Time Machine deleted all the back up files on my TimeCapsule

My computer required an erase and install. I was using 10.5.8. I reinstalled the OS but I did not do a restore from my Time Machine when I first booted it up. However, I wanted to continue to use my time machine back up (basically continue to add files to the existing backup), but it would not allow me to point to the existing Time Machine back up.
As a result, Time Machine tried to create a new backup folder. I thought this would be fine, and that I would worry about why I could not use the current back up file on my Time Capsule later on. Well, Time Machine has deleted my old Time Capsule and all the information that was inside it and now I have only a back up of one day.
What happened? How could Time Machine over write a backup that I had previously?

I updated to 10.5.8 and then I got a blue screen. I tried to do an erase and install and then I could not get beyond the grey screen. I took it in to the genius bar and had to get them to start things working again. They used their external drive to boot me up from 10.5.8.
I did not use my time machine backups to put my information back on my computer. I used the files for documents movies and photos which I had dragged and dropped on to a USB external HD (A Western Digital Passport).
I did not want to lose all the incremental past back ups on my Time Capsule (the white 1 TB box with the apple logo - definitely a time capsule). I wanted to keep using the old time machine back ups in case I ever needed to restore an odd file here and there.
Well, that day has come and I can not restore from my Time Capsule. I actually deleted this entry (albeit too late) and I have realized I do have 700 GB backed up.
You were right, if I do #17 I can access the old "sequence" of back ups, I suppose that TM thinks that I have a new computer after my erase and install.
So when I click and hold on TM in the dock I can browse other time machine disks. However, whenever I try do do a restore, computer hangs and I can't actually use the back up.
How can I get my MBP to go back to the old sequence TM files? If I go to system preferences, it says that my oldest back up is January 8, 2009. That would make me think TM machine knows those files are there. BUT! When I click on TM in the dock and I start TM, when I get to the Star Wars style screen where you can see the windows go back in time, it only has backups as far as yesterday.
So ultimately, my question is, how do I permanently get back to that old sequence of back ups and why does it always hang on the restore?
Thanks so much for your help - my lost files depend on it!

Similar Messages

Time Machine deleted all the files on my external HD

I have started a new Time Machine backup on a larger external HD.
Time Machine deleted the folders and files stored in that HD before starting the backup procedure.
How can i recover the files i had on my HD?
Thank you!

This means that the drive was formatted incorrectly for use with TM and it had to reformat it. it warns you before doing so. your chances of recovering your data are not great as it may have been overwritten by TM backups. stop using the drive ASAP (turn TM off) and try data recovery software like Data Rescue II or Filesalvage.

OMG... Time machine deleted ALL the backups, even latest..

Hey All...
I have just experienced a nightmare. If anyone can help I would be in your debt.
Here we go...
I was trying to move the backup of old computer ( partition A ) to a new partition ( B ) on same ext. hard drive.   Not enough space in partition b so I looked into deleting some old backups before copying A to B using restore in disc utility.
Inside time machine I was using the cog thing to select delete backup... selected the oldest backup, thinking this would delete only the oldest backup.
It deleted ALL the backups on A, including the latest.
This had work files on it that are important so it's a bit of a disaster. I have had a great backup stradegy for the last 15 years and have NEVER before lost anything. Here is my details...
Macbook Pro 2.2 GHz
10.7.5
External drive 4 partitions
Partition A was backed up using 10.6
From a G5 which I deleted the files from.
I am hoping the files could be recovred from either the G5 or the hard drive or my trash on the macbook pro?
I have and will not do too much on my computer like disc utility stuff or empty trash etc.
It's a long shot, but anyone have any ideas..?
Thanks in advance..

The...........Haggis wrote:
Thanks for your prompt reply Pondini,
I could have selected all in error but I am sure I didn't. I guess I must have.. grrr.
I cannot see any when I enter time machine.
Ok. It's just that I've never heard of it erasing more than what was selected.
It's possible something went wrong, and at least some of the other backups are still there. Especially if no other changes have been made to the TM drive, you might try running Repair Disk on it with Disk Utility. Unlikely to help, but it's worth a try.
The G5. I erased the drive using disk utility and haven't used it since. There is 2 drives on that machine, the drive we are talking about is not bootable it's just storage.
Since you already have it, you might want to try running the File Salvage app on it (you'll probably need another HD, or at least partition, to receive whatever it finds).   The results might be more usable than the results from the TM drive, since they're "ordinary" files and folders, not all the "hard links" Time Machine uses.
EDIT:
I had the ext drive hanging off my Mac Book pro 10.7. Ext drive had TM backups of 2 laptops and G5.
Hold on a minute -- how were all those backups made -- by connecting the drive directly to each Mac, or were any made over a network (wired or wireless)? Are they / were they all in the same partition, or separate ones?
Message was edited by: Pondini

Time Machine Deleted ALL the backups!

Today, TM was cleaning up the old backups as it does every so often, however it inadvertently deleted ALL of the backups.
1) Can I recover my backups?
2) If so, how can I recover said backups?
3) How can I prevent this from happening again?
Thanks.
What a bummer....

