Time machine back up taking 1 day so removed external HD, now taking TWO days?

Hi,
I started my time machine back up last night and the estimated time it said it would take was 1 day. I woke up this morning and there was still another 15 hours left. I am only backing up 533GB - is this normal?
I thought maybe my external drive was effecting the backup so I removed it and when I did the time machine started again, now backing up 324 GB but says it's going to take TWO days?! This makes no sense.
Could someone tell me - is it normal for TM to take a day to back up 533GB (certainly can't be normal for 324GB to take TWO)?
And what are the general tips for helping time machine move faster? I'm running OSX 10.8.5.
Thanks

Welcome to Apple Support Communities. We're users here and don't speak for "Apple Inc."
How is your (external, I'm assuming) Time Machine storage connected? USB 2, USB 3, FireWire, Thunderbolt, or Ethernet network? If network, then is the storage drive connected with Ethernet or a USB device connected to the network router? 100Mbit or Gigabit Ethernet? Does your MacBook Pro have a wired or wireless connection to the network?
If it's over a network, to a Time Capsule or another NAS (Network Area Storage) device then yes, it could take a day or longer. If your Time Machine drive is Thunderbolt-attached, then that seems a bit long, but there are a number of variables, including the size(s) of the files and types of files(s), and whether they're compressed or encrypted.
My mid-2007 MacBook (1.5Mbit/sec theoretical maximum SATA speed, 3GB usable RAM, 500GB 7200rpm hard drive) took almost two and a half days to back up 350GB to a network-attached Lenovo/iomega server I use for Time Machine via a wireless connection. I don't recommend wireless, by the way, because when verification fails (quite often in my experience), then TM erases all the old backups and demands to begin anew. It required about 18 hours to back up the MacBook when directly connected by RJ-45 Cat 5e cable over Gigabit Ethernet on both devices.
My mid-2011 iMac backs up 350GB via FireWire 800 to a 1TB Time Machine drive in an estimated 11 hours. (I don't know precisely, I went to bed and it was done in the morning.
Time Machine (and most every OS X update and App installation program, for that matter) seems to be quite incapable of predicting ACCURATELY exactly how long the process will take.
I also use CarbonCopyCloner to create a bootable system backup occasionally, so I'm not stuck for a day and a half of restoring from TM just to get back up and running.
Ancient computing proverb: "You can never be too rich or have too many backups."
Message was edited by: kostby

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Message was edited by: summer_laughter

Getting Time Machine back up to a Sparsebundle on external HDD (Drobo)

Hey,
I've been chasing this issue around for a while but can't seem to find the answer.
There are a lot of resources out there describing how to get your Mac to backup to a Sparsebundle on a NAS, and more resources telling you how to write protect the Info.plist file so that Mac OS doesn't resize the image to take up all of your NAS.
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Sorry I was out for awhile, click on "Frequently Asked Questions" at the top of that page that I linked in earlier.

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toekoms wrote:
I currently back up my imac via time machine but to reduce space on my hard drive I want to move my itunes library onto an external hard drive. If i do this can time machine still back up my imac and the external hard drive with the itunes library on automatically?
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edited by the Jolly Green Giant (where Green stands for environmentally friendly)

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OrangePanda wrote:
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sijam11 wrote:
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You may find these Links of Interest...
TM 101 > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
How Time Machine Works its Magic
Frequently Asked Questions
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Time machine back up taking 1 day so removed external HD, now taking TWO days?

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