Time machine: Can I target specific folders for back up

As a default time machine backs up your entire drive.
Along with my mac I want to back up a +specific folder+ on my Drobo: an external drive. (it's where I keep my large working files) I don't want to, don't need to and can't back up the entire Drobo.
Currently I am excluding everything on the drobo except the several folders I am working on. I would love to have the option to add folders as well as exclude folders.
Is there a work around I haven't thought of?

well.... lets see here....
I suggest using SuperDuper or another backup program to auto backup these files to your Drobo. Drobo is RAID so you would not need to back the Drobo up.
Also, I don't prefer the idea of using Drobo for a Time Machine Backup. I know people do it, but it's much better to buy a separate external drive for Time Machine, and use Drobo with SuperDuper. You should feel safe letting your large work files reside on the Drobo. If you want these files to reside on the internal, let SuperDuper run a backup. Good Luck.

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Time Machine - can it backup selected folders and/or files?

Hello All,
I have searched for an answer to this question, but found no answer.
Can I select certain files or folders in TimeMachine to backup, instead of having to backup a whole disk (only).
I am sure I am not the only person with this question, but I could not find a post on this topic.
Thanks for any information,
eholz1

Time Machine is designed as a simple backup system to handle an entire system, and provides only limited flexibility. You can exclude things from Time Machine backups, but there's no way to start with nothing being selected and add just specific folders. If backing up only certain folders and files what you really wish to do, I'd suggest you look into a different backup solution, of which there are many.
Regards.

Time machine is making two backup folders for my external drive

I have two external drives connected to my iMac, running 10.6.8. One is the Time Machine drive; the other is PhotosMovies. I've been having trouble for the last several months where about once a week my Time Machine backups won't finish, no matter how long I wait. I may have figured out that it gets hung when I have left a Sparsebundle open and the computer has gone asleep.
But to my question: while trying to troublesheet this problem I also noticed that for the past several months of my backups, within each backup set there are three folders: iMacHD, PhotosMovies, and PhotosMovies 1. I believe at some point that disk was named PhotosMovies 1 because I replaced an older drive with a newer one and I renamed it after I copied everything over and verified the contents.
If I exclude PhotosMovies from the backup in Time Machine preferences, that folder disappears from the backup set but the PhotosMovies 1 is still there. It is the correct size.
How do I get TM to understand that PhotosMovies 1 is no longer on the system?

Does the drive have its own external power supply brick or is it bus-powered? Firewire or USB?
Try resetting the buses per the five steps listed in this document: What to do if your computer won't recognize a FireWire or USB device

Time Machine: Can't Select Files/Folders to Restore

Hi:
Time Machine has always worked superbly for me in the past. However, today, I tried to restore a desktop file from last week. When I open Time Machine and hit the arrows to navigate it takes 10" or so, but eventually gets there. However, when I click on any file or folder that is visible, nothing happens. Thus, I cannot select a file/folder to restore it.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

See if this thread is fruitful:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/10394546#10394546

Can I use the ipod classic as an external hardrive with time machine as well as an ipod for my mac book pro OS X?

Can I use the ipod classic as an external hardrive with time machine as well as an ipod for my mac book pro OS X?

No. Time Machine has been specifically written not to back up to an iPod.
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When I back up on my exertnal HD drive with time machine can I erase what on my computer HD for more space?

When I back up files on my exertnal HD drive with time machine can I erase what's on my Mac HD for space without losing what's on external HD?

If the data is valuable to you, redundant backups are essential. Time Machine is an excellent vehicle when you have to restore data that no longer exists on your internal HDD.
Mende1's suggestion of using Carbon Copy Cloner is excellent because it gives yous a HDD that is 'ready to go' should your internal HDD fail (as all HDDs eventually will).
For example, I have 5 copies of my iTunes folder, one each on three MBPs, on a HDD devoted strictly to iTunes and Time Machine (this does not include the iPod). One may view this as excessive but since I have over 100 GB in this application, I am very comfortable with this.
I advocate that the best backup strategy is Time machine combined with a boot HDD and a third HDD for the most important user data. If there is non essential data, the you may certainly compromise and use just Time Machine.
Ciao.

