Time Machine backup frequency and clean restore method

Just started using Time Machine on my late 2014 Mac Mini (Mac OS X 10.10.2) with an external drive (WD MyBook 3TB USB 3.0). Is there any way to change the Time Machine's backup frequency, let's say once a day or once a week instead of hourly?
Also, in the worst case scenario in which my Mac mini's hard disk fails to operate, how should I have a clean full restore on a new disk installed? Is my external bootable because of the Time Machine backups in it? And if not, do I use Mac App Store and install Mac OS X Yosemite on it? Further more is the an (automated) procedure to create a recovery start up disk for my system?

" Is there any way to change the Time Machine's backup frequency": No, but making a backup doesn't slow down at all
"is there an (automated) procedure to create a recovery start up disk for my system? That's one of the Time Machine features.
This FAQ will answer your other questions: Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac - Apple Support

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Can I take my time machine backup drive and put in on another iMac

Setting-up a new Mac from an old one, its backups, or a PC

Time Machine backups after a clean install

I recently performed a reinstalled Snow Leopard on my Macbook Pro as it was suffering from running quite slow. Since I had upgraded this machine from an old Tiger install, I decided to manually migrate my files from a second backup, rather than restoring from my Time Machine backup on a Time Capsule.
Now I'm up and running, I wanted to be able to view my old TM backup on my Capsule, and restore other files if I needed to, but don't seem to be able to.
When browsing the Time Capsule, there is just the one sparsebundle for my backups, but when I enter Time Machine, it doesn't seem to read the older backups.
I would like to either:
1) Get TM to read my older backups
or
2) Clean them off
I still have my second backup so I'm not worried about losing the old data, but I am hoping to be able to claim back some disk space on my Time Capsule, without having to create a whole new TM backup.
Anyone got any ideas?

Dominic Barnes wrote:
I recently performed a reinstalled Snow Leopard on my Macbook Pro as it was suffering from running quite slow. Since I had upgraded this machine from an old Tiger install, I decided to manually migrate my files from a second backup, rather than restoring from my Time Machine backup on a Time Capsule.
Now I'm up and running, I wanted to be able to view my old TM backup on my Capsule, and restore other files if I needed to, but don't seem to be able to.
When browsing the Time Capsule, there is just the one sparsebundle for my backups, but when I enter Time Machine, it doesn't seem to read the older backups.
Have you tried to click-and-hold (or control-click) on the Dock's Time Machine icon and selecting "Browse Other Time Machine disks..."?

Each Time Machine backup grows and grows. How do I stop this?

Hi everyone. In basic terms, let's say that my external LaCie 3TB hard drive has 2TB of data. This 2TB includes my Time Machine backup. That means that I have 1TB of free space. My last backup was one week ago (I don't keep my external HD hooked up because of travel and I don't care for so many frequent backups). Right now I am backing up, and the backup is 30GB larger than last week. THERE IS NO WAY I MADE 30GB OF CHANGES IN THIS PAST WEEK! At the most, I probably made 1GB of changes. This situation has happened before, so it seems that with each backup (every time I reconnect my external HD for the sole purpose of backing up... Again, I don't leave my HD connected so I back up manually whenever I feel like it, instead of automatic), my data seems to have grown by dozens of GB. Dozens! I'm gonna run outta space soon if this keeps up.
I've read a number of threads on this topic and checked out Pondini.org but my one question does not seem to be answered:
How do I stop my backups from growing so big when I know for a fact I did not make big changes?
This does not equate. If I made 1GB of changes (I'm guessing), then why does Time Machine back up an additional 29GB?
I'm considering ditching Time Machine and backing up totally manually, like, dragging/copying/pasting files and folders from my laptop into my external HD. At least that way I can control and understand that 2TB of data means 2TB, not: "Surprise! 2.03TB... 2.5TB... 2.75TB and mysteriously growing!"
Any help would be appreciated, please. Also, I don't know code and I can't do open-source stuff and I don't know jargon. I also don't do advanced stuff like Parallel (I don't know what that is). If you could please help a dummy like me with plain-speak, that would be beyond awesome. Thanks!
***MacBook Pro from late 2011, OSX 10.7.5, LaCie Porsche external HD 3TB***

Some good options are:
Carbon Copy Cloner
Data Backup
Deja Vu
SuperDuper!
Synk Pro
Tri-Backup
Each provides a trial version before paying.