TheChemist wrote:
May 30 15:12:50 francoisimac com.apple.backupd[500]: Starting pre-backup thinning: 423.93 GB requested (including padding), 123.83 GB available
The "padding" is workspace, etc., that TM needs on the backup drive. It's about 20%, so Time Machine estimates it needs to back up about 350 GB. That's the symptom: there isn't enough room for that.
The one question I would love answered is what would trigger a pre-backup thinning?
Not enough room for the new backup. In that case, Time Machine first deletes "expired" backups, then your oldest ones.
Unfortunately, there's no way to tell what that 350 GB was. After a backup finishes successfully, you can see what was backed-up, but not before.
So, you need to start with #D4 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum). Something you're running is apparently causing a very large, but not full, backup (a full one would need about the 500 GB that's on your internal HD, plus another 100 GB temporarily).
If you still can't figure it out, erase the drive and do a full backup. Then immediately do another. If it's quite large, see #A2 in Troubleshooting to download +Time Tracker+ or BackupLoupe to see what's causing the huge backups.
If it's small, turn Time Machine off. Periodically, run a backup manually. (Select +Back Up Now+ from the TM icon in your menubar, or by right-clicking the TM icon in your Dock). Sooner or later, you should see a very large one, and hopefully it will complete so you can see what caused it, via +Time Tracker+ or BackupLoupe.

Shpuld I leave time machine on all the time?

I have time machine on all the time. My concern is backing up every hour seems excessive, and I wonder if turning it off and only on once a week is better.
Furthermore, my LaCie external hard drive is annoyingly noisy.

You can do that or you can use a third-party utility to change the schedule. If you use your computer daily, then file change daily, and you may wish to have those changes backed up.
TimeMachineEditor 4.0
Time Machine Backup Scheduler 1.4.2
TimeMachineScheduler 4.0b8

HT3275 My Time Machine deletes ALL previous backups

Every so often, Time Machine deletes ALL previous backups and starts over from scratch. It has done this several times in the last year. I have not changed any hardware or the name of the computer. Why is this happening? Makes me very concerned that I now have NO backups while it chugs away rebuilding a 210 GB backup.
Just got an error message:
Time Machine couldn’t complete the backup. Time machine could not delete the backup disk image "/Volumes/Joe's iMac.purgeable"
HELP!
iMac 27: 8GB, 2.9 GHz Intel Core I5
OS X Yosemite 10.10.1
Backup volume is Western Digital MyBookLiveDuo with 2TB and 1.8TB available

Hi Joe,
Have you Repaired both drives first, then Repaired Permissions on both?
Have you looked through Pondini's extensive TM help site?
http://Pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Can't imagine something not being covered there.

When backing up on time machine is get " The back up disk image'/volume/data/eric balnchard's Macbook.sparbundle"could not be accessed (error-1). what does it mean? it's a new time machine

when backing up on time machine is get " The back up disk image'/volume/data/eric balnchard's Macbook.sparbundle"could not be accessed (error-1). what does it mean? it's a new time machine

Expect to see this error again due to a bug in Lion (and Mountain Lion).
See # C17 in Pondini's excellent support document below, or look over to the right of this web page under the heading of More Like This
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

Exposé hot keys disabled after Time Machine "Delete all backups of file"

I have been having the same problem that was initially mentioned in this topic:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5850265#5850265
Namely, sometimes after I restart all of my Exposé and Dashboard hot keys have been turned off (but not the Spaces hotkey, just F9-F12). My hot corners for turning off or on the screensaver work just fine, but I have to manually go in and turn back on my Exposé hot keys. Some people said it was associate with WoW, but I am not running World of Warcraft. This last time it happened (this morning), I had removed all backups of a few files in Time Machine (what's the point of having a backup of a rented movie after the 24 hour viewing period has expired?). I have been looking for a way to report this to Apple, but have been unable thus far.
I just tested it to see if you have to restart, and you do not. About thirty minutes ago I turned all the Exposé hot keys on, and just a minute ago I deleted a backup of a file on my Desktop in Time Machine (by selecting, "Delete all backups of file ______") and the hot keys had been disabled again.
Does anyone know if there is a way to fix this?

Mechanist wrote:
At some point I told Time Machine to get rid of backups of a particular file using the "Delete all backups of ..." option. Time Machine duly deleted the backups of the file and stopped making new ones.
Not exactly. It did delete the existing backups, but didn't make any new ones because the file hasn't changed since then.
The easiest way to get it to back it up is to make a minor change to it (the name or something in the contents), then change it back. Time Machine should back it up on the next backup.
Alternatively, you need to force a "deep scan," where Time Machine compares everything on your system to the backups. Usually, just starting up from your Recovery HD will do that, although sometimes you have to start from it and Repair your internal HD to trigger it.
If you're not sure how to do that, see Using the Recovery HD and/or #6 in Using Disk Utility.

