Time machine backing up too much too often

This has started happening again. I thought the problem went away after my upgrade a few months ago to Mountain Lion.
Time Machine seems to be backing up all the time. And the backups seem to be like 800 MB to 1 GB. It's in the middle of an 849 MB backup right now, but I just started using the computer this morning for the first time, so I didn't change anything overnight.
This does have impact on performance because the disk is constantly being accessed.
In Time Machine preferences I have the obvious culprits excluded: Parallels virtual machines, iTunes podcasts, rental movies and TV shows.
Is there a way to check to see what Time Machine is backing up? I would love for it to get back to it's usual quiet self, doing a 1 or 2 MB backup every hour and quickly getting done with it!
Thanks,
doug

I have 244 images in my photo stream, but only 5 new ones in the last 24 hours.
That's exactly it. The one flaw with iCloud and Time Machine, is that Time Machine checks file metadata, not the photo metadata. Begininng with OSX 10.7.4  there was a hidden system attribute which recorded the last time the file was synced with iCloud. If you are connected to the Internet that tag is updated at an interval (I'm not sure what it is), as well as every time you reconnect, but the OS does this all in the background, so any pictures in photo stream will appear as "modified" to Time Machine, and Time Machine will back up new copies of the files. I'll do a little more poking around the Library and see if I can find something you can exclude, but I'm not sure it can be stopped.

Similar Messages

  • Does Time Machine back up other accounts too?

    Just curious to know if when doing a time machine backup, do I then need to go into other user accounts and repeat the process, or does the back up performed by the admin account do everything?
    thanks
    Lee

    Cheers
    I noticed it had other account folders in there but wasnt sure if after a clean install all the accounts would be fully restored or just the admin.
    thanks

  • Does time machine back up all settings too?

    I have a problem with my imac and the internet- after having it looked at at the genius bar it was found that I have transferred all of my prior systems settings into this one (uncovered some from 2003) It was suggested that I do a complete system restore to get all of these older settings out.
    The question I have is will time machine automatically copy all the current settings?- if so it won't help. or is there a way to prevent it from doing this?
    Thanks

    magneto10 wrote:
    I have a problem with my imac and the internet- after having it looked at at the genius bar it was found that I have transferred all of my prior systems settings into this one (uncovered some from 2003) It was suggested that I do a complete system restore to get all of these older settings out.
    That sound like enormous overkill. Why not just delete/revise whatever's wrong?
    The question I have is will time machine automatically copy all the current settings?- if so it won't help. or is there a way to prevent it from doing this?
    Correct. You could erase your internal HD, install OSX, then use +Setup Assistant+ to transfer everything from your backups, but omit the network settings. See [Using Setup Assistant|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/SetupAsst.html] for details. But again, why not just fix whatever's wrong?

  • Time Machine Backing up too much data (fixed, I think)

    About a month ago, I upgraded my Mac Pro from Leopard to Snow Leopard, and in so doing hooked up new external drive for TM backups.
    First backup was large, bit slow, and expected.
    All backups after that were fairly slow, which I took initially to be partially related to doing recent OS upgrade.
    Within last week or so, I started to notice that my backups seemed to be much larger than expected. I went down about 350 GB on the backup drive in a matter 2 to 3 weeks, while adding at most 10 GB of data in that time.
    Well today, I discovered the issue via the (freel) app Time Tracker, which showed 10+ GB of data for each backup was coming from TechTool Protection (in Application Support). I went into TM and did a 'delete all' for this backup, and it restored a good 350 GB back to my TM drive.
    As I typed this, I initiated a TM backup, that is now 10 MB, which seems normal and expected.
    I still feel like a relative novice when it comes to the fine details of using TM, but glad I found this solution.
    Definitely have to give shout out to Pondini for pointing me to Time Tracker and for the umpteen other tips I've received from reading the Pondini.org site.
    As I marked this as a question, I would say there are 2 items for me that are still outstanding:
    1 - the backup of 10 MB is slow - still showing under 100 KB. As I'm used to this from last few weeks, not a big deal, but I'm up for any pointers from anyone who thinks this can be fixed or ought to be fixed.
    2 - I'm still curious about exclusions, especially within a 10.6 OS environment. I've excluded items that make sense, either cause I have them backed up elsewhere (i.e. iTunes Library) or because I didn't see the need (i.e. Apple Loops in Library/Audio folder). The ones that perhaps make less sense to exclude, but I'm currently not backing up are:
    - Applications folder (did initial TM backup and then excluded)
    - DropBox folder
    - Library/Caches
    - Library/Mail Downloads
    - Public folder and Users/Shared folder
    If you feel these ought to be included, let me know. And if you feel there is anything else to exclude, I'm up for hearing that.
    Thanks.

