Time Machine complete backup

I'm selling a mac pro and would like to use Time Machine to save all my hard drive to an external drive until I get a new Mac. When I get the new computer I'd like to be able to move the saved hard drive to the new Mac.
Will Time Machine allow me to do that? I'm curious to see if I can move applications and files to the new computer and they retain the licenses and preference settings.

it won't be a direct copy but it's possible. on your new mac (once you get it) run Migration assistant (it's in /Applications/Utilities). It gives you an option to migrate your data from a Time machine backup. there also might be an option to do that during the initial computer setup but I'm not sure about that.

Similar Messages

  • Time machine completes backup but does not actually backup any files

    I have had this problem sporadically with time machine for a while now, most of the time it works great and everything is smooth sailing, but every now and then time machine will run and go through all of the steps but it skips actually backing up any files. For example, if I put a new word document on my desktop right now and tell time machine to back up, everything will go as it should and time machine will run and go through all of the stages (making back up disk available, calculating changes, cleaning up) except it doesn't actually transfer any files. When I go into to time machine the new word document won't appear in any of the backups. Restarting my computer does fix this but it is a very inconvenient way to fix the problem and it also leaves me having to manually go into time machine to make sure that it is in fact backing up files. And no I do not have some weird exclusion in the time machine preferences.
    In the console my system log reads:
    Jan 13 22:42:24 brad-bargers-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[8462]: Starting standard backup
    Jan 13 22:42:24 brad-bargers-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[8462]: Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://Brad%[email protected]/Time%20Capsule
    Jan 13 22:42:30 brad-bargers-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[8462]: Mounted network destination using URL: afp://Brad%[email protected]/Time%20Capsule
    Jan 13 22:42:31 brad-bargers-macbook-pro hdiejectd[8470]: running
    Jan 13 22:42:33 brad-bargers-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[8462]: Disk image /Volumes/Time Capsule/Brad Barger’s MacBook Pro_002500a2b268.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of Brad Barger’s MacBook Pro
    Jan 13 22:42:33 brad-bargers-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[8462]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup of Brad Barger’s MacBook Pro/Backups.backupdb
    Jan 13 22:42:38 brad-bargers-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[8462]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 828.8 MB requested (including padding), 153.74 GB available
    Jan 13 22:42:45 brad-bargers-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[8462]: Copied 6 files (93 bytes) from volume Macintosh HD.
    Jan 13 22:42:46 brad-bargers-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[8462]: Starting post-backup thinning
    Jan 13 22:42:46 brad-bargers-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[8462]: No post-back up thinning needed: no expired backups exist
    Jan 13 22:42:46 brad-bargers-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[8462]: Backup completed successfully.
    Jan 13 22:42:48 brad-bargers-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[8462]: Ejected Time Machine disk image.
    Jan 13 22:42:48 brad-bargers-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[8462]: Ejected Time Machine network volume.
    Jan 13 22:42:58 brad-bargers-macbook-pro hdiejectd[8470]: quitCheck: calling exit(0)
    Jan 13 22:43:30 brad-bargers-macbook-pro com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.netauth.sysagent[8463]): Exited with exit code: 255
    Sorry for the info dump and I hope my question makes sense. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    b_cubed wrote:
    Thanks you for your response. I was wondering if it didn't have to do with disk utility in some way. Just to be clear what do you mean when you say "altering other volumes on the same drive"?
    If you have more than one partition on a drive, and add, delete, or resize any of them, Disk Utility does a +*Verify Disk+* on the entire disk. So even if you didn't touch the boot volume, whatever DU does will cause what you've seen.
    It is rather odd, that it only affects some of us. Those who have it, have it consistently. It happens on any number of hardware configurations, and I could always reproduce it with a fresh install of SL on an empty partition, so it's clearly nothing to do with any settings, preferences, 3rd-party anything, etc.
    This was reported to Apple in October; on November 12 the TM engineers were able to reproduce it. They don't tell us any more than that; all we can do is hope it'll be fixed in a future update.

  • Help! Time Machine completely backups my IMAP Account - everytime...

