Time Machine and Seagate External hard drive
I connected my Seagate External Hard Drive (300GB) to my MacBook pro for the first time. I got a prompt asking if I would like to use this as a backup disk with Time Machine. Absent-mindedly, I hit "NO".
Now the Hard drive is not showing up in the list of disks in Time Machine and I can't figure out a way to search for new disks or change the settings. I would like to use the hard drive to back up my Mac.
(Also, my Mac has a Windows partition) and I have used Norton to backup the Windows side on the same hard drive.)
Any suggestions?
MG1373 wrote:
(Also, my Mac has a Windows partition) and I have used Norton to backup the Windows side on the same hard drive.)
Hi, and welcome to the forums.
Do you mean there's already Windoze data on the external you want to use for Time Machine? If so, this probably isn't going to work. The external is almost certainly set up with the MBR (Master Boot Record) partition scheme, which will not work for TM backups. To check this, use Disk Utility (in your Applications/Utilities folder). Click the top line of the drive (with the make and size), then look at the bottom of the display for *Partition Map Scheme.*
If it is MBR, the only way you can put a partition for Time Machine on this drive is to erase it completely and reformat it with the GUID partition map scheme (unless it's a PPC Mac, which needs the +Apple Partition Map+ scheme), then make 2 (or more) partitions, one formatted +Mac OS Extended (Journaled)+ for TM.
If you do that, you may not be able to set up a partition that you can use for the Windoze data. I don't do Windoze, so can't be sure about that.
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Many thanks for any advice.nachdenki wrote:
strange, my external HDs were added to the exception list automatically. maybe because they wouldn't fit on the time machine volume.
It seems to depend on when the drives were connected. When you first turn Time Machine on, it only excludes the TM drive itself, and any drives not formatted HFS+.
If you connect a drive later on, that drive will be excluded automatically. -
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It's "iffy" and not supported by Apple, but some are able to back up to a USB drive connected to a recent-model Airport Extreme. See the Using Time Machine with a USB drive connected to an Airport Extreme *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum. As mentioned there, don't depend on those 100%; also maintain some sort of secondary backups, in addition.
But that's something I learned (the hard way, of course) long ago: Airport or not, never trust your backups to a single app or piece of hardware. No app is perfect, and no hardware is trouble-free indefinitely.
Or, you may be able to find an alternative app that will back up to your setup. See Kappy's post on +Basic Backup,+ complete with links to the web sites of each product. -
Time capsule and Seagate external hard drive, Time capsule and Seagate external hard drive
I have Mac Book Pro with Retinal Display Mac OS X 10.8.2 connected Time Capsule 1TB using wireless network. I recently purchased Seagate Backup Plus 3TB and I connected to TC. However, I cannot find the Seagate drive on the network or via Aiport Utility. I used to have Western Digitial My Book and was able to detect the hard drive on TC. I changed to Western Digital Passport 2TB and it did not work. I wondered why it is the case. Please help me to hook up Seagate Backup Plus. Thank you!
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I recently purchased a new 2TB Time Capsule. I purchased it in hopes that I can set it up in 2 ways.
1. Empty my almost completely full MacBook harddrive onto it (mostly movies, music, and photos) that I can stream directly from via iTunes and my Apple TV (this will allow me to free up much needed space on my MacBook)
2. Use it as a wireless Time Capsule to back up what is left on my harddrive
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Thanks!1. Empty my almost completely full MacBook harddrive onto it (mostly movies, music, and photos) that I can stream directly from via iTunes and my Apple TV
Yes, you can use the Time Capsule to provide both a wired and wireless network AND media storage to stream from an iTunes host device to an Apple TV. As an example, you can place your iTunes Library on either the TC's internal HDD or an external USB HDD attached to the TC. You can then access this library from iTunes located on a Mac or PC, and then, stream it to the Apple TV.
2. Use it as a wireless Time Capsule to back up what is left on my harddrive
Yes, you can use the TC as a backup destination for either Time Machine or any other network-ready backup program. Again you can either use its internal HDD or an attached USB HDD for this purpose. -
Hi
I have had my mac book pro for almost 6 months. Whilst using a 500 gb portable hard drive with time machine, I was surprised to get a message saying there wasn't enough disk space to complete a back up.
I brought another but started to look into why I had used so much space. In system information I had this view. Can anyone help me find where to clear this back up which is taking up so much of my hard drive.
