Time Machine Dilemma

Hi Guys,
Newbie with a problem.
I'm running time machine into a 320Gb Maxtor USB and was originally running it through a four port hub (not enough ports on the PowerBook), without any apparent problem ( I hadn't tried to retrieve anything so this is only supposition). My local Mac guru (son) suggested that this wasn't a good idea, that I should connect direct. This I did and started the problem.
Checking the timeline side bar tells me that I have had no back-ups since the 20th Dec, which is weird since I use my system every day. I did a right click on my dock icon, selected browse other time machine discs and find that I now have a copy of the original disc name. I selected the one that wasn't highlighted and opened time machine and find a timeline since the 20th Dec. So back ups are written to this disc but the other is regarded as the default for display.
My questions are. How do I get rid of the earlier disc name? If I get rid of it will the data contained be lost or be written over? Or would I be better of Zeroing the drive and starting over ( there is nothing at the moment that I would wish to recover) ?
I'm a little concerned with the number of problems showing up in these threads. A background back up will probably save my skin a few times so I'm keen to get it sorted.
Regards...... Alan.

Welcome to Discussions.
Double-click on the Time Machine icon in the finder. Look in the Backups.backupdb folder Are there two sets of backups for your internal hard drive there? If there is it sounds like that Time Machine may have thought you changed its backup disk when you removed the hub and it started a new set of backups.
If that is the case and you don't mind losing the data in the first backups the easiest solution is to delete the first set of backups by putting them in the trash and emptying. You will probably have to enter your password.

Similar Messages

Time Machine Duplicates and How to Delete a Single Copy of Backed Up File ?

Here is the puzzle pieces , then the questions I'm asking
Example - my iPhoto Library file (its 36 gigs and yes I do create separate libraries)
If you add a single photo - Time Machine rightly sees a changed file and backs it up
Now I have Multiple Back ups of this large file
I want to delete only single back-up of this iPhoto file, NOT all instances of it
Here is the dilemma that I am having
according to a previous post
How to delete a Time Machine-backed up file on an external HD
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8799363&#8799363
you have to
1 - Have a finder window open
2 - launch Time Machine
3 - find the file you want to delete in the finder window
4 - go to the Gear Icon in the finder window
5 - Pull down menu for
6 - drum roll please! 'delete all backups of <filename>
Well I DO NOT WANT TO DELETE ALL BACKUPS!!!!!!
I want to keep some of the back ups of that iPhoto file - not all of them
I want to manage my files individually, and delete those and only those necessary
I can only hope there is a simple and easy solution,
If someone could just point me in that direction I would greatly appreciate it
Cheers , Don

donaldo777 wrote:
I want to manage files individually because:
I am running out of HD space
I want to have some measure of control of my backed up files
You'll find that rather difficult -- TM was specifically designed to manage space and backups automatically, as most users won't, or don't have the patience.
If it's only your photos you want to do this way, you might consider excluding them from TM and using a different app that will do traditional archive backups. CarbonCopyCloner and SuperDuper, for example, are mostly used to make bootable "clones" of your whole system (I use CCC for that in addition to TM). But both of them (and others) can also be used to back up only specific files/folders, and, optionally, retain archive copies of changed items. Just how that works, I can't tell you, but for details see their documentation (Google or VersionTracker).
CCC is donationware, SD has a free version, but I think you'd need the paid one, about $30.
Thanks for your response, and I have a question, when you say be careful of deleting thru the finder
because TM will get cranky - Do you mean TM gets 'confused' where is the location of its back-ups
when TM scans backward in TIme?
No, it's apparently got to do with the way it manages it's actual files vs. hard links (sort of like aliases), and picking one hourly backup to be the daily, then one daily to be a weekly. It seems to require some shuffling around. I don't know the details (not publicly available, I think).
Eventually, I don't care of TM gets cranky as long as I can access my data and still reach my original goal
You will care when it gets so cranky it stops backing-up, or you can't find what you want to restore.
I want to have control of my files, they are huge in size and number and eventually
Even Terabit drives are filling up on me.
Then as mentioned, you may need different strategies, and perhaps different apps, for different types of data. Such complex strategies are actually quite common in medium to large data centers, but again, TM was designed mostly for not-so-savvy home users.

Time Machine disk not mounting

I have an external HD with Time Machine running. My computer is going to the shop later today. All of a sudden, my little external HD didn't want to mount (and it's only 8 months old). I used Disk Utility and got it to mount, but it said it couldn't repair it. It said I should backup what I could and erase the drive. However, since Disk Utility hung while trying to finish, I decided to try it again on another Mac. This time it ran through the repair and said the disk is fine. It finished off with this statement: "Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required."
So here's my dilemma:
I'd rather NOT erase this drive, since it's got my Time Machine backup on it. On the other hand, if it is failing, I'd like to know why and take action before it causes a problem (i.e. warranty and the ability to get back up quickly when my Mac comes back). I do have other backups, but none as handy as this one.
If you have experienced this, I'd like to hear from you. And, if there is already a thread about this, I couldn't find it.
Thanks very much!