    Hi Folks!
    About two weeks ago my 500 GB TM Backupvolume reached it's limits without adding / changing an considerable amount of files.
    Smelling something fishy it appears that, on closer inspection via TimeTracker, that Timemachine keeps backing up my Gmail-IMAP Folder in my homefolder\library... this weighing an impressive +20 GB.
    It even appears that there was no initial backup... . Please have a look at this... as I might be misinterpreting it... .
    I already dumped the timemachine preference file, deleted all backups and started all over again, but the problem persists.
    What could it be, that is causing this annoyance? And how can I stop it?
    I am grateful for any help concerning this matter... . Thanks alot!

    there were two errors witch could not be repaired...
    2009-10-20 23:19:36 +0200: Zugriffsrechte für „iMac“ reparieren
    2009-10-20 23:23:29 +0200: Warnung: Die SUID-Datei „System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAg ent“ wurde geändert und wird nicht repariert.
    2009-10-20 23:24:39 +0200: Warnung: Die SUID-Datei „System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DesktopServicesPriv.framework/Versions/A/Reso urces/Locum“ wurde geändert und wird nicht repariert.
    2009-10-20 23:24:46 +0200:
    2009-10-20 23:24:46 +0200: Reparatur der Zugriffsrechte abgeschlossen
    2009-10-20 23:24:46 +0200:
    2009-10-20 23:24:46 +0200:
    sorry it's german... but translated it means: the SUID-File "..." was changed and will not be repaired. What ever that means... .
    I really appreciate any help... .

  • Time machine completed a verification of your backups....

    "Time Machine completed a verification of your backups on “Jimka Ussner's Time Capsule”. To improve reliability, Time Machine must create a new backup for you." ????
    what is going on?
    should i erase my time machine and start over or can my backups be saved?

    See > http://pondini.org/TM/C13.html

  • Time Machine on a NAS - Avoiding "Time Machine completed a verification of your backups....."

    I use Time Machine to wirelessly backup my MBA to a Buffalo NAS. It will work fine for weeks or months, then I will see the dreaded "Time Machine completed a verification of your backups. To improve reliability, Time Machine must create a new backup for you.” error. Of course this means I lose all my backups.
    I have researched this pretty thoroughly and I know that using TM with a NAS has some risk. But I am hoping to not have to resort to dragging out a USB drive everytime (daily) I want to do a backup.
    Can anyone share sucess stories of how they make TM work reliably with a NAS? Is it a Buffalo problem and a different NAS works better? I know the majority of TM users have no problems. What am I doing wrong?
    Thanks.

    I have a Synology 1511+ and had the same issue. Except my backups would only corrupt every month or two.
    After lots of searching I found the issue is backing up over wifi to the NAS. I found the solution to this was to install a small app: Time Machine Scheduler (free).
    It can be found here: http://www.klieme.com/TimeMachineScheduler.html
    All you need to do is install, and set backups only to run over Ethernet. Works great for me as I use my mac 50/50 between my workstation and wirelessly around the house. Haven't had an issue since.

  • Time Machine completed a verification... must create new backup??

    I just saw a notice on my headless MacMini that "Time Machine completed a verification of your backups. To improve reliability, Time Machine must create a new backup for you. Click Start New Backup to create a new backup. This will remove your existing backup history. Click "Backup Later" to be reminded tomorrow.
    That sounds ominously like it should have said "Time machine encountered an error, and you're going to lose all your history when I start a new backup for you, but you really have no choice other than to delay the pain for a day".
    This is a relatively new 2Tb capsule, model A1409, from 9/7/11, which is backing up a Mac Mini (new as of April) and a new MacBook Pro (as of May).
    Is there any way not to lose that backup history? Any way to debug what happened so I can take steps to make sure it doesn't happen again?
    Thanks!
    Steve

    Bob,
    After re-reading my initial reply, please do NOT think I was saying that "you" didn't answer my question about what happened.
    I was trying to imply that sunspots and cosmic rays are indeed sometimes part of our life in IT, and that I was just going to "accept it, lose my history, and go on".
    I do truly appreciate help, and would have hated to have you think that was directed "at" your reply...
    Steve

  • 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.)

  • Why do I get "Time Machine completed a verification of your backups on..."