Time machine deleted all my backups instead of the one selected

I have a one year old Macbook Pro with 16 GB of RAM, running OSX v10.9.5 (Mavericks). I use a LaCie 2TB external hard drive for my time machine backups, and I needed to delete some of the old TM backups to make space.
Following the instructions at pontini.org (http://pondini.org/TM/12.html ), I opened TM, navigated to the external HD and selected the oldest folder in backups.backupdb, right clicked it and selected 'Delete all backups in [the oldest folder's name]'. Then I went home for the weekend, and when I got in this morning, Voila! ALL files in the backups.backupdb folder were gone! Not only that, but there was nothing in the trash to restore!
Has anyone else had this wonderful experience?
Thanks,
Casey

Wow -- thanks for all the comments, folks, I must have struck a nerve! I'll try to respond to all of them here, in sequence:
John Galt: I loved your comment about "no user serviceable parts inside"! It was echoed by etresoft, too, later in the chain; sounds like good advice if this ever happens again. You mentioned that Yosemite incorporated a lot of changes to TM, but I'm not using Yosemite (have been avoiding this upgrade, as it sounds too buggy). But apparently your advice holds with Mavericks, too.
Etresoft (3:17am): very good point -- I think that's exactly what I did. What I'm still not clear on is: are the backup files themselves (ie the actual data being backed up, as opposed to hard links) stored in the backup folder that TM creates, or are they kept in a separate file or folder? It sounds like it's the former, as I had originally thought. But pondini led me to believe that, if the data WAS stored in the folder, it would not be deleted if there were any links to it in future backup folders. From what you said, I'm thinking that's probably true IF you are dealing with a backup that's INSIDE TM, but not if its a folder OUTSIDE TM. Is that right? If so, this really is a pit that's ripe for idiots like me to fall into.
Lex Schellings (3:52am): I don't think I understand your comment -- you said "All these instructions are to delete a specific file... You should never deleted a dated FOLDER". But instruction #2 says "One or more individual backups -- it's best to use Time Machine, per the green box below" -- then, in the green box, it says " Locate the backup or item you want to delete via the Timeline or "cascade" of Finder windows". Since I was trying to delete a "backup", what was I supposed to select, if not a folder?
Etresoft (4:15am): that's an interesting thought, but I don't think I used the sidebar to navigate to the backup I deleted. When I opened TM, it showed me a sequence of Finder windows with the Star Wars background, but the external hard drive in the Finder window was grayed out and inaccessible. So I checked pondini again, and it said I could get to it by right-clicking on the TM icon in the task bar (after exiting TM), selecting 'Browse other TM Disks', and selecting the one I wanted. After I did that, I could see the external hard drive in TM was not gray anymore, and I navigated to the first backup folder. Apparently, that's what took me "outside" of TM, even though I thought I was inside it. I will definitely follow up on your suggestion to go to Apple's bug report site and file a report; thanks!
Lex Schellings (4:39am; do you guys ever sleep?): I didn't hear that pondini had died -- I hope you folks weren't close to him; sounds like he was very thorough, and trying to do the right thing. He just didn't realize there were people like me out there.
I'm surprised at your comment that "the behaviour of deleting one of the TimeMachine dated folders in Finder has always been the wrong way, leading to unhappiness." That is exactly what our tech support department (which is run by Lockheed Martin; they're supposed to know what they're doing -- at least they certainly charge JPL enough for their service) said was the approved way to delete old TM backups, and in several cases in the past, it has worked for me. In any event, I didn't think I was deleting the TM dated folder through Finder -- I thought I was doing it through TM, as pondini recommended. Silly me.
Etresoft (5:24am): It's a little scary that you said "I don't know of anyone who knows Time Machine well enough to actually update it." Were you joking? I definitely agree with your (and John Galt's) advice that "I wouldn't recommend any kind of interference with Time Machine, especially with the Finder". In the future, I think I will just set up a separate partition on my external drive for TM backups, and let TM figure out how to thin itself out.
Lex Schellings (5:43am): "a magic black box" -- that's a very good take-away from this misadventure. Thanks for your advice.

Time Machine deleted all my folders now wont restore

Big trouble here and I am lost as to how to fix it.
I have a Mac Pro, and two users on it
All the Users folders (home folders) are stored on a separate HDD, moved from there usual location on the system drive and the home folder locations changed in Accounts/Users/advanced options.
This morning I wanted to restore everything as it was a few hours ago.
So I opened Finder and navigated to the relevant 'Users' Hard drive.
Then opened Time machine from the dock.
Went back to the correct restore point and clicked Restore.
This was the root of the drive.The Root contains one folder called users
This has two folder for the two users.
Inside each one are the user folders you would expect to see:
Desktop
Documents
Downloads
Library
etc
TM said Preparing to restore.Asked for admin password and began restoring.
it then gave a message saying I do not have sufficient prvilidges for the current operation and quit.
It quit after deleting all the files in both users home folders but before it restored anything.
So now I am left with two empty home folders, each containing just one sub folde 'Library', and that looks about half empty.
So basically it has trashed my user data..everything gone and it wont restore.
How do I restore the data back from the Time machine drive? I have turned off time machine backups for now so no more backups are made, and am afraid to log off or turn machine off in case some data vital for log in has also been deleted
Thanks
Neil

Definetly Admin user....two users on here, both admin.
The Time machine Drive is an internal 1TB drive.
Definitely selected the correct backup folder...It showed something like
Preparing to copy 13,000 files 133Gb, 3 hours to go, then the progress bar started up, then it said that some files that were beign replaced needed admin privileges, and asked for user-name and password.
I entered admin user-name and pwd, and it continued for about 10 minutes, then failed saying I did not have the correct privileges.
I do have a third un-used Admin account that has it home folder on the system drive. I am going to try logging in as that, reformat the user data hard drive and try a restore from there, see if that does it.

Time Machine deleted ALL my backups

I was using time machine for quite a while to backup my hard drive and then stopped it for a while. When I turned it back on today, it backed up my ENTIRE hard drive (50 GB) and deleted ALL the old files & time machine backups.
The files and information on those old backups were extremely important. Is there any way of getting these back? Or am I SOL.
Thanks in advance, I really appreciate any help.