I have a 2TB WD Western Digital portable external hard drive partitioned into two drives, one for storage and the other for Time Machine. For some reason my Time Machine drive wasn't mounting. I could not verify, repair, or even eject the HD at all for that matter. The Storage partition was working fine so I know that this is a software issue. I did what Linc Davis recommended and booted up into Recovery Mode and tried to verify and repair using the Disk Utility there with no luck. However I was able to mount the drive using the blue "Mount" button in Disk Utility and then I restarted the computer. Then my Time Machine partition was there and I was able to verify it and it has no problems. I then even performed a back up with no issues.
So this is in fact a software problem. The only thing that has changed for me is that I have just cloned my start up drive and put in a new SSD. Also I had to unplug my MacBook Pro battery to reset the SMC (even the keyboard was not working) due to the bug where your computer turns off and dies because of Lightning strike (plugging in a Lightning cable). Which would also be a software bug. That post is here... My Mac randomly just turned off and now it wont turn back on, the charger light is faintly flashing green and amber?!?!

Airport Express with printer & hard drive with Time Machine

I have a MacBook that I'd like to backup its data. Concerned about the following (in level of concern from highest to lowest): theft, crash, fire.
I currently have an Airport Express with a Brother printer attached to it that my PC and MacBook print to.
I am really in a dilemma as to what to do. I was looking into Carbonite to get an offsite backup location of my data. (I figured offsite would cover all concerns of losing data due to theft, fire, or just a crash) However, Carbonite does not hold onto data you delete (ie, my photos and videos will fill up my hard drive eventually and I'd like to just archive them in one central spot when I am done accessing them on a regular basis-- ie delete them off my MacBook hard drive). That is like $55/year to do Carbonite... but, the only thing that will help me with over a hard drive in my house is a fire (and theft if a burglar were to find where my backup drive was in the house).-- Of course, I'd probably want a different location for my hard drive for that reason -- so, I'd have to buy another airport or just a time machine that has the wifi built in.
I've read lots of issues with the Western Digital trying to download programs onto your computer... I have one for my PC that I backed up photos manually and it did try to install programs when I attached it to my PC... not so much my Mac when I took some photos off it. I looked into getting another portable hard drive at Costco for my Mac, but realized that it would require reformatting to use on my Mac (as it was built for a PC).... something I wasn't sure if I was computer-savvy enough to do or if I did do it, would I end up with issues later on?
Anyhow... in the end, what do you all do to backup your data, especially photos and videos? Do you have smaller hard drives that you back up to and then when full move them to an offsite location? Can you have more than one "hard drive" backing up..... I was thinking it would be nice to have one larger hard drive that would potentially hold all my photos and videos so I can access anytime, but then have smaller drives of the same data that I can take to a safe deposit box and use as my super secure backup (no fire, no theft, no crash).
btw, When doing time machine, does it keep all the metadata with each photo?
Burning CD's is time consuming.... and, I have heard there are different qualities of disks out there... archival v. not... how long do the archival last v. the non-archival... or is that more of an issue for future generations not being able to access our photos?

You need to remember that the Time Capsule is both a wireless router and a hard drive all in one enclosure. If you don't need a wireless router, around $150 of the $300 for a Time Capsule is going to be in the router portion of the device.
The nice thing about the Time Capsule is that it is a network drive. All Macs running Leopard or Snow Leopard will be able to back up automatically to a single device. The first generation of Time Capsules about two years ago had some power supply problems that affected some users. Apple announced a program for these users to replace their Time Capsules.
So, it depends on your requirements. If you are looking for a new, dual band wireless router and want to backup your Macs running Leopard or Snow Leopard automatically using ethernet or wireless, the Time Capsule is a logical choice.
If you don't need a new router, then you'll need to look at a separate hard drive that will be attached directly to the computer using the USB or FireWire port. If you have two Macs, you'll have to get two hard drives if you want to do Time Machine backups correctly.
Most hard drives can be reformatted to work with Mac if you don't mind a few extra steps and Disk Utility (Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility) does not look too complicated for you.
Message was edited by: Bob Timmons

I am out of space on my Macbook Air and have a Time Machine Backup. I want to complete reset my mac, but wonder if I can pick and choose what I restore to my computer? Can I also use my time machine backup and external storage as well?