Cannot install Mountain Lion as the installer provides message that my target drive is using Time Machine. My target drive is my internal drive and I use an external drive for Time Machine. When I check the Time Macine set up under system prefereces it sh

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Yes, you’ll be able to do that.
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The error that I am getting is this "Time Machine can't use the disk image because it can't be written to." Any ideas on the fix for this?

The error that I am getting is this "Time Machine can't use the disk image because it can't be written to." Any ideas on the fix for this? When I go to the Time Capsule my Macbook Pro shows that it is locked, I think I did something wrong, but can't figure how to unlock it to see if that fixes it.

As far as we know, Time Machine cannot write to a disk image. It needs to write directly to the Time Capsule disk.

I just bought and backed up my computer and time machine with a "Seagate BackUp Plus for Mac". Now my time machine is empty. Panicked. can anyone help?

I just bought and backed up my computer and time machine with a "Seagate BackUp Plus for Mac". Now my time machine is empty. Panicked. can anyone help?

Lets start over...
Please restart the network.. shut down everything..
Restart in order.. modem.. router.. if different to TC.. or TC.. client devices.. wait 2min between each startup.
If the TC does not show up on the computer, in finder.. then we need more info.. what OS are you running?
Does the TC show up in Airport utility? Are you running wireless or ethernet?
If you still have issues.. plug the TC directly into the computer by ethernet.
Do a full factory reset of the TC.. and see if it now shows up.
Please tell us exactly what model TC it is and how old.. the A1xxx model number from the base will help if you don't know.
You take a screen shot of the TC opened in finder.
eg..
My TC is named Tardis4.. click on it.. and then open the data folder.. on this one called Tardisdata.
Then take a screen shot of it so we can see what the problem is.. screenshot.. with area selection.. control + shift + 4 .. the picture goes into the desktop.. and then you click the picture icon in the posting web page controls and select the picture.

"....To Improve Reliability, Time Machine Must Create a New Backup for You"

I bought the new Apple 2 TB Time Capsule thinking it would be a great way to get a powerful wireless router and handle file backup for both me and my wife's iMacs. She is running an up-to-date version of Snow Leopard and I am on the most recent update of Mountain Lion. The Time Capsule was installed and running by the first of August and we had no problems until this monday (7 weeks later) when I got the message that "Time Machine completed a verification of your backups. To improve reliability Time Machinge must create a new backup" My wife's back up was still ok but I had to go though the 5-6 hour process of re-copying all my files(using an ethernet connection) to the device. All went smoothly for a few days until I got the same message again about creating a new backup. Also my wife cannot enter her time machine files even though the computer is still being backed up. We have a stable internet service and both computers recieve a strong signal from the router. Is it possible that the Time Capsule Drive is defective? Is there any sort of maintenance such as zpping the PRAM that would help? This is really frustrating as it looks like the timemachine backup is totally unreliable and not worth fooling with. Is there any way to use the storage capability of the time capsule without going through time machine?
Thanks,
Reid McCallister

hi
rest assured you are not alone. i have the same problem and i hate it with a passion. in fact, i am the victim of this message as of 20 minutes ago and doing a full backup as I am typing this. I am so overly ****** that I actually posted here and will be calling or emailing apple next because I cannot take this anymore. the problem lies in time machine and unfortunately, there is no fix for that. time machine is the best idea of apple with the worst implementation ever. you have no obligation to use time capsule to benefit from time machine as this would not be legal anyway. i will give you 2 temporary solutions and let you decide which one works best for you:
1) open time machine preferences and turn automatic backups off. create a new full backup from scratch and only backup manually whenever you remember, preferably every day. the automation process is the problem that lies within time machine. also make sure that your system does not go to standy or sleep whatever that may be called. Power nap, despite all claims, is not compatible with time machine. install CAFFEINE, an app that keeps your mac awake and prevents from going to sleep while back up is in progress. use it like this and pray it will all go fine for a long time. you may wish to duplicate the first full backup to save time in case this should happen again so you have a base to start on
2) install CCC (carbon copy cleaner) I have not used it myself yet, but probably will be installing it after finishing this post. it is claimed to be better, yet it is yet to be seen by me personally.
unless time machine can be trained without any addons to use a specific wifi only for backup, these issues will persist.

