set up for the first back up, or after the first back up, it says there's not enough space and I have to go back to Genius Bar. Is there a way I can fix this on my own?
I just purchased 2 external hardrives. a LaCie Minimus and a G Drive. Each 1 TB. The guy at Apple told me that would provide 2 good TM backups for me. My internal HD has 750 GB capacity, of which I'm using 700 GB. Perhaps the ratio is not great enough. I do wish they would have told me this before I purchased the two Bummmmer! I even had them format and get the first back-ups going because of issues I've had in the past. I also just bought a 750 GB for photos.
So, I won't be able to buy another bigger external since I've just purchased 3. Ugh. Well, I'll just exclude some files and divide things up. Eventually, I just want my 20,000 iphotos on one of the 1TB externals, and a TM back-up on another so that iphoto will function once more. It really hates how many photos I have and is brutally punishing me for it.I seriously need to do some housecleaning!
Thanks for the advice. Just moved from US to Australia last week and was hoping to upload a few photos and the domino effect has lead me to this. Just went to Genius Bar in Perth today and they told me how to reformat drive to transfer iphoto library over, but I got stuck at trying to back-up my TM. -
Can someone please help me re-install my Creative Design 5.5 on my Mac? My MacBook Pro recently crashed and had to have the hard drive replaced. The back up from Time Machine is not reinstalling the program. Since I have the download paid, and codes, I need direction on how to reinstall -- HELP?
Hi bodegakc,
If you have the serial number then please use the below mentioned link to download the product you are looking for .
CS5.5
Also before installing Please go to Applications-->Utilities--> Adobe installers and if there is any uninstaller for CS5.5 , you can remove it and do a fresh install.
You can also use creative cloud cleaner tool before installing.
Use the CC Cleaner Tool to solve installation problems | CC, CS3-CS6
Thanks
Nikhil Gupta -
Home directory is not being backed up in Time Machine
Problem: It turns out my home directory does not have any backups in Time Machine for the last year. I've never received any error message indicating it wasn't doing the full backup.
Goal: I'd like to get Time Machine to back up my home folder (which contains 100% of the content I care about) again, ideally in a way where I can keep my history from the last time it backed up successfully.
How I found out:
- I opened Time Machine and realized all the "pink bars" were dimmed all the way back up to Sept. 2011 when I navigated to my home folder or any folder within it.
- I cloned a file within my home folder, did a manual Time Machine back up, opened Time Machine and verified that the backup volume did not contain the cloned file.
- I did this again while watching the Console and verified that it did not make a large enough backup to include the cloned file.
- I explored all the backups in Finder and realized that indeed all the backups that corresponded to the dimmed pink bars in Time Machine had no home folder.
- I did an "ls -a" in the backup volume in Terminal and realized that it was not the case that the home directory was present but merely hidden.
What I've tried:
- I created a new admin account, logged into that and did a manual Time Machine backup from there. The new account was backed up, while the original home directory still wasn't. This continues to be true in subsequent backups made while logged into the main account.
- I examined the exclusions list in Time Machine preferences. The only items were the backup volume itself and another partition of that external drive I use for other backups, as expected.
- I did a "Full Reset of Time Machine" (http://pondini.org/TM/A4.html), with a reboot before re-enabling Time Machine. The plist file did change to become much simpler, but the home folder is still not being backed up.
Other notes:
- I run Dropbox, and have those contents in a folder one level under the home directory
- I run Git
- The existing backups have only used 500GB or so of a 1TB partition, so it's not filling up.
- I ran Verify Disk in Disk Utility on both my backup volume and the mac's HD. The backup volume appeared OK, but the mac HD was "found corrupt and needs to be repaired". I could boot into the Recovery HD and repair it, but I feel like this is a risk and I'd like to have a working backup before I do that (I don't have another external HD around to make a temporary backup). Could the corrupted drive be the reason Time Machine has been silently skipping the home folder?
- My home folder is named "apple". Might this be a problem? I'd rename it, but that's a risk and I'd like a verified backup before doing that.
- The Time Machine plist file in /Library/Preferences is pretty hard to read in pico, TextEdit, etc (maybe this is normal?)
I've scoured the forums and pondini's very thorough troubleshooting pages to no avail. Please let me know if anyone has ideas. Thanks.Latest update: Bought a new external harddrive, set that up as the new Time Machine volume, but got the exact same results (all but my main user directory are backed up). This is after another Time Machine reset (deleting the .plist), starting up in Safe Mode, and trying to initiate the backup from both the account that doesn't get backed up and another administrator account.
Here is some of the output from the Console when filtering messages for "backupd":
10/5/12 2:51:23.572 AM com.apple.backupd[13529]: Backup content size: 481.57 GB excluded items size: 11.31 GB for volume Macintosh HD
10/5/12 2:51:23.572 AM com.apple.backupd[13529]: Found 1437613 files (470.25 GB) needing backup
10/5/12 2:51:23.573 AM com.apple.backupd[13529]: 564.3 GB required (including padding), 1.5 TB available
10/5/12 2:51:23.581 AM com.apple.backupd[13529]: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
10/5/12 3:40:33.297 AM com.apple.backupd[13529]: Copied 763432 files (21.54 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Put the relevant parts in bold. No messages about why it only backed up 21.54GB when it found 470.25GB that needed to get backed up.
