Time Machine Backing Up to Macintosh HD

The other day, I was trying to back up my MacBook Pro. My time machine had been working well for two months, but when my Mac had been backing up for an unusually long time, I checked and I saw that the back up size kept increasing until I decided to stop it at 9 GB. I noticed that it said it was backing up to "Macintosh HD" instead of "Data on Time Capsule." I had to erase the Time Machine disk and back up my entire computer again in order to get the disk to back up again, but I am worried this will happen again. Does anyone have any idea of what might have happened and how I can make sure it won't again? Thank you.

Was your Time Capsule disk full? If it was full than the backup may not have completed succesfully. I find that my backup size also increases sometimes, I don't think you need to worry about this. Just make sure that your time machiene preferences are set to back uo to the correct Time Capsule disk. I also completely erase my backup disk and start from scratch with a full backup every month or so.

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Can not installed mountain lion msg" macintosh hd is using for time machine back up" please help

I downloaded mountain lion but can not install, msg" macintosh HD is using for time machine back up , how can I change that...thanks

Somehow, a Backups.backupdb folder got created on your startup drive.
You won't find it via a Spotlight or Finder search, so open your internal HD via the Finder.
That folder is at the top level. Just delete it.

Time machine back-up stuck on "cleaning up" before actually showing back-up progress

On my MacBook Pro running latest Snow Leopard, after replacing the internal HD and restoring the data from the Time Machine back-up apparently seamlessly, when starting back-up again to the the same external disk connected to another mac on the network, this happened. Almost 12 hours now. There is activity on the external back-up disk as the LED light is blinking and I can hear it work.
The message in Time Machine Preferences pane is "cleaning up" which usually shows at the end of the back-up but this time it is before any progres has shown.
I have Time Machine Buddy widget installed and this is what it says, again for the last 12 hours or so:
Starting standard backup
Network destination already mounted at: /Volumes/TM WD Book-1
Failed to attach to image: /Volumes/TM WD Book-1/Vladskibook.sparsebundle, DIHLDiskImageAttach returned: 35
Disk image /Volumes/TM WD Book-1/Vladskibook.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|new event db|
Should I just wait patiently or perform a repair of the back-up disk or do a full reset of Time Machine?
If I should wait, can I use my mac without affecting this process?
Thanks

Yellowvan wrote:
Hi Pondini,
Yes, I bought DiskWarrior 4.1.1 - it came up with this report:
" DiskWarrior has successfully built a new optimized directory for the disk named "Untitled."
The new directory is ready to replace the original directory."
Did you let it do that? If not, nothing was changed!
The drive is still under guarantee - can they really fail this quickly?
Sure, a few drives from any production run will be D.O.A, and a few others will fail very quickly, as with nearly any manufactured product.
But you don't know yet whether the drive is bad. If you didn't let DW replace the directory, run it again and do so.
If it's still troublesome, try the other things in my last post before deciding it's the drive.

HT201250 How to change Time Machine back up time

Is there a way to change the hourly Time Machine back up time to once or twice a day?

Tidy wrote:
Now I have my original back up on time capsule which time machine can't see and it keeps starting over again to make a new backup - so my time capsule disk shows two separate backups one the original one of 2 days ago named for my computer and a new one almost the same gigabytes (139gb) which it has called Macintosh sparse bundle ????
It's possible the first one is damaged, but that seems unlikely, unless you turned the TC or Mac off while it was trying to do a backup. But even that shouldn't cause TM to start a new one (absent any messages to that effect). And it shouldn't be named "Macintosh" unless you've changed your computer name to that via System Prefs > Sharing.
A clue may be lurking in your logs. Use the widget in #A1 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting to display the backup messages from your logs. Locate both backups in question, then copy and post all the messages for each one here. (Since the first backup has been a couple of days, the widget may not show the messages for that backup; if not, the pink box shows how to use the Console app to find them.)
With the messages from both backups, we may be able to see what's going on.
I'm thinking that I should just leave time cap ON and see which it backs up to then delete the other one.
Let's see what we can find first.
I assume connecting iMac to time cap via Ethernet cable would not be a problem?
Correct. Doing the first, full backup via Ethernet is recommended.
Also if just turning time machine off is enough to disrupt time capsule backups how about turning the iMac off, which I will have to do once in a while.
Neither should be a problem, unless a backup is in progress and either the TC or Mac is shut down abnormally.

I have no folder for firefox in application support... where can I find the stored passwords from my time machine back up!!?

Everywhere I look it says I should have a folder for Firefox in library/applicationsupport/ BUT I don't have one! I'm looking to restore passwords from a time machine back up but there's no Firefox folder so I don't where to look. I even did a fresh install of Firefox on my mac and even then it never created a Firefox folder in library/applicationsupport/... they must be store somewhere in my back up...!?