Two Discs shown for wireless time machine backup., "Data" and "Extreme"

I have a new 1TB iMAC 24" connected to Time Capsule via ethernet and wireless, one MacBook connected to Time Capsule via ethernet, and another MacBook that uses wireless. The iMAC and the ethernet-connected MacBook backup just fine using Time Machine. When I try a wireless Time Machine backup from the wireless MacBook, the backup fails and I get the "unable to ... image ..." message (don't remember the exact wording). When I try to "Change Disc" in Time Capsule preferences, I see two discs, one labeled "Data" and the other labeled "Extreme." Which one should I choose?

Try a new post in the 10.5 Time Machine forum.
DALE

Time machine backups cache and temp files?

Just bought a new external usb disk and used it as the time machine backup volume. All time machine configurations are remained as default, so it would backup all my current HD. While watching it estimating the time that the first backup would take, a question jump out in my mind:
Will time machine backup all files "honestly"? Will it make a copy of every file including the Internet cache and temp files when I'm browsing websites? I'm used to watch youtube a lot, and the temp flv file would be large (though I don't know where it is stored on Leopard). If these files would be backup-ed as well, I think it would be a great waste of disk space.
Can anyone confirm that those caches and temp files would be copied or not? If it would, how to prevent this? Thank you.

If you wish to exclude anything from the backup simply drag the item into the Exclude list. For example, you can save considerable space by excluding the /System/ folder. Cache files would be found in the /Library/ and /Home/Library/ folders. Each folder contains a folder named Caches. There is no specific folder in which temporary items as stored that is visible to the user because the operating system will usually delete temporary files on its own. This may not be the case for a specific program, however. Browsers may maintain their own reserved cache and temporary files, and manage them on their own.
I do not think, however, that TM backs up caches or temporary files. I find no such items in my TM backup - only the folders. I do not back up my /System/ folder.

Time Machine backup frequency

Is there a way to modify the frequency of Time Machine backups without just turning it off for a period of time. I.E., can I tell TM to backup every 3 hours instead of every hour? Running Yosemite 10.10.1 on iMac (27-inch, Late 2013).

Yes:
TimeMachineEditor 4.0.2
iScheduleTimeMachine 1.5
Both work well.

How do I recover files from a Time Machine backup after a clean system reinstall?

I had a really funky problem with my Japanese input that is too weird (and irrelevant at this point) to go into here. The gist is that I took my 13-inch, Mid-2012 MacBook Air to the Apple Store in Osaka, and one of their geniuses told me he couldn't isolate the cause and that the only solution was to do a complete reinstall. Of course, I had backed up my whole disk to my Time Capsule before going to the store. The problem is, I cannot do a straight backup, because that will simply bring back the unsolvable problem.
I got the MacBook Air home and used the moving assistant utlity (sorry, I don't know the English name for it since my system's in Japanese) to resinstall all my applications. So far so good. The problem is, I have no idea how to get my files, photos, music, and movies from the Time Capsule into my new account. I didn't see any option for that when I ran the moving assistant utility, and I absolutely do not want to resinstall anything from the old Library Folder.
When I go into Time Machine mode, pinks lines on the right side of the screen indicate that Time Machine has all my old backups there, but when I try to navigate to them, I get only an empty black window. I assume that's because Time Machine does not recognize my old account and new account as the same account (and indeed there is no reason at this point that it should, since I don't know how to link them).
Any help would be very much appreciated.

While in Time Machine, press the key combination shift-command-C. The front window will show all mounted volumes. All snapshots should now be accessible. Select the one you want and navigate to the files you want to restore.

Time Machine: backup files and erase drive

My 1TB external Time Machine HDD is nearly full. I’ve backed up up the last two years of Documents and Pictures files from Finder on another external drive, so Is there a way to find the latest TM versions of Documents and Pictures file on the HDD, restore them to my desktop to make sure I didn’t miss anything in the backups, and then wipe the TM disc and start fresh?

Ok, here goes:
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Time Machine: ℹ️
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Isolating old Time Machine backups & performing new clean backup post OS X reinstall

Hi,
I recently wiped my Mid-2009 MacBook Pro in order to complete a fresh Mavericks install. Previous backups were done through Time Machine on an external drive with nothing else on. How do I 'freeze', isolate, or archive these old backups on the same drive and get TM to complete a brand new clean separate backup of the refreshed internal HDD?
Every time I connect the external drive and select this disk in TM, it recognises the previous backups and doesn't seem to want to complete a clean full backup of my new Mavericks-based system.
Have tried renaming my computer in the Sharing section of System Preferences, but TM simply renames the <computer> folder within backups on the external drive and so all backups continue to be stored together.
I know moving and altering backup directories in Finder can be foolish (plus doesn't seem to allow me anyway) and, whilst formatting the external drive would work, I don't want to lose the previous backups, just in case I have forgotten to transfer something over when reinstalling.
Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks

Thread closed as may have posted in the wrong section of the forum and solution can be found here:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/24459142#24459142

Time Machine backup iTunes and iPhoto as well?