Thank you
DanLocal Snapshots - About
Local Snapshots on Portable Macs -
I have an imac from late 2009 and received an email saying the seagate hard drive may fail and apple is going to replace it free of charge. I will back up using time machine to an external hard drive but do I absolutely have to have the original installation CD's or is there a way around this to restore the computer once they replace the hard drive??
Yes, you can partition your 2TB drive that way. In fact, I have an external hard drive with 3 partitions: one for a SuperDuper! clone of my Snow Leopard partition, one to clone my Lion partition, and one larger partition for Time Machine (which only backs up the Lion partition).
I would expect the authorized reseller to have a complete set of OS X disks. -
Does Time Machine backup other external hard drives?
I am using a Seagate 500 GB to backup my data. Will Time Machine backup another external hard drive on which I store my iMovie projects? If so, how do I access them in the Time Machine mode? Thanks in advance.
nachdenki wrote:
strange, my external HDs were added to the exception list automatically. maybe because they wouldn't fit on the time machine volume.
It seems to depend on when the drives were connected. When you first turn Time Machine on, it only excludes the TM drive itself, and any drives not formatted HFS+.
If you connect a drive later on, that drive will be excluded automatically. -
How do I move data on time machine from one external hard drive to another
How do I move data on time machine from one external hard drive to another?
Although the documentation says you can copy Time Machine backups in the Finder, it's very slow and sometimes doesn't work at all.
Launch Disk Utility, open the built-in help, and search for the term "Duplicate." Follow the instructions. Turn Time Machine OFF in its preference pane while copying the volume. -
Backing up Mac HD with Time Capsule AND an external hard drive
I am sure that this question has been asked one way or another but I can't seem to find the exact answer.
I would like to back up my Mac HD with the Time Capsule AND another hard drive essentially to create two backups. Should one fail, I still have another copy as a precaution. The Time Capsule will be my primary back up because my external hard drive is usually switched off and will only be turned on from time to time to perform "less frequent" backups.
With Time Capsule AND the external hard drive on, will Time Machine just update the backup on the external hard drive without becoming confused with the other copy on Time Capsule? In other words, can Time Machine distinguish between two different Time Machine Backup files and bring them up to date accordingly?
I understand there is an archive function on the Time Capsule, which would also serve the purpose. However, I am wondering if there is another way.
Thanks.Rheopaipo wrote:
I am sure that this question has been asked one way or another but I can't seem to find the exact answer.
I would like to back up my Mac HD with the Time Capsule AND another hard drive essentially to create two backups. Should one fail, I still have another copy as a precaution. The Time Capsule will be my primary back up because my external hard drive is usually switched off and will only be turned on from time to time to perform "less frequent" backups.
With Time Capsule AND the external hard drive on, will Time Machine just update the backup on the external hard drive without becoming confused with the other copy on Time Capsule? In other words, can Time Machine distinguish between two different Time Machine Backup files and bring them up to date accordingly?
I understand there is an archive function on the Time Capsule, which would also serve the purpose. However, I am wondering if there is another way.
I don't think it's possible to configure Time Machine to back up to two locations without modifying its settings frequently.
You might consider using that external drive to hold a bootable backup. You can create such a thing with either of the utilities SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner. If you pay the registration fee for SuperDuper! (~US$28), there's a mode where it will back up only what has changed, which makes the backup operation run quicker. (Carbon Copy Cloner may offer a similar feature.) -
Can I increase the capacity of Time Machine with an external hard drive connected to Time Capsule?
Can I increase the capacity of Time Machine with an external hard drive connected to Time Capsule via the USB port? My current Time Machine has a total capacity of 1TB. I'd like to double or triple its memory. I don't want to use the external hard drive in lieu of the Time Capsule hard drive. I'd like to use it in addition to. Just don't know if/how it's possible.
This is another one of those questions that I've searched the web for answers, and have gotten tricky answers back. So now I'm trying to introduce a clean slate to the mix.
Thank you for your time!Well, what you mentioning is possible. However, I don't know whether it's supported (as in, "easy to set up."). Time Machine officially supports backing up to a locally attached drive, to a machine running a Time Machine server (i.e. running OS X Server software), and to a Time Capsule. I don't know that it officially supports a drive attached to an AirPort or to a Time Capsule. Though I know some people have gotten it to work.
Best I can say is to try it. Plug the drive into the Time Capsule, ensure it's shared on the network, and then try and set it as a backup target from a machine in the Time Machine backup panel (you'll need to ensure it's mounted first). If it works, you're all set.
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