Hello kamilr, check also in :
~/Library/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/<profile folder>
The tilde character (~) refers to the current user's Home folder, so ~/Library is the /Macintosh HD/Users/<username>/Library folder.
note that in mac 10.7 and above, the ~/Library folder is hidden by default, see : http://kb.mozillazine.org/Show_hidden_files_and_folders#Mac_OS_X
when you find the file seek for '''key3.db''' and '''signons.sqlite''' files.
Your passwords are stored in two different files, both of which are required:
'''key3.db''' - This file stores your key database for your passwords. To transfer your saved passwords, you must copy this file along with the following file.
'''signons.sqlite''' - Saved passwords
thank you

Time machine back up in mountain lion

I have just installed mountain lion on my iMac. I am using a Seagate 1Tb hard disk for Time backup. After some time the computer just disconnects the hard disk and I have to remove the cable and reinsert to get back the hardisk and restart the time machine. This is the problem with my iMac as well as my macbook. What is the solution so that I may have continous, uninterupped back up?

Below is a full log from my latest time machine back up. Migration assistant still cannot see it. Any thought would be grateful
Starting automatic backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Deep event scan at path:/ reason:must scan subdirs|new event db|
Finished scan
Found 1669 files (405.2 MB) needing backup
1.86 GB required (including padding), 703.81 GB available
Copied 5541 files (404.5 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Using file event preflight for Macintosh HD
Will copy (Zero KB) from Macintosh HD
Found 34 files (Zero KB) needing backup
1.37 GB required (including padding), 703.39 GB available
Copied 1057 files (201 bytes) from volume Macintosh HD.
Created new backup: 2013-03-05-130247
Starting post-backup thinning
Deleted /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/XXX’s MacBook/2013-03-04-075145 (45 KB)
Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
Backup completed successfully.

After time machine back up

I am using the WD passport for mac, and I need to know if it is safe to delete files from my Macintosh hd once it is on my time machine?

Whoa.
If you delete the files from your Mac.....you only have one version of them on the WD drive.
What will happen when....not if....the WD drive has a problem?
Only the most foolhardy of users would ever consider keeping only one version of their important files.
My advice, if you decide to do this anyway, would be to only delete files from your Mac that you can afford to lose.
Another thought might be that Time Machine backs up the changes on your Mac. When Time Machine starts needing more space, it will pick up the fact that you deleted the original files from your Mac.....and it will delete them from your backups. You will not know when this will occur.
Bottom line....to be safe, you need at least one version of your important data on two separate drives. When one fails, you at least have the other.

Time Machine Back Up Files Missing

I recently had a hard drive crash in mac book pro. Having replaced the hard drive my back up disk also decided to crash but I did not worry too much as I had a separate time machine back up.
I retrieved most of my files but then realised that loads of my photos were missing. I went back into Time Machine only to discover that my back ups now only go back a week and all the old data has simply disappeared.
I have tried pressing the alt key while accessing the Time Machine on the menu bar but there are no other back up volumes.
Has Time Machine simply over written all my old data and rendered it irretrievable?

Just found this from first backup using console app.
Apr 10 10:19:53 Macintosh defaults[1092]: \nThe domain/default pair of (//System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.backupd-attach, Disabled) does not exist
Apr 10 10:19:53 Macintosh defaults[1095]: \nThe domain/default pair of (//System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.backupd-auto, Disabled) does not exist
Apr 10 10:19:53 Macintosh defaults[1098]: \nThe domain/default pair of (//System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.backupd, Disabled) does not exist
Apr 10 10:27:15 Macintosh defaults[3233]: \nThe domain/default pair of (//System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.backupd-attach, Disabled) does not exist
Apr 10 10:27:15 Macintosh defaults[3235]: \nThe domain/default pair of (//System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.backupd-auto, Disabled) does not exist
Apr 10 10:27:15 Macintosh defaults[3237]: \nThe domain/default pair of (//System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.backupd, Disabled) does not exist
Apr 10 16:52:35 Macintosh /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[783]: Backup requested by user
Apr 10 16:52:35 Macintosh /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[783]: Starting standard backup
Apr 10 16:52:35 Macintosh /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[783]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
Apr 10 16:52:35 Macintosh /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[783]: Ownership is disabled on the backup destination volume. Enabling.
Apr 10 16:52:37 Macintosh /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[783]: Reloading changed Time Machine preferences
Apr 10 16:52:38 Macintosh /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[783]: Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Zeus
Apr 10 16:52:38 Macintosh /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[783]: Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:kFSEDBEventFlagMustScanSubDirs|
Apr 10 17:02:22 Macintosh /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[783]: Restarting backup because volume name changed for: Zeus2
Apr 10 17:02:24 Macintosh /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[783]: Backup requested due to disk attach
Apr 10 17:02:28 Macintosh /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[783]: Backup canceled.
Apr 10 17:02:29 Macintosh /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[783]: Starting standard backup
Apr 10 17:02:29 Macintosh /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[783]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
Apr 10 17:02:30 Macintosh /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[783]: Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Zeus2
Apr 10 17:02:30 Macintosh /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[783]: Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:kFSEDBEventFlagMustScanSubDirs|
Apr 10 17:15:34 Macintosh /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[783]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 112.12 GB requested (including padding), 131.02 GB available
Apr 10 19:37:18 Macintosh /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[783]: Copied 153575 files (94.2 GB) from volume Zeus2.
Has the fact that i changed the hard drive name meant that all the old backup files have gone?