    Any idea why I keep getting 'Time Machine completed a verification of your backups on “MyBookLiveDuo”. To improve reliability, Time Machine must create a new backup for you." ?  It's just started happening.  Running 10.8.2 on two laptops.  One is fine backing up the other keeps showing this error.  Both versions of the OS are identical.  Same wireless network, same Raid back-up, same tiem zone etc.  Any ideas?  It takes hours to wipe and start again, and really defeats the idea of Time Machine.

    The disk images on which the backup data is stored are being corrupted. Backing up to a network device other than a Time Capsule or a Mac is unsupported by Apple. You're completely dependent on the device vendor if something goes wrong, and the vendor will blame Apple.
    I suggest you start backing up to a locally-attached external hard drive, preferably more than one, or to a supported network device. If you don't want to do that, use a backup tool other than Time Machine.

  • I got the message:   Time Machine completed a verification of your backups. To improve reliability, Time Machine must create a new backup for you. I got the message:   Time Machine completed a verification of your backups. To improve reliability, Time Ma

    I got the message:
    Time Machine completed a verification of your backups. To improve reliability, Time Machine must create a new backup for you.
    Here's what the text of the system.log says when I filter for backupd:
    Jan  9 11:37:14 justin-steeds-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[2618]: Starting standard backup
    Jan  9 11:37:14 justin-steeds-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[2618]: Network destination already mounted at: /Volumes/TimeMachine
    Jan  9 11:37:33 justin-steeds-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[2618]: Recovery backup declined by user.
    Jan  9 11:37:33 justin-steeds-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[2618]: Backup canceled.
    Jan  9 11:48:20 justin-steeds-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[2859]: Starting standard backup
    Jan  9 11:48:20 justin-steeds-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[2859]: Network destination already mounted at: /Volumes/TimeMachine
    Jan  9 11:48:42 justin-steeds-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[2859]: Recovery backup declined by user.
    Jan  9 11:48:43 justin-steeds-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[2859]: Backup canceled.
    Jan  9 11:51:07 justin-steeds-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[2917]: Starting standard backup
    Jan  9 11:51:07 justin-steeds-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[2917]: Network destination already mounted at: /Volumes/TimeMachine
    Jan  9 11:51:34 justin-steeds-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[2917]: Recovery backup declined by user.
    Jan  9 11:51:34 justin-steeds-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[2917]: Backup canceled.
    Jan  9 11:53:50 justin-steeds-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[2987]: Starting standard backup
    Jan  9 11:53:50 justin-steeds-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[2987]: Network destination already mounted at: /Volumes/TimeMachine
    Jan  9 11:54:07 justin-steeds-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[2987]: Recovery backup declined by user.
    Jan  9 11:54:07 justin-steeds-macbook-pro com.apple.backupd[2987]: Backup canceled

    Since this is a MacBook Pro hardware community, you might get better results by asking your question at the Time Machine forum, located within the Lion discussion group. 
    https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os/mac_os_x_v10.7_lion

  • Can I use Time Machine to backup ONLY an external drive?

    I am having problems with the internal HD on my iMac and Disk Utility is telling me I need to reformat the drive and restore from backup. Only problem is that my 3TB Lacie Thunderbolt drive I was using for Time Machine recently failed (think it may have happened during an electrical storm brownout). Yep, I know, ***** to be me
    The issues with the internal HD are preventing the iMac from booting and I would prefer not to have to purchase various repair software to find one that really works such as Disk Warrior or similar ((despite it getting very good reviews). I suspect it make be HFS corruption but no way to really tell that I am aware of.
    I have setup an external drive with Yosemite and booted from that so now my old internal drive is seen as an "external drive".
    I am using Disk Utility to make an image copy to a new 3TB external drive I purchased. Writing the DMG is going to take some time.
    What I would like to do is to set up Time Machine to backup to a separate external 3TB hard drive (the second one I purchased) and have TM create a backup of ONLY the old internal drive - not the new system as well as the old internal unit.
    Is this possible and if so can anyone advise how to do this. Does not seem I can exclude the system drive I am now booted from so that it is not backed up. (This makes sense that TM would be designed this way given its primary purpose is to backup a system).
    If TM cannot be configured in this way, is there another option I can use?
    Thanks
    Andrew

    Thanks for that advice. I have heard of it but a friend who does IT support at a University nearby suggested using Disk Utility to save an image - hence this is currently underway at present. Once this is finished I will try Carbon Copy Cloner.
    I have another friend who has an older version of CCC - do you know if an old version will work ok or if only the latest supports Yosemite?
    Also once I have the clone completed from CCC, is the process then to reformat the old internal drive and then clone from the CCC external drive back to the internal and then reboot and trust all is well?
    Appreciate your help Csound1.
    Regards
    Andrew

  • Time Machine:The backup disk ran out of space unexpectedly. .....