If TM completed what was most likely a new, full backup (which it will do after a long period without backups), then much (or most) of your old backups have already been overwritten.
It is possible that you might be able to recover some data from the rest of the disk with a +Data Recovery+ app, such as Data Rescue II, or a 3rd-party service. Neither is cheap or certain.
If you want to try that, stop using the disk immediately. To find such apps & services, look for +Data Recovery+ or +Disk recovery+ via Google, VersionTracker.com, or MacUpdate.com

Time Machine deleted all backups

Just got a TM error message saying my 3TB drive needed 1.68TB and there was only 1.3 TB available. I thought this unlikely as my target drive should only require an incremental backup (1.68TB being a full backup). So I clicked 'back up now' (daft, I know) and Time Machine deleted everything and started a brand new backup which I immediately stopped. The TM drive still says there's only 1.3TB available which means my older backups are still in there somewhere, right?
While I don't think I've anything on the backup that I need, I'm worried how this could happen - 4 months of backups just vanished instantly.
Any ideas?
Cheers,
SNaP

Thanks for the reply, Linc,
First thing is there's no 'Starting standard backup' string, but I'm assuming the 'starting automatic backup' is our boy. I've deleted most of the texts where it says its 'deleting expired backups' (about 35 in all), and I've deleted other repetetive lines but I'm reluctant to delete more as I might be throwing out the baby with the bathwater. The string finished with my creating a new Time Machine backup on a separate drive ('Storage 3'). The original Time Machine backup was named 'Mac Companion'. The two drives being backed up were 'SSD' and '2TB HD'.
Log text:
03/09/2012 11:34:29.581 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Starting automatic backup
03/09/2012 11:34:30.103 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Mac Companion/Backups.backupdb
03/09/2012 11:34:35.484 com.apple.quicklook.satellite[863]: Failed to communicate with qtkitserver: Connection invalid
03/09/2012 11:34:35.484 com.apple.quicklook.satellite[863]: Failed to initializeServer(), returned 5
03/09/2012 11:34:35.678 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Using file event preflight for SSD
03/09/2012 11:34:37.364 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Will copy (644.7 MB) from SSD
03/09/2012 11:34:37.374 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Using file event preflight for 2Tb HD
03/09/2012 11:34:48.819 com.apple.quicklook.satellite[863]: Failed to communicate with qtkitserver: Connection invalid
03/09/2012 11:34:48.820 com.apple.quicklook.satellite[863]: Failed to initializeServer(), returned 5
03/09/2012 11:35:01.533 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:35:02.281 com.apple.quicklook.satellite[863]: Failed to communicate with qtkitserver: Connection invalid
03/09/2012 11:35:02.281 com.apple.quicklook.satellite[863]: Failed to initializeServer(), returned 5
03/09/2012 11:35:18.766 sandboxd[1413]: ([1412]) mdworker(1412) deny file-read-data /Users/snapmac/Dropbox/MDK/Adobe Photoshop CS65832565636961/..namedfork/rsrc (pre-ls-info fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:240000005E diag:0 uti:public.jpeg plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Image.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 1127969)
03/09/2012 11:35:18.000 kernel[0]: Sandbox: sandboxd(1413) deny mach-lookup com.apple.coresymbolicationd
03/09/2012 11:35:34.790 com.apple.quicklook.satellite[863]: Failed to communicate with qtkitserver: Connection invalid
03/09/2012 11:35:34.790 com.apple.quicklook.satellite[863]: Failed to initializeServer(), returned 5
03/09/2012 11:35:45.111 sandboxd[1418]: ([1412]) mdworker(1412) deny file-read-data /Users/snapmac/Dropbox/MDK/Adobe Photoshop CS65832565702527/..namedfork/rsrc (pre-ls-info fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:240000005E diag:0 uti:public.jpeg plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Image.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 1128024)
03/09/2012 11:35:45.000 kernel[0]: Sandbox: sandboxd(1418) deny mach-lookup com.apple.coresymbolicationd
03/09/2012 11:35:49.627 com.apple.quicklook.satellite[863]: Failed to communicate with qtkitserver: Connection invalid
03/09/2012 11:35:49.628 com.apple.quicklook.satellite[863]: Failed to initializeServer(), returned 5
03/09/2012 11:35:57.957 sandboxd[1418]: ([1412]) mdworker(1412) deny file-read-data /Users/snapmac/Dropbox/MDK/Adobe Photoshop CS65832565768075/..namedfork/rsrc (pre-ls-info fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:240000005E diag:0 uti:public.jpeg plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Image.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 1128070)
03/09/2012 11:35:58.103 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Will copy (102.4 MB) from 2Tb HD
03/09/2012 11:35:58.103 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Found 458385 files (1.57 TB) needing backup
03/09/2012 11:35:58.114 com.apple.backupd[1401]: 1.88 TB required (including padding), 1.15 TB available
03/09/2012 11:36:01.837 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Mac Companion/Backups.backupdb/Macintosh/2012-09-02-104622 containing 2.2 MB; 1.15 TB now available, 1.88 TB required
03/09/2012 11:36:01.838 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Removed 1 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room