I have 2 macbooks each with an account for me and one for my wife. I use one Macbook logged in with my account and my wife uses the other Macbook only loged in on her account. We both make regular time-machine back-ups each on a separate external disk

I have 2 Macbooks each with an account for me and one for my wife. I use one Macbook logged in with my account and my wife uses the other Macbook only logged in on her account. We both make regular time-machine back-ups each on a separate external disk. Is it possible to update her account on my macbook using her external disk without overwriting my stuff on the same Macbook and vice versa?

Time Machine does not do individual accounts. It records the complete drive. So if you were to use her TM backup on your Mac it would make your Mac just like hers. Both yours and her account on your MAC.
Just copy the missing files over from her Mac to yours. If there are differennt programs on each then they would need to be installed on both.

Can I use my time capsule for time machine back ups and as an external storage device?

I have a time capsule and have set it up so that my time machine back ups are saved on it, but I would also like to use it as an external hard drive. Is this possible?
I know nothing about computers so please tell me in very basic terms. thankyou!

By external hard disk we usually mean one plugged into the computer by USB or Firewire or Thunderbolt.
None of those works on the TC.. it is plugged in by ethernet or use wireless connection.. that means it is a network drive.. not an external drive. The difference might not mean much to you.. but it is totally different to the computer. In the former case the computer has full control of the disk. In the case of the network drive, the disk is controlled by the TC firmware and the files are stored and accessed by network. This has large implications.
So here is my standard response.
Store files on the TC.
This is asked several times a day.. obviously people are struggling with their latest SSD being too small.
The TC is not suitable for network file server.. but many people having no choice press it into service as such.
Major issues.
1. No backup.. no way Time Machine can backup a network drive. No place to backup to.. So all your files will be at risk. And you will need to buy a third party like CCC to do backup.
2. The TC cannot be partitioned and mixing TM backups and data is not great. It was and is and ever shall be a backup device for Time Machine.
3. The drive is slow to spin up and quick to spin down.. there is no control. In fact the TC is so lacking in controls for even the router side.. that you cannot do more than the most basic of setups.
The following are controls on the hard disk side.
Reformat it. You can name the share. You can do a full archive of the whole disk. This will go at a speed of aprox. 30-50GB/Hr so calculate how long an archive of a full 2TB will take.
4. iPhoto in particular can easily corrupt its entire library with wireless networking causing a disconnection to one photo. Even if you do this;;; do not move your photo library... you have been warned!!
Even apple btw say don’t do it.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5168 Although mostly about FAT32 it adds network drives.
5. iTunes can constantly lose connection to the library. The disk is slow to respond.. itunes on the computer will constantly spit out errors. Even in the midst of streaming the TC can spin down the disk due to caching.
6. Do not use any live files on the TC no matter what else you do.. if you edit files in whatever program the file must be on the local hard disk.
7. The only suitable location for most libraries is a computer. You can plug in an external hard disk.
Read pondini for some work arounds.
Q3 here. http://pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html

I am trying to get space on an external hard drive which has some old time machine back up files that I do not need but can not eliminate, even by going into the time machine, clicking on the backup file to be eliminated and using the drop down eliminate

I am trying to get space on an external hard drive which has some old time machine back up files that I do not need but can not eliminate, even by going into the time machine, clicking on the backup file to be eliminated and using the drop down menu with the gear box symbol to eliminate

I cannot find this 300GB "Backup" in the Finder, only in the Storage info when I check "About This Mac".
You are probably using Time Machine to backup your MacBook Pro, right? Then the additional 300 GB could be local Time Machine snapshots. Time Machine will write the hourly backups to the free space on your hard disk, if the backup drive is temporarily not connected. You do not see these local backups in the Finder, and MacOS will delete them, when you make a regular backup to Time Machine, or when you need the space for other data.
See Pondini's page for more explanation: What are Local Snapshots? http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
I have restarted my computer, but the information remains the same. How do I reclaim the use of the 300GB? Why is it showing up as "Backups" when it used to indicate "Photos"? Are my photos safe on the external drive?
You have tested the library on the external drive, and so your photos are save there.
The local TimeMachine snapshot probably now contains a backup of the moved library. Try, if connecting your Time Machine drive will reduce the size of your local Time Machine snapshots.

