Time Machine: Can I backup to more than 1 external hard drive?

would anyone know about this: i have a TM at home in boston which i use when i am there; however, now i am in taiwan where i will have a second TM to use here: apart from naming the two TMs differently on the laptop (macbookpro, tiger), is there anything i should look out for? with many thanks, steven totosy

Other users have successfully backed up their Mac to more than one Time Machine drive. As you stated, name them differently. You also need to switch TM drives, but that's only once after you've arrived at your new location. Note that after extended absences, TM may not want to continue with a backup and force you to create a new backup. I don't recall how much time has passed, but someone has stated 10 days, but I cannot confirm that.

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Can I have mavericks time machine on one partition of a WD external hard drive and snow leopard data on another

can I have mavericks time machine on one partition of a WD external hard drive and snow leopard data on another

If you want to and it is so large that it has room (350% is a good estimate for TimeMachine), then use a partition(s) to hold system restore images or bootable clones. Or VM images.
Using SSDs most Mac Pro models can easily hold 6 or more storage devices inside, except the nMP cylinder 6,1's; which do need external Thunderbolt and USB3.
System drive / data / scratch / backup data / backups of system / ....
I recommend a couple system backups, especially when faced with dual boot situations as well as an OS that is still undergoing updates and changes.

Can i use time machine with a airport extreme and a external hard drive

I have connected a hard drive to my airport extreme.
Now i would like to use time machine to back up my computers, and would like to do this on the hard drive which is connected to my airport extreme.
Next step is that i would like to be able to approach my external hard drive via the internet.
Is this possible or not?

Both are possible. However, Apple does NOT support Time Machine backups to AirPort Disks attached to the 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBSn). Doing so will potentially lead to data corruption and is highly not recommended. Please check out this excellent Pondini article for more details. This article also provides the Apple Support references that states Apple's position. Bottom line? If your backups are critical to you, then you may want to rethink your backup solution.
As far as accessing the AirPort Disk from the Internet, the following is the basic steps to do so:
Start the AirPort Utility > Select the AEBSn, and then, note the IP address shown.
Select Manual Setup.
Verify that Connection Sharing = Share a public IP address is selected on the Internet > Internet Connection tab.
Select Disks, and then, select File Sharing.
Verify that both the "Enable file sharing" and "Share disks over WAN" options are enabled.
Verify that Secure Shared Disks = With a disk password. (Recommended)
Verify that AirPort Disks Guest Access = Not allowed. (Recommended)
Select Advanced, and then, select the Port Mapping tab.
Click the plus sign to add a new port mapping.
For Service, select the "Personal File Sharing" option. (Note: This option would only allow Mac clients to access the AirPort Disks. If you want both Macs and PCs to connect, you would need to leave this field at its default value and enter the appropriate SMB ports to the mix of ports to be opened.)
In the Public UDP Port(s) and Public TCP Port(s) boxes, type in a 4-digit port number (e.g., 8888) that you choose. In the Private IP Address box, type the internal IP address of your AEBSn that you wrote down in step 1. In the Private UDP Port(s) and Private TCP Port(s) boxes, type 548. Click Continue.
In the Description box, type a descriptive name like "AirPort Disk File Sharing," and then, click Done.
Click on Update.
To connect to the shared AirPort Disk from a remote location using a Mac:
From the Finder > Go > Connect to Server.
Enter the Pubic (WAN-side) IP address of the AEBSn, followed by a colon and the Public port number that you choose in step 11 of the previous procedure. For example: afp://www.mydyndnsdomain.com:8888 or afp://123.456.789.123:8888
Click Connect.
You should be prompted for your user name and password. The user name can be anything you like; the password should be the Disk password for the AEBSn that you created in step 6 previously.
Click Connect.

Can time machine back up an imac and an external hard drive?

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?
Regards
Toekoms

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?
yes, given enough space on the destination drive (your library may grow over time). also, the drive needs to be connected directly to your Mac.
you might want to make sure the drive is not excluded from TM backups by checking in system preferences > time machine > options.
also, as for moving your iTunes library, see this read for tips/instructions.
JGG
edited by the Jolly Green Giant (where Green stands for environmentally friendly)

Can I install my time machine back up onto a properly formatted external hard drive?

I have a MacBook Pro with a 750GB harddrive, with 500+ Gb of data on it. Just before I traverse to Europe, I did a TimeMachine back up.
I now want to give my Mac to a friend, and buy a AirMac when I get home. Even if I get the one with the largest drive it will not hold the full 500+'back up.
I have an 8 year old Mac Book pro at home as well. It will be a few months before I can buy the new AirMac. So my question is ....
Can I install my current backup on a properly formatted external hard drive, and will it then run like a computer --until I get my new AirMac?
Thanks for your help (and please don't be too tough on me for what may see to de a dumb question)
Soper777

The Time Machine backup is not bootable
You will have to install Leopard first

Time machine won't connect to my shared external hard drive connected to my airport utility

