Partitions for Time Machine Backup ???

Helllo
I want to use OS X Server to make Backup of my 9 clients. I bought a 2Tb Harddisk and what I read is that I need to make for each client a partition to be sh
sure that Time Machine runs smoothly and start deleting old backup after the partition is full.
This is very frustrating because our business is not static. Some Users has only 30Gb on their drive others up to 200Gb. Is their no way to use the 2Tb as a Dynamic Partition?
Who is able to help me to choose the correct strategy. I read some documents an seen a Video from lynda.com and they all advice to split the drive in as much partition as needed.
Regards
Gérard

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I am setting up a time machine backup to a external Hard drive. I want to backup by Mac book Pro running OSX 10.8.5. I would like to Partition the disk and use one partition for Time machine backups and the other for my Lightroom backups. How to do this?

I want to create a two partition disk. One partition for time machine, the other for Lightroom backup. Currently Time Machine is using the entire drive and it is doing the intial encryption and is about 29% complete after two days. I've decided that I want to turn encryption off and partition the disk. So I do I start over?

With the external drive attached, open Finder>Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility. Select the external drive from the list in the left side panel of the DU window. In the main window panel, click Partition in the buttons top center of that panel.
Select the number of partitions you want and adjust their sizes.
For the first partition, click to highlight the partition, then select the format, Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and then the partition table as GUID [both of those are the defaults]. Click Apply and it will ask to confirm and erase and format that partion...oh, give the partition a name, like Backup.
Then repeat those steps for the second partition..and remember to name it...something like Lightroom.
Close Disk Utilitty and you are ready to send TM to the one partition, and do your backup of Lightroom to the second partition.

How much should I partition for Time Machine/Backup?

Hi all,
I upgraded my PB G4 HD to a 160GB recently and have just purchased a 1TB External HD. How much should I partition in the external to be used for Time Machine backup purposes of my internal HD? Will the same size suffice, or should I allocate more?
Also, I was thinking of formatting the drive so that it's both Windows and OS X friendly, but that means formatting it to MS-DOS something (I was just reading about it in another thread), will that cause any issues for the partition for Time Machine that I created? Thanks.

Also, I was thinking of formatting the drive so that it's both Windows and OS X friendly, but that means formatting it to MS-DOS something (I was just reading about it in another thread), will that cause any issues for the partition for Time Machine that I created? Thanks.
That's not practical. If you want to use the hard drive on a Windows machin while still being useful for Time Machine you should use MacDrive.
I upgraded my PB G4 HD to a 160GB recently and have just purchased a 1TB External HD. How much should I partition in the external to be used for Time Machine backup purposes of my internal HD? Will the same size suffice, or should I allocate more?
I would make the partition at least twice the size of the internal drive. Preferably, you would want 50 GB for a Leopard install that includes just the base operating system so you can boot off the 50 GB to recover your Time Machine data if your Leopard installer disc ever becomes unusable.
Also since you have a Powerbook, your 1 TB hard drive should be Firewire. USB will not boot Powerbooks. If it is USB only, you can remove the external hard drive case and replace it with one compatible with the drive inside that case from http://www.macsales.com/ that has Firewire.

Can I partition a hard drive so that one partition is for windows files and the other is for time machine backups?

I have a 1TB WD passport that currently contains windows files e.g photos, documents, etc. Can I partition it so that one partition contains these files and the other partition is used for time machine backups? Also, how do I change the partition system on the hard drive so that it uses the GUID partition system?
Thanks in advance.

Yes, you can, though you need to format and partition the drive from the scratch.
1) back up your PC data on other drive.
2) partitioning your drive into 2 partitions with Disk Utility.
3) format one partition by Mac OS extended (journaling) for Time Machine, the other by exFAT for PC data.
4) restore PC data on exFAT partitioned drive.

HT4848 Is it possible to partition an external hard drive that is already being used for Time Machine backups without it being erased?

I'm want to use my current external hard drive, which I use for Time Machine Backup, as a recovery disk for Mac OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2. From what I have read, the recovery disk assistant will erase all data on the external drive unless it is partitioned. Can I partition my current backup drive without erasing it, even though it is already being used for Time Machine?

It's very simple to test. Turn off your computer. Have your time machine backup plugged in. Hold option and turn it on, keeping option held. Do you see your time machine drive? If so, select it and press enter. You'll end up in recovery. If it works, there you go. Then just click the apple and restart to get back to your regular desktop. Then you'll know for when you're ready to do the deed.
Edit...
I'm not sure if time machine will think it's an entirely different computer, though, when a hard drive changed, making an actual restore not doable. Either way, you could still reinstall mt lion fresh and then just migrate after, skipping the need for SL.