03/09/2012 11:36:02.535 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:36:09.872 mdworker[1311]: CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): Old-style plist parser: missing semicolon in dictionary on line 1. Parsing will be abandoned. Break on _CFPropertyListMissingSemicolon to debug.
03/09/2012 11:36:11.574 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Mac Companion/Backups.backupdb/Macintosh/2012-08-21-002126 containing 613.1 MB; 1.15 TB now available, 1.88 TB required
03/09/2012 11:36:11.574 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Removed 2 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room
03/09/2012 11:36:14.818 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Mac Companion/Backups.backupdb/Macintosh/2012-08-22-000409 containing 5.8 MB; 1.15 TB now available, 1.88 TB required
03/09/2012 11:36:26.606 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Removed 7 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room
03/09/2012 11:36:49.689 com.apple.usbmuxd[431]: _SendAttachNotification (thread 0x100dc2180): sending attach for device cc:08:e0:3c:19:ef@fe80::ce08:e0ff:fe3c:19ef._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _GetAddrInfoReplyReceivedCallback matched.
03/09/2012 11:36:49.885 usbmuxd[431]: _AMDeviceConnectByAddressAndPort (thread 0x102e81000): IPv4
03/09/2012 11:37:03.537 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:37:03.855 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Mac Companion/Backups.backupdb/Macintosh/2012-08-27-003829 containing 952.1 MB; 1.15 TB now available, 1.88 TB required
03/09/2012 11:37:10.282 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Removed 9 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room
03/09/2012 11:37:25.228 com.apple.usbmuxd[431]: _SendDetachNotification (thread 0x100dc2180): sending detach for device cc:08:e0:3c:19:ef@fe80::ce08:e0ff:fe3c:19ef._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _BrowseReplyReceivedCallback got bonjour removal.
03/09/2012 11:38:04.539 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:38:07.334 com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.coremedia.videodecoder[866]) Exit timeout elapsed (20 seconds). Killing
03/09/2012 11:38:14.150 Adobe Bridge CS6[1424]: CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): Old-style plist parser: missing semicolon in dictionary on line 1. Parsing will be abandoned. Break on _CFPropertyListMissingSemicolon to debug.
03/09/2012 11:38:31.740 mdworker[1311]: CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): Old-style plist parser: missing semicolon in dictionary on line 1. Parsing will be abandoned. Break on _CFPropertyListMissingSemicolon to debug.
03/09/2012 11:39:05.541 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:39:17.723 WindowServer[128]: CGXSetWindowBackgroundBlurRadius: Invalid window 0xffffffff
03/09/2012 11:40:06.543 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:40:40.603 com.apple.usbmuxd[431]: _SendAttachNotification (thread 0x100dc2180): sending attach for device cc:08:e0:3c:19:ef@fe80::ce08:e0ff:fe3c:19ef._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _GetAddrInfoReplyReceivedCallback matched.
03/09/2012 11:40:40.802 usbmuxd[431]: _AMDeviceConnectByAddressAndPort (thread 0x102e81000): IPv4
03/09/2012 11:40:52.993 com.apple.usbmuxd[431]: _SendDetachNotification (thread 0x100dc2180): sending detach for device cc:08:e0:3c:19:ef@fe80::ce08:e0ff:fe3c:19ef._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _BrowseReplyReceivedCallback got bonjour removal.
03/09/2012 11:41:07.545 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:44:02.751 com.apple.usbmuxd[431]: _SendAttachNotification (thread 0x100dc2180): sending attach for device cc:08:e0:3c:19:ef@fe80::ce08:e0ff:fe3c:19ef._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _GetAddrInfoReplyReceivedCallback matched.
03/09/2012 11:44:02.967 usbmuxd[431]: _AMDeviceConnectByAddressAndPort (thread 0x102e81000): IPv4
03/09/2012 11:44:10.551 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:44:16.032 com.apple.usbmuxd[431]: _SendDetachNotification (thread 0x100dc2180): sending detach for device cc:08:e0:3c:19:ef@fe80::ce08:e0ff:fe3c:19ef._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _BrowseReplyReceivedCallback got bonjour removal.
03/09/2012 11:45:09.730 com.apple.usbmuxd[431]: _SendAttachNotification (thread 0x100dc2180): sending attach for device cc:08:e0:3c:19:ef@fe80::ce08:e0ff:fe3c:19ef._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _GetAddrInfoReplyReceivedCallback matched.
03/09/2012 11:45:09.919 usbmuxd[431]: _AMDeviceConnectByAddressAndPort (thread 0x102e81000): IPv4
03/09/2012 11:45:11.553 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:45:27.662 WebProcess[1473]: Failed to communicate with qtkitserver: Connection invalid
03/09/2012 11:45:27.663 WebProcess[1473]: Failed to initializeServer(), returned 5
03/09/2012 11:45:50.812 com.apple.usbmuxd[431]: _SendDetachNotification (thread 0x100dc2180): sending detach for device cc:08:e0:3c:19:ef@fe80::ce08:e0ff:fe3c:19ef._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _BrowseReplyReceivedCallback got bonjour removal.
03/09/2012 11:46:12.555 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:47:13.556 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:47:40.539 com.apple.usbmuxd[431]: _SendAttachNotification (thread 0x100dc2180): sending attach for device cc:08:e0:3c:19:ef@fe80::ce08:e0ff:fe3c:19ef._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _GetAddrInfoReplyReceivedCallback matched.