I connected my hard drive directly to my iMac and have backed up my system. Ive since connected the external hard drive to my airport utility. I can save documents to my hard drive wirelessly however when I've tried to back it up again I'm unable to do so. The drive is visible when I go into utility settings I just can't back up to it. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Officially, like Bob said, it's not supported by Apple at all. Unofficially, it is really hit/miss for most people but may be worth a shot if you've got a spare afternoon to try it out.
As an anecdote, I had a first-generation 802.11n AEBS and it did not work for me at all. However, a few years later, I upgraded to a 3rd Gen AEBS (Dual-Band), it has worked just fine. In fact, it recognizes the drive as a Time Capsule backup.
My guess is it has or had something to do with converting Ethernet/Wi-Fi––>Router––>USB––>SATA (HDD) whereas the Time Capsule is simply Ethernet/Wi-Fi––>Router––>SATA (HDD). The Time Capsule is an ideal setup but if you've already got an AEBS and don't need two routers, it may be worth a shot.
I'm using a Western Digital 2TB "green" drive with a cheapie Acomdata USB 2.0 enclosure between an iMac (ours) and a Macbook (hers). I still back my personal laptop up manually simply because of the tradeoff of speed vs. convenience. For instance, our iMac is wired via Gigabit Ethernet to the AEBS while my wife's Macbook is always wireless (via 802.11n). The difference in backup speed for either of them is rather indistinguishable but the initial backup takes more than a few hours depending on how many GB of data you have. Hooked up directly, the backup is a fraction of time in comparison. Therefore, the point is: If you regularly make LARGE backups (i.e. Virtual Machines, Videos, etc.), it's worth it to backup locally. Otherwise, if your backups are rather small (i.e. Text docs, a few songs, pictures, etc.), it's a wash.
The idea of NAS for Time Machine backups is really nice but hardly ideal if you're routinely backing up large files (or equally large changes to them).

My Time Machine does not recognize my newly-reconnected external hard drive, so I cant set it up

I have unplugged and restarted the external drive and the notebook itself multiple times. And done some troubleshooting. The drive is simply NOT recognized by the notebook (macBook 2007). It was however working fine until last night when I dismantled the whole system (to clear the table top for a party).
Now setting up again my NEW (bought 2 weeks ago) LaCie (2 TB USB-connected external drive) neither the Time Machine NOR the Mac itself recognizes the external drive, so I can't select it when I'm asked to configure the Time Machine.....
What is going on here. The disc is far from full and I've shut down and rebooted everything. Disconnected and reconnected everything (drive from Mac too) Trouble shooting included finding the preferences in Library and deleting the old com.apple plist file which I've copied below (could not attach it here)
Thanks.
bplist00Ÿ
YHostUUIDs_ RequiresACPower_ SkipSystemFiles[BackupAlias_ DestinationUUID_ LocalizedDiskImageVolumeName_ AlwaysShowDeletedBackupsWarning]ExcludeByPathZAutoBackup° _ $00000000-0000-1000-8000-0019E33631FD
O        LaCie≈ ∂ΩH+ LaCie ≈ ∂Ωˇˇˇˇ
LaCie ≈ Ó˝ ≈ Ó˝   LaCie:LaCie   LaCie   LaCie   /Volumes/LaCieˇˇ_ $E896BFA8-4C77-3A14-BC5D-B8530F38011C_ Time Machine Backups
¶      _ (/Users/susan/Library/Mail/Envelope Index_ </Users/susan/Library/Mail/Metadata/BackingStoreUpdateJournal_ -/Users/susan/Library/Calendars/Calendar Cache_ O/Users/susan/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.DotMacSync.0019e33631fd.plis t_ 0/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/PlayReady_ 4/Users/susanjmorton/Library/Calendars/Calendar Cache   %7IUgÜ®∂¡√ÍÎÏ ˆ   4 5 < g ¶ ÷ ( [ í    ì

Does Disk Utility see the external?
(Applications / Utilities / Disk Utility)

Has time machine deleted the other files on my external hard drive?

i used a la cie external hard drive for time machine and now i can't find the files that i had stored on the drive previously, there is only the time machine bck ups - are the files gone forever?

V.K. is entirely correct.
For future reference, the way to keep "other" files on a TM drive is to partition it. TM will, eventually, fill the space provided to it with backups.
Also, if other data is in the same partition and you ever need to delete all your TM backups and start over, you'll be in something of a pickle (technical term). If it has it own, exclusive partition, all you have to do is erase the partition with Disk Utility.

I upgraded to Mavericks and now Time Machine won't back up to my external hard drive.

I upgraded to OS 10.9 on my iMac and now I get messages that Time Machine will not back up to my G-Force external hard drive. What do I do to restore back up capability?

Check the More Like This section at the right particularly i upgraded my imac hard drive to a 2tb drive. how do i use time machine to get my computer back to normal?

I am trying to restore my old Macbook Pro data using Time Machine on a new Mackbook Air from external hard drive, but when I install I get two different loggin accounts and I only want one loggin account

I am trying to restore my old Macbook Pro data using Time Machine to a new Macbook Air from an external hard drive, but when I restore I get two diferrent loggin accounts and I only wnat one loggin account to access all my data/files?