I was thinking about formatting my external hard drive into two partitions. HFS for time machine backup

I really want to format my MacBook after I back up and have it clean like a new machine. And I was wondering if I need to back up after a couple of months will Time Machine back it up as a new computer or will it overwrite?
Also if I do 250GB HFS+ partition for time machine & 250GB NTFS/FAT32 to use with windows. Can the HFS+ partition be used to save files from MacBook using drag & drop? I.E. without using time machine?

A data recovery specialist or some data recovery programs should be able to help. Most format simply rewrite the directory tree saying no files are on this disk. The bits that represent the files are still flipped appropreiately so they still exists, you just don't have the location info to get at them. Secure formats and erases rewrite each bit to a zero or 1 or random so the data is then truely gone. This type of format takes a long time to complete.
I'm not making a recomendation of a particular program but here is one company that does what you ask:
http://www.remosoftware.com/mac-recovery The cost is pretty high but I'm sure they don't sell many copies and need to cover their development costs.
Good luck and don't write anything on the freshly formatted disk until you decide what to do.

Can you use the same external hard drive for Time Machine backups and as an additional storage drive?

I have an external HD that I've been using exclusively for Time Machine backups. I need to clear space on my hard drive, so I was thinking to move music & photos to an external drive. Wondering if I can use the same one I have (which I'll aslo keep using for Time Machine) or if I need to get another drive.

Hi Jossydtaylor,
Time Machine can use either an entire external disk or a partition of that disk:
OS X Mountain Lion: Disks you can use with Time Machine
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11171
You can use Time Machine with a Time Capsule, and with USB, FireWire, and Thunderbolt disks. The backup disk can be directly connected to your computer or be on a network. If the backup disk has been divided into partitions, you can use one of the partitions.
If the disk is partitioned using the Master Boot Record (MBR) partition type, some partitions may not be available for use with Time Machine. The GUID Partition Table (GPT) partition type is recommended.
For more info on partitioning, see this article:
Disk Utility 12.x: Partition a disk
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5845
Cheers!
- Ari

Use TC 2TB for Time Machine Backup and Storage simultaneously?

Hi
I am planning to buy a TC 2TB.
I would like to know if the TC can be used as a Time Machine backup device and for storage simultaneously?
for example:
Can I use 1TB for Time Machine backups and 1TB for storage.
Please let me know if this is possible?
Thank you

I tried for ages to seek a relatively easy way to do this.. i.e. partition it, it's a huge pain! You can, but i'm pretty savvy and got bored and confused! What I did do was switch the TM back-ups to manual so they don't end up filling the disk. Trust me it's the easiest and best option!

Lion won't install can't select hard drive that is used for time machine backups

I installed Lion, agreed to the eula but both drives are greyed out. My Macintosh HD - ( this dirve is used for time machine backups) and my external drive (this drive does not use the GUID Partition Table scheme...). Though I don't use time machine, I tried turning it on and selecting the external drive with no luck. I'm stuck - any ideas?

"Backups.backupdb" if the file in Time Machine. As the discussion says, you have to find that file and trash it. Try spotlight to locate it. If that does not work, down load OmniDiskSweeper from the Internet (free) and go through an organized search to find "Backups.backupdb". If that takes too long or is too tedious, then if you have everything backed up, erase the HDD and start from square one.
Ciao.

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After downloading ,completing the lic agreement phase, the next step is where to install and automatically' MAC HD with 904 gb available this disk is used for time machine backups' is shown and installation is blocked .
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Time machine needs its own partition to operate. So you are not going install a OSx Lion on that volume.
If there is enough room you may be able to partition the drive on the fly with DiskUtility
Are you saying you clean installed Lion and you are trying to move your user Data over with TM via the migration Assistant? Please explain.

Lion Install does not work, says "This disk is used for Time Machine backups"

I'm having trouble installing Lion onto my macbook pro intel core 2 duo.
I am backing up my computer with an external drive using TimeMachine, but i've disconnected it. Also i'm running SL 10.6.8
I have a windows 7 partition that was created with boot camp.
I've tried to make sure everything is all ready for lion but when I go to install lion it says "This disk is used for Time Machine backups" and the hard drive is grayed out.
Same problem as this guy: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3190321?start=0&tstart=0
I'm hearing that a file called "Backups.backupdb" is on the top level of the hard drive, but I see no such file. I've looked at the invisible files and I cant find it.
I've also created a bootable flash copy of the lion install but that does not work It gives me the same message "This disk is used for time Machine backups".