    incidently it seems that time machine backs up everything the first time and only uses the exclusion list on subsequent times

  • I want to know about time machine if i can use the hard drive that i use for time machine back up as a normal hard drive too or if it's only for time machine

    I want to know about time machine if i can use the hard drive that i use for time machine back up as a normal hard drive too or if it's only for time machine
    and if it yes i want to know if i have 1TB hard disk to use the 500gb for time machine and the other 500gb for normal use

    thank you very much because i am considering to buy the porsche design hard disk 1TB and i want to have it for normal use and for time machine is a pitty to give 1TB for back up only again thanks and i know seperate the back and the working jobs are better but the i have to have 2 hardisks and i want only 1

  • Time Machine back-up disk too small

    Recently I had to restore my system from a Time Machine back-up, all seemed to work fine. Now I have a situation where time machine gives me an error when I attempt a back up, saying there's not enough free space on the back-up drive. The drive I'm backing up is max 500megs, the external BU drive is a TB. I fixed all the prefs but it seems as though Time machine is not deleting old files from my BU drive to make room for new ones. Any ideas?

    OrangePanda wrote:
    Hi, I have the same problem.
    My backup drive (G-Tech Q 500Gb) has 465Gb of space and my Pro has only 434Gb,
    Your backup drive is much too small. To work well (and keep a reasonable number of backups for you), TM usually needs roughly 2-3 times the space of the data it's backing-up. See item #1 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* at the top of this forum.
    yet when I tried to update it says I still need 63Gb of space??? I downloaded the Time Machine buddy recommended here, the message said that some old copies were deleted but still need 64Gb, only had 40Gb.
    Did I miss something? should I just wipe my G-Tech and try again?
    Short-term, probably. Without the actual messages, we can only speculate, but most likely you've made a lot of changes or for some other reason TM is trying to back-up about 54 gb (the 64 includes about 20% extra for workspace). Copy and post the TM Buddy messages here and we can be sure.
    Long-term, you need a bigger drive.

  • Time Machine Back up is too slow

    I just bought a WD 1 TB hard drive for my Macbook Pro. I put files on but for some reason the Time Machine's first back up is taking forever for only 54 gbs. Is this normal? It took me just a few minutes to put in the 25 gb of itunes data on it but the Time Machine back up is so slow. Plus the encryption is very slow too.

    Hi there Balhabib,
    I would recommend taking a look at the troubleshooting steps found in the article below.
    Time Machine: Troubleshooting backup issues
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3275
    -Griff W.

  • Time Machine Error.  Backup is too large for the backup disk.  Backup requires 289.28 GB but only 177.01 GB are available.

    My Mac has not been backing up for some time.  Tried Apple Support, but couldn't figure out problem.
    Receive the following error...
    Time Machine Error
    This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 289.28 GB but only 177.03 GB are available.

    See #C4 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
    If that doesn't clarify the situation, post back with:
    How much data is on your internal HD (and any others being backed-up)?
    How large is your Time Capsule?
    Is there anything else on the TC besides these backups?  If so, what and how large?