    Hi,
    I upgraded to Mountain Lion when it was released and yesterday I began getting this notice from Time Machine:
    "The backup disk ran out of space unexpectedly. Time Machine will try to make more space available by removing expired backups during the next scheduled backup."
    I have a one terra external hard drive with exclusively Time Machine.  It says it has 3.4 gigabytes available, but isn't deleting old backups and making room for new, like before.  I tried the "encrypting" solution, but it still keeps on giving me this message.  Should I erase and format?  If so, what option should I chose to format?
    My Hard Drive has 240 gigabytes, so 1Tb should be more than enough.
    Thank you!
    Gloria

    SuperDuper and Time Machine are two completely different backup utilities. If you want something like what SuperDuper does then don't use Time Machine. You have many other options that won't use up all the space on your backup drive:
    Backup Software Recommendations
    Carbon Copy Cloner
    Data Backup
    Deja Vu
    SuperDuper!
    Synk Pro
    Tri-Backup
    Others may be found at VersionTracker or MacUpdate.
    Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore.  Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
    Do the following to erase your drive:
    Erase a Drive
    1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
    2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
    3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.

  • Time Machine hourly backup seems a tad large

    Hi all
    Occasionally, my hourly Time Machine incremental backups to my Time Capsule seem a tad large. One hour the backup is a sensible size, then an hour later, when I've been doing very little on my machine, the backup is massive (as in, several gigabytes).
    Not only that, but the backup seems to grow in size as its happening. the pictures below should help illustrate.
    The backup is listed as being 719MB, only an hour after a more modest backup. Time Machine seems to be claiming that is has transferred all of the required backup:
    !http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/4988/picture2gih.png!
    But then, only two minutes later, see how the situation has changed:
    !http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/3739/picture3m.png!
    And the situation continues:
    !http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/9339/picture5.png!
    Any ideas? This issue happens intermittently (although it is happening now... that last image was taken a few minutes ago and the backup was still going - up to 3.1GB - before I told it to stop).
    I'm not certain if Time Machine is actually transferring this amount of data to the Time Capsule or not.
    Cheers.

    Hi,
    I had the same problem today as well. The last backup was done this morning at 2 a.m. When I turned my PowerBook G4 on again this afternoon, the backup size continually grew, just like on your machine, Rob. I aborted the backup a couple of times, deleted the inProgress file, but it always got bigger and bigger. After downloading Time Machine Buddy and Time Tracker, I just let Time Machnine "do it's thing". Luckily, I had enough free space on my WD MyBook 500 GB I use for the backups, because it stopped only at 24.8 GBs, after initially displaying 61,3 MB in the menu bar, and requesting 1.05 GB according to Time Machine Buddy.
    Time Machine Buddy protocol:
    Starting standard backup
    Backing up to: /Volumes/My Book/Backups.backupdb
    No pre-backup thinning needed: 1.05 GB requested (including padding), 32.74 GB available
    Copied 139261 files (24.8 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
    No pre-backup thinning needed: 1.16 GB requested (including padding), 7.36 GB available
    Copied 7042 files (2.0 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
    Starting post-backup thinning
    Deleted backup /Volumes/My Book/Backups.backupdb/Claas Olthoffs PowerBook/2009-03-05-202501: 7.36 GB now available
    Deleted backup /Volumes/My Book/Backups.backupdb/Claas Olthoffs PowerBook/2009-03-05-192342: 7.37 GB now available
    Deleted backup /Volumes/My Book/Backups.backupdb/Claas Olthoffs PowerBook/2009-03-05-123736: 7.37 GB now available
    Deleted backup /Volumes/My Book/Backups.backupdb/Claas Olthoffs PowerBook/2009-03-05-113526: 7.38 GB now available
    Post-back up thinning complete: 4 expired backups removed
    Backup completed successfully.
    So I took a look at Time Tracker to see what was backed up. I was suprised to see, that the biggest chunk was my Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support folder. This folder is 23,9 GB in size, mainly because it contains Final Cut Studio media and templates. Time Machine backed it up completey. This seems weired, because none of the files I looked at in this folder were changed during the last couple of months, if not the last year, since I installed them. I don't know why Time Machine would backup all of those unchanged files.
    For the sake of completeness, the external drives contains other, non-backup, files as well.
    I hope this gives you some more information to work with Pondini.
    Greetings,
    Claas