03/09/2012 11:47:40.766 usbmuxd[431]: _AMDeviceConnectByAddressAndPort (thread 0x102e81000): IPv4
03/09/2012 11:48:12.322 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Mac Companion/Backups.backupdb/Macintosh/2012-08-29-003613 containing 114.46 GB; 1.27 TB now available, 1.88 TB required
03/09/2012 11:48:12.323 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Removed 10 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room
03/09/2012 11:48:14.559 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:48:32.980 Safari[1471]: CGContextClipToRect: invalid context 0x0
03/09/2012 11:48:48.131 com.apple.usbmuxd[431]: _SendDetachNotification (thread 0x100dc2180): sending detach for device cc:08:e0:3c:19:ef@fe80::ce08:e0ff:fe3c:19ef._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _BrowseReplyReceivedCallback got bonjour removal.
03/09/2012 11:49:15.561 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:50:16.562 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:50:52.172 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Mac Companion/Backups.backupdb/Macintosh/2012-09-01-004618 containing 22.05 GB; 1.3 TB now available, 1.88 TB required
03/09/2012 11:50:52.172 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Removed 12 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room
03/09/2012 11:50:57.965 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Mac Companion/Backups.backupdb/Macintosh/2012-09-02-004621 containing 2.4 MB; 1.3 TB now available, 1.88 TB required
03/09/2012 11:51:39.148 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Removed 35 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room
03/09/2012 11:51:39.148 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Deleted 35 backups containing 152.08 GB total; 1.3 TB now available, 1.88 TB required
03/09/2012 11:51:39.148 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Backup date range was shortened: oldest backup is now Sep 3, 2012
03/09/2012 11:51:49.910 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Backup failed with error: Not enough available disk space on the target volume.
03/09/2012 11:51:51.535 com.apple.usbmuxd[431]: _SendAttachNotification (thread 0x100dc2180): sending attach for device cc:08:e0:3c:19:ef@fe80::ce08:e0ff:fe3c:19ef._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _GetAddrInfoReplyReceivedCallback matched.
03/09/2012 11:51:51.707 usbmuxd[431]: _AMDeviceConnectByAddressAndPort (thread 0x102f04000): IPv4
03/09/2012 11:52:18.080 System Preferences[1547]: Cannot setMachineString without first being authenticated
03/09/2012 11:52:18.140 System Preferences[1547]: *** WARNING: -[NSImage compositeToPoint:operation:] is deprecated in MacOSX 10.8 and later. Please use -[NSImage drawAtPoint:fromRect:operation:fraction:] instead.
03/09/2012 11:52:18.142 System Preferences[1547]: *** WARNING: -[NSImage compositeToPoint:fromRect:operation:] is deprecated in MacOSX 10.8 and later. Please use -[NSImage drawAtPoint:fromRect:operation:fraction:] instead.
03/09/2012 11:52:18.145 System Preferences[1547]: *** WARNING: -[NSImage compositeToPoint:operation:fraction:] is deprecated in MacOSX 10.8 and later. Please use -[NSImage drawAtPoint:fromRect:operation:fraction:] instead.
03/09/2012 11:52:18.147 System Preferences[1547]: *** WARNING: -[NSImage compositeToPoint:fromRect:operation:fraction:] is deprecated in MacOSX 10.8 and later. Please use -[NSImage drawAtPoint:fromRect:operation:fraction:] instead.
03/09/2012 11:52:18.567 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:52:37.450 com.apple.usbmuxd[431]: _SendDetachNotification (thread 0x100dc2180): sending detach for device cc:08:e0:3c:19:ef@fe80::ce08:e0ff:fe3c:19ef._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _BrowseReplyReceivedCallback got bonjour removal.
03/09/2012 11:52:49.571 System Preferences[1547]: Could not connect the action warnCullingPressed: to target of class TMOptionsSheetController
03/09/2012 11:52:49.572 System Preferences[1547]: Could not connect the action backUpOnBatteryPowerPressed: to target of class TMOptionsSheetController
03/09/2012 11:53:18.715 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Starting manual backup
03/09/2012 11:53:18.718 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Mac Companion/Backups.backupdb
03/09/2012 11:53:19.569 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:53:29.481 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Using file event preflight for SSD
03/09/2012 11:53:33.864 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Will copy (823.1 MB) from SSD
03/09/2012 11:53:33.879 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Using file event preflight for 2Tb HD
03/09/2012 11:53:59.470 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Backup canceled.
03/09/2012 11:54:02.534 sandboxd[1563]: ([549]) Mail(549) deny file-read-data /Users
03/09/2012 11:54:02.000 kernel[0]: Sandbox: sandboxd(1563) deny mach-lookup com.apple.coresymbolicationd
03/09/2012 11:54:02.541 sandboxd[1563]: ([549]) Mail(549) deny file-read-data /Users
03/09/2012 11:54:02.963 WindowServer[128]: Display 0x1849b840 captured by conn 0x1396b
03/09/2012 11:54:12.496 Mail[549]: CGSSetWindowLevel: Invalid window 0x0
03/09/2012 11:54:13.140 sandboxd[1563]: ([549]) Mail(549) deny file-read-xattr /Volumes/Mac Companion/Backups.backupdb/Macintosh/2012-09-03-103801/SSD