  • Time Machine Error This backup is too large for the backup disk

    Hi, I have a 1TB Time Capsule which backs up my Mac. I was having some issues with my mac so I decided to perform an erase and install and then use Migration Assistant to transfer everything back to my Mac.
    After I reinstalled Snow Leopard and restored my Mac using Migration Assistant, Time Machine says that the backup has failed. It says " Time Machine Error This backup is too large for the backup disk. The Backup requires 663 GB but only 255 GB are available.
    What do I do? Is my only option to erase my Time Capsule and have it back everything up from scratch?

    Hi, thanks for the help. I erased everything off of the Time Capsule and it's backing up my Mac from scratch. It's almost finished backing up my whole mac. It's now at 641.86gb of 646.54gb but it's now backing up very slowly. It's backing up .1 every few minutes. Is this normal?
    Here's the log from Time Machine Buddy:
    Starting standard backup
    Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://Stuart%[email protected]/Time%20Capsule
    Mounted network destination using URL: afp://Stuart%[email protected]/Time%20Capsule
    Creating disk image /Volumes/Time Capsule/StuartsMacPro.sparsebundle
    QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
    Disk image /Volumes/Time Capsule/StuartsMacPro.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups
    Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
    Ownership is disabled on the backup destination volume. Enabling.
    Detected system migration from: /Volumes/My Book
    Backup content size: 850.0 GB excluded items size: 606.5 GB for volume Stuart's Drive
    Backup content size: 425.9 GB excluded items size: 67.3 GB for volume Macintosh HD
    No pre-backup thinning needed: 722.56 GB requested (including padding), 928.68 GB available
    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
    Copied 28.3 GB of 602.1 GB, 29340 of 1478089 items
    Copied 55.0 GB of 602.1 GB, 41596 of 1478089 items
    Copied 82.9 GB of 602.1 GB, 55899 of 1478089 items
    Copied 110.7 GB of 602.1 GB, 63347 of 1478089 items
    Copied 138.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 83831 of 1478089 items
    Copied 166.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 94574 of 1478089 items
    Copied 194.7 GB of 602.1 GB, 102854 of 1478089 items
    Copied 222.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 114388 of 1478089 items
    Copied 129159 files (242.5 GB) from volume Stuart's Drive.
    Copied 248.4 GB of 602.1 GB, 130414 of 1478089 items
    Copied 265.5 GB of 602.1 GB, 355699 of 1478089 items
    Copied 293.6 GB of 602.1 GB, 382912 of 1478089 items
    Copied 322.1 GB of 602.1 GB, 387974 of 1478089 items
    Copied 349.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 399204 of 1478089 items
    Copied 378.3 GB of 602.1 GB, 399358 of 1478089 items
    Copied 406.9 GB of 602.1 GB, 399441 of 1478089 items
    Copied 434.5 GB of 602.1 GB, 415817 of 1478089 items
    Copied 461.5 GB of 602.1 GB, 471528 of 1478089 items
    Copied 488.2 GB of 602.1 GB, 537277 of 1478089 items
    Copied 515.1 GB of 602.1 GB, 580446 of 1478089 items
    Copied 541.3 GB of 602.1 GB, 590386 of 1478089 items
    Copied 566.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 602496 of 1478089 items
    Copied 593.3 GB of 602.1 GB, 649575 of 1
    Message was edited by: Stuart Lawrence
    Message was edited by: Stuart Lawrence

  • Time Machine says the backup is too large but it is not

    Time Machine says the backup is too large but it is not.
    While it is true my hard drive is very full (150 Gb used of the available 160Gb), this is way less than 42 Pb!!!!
    I have tried numerous time to reset it and still the same issue.
    Here is the reoccurring message:
    Advice?