Getting this error: Time Machine completed a verification of your backups. To improve reliability, Time Machine must create a new backup for you.

I keep getting this error on my new Macbook Pro w/ Retina.
"Time Machine completed a verification of your backups. To improve reliability, Time Machine must create a new backup for you."
Connected to a wifi network and QNAP storage system. There are 5 computers on this network, and each backs up just fine. The issue is isolated to this one machine.
This error shows up every week or so.

A third-party NAS is unsuitable for use with Time Machine, especially if it's your only backup. I know this isn't the answer you want. I know Time Machine accepts the NAS as a backup destination. I know that the manufacturer says the device will work with Time Machine, and I also know that it usually seems to work. Except when you try to restore, and find that you can't.
Apple has published a specification for network devices that work with Time Machine. None of the third-party NAS vendors, as far as I know, meets that specification. They all use the incomplete, obsolete Netatalk implementation of Apple Filing Protocol.
If you want network backup, use as the destination either an Apple Time Capsule or an external storage device connected to another Mac or to an 802.11ac AirPort base station. Only the 802.11ac base stations support Time Machine, not any older model.
Otherwise, don't use Time Machine at all. There are other ways to back up, though none of them is anywhere near as efficient or as well integrated with OS X. I don't have a specific recommendation.
If you're determined to keep using the NAS with Time Machine, your only recourse for any problems that result is to the manufacturer (which will blame Apple, or you, or anyone but itself.)

Time Machine says backup is too large for backup disk -- but it isn't...

I have a MacBook Pro with a 120GB drive and a 120GB external drive I use for Time Machine. Everything went fine for months until my laptop's drive got close to full (about 3GB of free space). Then Time Machine started saying it didn't have enough room to complete a backup: "needs 10GB but only 8.6GB is available"
So I told it to stop backing up my iTunes movies (about 7GB). Still didn't work -- same error message (the actual values may have changed some, I don't remember).
Next, I added another 10GB do the "do not back up" list. Still didn't work. Finally, I deleted (actually deleted, not just said "don't back up") about 5GB of files and emptied the Trash.
Now it says it needs 15.9GB of space to do a backup and only 8.6 is available... ??? I've restarted the machine several times, still doesn't work.
My solutions seem to be making it worse. Makes no sense to me.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Peter,
Unfortunately, Apple hasn't documented this very well. However, those of us who know how Time Machine works behind the scenes know this to be true. Of course, Time Machine can back up a given machine at least once with only slightly more space on the backup drive than needed, but subsequent backups will fail.
I have to disagree, though, that most people would fill a 250 GB hard drive. I have what I would consider a "just barely manageable" amount of data in my HOME folder, and my installation clocks in at about 100 GBs. Those "big ticket" items that would tend to bloat my HOME folder- iTunes videos, folders of huge images, etc.- I regularly place on some form of external storage when I no longer need them, removing them from my HOME folder. In fact, I have a partition on an external drive just for the storage of iTunes videos that have already been watched.
If your installation is filling a 250 GB hard drive, you might consider your file management, and just what is consuming so much disk space. It could be that you have some data that would be better stored externally.
Those that would benefit most from using a Time Capsule are those using portable computers, since these are the least convenient to connect directly to an external drive. Certainly, it doesn't make sense to have a portable connected directly to an external to allow hourly backups, which could occur easily when using a Time Capsule. And, I dare say that most portable computer users have internal drives smaller than 250 GBs. I know I certainly do.
All this said, your question is really whether or not a Time Capsule is right for you. If you are filling a 250 GB hard drive, the 500 GB model would do, but just barely. Adding a second machine, also using all of a 250 GB hard drive, wouldn't be possible. In this case, even the 1 TB model would be just barely enough, if that. Again, you might want to consider your file management, or just stick with directly-connected external drives for use with Time Machine. There are scenarios where a Time Capsule makes sense, and scenarios where directly-connected solutions are better.
Scott

Time Machine can't use the disk image because it can't be written to.