03/09/2012 11:54:14.654 Mail[549]: find_shared_window: WID 996
03/09/2012 11:54:14.654 Mail[549]: CGSMoveWindow: Invalid window 0x3e4
03/09/2012 11:54:14.918 WindowServer[128]: Display 0x1849b840 released by conn 0x1396b
03/09/2012 11:54:20.570 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:54:40.796 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Starting manual backup
03/09/2012 11:54:40.799 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Mac Companion/Backups.backupdb
03/09/2012 11:54:45.549 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Using file event preflight for SSD
03/09/2012 11:54:49.568 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Will copy (835.6 MB) from SSD
03/09/2012 11:54:49.583 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Using file event preflight for 2Tb HD
03/09/2012 11:55:21.572 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:56:15.773 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Will copy (102.4 MB) from 2Tb HD
03/09/2012 11:56:15.774 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Found 458580 files (1.57 TB) needing backup
03/09/2012 11:56:15.803 com.apple.backupd[1401]: 1.88 TB required (including padding), 1.3 TB available
03/09/2012 11:56:15.814 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Mac Companion/Backups.backupdb/Macintosh/2012-09-03-113431.inProgress/D5E33B8C-90FD -408E-939E-C8D559EBAC56 containing 8 KB; 1.3 TB now available, 1.88 TB required
03/09/2012 11:56:15.815 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Mac Companion/Backups.backupdb/Macintosh/2012-09-03-113431.inProgress/D93A9AE4-E50A -422A-BC05-A540DB00F417 containing 8 KB; 1.3 TB now available, 1.88 TB required
03/09/2012 11:56:15.815 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Removed 2 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room
03/09/2012 11:56:15.816 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Deleted 2 backups containing 16 KB total; 1.3 TB now available, 1.88 TB required
03/09/2012 11:56:15.816 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Backup date range was shortened: oldest backup is now Sep 3, 2012
03/09/2012 11:56:17.477 com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.coremedia.videodecoder[1514]) Exit timeout elapsed (20 seconds). Killing
03/09/2012 11:56:22.575 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:56:26.544 com.apple.backupd[1401]: Backup failed with error: Not enough available disk space on the target volume.
03/09/2012 11:56:27.481 com.apple.usbmuxd[431]: stopping.
03/09/2012 11:56:27.521 com.apple.usbmuxd[1586]: usbmuxd-268.5 on Apr 5 2012 at 15:33:48, running 64 bit
03/09/2012 11:57:17.937 System Preferences[1592]: Cannot setMachineString without first being authenticated
03/09/2012 11:57:17.980 System Preferences[1592]: *** WARNING: -[NSImage compositeToPoint:operation:] is deprecated in MacOSX 10.8 and later. Please use -[NSImage drawAtPoint:fromRect:operation:fraction:] instead.
03/09/2012 11:57:17.983 System Preferences[1592]: *** WARNING: -[NSImage compositeToPoint:fromRect:operation:] is deprecated in MacOSX 10.8 and later. Please use -[NSImage drawAtPoint:fromRect:operation:fraction:] instead.
03/09/2012 11:57:17.985 System Preferences[1592]: *** WARNING: -[NSImage compositeToPoint:operation:fraction:] is deprecated in MacOSX 10.8 and later. Please use -[NSImage drawAtPoint:fromRect:operation:fraction:] instead.
03/09/2012 11:57:17.987 System Preferences[1592]: *** WARNING: -[NSImage compositeToPoint:fromRect:operation:fraction:] is deprecated in MacOSX 10.8 and later. Please use -[NSImage drawAtPoint:fromRect:operation:fraction:] instead.
03/09/2012 11:57:23.576 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:57:39.677 System Preferences[1592]: Could not connect the action warnCullingPressed: to target of class TMOptionsSheetController
03/09/2012 11:57:39.677 System Preferences[1592]: Could not connect the action backUpOnBatteryPowerPressed: to target of class TMOptionsSheetController
03/09/2012 11:58:24.579 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 11:59:25.581 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 12:00:11.658 com.apple.usbmuxd[1586]: _SendAttachNotification (thread 0x100dc2180): sending attach for device cc:08:e0:3c:19:ef@fe80::ce08:e0ff:fe3c:19ef._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _GetAddrInfoReplyReceivedCallback matched.
03/09/2012 12:00:11.866 usbmuxd[1586]: _AMDeviceConnectByAddressAndPort (thread 0x102e81000): IPv4
03/09/2012 12:00:26.583 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 12:00:52.742 com.apple.usbmuxd[1586]: _SendDetachNotification (thread 0x100dc2180): sending detach for device cc:08:e0:3c:19:ef@fe80::ce08:e0ff:fe3c:19ef._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _BrowseReplyReceivedCallback got bonjour removal.
03/09/2012 12:01:27.584 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 12:02:28.587 NetBarrier[127]: [NB5ForbiddenAdsManager checkForUpdate] The file "/Library/StartupItems/NetBarrierKPI/NetBarrier Daemon X5.app/Contents/Resources/CommonPatterns.plist" is corrupted.
03/09/2012 12:02:53.089 com.apple.backupd[1626]: Starting manual backup
03/09/2012 12:02:53.114 com.apple.backupd[1626]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Storage 3/Backups.backupdb
03/09/2012 12:02:54.518 com.apple.backupd[1626]: Forcing deep traversal on source: "SSD" (mount: '/' fsUUID: 54176992-49A5-3BCC-BA6F-0E62A70536F3 eventDBUUID: 33324136-426B-40D2-9B6A-55DE25B037E5)