    PB.. what the heck is a PB.. I kind of thought TB are still in fairly low digits.
    Do a disk verify.. something is seriously stupidly wrong.. Otherwise ring Apple support and give them an earful about nonsense popups.
    http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html  A5

  • Working while Time Machine backs up

    This may seems like a silly question but I, too, am just learning this whole Time Machine back-up functionality. Can I use the internet and other applications while Time Machine is backing up? I know I can use other applications and functions together on Macs but even with Time Machine, especially when it's doing a large backup? Also, do I need to plug in my external drive every time I am on my computer? If I don't plug in (Iomega) in whenever I use my MacBook Pro, does Time Machine keep the backups to dump on the external drive later? Will there be a large backup if I haven't plugged in the external hard drive for a few days? How often should I plug it in?

    mcrosby wrote:
    This may seems like a silly question but I, too, am just learning this whole Time Machine back-up functionality. Can I use the internet and other applications while Time Machine is backing up?
    Yes.
    I know I can use other applications and functions together on Macs but even with Time Machine, especially when it's doing a large backup? Also, do I need to plug in my external drive every time I am on my computer? If I don't plug in (Iomega) in whenever I use my MacBook Pro, does Time Machine keep the backups to dump on the external drive later?
    Not exactly. It just won't do a backup while it's disconnected.
    Will there be a large backup if I haven't plugged in the external hard drive for a few days?
    Yes. If you let it go for several days (something more than 10 or so), the next one may be a new full backup -- every file and folder on your system. So avoid that if at all possible.
    How often should I plug it in?
    For best results, keep it mounted as much as possible, and let it do it's hourly backups (which should be very quick). The longer TM can't back up, the less likely you'll be able to recover a previous version of a file you changed or deleted in error (or somehow got corrupted), and the more you'll lose when your internal HD fails.

  • 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

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

    Hey,
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    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.
    However I've got a Drobo connected directly to my Mac Mini. The Drobo pretends to have a 16TB drive so that you can add storage as and when you need it.
    I am already using it to back up my MBP over the network to a Sparsebundle and until recently I was using the same scheme (a size limited sparsebundle) to back up the Mac Mini that the Drobo is connected to.
    I achieved this by following the excellent directions on http://anitechtalk.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/time-machine-dns323/ (one of the only sites that mentions the new way that Apple handles Time Machine Sparsebundles)
    However this has recently stopped working and no matter what I do I still cannot get my Mac to see the Sparsebundle as a TimeMachine aware 'drive'- instead it just backs up to the root of the '16TB' Drobo- and at some point it's going to get rather full.
    Argh.
    (And yes, I know that the other solution is to re-partition my Drobo to have a small partition at the start of the disk for Time Machine to use- but it's too late for that as I've already got 1.85TB of data on there and I doubt that I can re-partition that without losing all of the data.)
    Can anyone help me get Time Machine to accept my Sparsebundle as a 'disk' that it can backup to?
    Thanks in advance.

    Thank you for the video link. I did it pretty much exactly the way the young man explained. The one thing I didn't do was click "customize" as he does and unclick the multiple language support and he also clicks "rosetta" to support older programs. I wonder if that's the issue? The guys at Macmall told me that I would need to update the o.s. before I restored. I did that originally but have since (as mentioned before) erased the main drive. I noticed that when he does his install, his external drive does not show up on the list in which you want to install the o.s. on... should I unplug my external? I'm just trying to look at ever detail. I know the recovery file is there. The one thing it (the external) did say before I started posting here was "in progress". I'm not sure what that means? I promise I'm not an idiot. I consider myself an above average user. I usually help other that have issues... but I've yet to restore from a Time Machine back-up and I'm looking forward to learning how to do it.... the right way. I appreciate all of the advice. I have some pretty important files on my external back-up. I am really hoping that this is possible. I'm beginning to think the external is where the issue lies. The "in progress" next to the file name concerns me. I know there's a lot of data on the drive because it's nearly half full. So there's stuff there....
    Deep breath in...... reeee laaaaaaaxxxx

  • I restored from a Time Machine back up and now my Creative Suite 4 gives me error 150:30

    I have the same problem when I migrated CS4 to a new Retina MacBook Pro from a Time Machine drive. I get Error: 150:30 when I try to launch Photoshop CS4. The License Recovery Tool does not seem to work with Mountain Lion. I cannot reinstall the software from disc unfortunately. That was too many moves ago and the discs are no longer available. I don't even think the installers will run with the current OS.
    Any help would be much appreciated.
    All the best,
    Tom