"Backups.backupdb" if the file in Time Machine. As the discussion says, you have to find that file and trash it. Try spotlight to locate it. If that does not work, down load OmniDiskSweeper from the Internet (free) and go through an organized search to find "Backups.backupdb". If that takes too long or is too tedious, then if you have everything backed up, erase the HDD and start from square one.
Ciao.

Looking at external HD for Time machine backup and for XP OS?

Bought a 24" iMac desktop with a 500 GB HD and am going to be running up to Best Buy to snag a Western Digital external My Book 750 GB HD. Mainly this external is for Time Machine backup, photos, iTunes library, etc. but I'd like to fire up boot camp and install Windows XP OS. Question is, can I install the XP OS on the external HD so I don't have to divide and possibly mess up my internal Mac HD? Also, when I do install XP OS, how much space for a partition? XP will be mainly for just a few PC games that are PC only like Company of Heroes.

Hi Saius,
yeah, the more the better...
BootCamp requires the use of XP with SP2. Without SP2 (SP1 or earlier) it either does not install or if installed can produce some odd errors.
If you have access to a Windows XP PC you can try these instructions to slipstream the SP2 together with your 'old' XP CD to a new XP SP2 CD.
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxpsp2slipstream.asp
Before spending some unneccessary dollars might be worth trying.
It's not very difficult to do this (done it myself some years back).
Also it is a good idea to use your external HD and make a bootable clone of your OSX volume using either SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner.
That way in case something goes wrong, you can easily revert back.
Personally I would not use Time Machine for that task.
Have Fun and thanks for the star.
Stefan

"Disk is used for Time Machine Backups" on My air, HELP!

I am trying to download Mavericks on my mac air. I get almost to the download and it says "Disk is used for Time Machine Backups" I did a backup from my old pro to my new mac air when I got it a month or so back but would that affect it ? Help!

Time machine needs its own partition to operate. So you are not going install a OSx Lion on that volume.
If there is enough room you may be able to partition the drive on the fly with DiskUtility
Are you saying you clean installed Lion and you are trying to move your user Data over with TM via the migration Assistant? Please explain.

Macbook Pro -yosemite install stalls at disc select with ''This disc is used for Time Machine Backups' - help !

Having downloaded Yosemite it installed fine on my iMac but on my Macbook Pro installation has frozen at the Disc Selection stage (where you want it to install) with the message 'This disc is used for Time Machine Backups'.
I cant find a way past this to complete the installation.
Any ideas anyone ?
Many thanks.

Time machine needs its own partition to operate. So you are not going install a OSx Lion on that volume.
If there is enough room you may be able to partition the drive on the fly with DiskUtility
Are you saying you clean installed Lion and you are trying to move your user Data over with TM via the migration Assistant? Please explain.

Switch hard drive from local to Airport Extreeme for Time Machine Backup

I have an external drive I am using for time machine backups for my iMac. I have an Airport Extreme and would like to use it to backup my iMac and my Macbook Pro (wireless). I have a PC that would be nice to backup a few things also, but not mandatory.
If I move the hard drive from the 400 FireWire port to the Airport, will it need to be reconfigured to allow for backups on teh network? Will it erase (or will I need to erase) the drive's current backup data of my iMac? Do I need to partition it to allow for multiple machine backups?
Thanks.
Matt

If I move the hard drive from the 400 FireWire port to the Airport, will it need to be reconfigured to allow for backups on teh network?
No, as long as the external hard drive is formatted in either HFS+ or FAT32 it will be recognized by the AirPort.
Will it erase (or will I need to erase) the drive's current backup data of my iMac?
Potentially, yes. Time Machine backups are stored differently on local attached drives versus those that are network-based. There is a procedure to "copy" an existing TM backup from an external drive to a Time Capsule that may work for an AirPort Disk (external drive connected to either a TC or AirPort Extreme). However, I would strongly recommend not going this route as Apple does not currently support Time Machine backups to AirPort Disks.
Do I need to partition it to allow for multiple machine backups?
For Time Machine this would not be necessary as it will create a unique "file" for each Mac. However, you may have other requirements that partitioning the drive would make sense. Note: You would have to partition the drive prior to connecting it to the AirPort, as the AirPort Utility itself does not support partition management.

Partitions for Time Machine Backup ???

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