Does this make sense to anyone?? -
Purchased a used macbook pro with Mountain Lion. My old Mac runs Snow Leopard is backed up to Time machine. How do I register the operating system to me and how do I use Time Machine to move my files to the new used computer?
If you look at the User Tips tab, you will find a write up on just this subject:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4053
The subject of buying/selling a Mac is quite complicated. Here is a guide to the steps involved. It is from the Seller's point of view, but easily read the other way too:
SELLING A MAC A
Internet Recovery, and Transferability of OS & iLife Apps
Selling an Old Mac:
• When selling an old Mac, the only OS that is legally transferable is the one that came preinstalled when the Mac was new. Selling a Mac with an upgraded OS isn't doing the new owner any favors. Attempting to do so will only result in headaches since the upgraded OS can't be registered by the new owner. If a clean install becomes necessary, they won't be able to do so and will be forced to install the original OS via Internet Recovery. Best to simply erase the drive and revert back to the original OS prior to selling any Mac.
• Additionally, upgrading the OS on a Mac you intend to sell means that you are leaving personally identifiable information on the Mac since the only way to upgrade the OS involves using your own AppleID to download the upgrade from the App Store. So there will be traces of your info and user account left behind. Again, best to erase the drive and revert to the original OS via Internet Recovery.
Internet Recovery:
• In the event that the OS has been upgraded to a newer version (i.e. Lion to Mountain Lion), Internet Recovery will offer the version of the OS that originally came with the Mac. So while booting to the Recovery Disk will show Mountain Lion as available for reinstall since that is the current version running, Internet Recovery, on the other hand, will only show Lion available since that was the OS shipped with that particular Mac.
• Though the Mac came with a particular version of Mac OS X, it appears that, when Internet Recovery is invoked, the most recent update of that version may be applied. (i.e. if the Mac originally came with 10.7.3, Internet Recovery may install a more recent update like 10.7.5)
iLife Apps:
• When the App Store is launched for the first time it will report that the iLife apps are available for the user to Accept under the Purchases section. The user will be required to enter their AppleID during the Acceptance process. From that point on the iLife apps will be tied to the AppleID used to Accept them. The user will be allowed to download the apps to other Macs they own if they wish using the same AppleID used to Accept them.
• Once Accepted on the new Mac, the iLife apps can not be transferred to any future owner when the Mac is sold. Attempting to use an AppleID after the apps have already been accepted using a different AppleID will result in the App Store reporting "These apps were already assigned to another Apple ID".
• It appears, however, that the iLife Apps do not automatically go to the first owner of the Mac. It's quite possible that the original owner, either by choice or neglect, never Accepted the iLife apps in the App Store. As a result, a future owner of the Mac may be able to successfully Accept the apps and retain them for themselves using their own AppleID. Bottom Line: Whoever Accepts the iLife apps first gets to keep them.
SELLING A MAC B
Follow these instructions step by step to prepare a Mac for sale:
Step One - Back up your data:
A. If you have any Virtual PCs shut them down. They cannot be in their "fast saved" state. They must be shut down from inside Windows.
B. Clone to an external drive using using Carbon Copy Cloner.
1. Open Carbon Copy Cloner.
2. Select the Source volume from the Select a source drop down menu on the left side.
3. Select the Destination volume from the Select a destination drop down menu on the right
side.
4. Click on the Clone button. If you are prompted about creating a clone of the Recovery HD be
sure to opt for that.
Destination means a freshly erased external backup drive. Source means the internal
startup drive.
Step Two - Prepare the machine for the new buyer:
1. De-authorize the computer in iTunes! De-authorize both iTunes and Audible accounts.
2, Remove any Open Firmware passwords or Firmware passwords.
3. Turn the brightness full up and volume nearly so.
4. Turn off File Vault, if enabled.
5. Disable iCloud, if enabled: See.What to do with iCloud before selling your computer
Step Three - Install a fresh OS:
A. Snow Leopard and earlier versions of OS X
1. Insert the original OS X install CD/DVD that came with your computer.
2. Restart the computer while holding down the C key to boot from the CD/DVD.
3. Select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu; repartition and reformat the internal hard drive.
Optionally, click on the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.
4. Install OS X.
5. Upon completion DO NOT restart the computer.
6. Shutdown the computer.
B. Lion and Mountain Lion (if pre-installed on the computer at purchase*)
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because
it is three times faster than wireless.
1. Restart the computer while holding down the COMMAND and R keys until the Mac OS X
Utilities window appears.
2. Select Disk Utility from the Mac OS X Utilities window and click on the Continue button.
3. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the left side list. Click
on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
4. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on the Security button
and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.
5. Click on the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
6. Quit DU and return to the Mac OS X Utilities window.
7. Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.
8. Upon completion shutdown the computer.
*If your computer came with Lion or Mountain Lion pre-installed then you are entitled to transfer your license once. If you purchased Lion or Mountain Lion from the App Store then you cannot transfer your license to another party. In the case of the latter you should install the original version of OS X that came with your computer. You need to repartition the hard drive as well as reformat it; this will assure that the Recovery HD partition is removed. See Step Three above. You may verify these requirements by reviewing your OS X Software License. -
Can I include external drives to be backed up using Time Machine? Not only do I want to back up my IMac, but I have several extenal drives for one iPhoto, one iTunes and one for other files & documents. How do I know if they are included in the backup process?
Yes, if they are not exclude then TM backs them up.
Allan
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