    I have branched this off to a separate discussion.
    TomWolsky in general it is best if you install the applications instead of restoring them from Time Machine or using the Migration assistant to copy them from one computer to another.  You can try the steps listed at Error "Licensing has stopped working" | Mac OS - http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/error-licensing-stopped-mac-os.html.  This may allow you to resolve this difficulty.
    If it doesn't I would recommend formatting and only restoring your documents and settings from the Time Machine back up.  You can download a fresh copy of your installation files by following the directions listed at http://prodesigntools.com/download-adobe-cs4-and-cs3-free-trials-here.html. 
    You can also find the serial number if it is registered to your account by following the steps listed at http://forums.adobe.com/message/3987968#3987968?promoid=KBHJW.

  • "Can't connect to a current Time Machine back up disk"

    OS X Yosemite, version 10.10.1
    Macbook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013)
    Processor 2.6 GHz Intel Core i5
    Memory 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
    Computer is supposed to seamlessly back up to Time Capsule via wi-fi, but ever since upgrading to Yosemite it's been broken.  "can't connect to a current Time Machine back up disk"  is the message that pops up, just after it shows me the files on my Time Machine for a split second.  So it sees them, for a moment, then it pops up the message and freezes my computer.  I have to do a hard reboot.  I tried the instructions here: OS X Yosemite: If Time Machine can’t find your backup disk,  and various instructions I've found on the internet regarding fixes from deleting plist files to whatever. 
    This is very annoying, I'd like to fix the problem.  And also vent, this *****, this isn't why I purchase Apple products, it's a known problem and they aren't publishing a fix.  Apple isn't very elegant anymore, it's cumbersome, troublesome, and I'm wondering why I'm spending the extra when those were the benefits I was paying for.

    Apple isn't very elegant anymore, it's cumbersome, troublesome, and I'm wondering why I'm spending the extra when those were the benefits I was paying for.
    Don't upgrade next time until the following version is out.. I updated not long ago to Mountain Lion.. and it works very nicely. Apple is playing MS game.. don't fix the problems.. just release a new fangled OS. So issues that have existed over Mavericks and all its updates are still there and in fact exacerbated in Yosemite.
    To fix your issue.. You may need to do some major work.. did you upgrade or clean install Yosemite??
    I guess it is too much to ask if you still have your previous OS install intact?? Making a bootable clone before updating is a necessity now IMHO.
    TM does not really allow you to go back to the previous OS.. but you can clean install Mavericks or whatever you used and then recover your files.
    To fix Yosemite a clean install can be a big help. Especially as wireless is a major flaw.
    Do you own the thunderbolt to ethernet adapter? It is like $35 and a well worthwhile gadget to own.. since I think your mac has no ethernet port.
    See if it works ok by ethernet.
    Otherwise factory reset the TC and try mounting it manually in finder by IP address, not name.
    ie in Finder use Go, Connect to server and type in the IP.. thusly
    SMB://10.0.1.1 (replace with actual IP)
    It is a bit tricky if the IP is not static.. but start there and see what happens.
    Remember to save the password to the TC in the keychain when asked.

  • Time machine back up- not enough space  so can't back up?

    hi my computer entire hard drive is 2TB and only 1Tb used. and my external hard drive(time machine back-up) is 2TB. and right now Time machine back up failed. and keep saying that hard drive don;t have enough space....
    i erase all from external hard drive ,, back up NEW. and still saying that not enough space on back up drive, weird thing is and i have 2.8 TB to back up.. but my entire hard drive is only 2TB .. what is that? and i only used 1.1 TB ish..
    somebody help me? how can i use time machine back up with this issue?

    What's shown for +Estimated size of full backup+ under the exclusions box in TM Preferences > Options?
    If that's over the 1.1 TB used, there are a couple of possibilities:
    Another internal or external drive, formatted for a Mac, is connected but not excluded, so Time Machine is trying to back it up, too. Exclude it, per #10 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
    Something on your internal HD is corrupted, making Time Machine think it's much larger than it really is. Verify your internal HD, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

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