Does time machine also backup from iTunes and iPhoto libraries?
Meaning that I don't need to separately backup those two?

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
Time Machine makes a backup of every file which is in your Mac hard drive, including your iPhoto and iTunes library (unless you have excluded them from the backup, which is not usual). However, you are free to make a second backup of them if you want.

Time Machine backup stopped and now external HD cannot be mounted

While I was doing a backup on Time Machine, it cancelled itself and said there was a problem with backing up my Macbook Pro. Now, when I go to Finder, I see that my external hard drive isn't mounted. I checked Finder preferences and I already have the option checked to view external hard drives in Finder
I can view the external hard drive in Disk Utility, and I even tried mounting it from there, but it doesn't. I tried verifying and repairing, and Disk Utility says the external hard drive cannot be verified or repaired.
My external hard drive is a WD 1TB My Book Essentials.

chrisasu28 wrote:
I can view the external hard drive in Disk Utility, and I even tried mounting it from there, but it doesn't. I tried verifying and repairing, and Disk Utility says the external hard drive cannot be verified or repaired.
There's a chance a 3rd-party disk repair app, such as DiskWarrior, can fix it, but they're expensive (DW is about $100 US), and there's no guarantee.
You might be able to reformat it, with Disk Utility, and keep using it. Time Machine will have to start fresh, of course.
Or contact WD. The drive may be dead or dying.

Time Machine backups start and then fail!

Time machine had a single successful (ethernet-connected) backup up to a new 2TB time capsule. But subsequent backups began to fail. I did a quick erase of the TC, reset the machine and began again...with no luck. I connected my wife's macbook to the same ethernet connection and asked time machine to backup, which is did. After scanning through the Pondini Q&As, I'm still not sure what's happening - I believe the failure to be in time machine and not with the time capsule. I ran Onyx for permission repairs, etc.
Here's the error report from the time machine widget:
No pre-backup thinning needed: 130.74 GB requested (including padding), 1.81 TB available
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
2013-01-06 17:01:28.092 ReportCrash[873:1407] Saved crash report for backupd[852] version ??? (???) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/backupd_2013-01-06-170127_localhost.crash
How can I figure out what's causing the crash and how to repair it?

If you wish to exclude anything from the backup simply drag the item into the Exclude list. For example, you can save considerable space by excluding the /System/ folder. Cache files would be found in the /Library/ and /Home/Library/ folders. Each folder contains a folder named Caches. There is no specific folder in which temporary items as stored that is visible to the user because the operating system will usually delete temporary files on its own. This may not be the case for a specific program, however. Browsers may maintain their own reserved cache and temporary files, and manage them on their own.
I do not think, however, that TM backs up caches or temporary files. I find no such items in my TM backup - only the folders. I do not back up my /System/ folder.

I'm using a WD NAS as my time machine backup drive and since upgrading to Lion the time machine won't operate with the drive. How am I to retrieve my photos and documents from it?

I realise it is the responsibility of WD to maintain the network storage interface for time machine. What is a solution for retrieving files from time machine?
When trying to re-add the drive a message said the version of the system is not supported.

Please follow these instructions:
Lion: Connecting to legacy (pre-Lion) AFP services - and Mac OS X (server):
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3258472

Compressing Time Machine backup folder and burning to DVD

Can I compress the backup folder and burn to a DVD disc?
Most people seem to assume that an external hard drive won't fail and so keeping all files backed up to it is a good thing. Surprise - external HDDs fail also.
I'd really like to have compressed back ups on a DVD in order to have 3 locations with my files.

It would have to be a pretty small backup to fit on a DVD. You won't likely find too much benefit from compressing the data because much of it is in binary form that is most likely not going to reduce much if at all.
A single DL DVD can hold 8 GBs. If you have just OS X installed that will require 16 GBs less whatever you may save compressing the data. Personally, I would not risk compressing the data since that could prove just as problematic or more so than keeping it on a hard drive. Furthermore, if you want more than 5 years storage life out of the DVDs, then you have to avoid the stuff they sell at places like Office Depot which have a relatively short shelf life.
If you need to use more than one DVD, then you need a backup utility designed to span a backup across multiple media. Your choices are somewhat limited: Retrospect, Apple's Backup (requires a .Mac account to download and use,) and possible Tri-Backup (but I am not sure about it.)
Or you can buy several hard drives of suitable size, make multiple backup copies to each drive, store one in a vault off-site. Rotate your weekly and monthly backups to the other drives and once every quarter rotate the off-site drive. The chance of all the drives failing at once is pretty small.

Time Machine backup frequency and clean restore method

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