Time Machine can't use the disk image because it can't be written to. help!

VictorSMiller wrote:
I just started getting the same message. I'm using a Western Digital My Book 3TB disk. Normally I have the backups done with the disk attached to Airport Extreme.
I hate to have to tell you this, but backing-up that way is unreliable and not supported by Apple. See: Using Time Machine with an Airport Extreme Air Disk.
Backup failed with error: The target disk image volume is read-only.
Most likely, you got this message before all this started:
What that doesn't explicity say is, the backups failed the verification. When that happens, Time Machine marks the sparse bundle as damaged and won't back up to it anymore (even if Repair Disk can't find the problem). See #C13 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting for details.

Time Machine can't search

I'm having a problem with Time Machine: it is backing up OK, and I can browse the backups, but the Spotlight search isn't working.
For example, if I start the Time Machine interface and enter something in the search box, it doesn't find any files.
I tried entering sudo mdutil -E /Volumes/Backup\ HD/Backups.backupdb to force it to reindex, but it did not fix it.
There does appear to be a Spotlight index in store for Backups.backupdb, but it seemed to rebuild it pretty fast.
I can't figure out if the problem is that Spotlight isn't actually indexing Backups.backupdb, or if it is indexed but Time Machine can't access it.
Note: The backup drive is in the Spotlight privacy tab.

Pondini wrote:
When you type a search argument in the search field in the Finder window, then use the arrows, the search should be repeated for each window you move to with the arrows.
Yes, that was what I was doing. And also testing by picking specific backup dates while there was a search argument entered. And searching from within the Finder, with a scope set to search the backup drive Backups.backupdb folder or some folder below.
I was able to get it mostly working, by:
1. Remove Time Machine drive from Spotlight exclusion.
2. Force Spotlight to reindex the Time Machine database via sudo mdutil -E "/Volumes/backup drive name/Backups.backupdb"
This time it took several hours to rebuild the index.
Now I can search within Time Machine to some degree, but I'm seeing anomalies. Some files it just can't find at all; meaning they aren't indexed, even by name. One example is a simple Word document in my Documents folder.
I'm suspecting that Spotlight is only indexing some instances of each document -- I think it is looking at the kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot and kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot. And the question is, what happens if the oldest snapshot rolls off? That is, if the snapshot that originally backed up a file no longer exists?
I'm also still having trouble with seaching Mail in Time Machine -- the search box is frozen so I can't enter a search term. I thought it might be fixed by reindexing, but unfortunately that is not the case.
Another thing I haven't figured out is if I can add the Time Machine back to the Spotlight exclusion. The Help and Apple website says that this is OK, it will keep indexing the Time Machine database but just not display results in a Spotlight search. What I'm seeing is mixed results: there is some evidence that it is indexing while excluded, but in other cases it is failing to index files that are created and backed up while the drive is excluded.

Time Machine can no longer write to drive

I have been using Time Machine to back up my iMac G5 for over a year. About two weeks ago the computer started acting really strange so I actually restored the entire system from my Time Machine backup. Everything was working great until today. The external hard drive that I've been using all this time is suddenly "read only". How do I change it back to "read/write" so Time Machine can access the hard drive properly?

BobMeister wrote:
I have been using Time Machine to back up my iMac G5 for over a year. About two weeks ago the computer started acting really strange so I actually restored the entire system from my Time Machine backup. Everything was working great until today. The external hard drive that I've been using all this time is suddenly "read only".
It's very important to know exactly what you or the computer was doing just before this happened. Usually, things do not happen on their own.
How do I change it back to "read/write" so Time Machine can access the hard drive properly?
Changing it back when it's not clear why it changed in the first place is not always a good thing to do for several obvious reasons.
Right-click on the TM drive icon and select "Get Info"
Under Sharing & Permissions, you should see:
Your name (Me) Read & Write
(unknown) Read & Write
everyone Read only
Post back what you see and we can attempt to proceed.

Time machine: Can I target specific folders for back up

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