  • Time Machine restarts backup of external drive

    I have two external hard-drives: a 4TBer I've been using for Time Machine, and a 1TBer I've been using to keep media. I'd like to be able to backup the 1TBer, as it has a about 500GB of data I don't have stored anywhere else, but I've found that if I disconnect it and a backup occurs while it is disconnected, the next backup will attempt to re-backup all 500GB. A similar problem was reported here: Time Machine restarts backup of removable drive and solved by a full reset procedure, but that doesn't seem to be helping in my case. Does anyone have suggestions to deal with this?

    The problem can be caused by backing up a volume on a drive that doesn't have a GUID or CoreStorage partition table. Time Machine doesn't work reliably with other partition types.
    To confirm, launch Disk Utility and select the icon of the drive in question—not any of the volume icons nested below it. At the bottom of the window, note the Type. If it's not GUID Partition Scheme or Logical Volume Group, see below.
    This procedure will destroy all data on the drive. Afterwards, restore from a backup. To be safe, you must have at least two complete, independent, up-to-date backups. One is not enough.
    Select the Partition tab. From the Partition Layout menu in the window, select
              One Partition
    From the Format menu, select
              Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
    Click the Options button and select
              GUID Partition Table
    in the sheet that appears.
    Click the Apply button and confirm when prompted.
    The next time you back up, you may be prompted to "inherit" the backup history. Confirm. Even so, TM may copy all or almost all the files. After that, only the files that have changed should be copied.

  • Time Machine wont backup

    I bought an external hard drive and put files from my old computer on it before I bought my iMac. Now I want to use it for backing up my iMac but Time Machine wont backup to it without erasing the contents. Is there a way around this? Or will I have to buy a new EHD? Or is there a way to backup to cyberspace?
    Thanks

    jmhoskin wrote:
    I bought an external hard drive and put files from my old computer on it before I bought my iMac. Now I want to use it for backing up my iMac but Time Machine wont backup to it without erasing the contents. Is there a way around this? Or will I have to buy a new EHD? Or is there a way to backup to cyberspace?
    The drive is probably set up with the MBR (Master Boot Record) partition map, that Windoze uses. To use it for TM you must completely reformat it, which will erase it. If you have enough space (or can borrow another external temporarily), you can copy the data off, reformat it, then copy the data back.
    TM works best with it's own, exclusive space, so you should partition the drive anyway. If you're going to use the other data with a PC, make the other partition MS-DOS (FAT).
    For formatting instructions, see item #5 of the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* at the top of this forum.
    Also see #1 of the FAQ Tip for size considerations.

  • Time Machine same backup size every time

    Anyone have any idea why Time Machine would backup the same amount every time? Every hour mine backs up 1.8 GB, unless I've added more than that to my hd.
    I only back up the internal drive on my macbook to a 500 GB Time Capsule via wifi (802.11n only, 5GHz). Not that I figured it would make a difference, but it still does it if backed up via ethernet.
    I've also noticed that as soon as it completes the backup, it will backup all over again - and not because an hour has passed. I'm not sure if it does this every time (but I think i does), or if it does it more than twice when it happens.
    Thanks in advance!