Just got Prosoft drive genius 3 software, and it's telling me that the external hard drive that i am using for my time machine back up drive needs to be defragmented. is it wise to do this or should i not??

just got Prosoft drive genius 3 software, and it's telling me that the external hard drive that i am using for my time machine back up drive needs to be defragmented. is it wise to do this or should i not??

Let's hope a couple things: that you have bootable clones of your drives also; that the backup drive for TimeMachine has over 3x capacity of the data you plan and are storing. I would also switch TM backup drives so you have a 2nd.
Fragmented free space affecting performance happens when the drive is too full which may mean there isn't enough free space for a full backup set.
1.5TB for backing up 500GB, while WD Green 3TB is $140 and WD Black 1.5TB is, about the same price.
I'd be worried about the integrity and directory, and whether you can afford to lose that drive. Defragging is also a very slow operation. the ideal: to just clone a drive, or start over with another drive and wait. cloning TM volumes has not been done or has it? SuperDuper hoped to but I don't think they or Bombich's CCC made it there.
Trouble with highly fragged is when free space gets to 20% normally, 1/3 or so though for TM volumes, and finding where and a chunk of space for the file being written. Does TM use large spare image files of like 2GB?
Best would be to ask in the TimeMachine section Snow Leopard
https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os/mac_os_x_v10.6_snow_leopard?view= discussions#/?tagSet=1009
where there are some good FAQ and tutorials, and people that know the ins-and-outs and shortcomings.

My external hard drive is 'seen' by my iMac and I can go into the Finder and open files and folders. I am using the hard drive for Time Machine back up. However Time Machine says it can't find the drive. Same thing has happened with Final Cut Express.

My new LaCie external hard drive is 'seen' by my iMac and I can go into the Finder and open files and folders. I am using the hard drive for Time Machine back up. However Time Machine says it can't find the drive.
The same thing happened recently between Final Cut Express and my other LaCie external hard drive used as the Scratch disk. It fixed itself.
I've run out of ideas. Help would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

have you done some searches on FCPx and time machine? Is there a known issue with using a TM drive with FCPx? dunno but ...wait...I'll take 60 sec for you cause I'm just that kind of guy.... google...." fcpx time machine problem" Frist page link
http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/fcpx-bug-best-practices-for-using-external-hard- drives-and-final-cut-pro-x/
You cannot have time machine backups on your hard drive if you intend to use it in FCPX.
booya!

How do you delete file from time machine back up?

How do you delete file from time machine back up?

This from Apple KB Article If Time Machine is not in your Dock, you can enter Time Machine from the Menu Bar or System Preferences.
Deleting data from a Time Machine backup
To delete all backups of one or more items from a Time Machine backup, follow these steps:
Click the Time Machine icon on your Dock to enter the Time Machine restore interface.
Click on the item you would like to delete. Command-click to select multiple items.
Control-click (or right click) the highlighted item(s) and select "Delete All Backups of..." from the contextual menu, or select "Delete all backups of..." from the Action Item menu.
Authenticate with an administrator password when prompted.

I have partitioned my time capsule, but I can't get it to work as a Time Machine back up and permanent media server for both mac and PC. What format do I need to partition the drive to so that it works for both mac and windows and so that it will be visab

I have partitioned my time capsule, as I want part of it to act as a media server for both mac and windows. However I don't know what format that I need to partition it to. I also can't make it a permanently accesible drive. I want to restore the drive to the original format (which I don't know) and start again and re-partition the drive in a format that can be used for media by both mac and PC and for time machine back-ups and make the media part of it permanetly accesible so I can add and acccess my files.
Thanks

You are mixing up a couple of things here.
The TC drive cannot be partitioned without removing it.. did you do that?
If you partition it you must use a Mac disk utility and use the HFS+ ie standard Mac format. And GUID partition table not windows type.
You can select erase disk in the airport utility.. that will take the disk back to original format. No partitions. TC is deliberately not partitioned as it is not a media server.. it is a backup device for TM. Over time .. the disk will be filled with TM backups so you have a long history of file changes to your computer.
There is no media server in the TC.. it is merely disk storage.. you can serve files from it to a media device.. but the TC itself is dumb as dumb.
Now the actual format of the drive is irrelevant to the PC.. The TC offers SMB file services to the network. You can copy files to and from the TC as if it was a local disk without caring one iota about the format. The TC handles that .. it is not a local disk .. it is a network drive.
Although you cannot partition the TC. you can still copy files to it.. this does have implications for TM.. but as long as there is plenty of free space should not be a major issue.
You can create a disk image via the disk utility in a Mac.. and as stated you can create partitions if you do it on a Mac with the disk directly connected which means breaking warranty if any exists on the TC.

Time Machine Backing Up to Macintosh HD

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