This web site might answer all of your Time machine questions:
http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html
Ciao.

Time Machine wont back up iPhoto Library on External Hard Drive

I have tried and tried, but I cannot get Time Machine to successfully back up my iPhoto Library on an external hard drive. I found out the hard way that TM was not backing up iPhoto. Sometime TM would work and other times it would not. I realize now that the times it worked was the times I had iPhoto open. The times it did not was when iPhoto was closed.
I have checked the troubleshooting steps, repaired disks ,etc - but still nothing. Anyone have any suggestions?

I bought a new MacBook Pro in late august this year, and since then I`ve had some serious problems backing up my iPhoto library. I have searched severals forums in both english and norwegian, with no luck. But today, I found this... http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4116
Thank you so much, Pondini. You made my day
Kind regards, Erlend.

If I filled the system hard drive, and I'll delete anything on it, it's off and on the external drive, or can I safely clean the system hard drive and all that was done in the Time Machine in the same place, on an external hard drive and will remain ?

Please help

Time Machine does delete "old" backups, eventually. "Eventually" is controlled by whether or not you have used all of the space on the TM drive. If you have "more free space" on the TM drive, then nothing should be deleted yet.
If youd elete files from a system drive, and continue on the same TM set, TM does NOT scour all old records to purge missing files ... else the "time" part of "Time Machine" makes no sense.

Time Machine not recognizing seagate back up plus external hard drive

Please somebody save me!!! My computer was running really slow and decided to take in to the Apple store. They recommended that i needed a new a hard drive. I've beeen using the Seagate back up plus model srd0sd0 3tb drive and before i disconnected the drive i checked time machine and it said it was backed up within the last 15 minutes. disconnected and went to the store. At the apple store i told them to transfer over everything from the hard drive to the new one even though i backed it up. Well they didnt (waiting to see if they can get the drive back) they figured it was back up and so did I. Well i've tried connecting the seagate to my imac and it does not recognize the external drive. i have 10.6.8 snow leopard and tried to reboot it using the install disk. that didnt work. was on the phone with apple support and they could not get it to recognize the drive. tried connecting the drive to a windows laptop and it did not recognize it either. the drive powers on and we are wondering if it's the usb card that's faulty (heading to the store to get a new one) I hope that's it but i'm looking ahead and seeing what other ways i can get it to work. He mentioned that i could replace the outer casing not sure how that works. I did notice that the bottom of the seagate where the usb connects detaches. could that be replace? just trying to find out how to save my drive. I have all of my family photos, videos etc. you know the priceless memories. sorry for the long message. just trying to provide as much info as possible. Thanks in advance!

The genuis was probably referring to a hard disk enclosure…
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/MISC/3.5USB2ENCL/
Enclosures can fail, but the disk can be OK. It is usually possible to take the disk out and fit it into another case.
I'd suggest you take the disk, it's power supply & the USB cable with you the genius may be willing check it on another Mac it could be as simple as a bad cable. Swapping the disk can be delicate, have someone help you if you don't know how to use a screwdriver. Sometimes you can find a guide on the internet if you search for the model and 'take apart', most are simple enough not to need it.
I can't see how the iMac's USB card would effect a Windows laptop, has the Windows laptop ever shown the contents of the TM disk? I don't think they allow Apple formatted disks to mount without extra software?
Good luck with the Store, let us know if they resolve it for you.

Can Time Machine perform encrypted backups for more than one computer to the same external drive?

I have two MBPs. The older MBP, with 1TB of storage, now contains two other MBP clones, for a total of 3 user machines on 1 MBP). I'd like to back up both my newest MBP, and the older MBP with the 2 clones, to my new 5TB drive (via wi-fi). I want to encrypt these backups, but am unclear whether it is possible. Does TM first encrypt the drive itself, or is each back up separately encrypted? I understand that if I wanted to encrypt an existing Time Matters backup on a drive, the prior data would be erased and reformatted, but here I am working with a new backup drive, on which one encrypted backup has been performed.
I just don't want to overwrite this existing backup (which was for my newest MBP).
Thanks for whatever help anyone can provide.

You should have prepared the drive better..
The drive should have been partitioned. It is possible to load the backups.. but you can get into trouble.
See http://pondini.org/TM/4.html
Since partitioning at this point would destroy the existing backup.. the best way is to setup a disk image for each of the other Macbook backups and then mount the disk image and use that for the TM backup..
Encrypting the drive or the backup.. that is something I avoid.. backups to me are useless if I forget or lose the key.. apple have warned lose the key.. the backup is useless..
But check pondini FAQ .. you might be able to encrypt a drive image.. or the backup.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
See Q25 and 31.

I get an error message when I try to empty the trash in order to clear up an external hard drive. I had been using it for time machine, have shifted that to a larger external hard drive, and want to free up the space for photographs. Any suggestions?

What should I do when I get an error message (error code - 8003) when I'm trying to empty the trash to clear up additional space on an external hard drive?

Yes. And you should not have moved that folder. Put it back. To move your iTunes library move the folder from User's Music.
tt2

Time Machine: Can I backup to more than 1 external hard drive?

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