    See if the following might give you some ideas as to why...
    *_Incremental Backups Seem Too Large!_*
    Open the Time Machine Prefs on the Mac in question. How much space does it report you have "Available"? When a backup is initiated how much space does it report you need?
    Now, consider the following, it might give you some ideas:
    Time Machine performs backups at the file level. If a single bit in a large file is changed, the WHOLE file is backed up again. This is a problem for programs that save data to monolithic virtual disk files that are modified frequently. These include Parallels, VMware Fusion, Aperture vaults, or the databases that Entourage and Thunderbird create. These should be excluded from backup using the Time Machine Preference Exclusion list. You will, however, need to backup these files manually to another external disk.
    If you do a lot of movie editing, unless these files are excluded, expect Time Machine to treat revised versions of a single movie as entirely new files.
    If you frequently download software or video files that you only expect to keep for a short time, consider excluding the folder these are stored in from Time Machine backups.
    If you have recently created a new disk image or burned a DVD, Time Machine will target these files for backup unless they are deleted or excluded from backup.
    *Events-Based Backups*
    Time Machine does not compare file-for-file to see if changes have been made. If it had to rescan every file on your drive before each backup, it would not be able to perform backups as often as it does. Rather, it relies on a process called FSEvents. This is a system log that records changes that occur with all the directories on your Mac. Moving / copying / deleting / & saving files and folders creates events that are recorded in this log. At the beginning of each backup, Time Machine simply looks at this log to determine what has changed since the last backup. [http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/mac-os-x-10-5.ars/14]
    Installing new software, upgrading existing software, or updating Mac OS X system software can create major changes in the structure of your directories. Every one of these changes is recorded by the OS as an event. Time Machine will backup every file that has an event associated with it since the installation.
    Files or folders that are simply moved or renamed are counted as NEW files or folders. If you rename any file or folder, Time Machine will back up the ENTIRE file or folder again no matter how big or small it is.
    George Schreyer describes this behavior: “If you should want to do some massive rearrangement of your disk, Time Machine will interpret the rearranged files as new files and back them up again in their new locations. Just renaming a folder will cause this to happen. This is OK if you've got lots of room on your backup disk. Eventually, Time Machine will thin those backups and the space consumed will be recovered. However, if you really want recover the space in the backup volume immediately, you can. To do this, bring a Finder window to the front and then click the Time Machine icon on the dock. This will activate the Time Machine user interface. Navigate back in time to where the old stuff exists and select it. Then pull down the "action" menu (the gear thing) and select "delete all backups" and the older stuff vanishes.” (http://www.girr.org/mac_stuff/backups.html)
    *TechTool Pro Directory Protection*
    This disk utility feature creates backup copies of your system directories. Obviously these directories are changing all the time. So, depending on how it is configured, these backup files will be changing as well which is interpreted by Time Machine as new data to backup. Excluding the folder these backups are stored in will eliminate this effect.
    *Backups WAY Too Large*
    If an initial full backup or a subsequent incremental backup is tens or hundreds of Gigs larger than expected, check to see that all unwanted external hard disks are still excluded from Time Machine backups. Time Machine will attempt to backup any hard disk attached to your Mac, including secondary internal drives, that have not been added to Time Machines Exclusion list.
    This includes the Time Machine backup drive ITSELF. Normally, Time Machine is set to exclude its’ own backup disk by default. But on rare occasions it can forget. When your backup begins, Time Machine mounts the backup on your desktop. (For Time Capsule/AirDisk users it appears as a white drive icon labeled something like “Backup of (your computer)”.) If, while it is mounted, it does not show up in the Time Machine Preferences “Do not back up” list, then Time Machine will attempt to back ITSELF up. If it is not listed while the drive is mounted, then you need to add it to the list.
    *Recovering Backup Space*
    If you have discovered that large unwanted files have been backed up, you can use the Time Machine “time travel” interface to recovered some of that space.
    Launch Time Machine from the Dock icon.
    Initially, you are presented with a window that represents “Today (Now)”. DO NOT make changes to file while you see “Today (Now)” at the bottom of the screen.
    Click on the window just behind “Today (Now)”. This represents the last successful backup and should display the date and time of this backup at the bottom of the screen.
    Now, navigate to where the unwanted file resides.
    Highlight the file and click the Actions menu (Gear icon) from the toolbar.
    Select “Delete all backups of <this file>”.
    *FileVault / Boot Camp / iDisk Syncing*
    Note: Leopard has changed the way it deals with FileVault disk images, so it is not necessary to exclude your Home folder if you have FileVault activated. Additionally, Time Machine ignores Boot Camp partitions as the manner in which they are formatted is incompatible. Finally, if you have your iDisk Synced to your desktop, it is not necessary to exclude the disk image file it creates as that has been changed to a sparsebundle as well in Leopard.
    Let us know if this resolved your issue.
    Cheers!

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