Time Machine deletes all but latest two backups

Hello,
Today I was backing up my macbook, with about 38 GB of space left on my harddrive, and Time Machine deletes everything but the latest two backups (from Feb 2012 to May 2012).... I had things on there from 2009. TM preferences now says I have 27 GB of free space, after the latest backup. I didn't have anything big enough on my computer to be backed up that justified deleting years of data, over 200 GB, in order to compensate for the new data that had to be backed up. Is there any way to recover the files that were erased off of my external hard-drive that were deleted during Time Machine's semi-routine back up?
Thank you

Sebastian Kuhn wrote:
Is there no way to set up Time Machine such that it will ASK before destroying a (potentially valuable) "old" backup
That's how it worked at first, on Leopard. But many users either didn't understand it, or never got around to doing anything, so had no backups at all when disaster struck. It was fairly common, so Apple changed it with Snow Leopard.
Why does Apple assume that it is always the OLDEST backup (which will be hardest to retrieve) that people would be willing to loose?
That's usually correct. Time Machine is not a traditional archive-type app; if you need archives, make archives.
If you frequently need things from your backups, you may have a deeper problem. But most likely, you just need a larger backup drive.
That all applies to the vast majority of users -- they have a single internal HD with less than 1 TB of data, so a 2 TB backup drive is ok, 3 TB large enough for most everybody.
If that's not enough for your setup, you probably need a different strategy anyway. You may have some data that changes frequently and should be backed-up hourly by Time Machine, plus something like a large media drive that's best backed-up only once a day or so by a different app, such as one of the "cloning" products.
there should be the option to exclude different items when backing up to different disks. Is there?
No. Apparently Apple wants to keep it as simple as possible, with few options that may confuse some folks, so instead of making a decision, they do nothing (that's not just Time Machine, either). Remember, most of the folks using Time Machine have never used any backup app at all.
Apple's resisted all suggestions (and there have been many) for things like the ability to limit the size or age of backups, reduce the 10-day warning when no backup has been done, etc. Like it or not, that's Apple's approach to pretty much everything -- streamlined, simple, easy to use. Very successful for the majority.
Is there any workaround other than the cumbersome procedure of turning Time Machine off, and under "options" re-select the correct set of folders to exclude every time I move from one disk to another? Not exactly what I would call a user-friendly interface...
Best of course, is get a larger disk. Is your data worth the price of a 2 TB disk?
There are some elaborate workarounds involving automatically swapping destinations and exclusions, but they're very "iffy" as they do things that TM (and OSX) don't anticipate so don't react well to.
Effective with Lion, however, there's a new tmutil command that in theory would allow you to write an AppleScript to set a destination, add or remove exclusions and run a backup. Many things could go wrong, of course, but I know of no way to detect which destination is available.
Much safer, easier, and more reliable to get a larger drive (or better strategy).

Time Machine remove all backups of this files not working

I've just left a company that had me use my MB as a BOYD...now I have to remove all of their stuff, including files held by Time Machine.
I selected their directory in TM and said "remove all backups of this file". It asked for my password and seemed to accept it.
And then nothing happened. I've left the MB plugged in, with my Seagate drive plugged in (by usb), untouched for 48 hours. Even though there is no other activity on the machine TM keeps says that its doing multi-gig backups. And yet, the files I've asked it to remove remain in my various TM backups.
I've heard that TM can be unbelievably slow....is 48 hours not long enough? My MB has 128 gig and my TM has 500 gig so this is not a lot of data.
Suggestions?

Best bet would be log problem on apples support and then set up call with support - particularly if most of the backup is not your stuff - but you want to keep your stuff.
Time Machine Cleanups don't match the length of the backup - because of collapsing of daily files into weekly files - and the hourly ones into daily.
Have you opened Time Machine desktop drive to look at the folder and see what is going on -- you should have daily backups for the last month (in days) and weekly backups back to the beginning. With the delete all of some files that may be an issue where that is the only set of files that changed in that week (if you chose not to back up system files).
Just to be sure - you are running Apples Time Machine and not the backup that came with the Seagate drive?

Can Time Machine Be Used to Back Up Files from An External Hard Drive?

Please let me provide a little more information to clarify the question.
The hard drive on my computer is not large enough for all my photo and video files so I am planning to purchase a new external hard drive and move my "Pictures" and "Movies" folders to the new external hard drive as a way of freeing up space on my computer. A different external hard drive is now used for backup of the computer's hard drive.
My question is about how backups will be handled if I upgrade to Snow Leopard.
I understand that Time Machine will take the place of the software now being used to back up the MacHD, but back up is still needed for the photo and video files which would be moved off of the MacHD. Will Time Machine back up those files too? That is, will Time Machine back up specified folders which are being stored on one external hard drive and place the backups on a different external hard drive? And, will Time Machine do that in addition to backing up the MacHD? If so, are separate partitions needed for the MacHD and the Photo/Video backups, or will Time Machine put everything in the same partition?
Any advice and/or suggestions for handling this in would be most appreciated.
Thanks for your help.

As captfred says, yes (as long as the drive is formatted for a Mac, not Windoze).
You might want to review the [Time Machine Tutorial|http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/#timemachinebasics] and perhaps browse [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

Time Machine deleted all the back up files on my TimeCapsule

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for