I am out of space on my Macbook Air and have a Time Machine Backup. I want to complete reset my mac, but wonder if I can pick and choose what I restore to my computer? Can I also use my time machine backup as external storage as well for the files I don't need everyday?

If you are using "Restore from Time Machine Backup" option from OS X Recovery, you can only choose from the broad categories presented.
... Can I also use my time machine backup as external storage as well for the files I don't need everyday?
To be clear, if you are asking if you can use the volume containing your Time Machine backup to store additional, non-Time Machine files, the short answer is yes.
It's not a good idea though, since the Time Machine backup will eventually fill all available space, after which it begins to remove old, "expired" backups to make room for newer ones. The presence of additional files doesn't change that fact, and Time Machine will not erase them, but you will encounter a dilemma should you want to store additional files on that volume when there is no remaining space. You will have to make room for them on your own, by deleting existing files. Furthermore, since Time Machine cannot back up its own volume, those additional files will not be backed up by Time Machine.
The easy solution for what you describe is to purchase additional external storage. External USB hard disk drives have become very inexpensive; about $55 will buy a perfectly suitable 1 TB drive.
You can also choose to replace your MacBook Air's internal storage with a larger capacity one. Look for a suitable replacement from OWC / MacSales:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/Air-Retina
That gets a little more expensive but it is the optimum solution.

Time Machine Backed Up to Host Computer

Dilemma. Settings in Time Machine were such that when it backed up....it backed up to computer rather than external drive.
Now "backup" files are clogging my hard drive but can't find them.
I know this because when I go to "about this mac", it indicates that I have a huge backup on computer. Even visited the Genuis Bar and no help.
Tried to find "backup.backupdb" and no luck. Tried other interations also.
Any ideas?

Read here:
http://pondini.org/TM/30.html

Any Recommendations for External HD to use with Time Machine?

Have been using Time Capsule wireless as my drive for Time Machine back-ups for a couple of years with mixed success. It also serves as a wireless router for internet service between all devices in my household.
Was recently recommended to me to invest in an external firewired hard drive to use for Time Machine so now I'm presented with a dilemma: Which one to choose?
Need 3 Terabytes and I'm looking at the Iomega Mac Companion (3TB) but see that Apple has discontinued selling it from its store and there's an issue with using USB and FW simultaneously.
Looking for feedback from anyone whose used this device and/or recommendations on another 3TB drive to purchase.
Thanks in advance.

From that broad page The hatter suggested, these specific enclosures (with or without a drive pre-installed) are pretty good.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB
The one at the bottom that says 0GB is the same enclosure empty, so that you can pick a separate drive mechanism to install in it. That way you can order the exact drive you want, instead of having them choose from what they have on hand.
Wireheads will choose the 0GB and install the drive they prefer, most "regular" folks just buy it with a drive already installed and it works (after initializing) right out of the box, no assembly required.

Time Machine back up takes ages.

Hi. I still got the problem that my time machine backup take ages to complete.
I installed a widged called time machine buddy, someone told me to do and now that's what it shows me.
Any idea why it looks like it does the backup twice in a row and for what reason it takes about half an hour to copy less then 1GB.
I allready deleted the HD I use for the backup and got it all new but it did not solve the problem.
Cheers.

Very good question, as I've had the same issue for over 2 months since installing a new hard drive. Pondini very kindly, patiently and astutely helped me get a hanging 2 hour back up down to a respectable 15 minutes, but that is still too long (when nothing has changed between back ups, in particular). You articulate the question and pose the dilemma far better than I ever expressed. The seeming "dual backup" seems to be the culprit. Maybe Pondidni can give us some guidance based on your post.
For point of reference, the related past links were:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3626762?start=30&tstart=0
https://discussions.apple.com/message/17830473#17830473
https://discussions.apple.com/message/17541942#17541942

Can't get access in Time Machine to certain folders for any date earlier than current date/time.

Can't get access in Time Machine to certain folders for any date earlier than current date/time, even when entering as Admin. Why do certain folders have small red "-" badge in lower right corner of folder icon? Here's a picture of the dilemma:
I've tried monkeying with priveleges using Command I, and changing users, but to no avail. Can anyone help?

Right. Here's what the permissions look like from the Finder Command I:
I'm not sure what "Custom" means, but when I then try to change it to "Read & Write", it doesn't take.... just comes back as Custom. Interesting to note that not only am I logged into Joan's account where the data folder and file lives) to do this, but when I do it from my own account as Admin (dunc...mpster) I get the same result.

Restoring iCal Events from Time Machine

Hi
I read a few threads that were related to my question, but it was more from moving over files from different versions of the operating software. Here is my dilemma:
Somehow I erased all my iCal events. They were syncing with Entourage. I went into iCal because I had some duplicates and deleted event duplicates, when I did that I somehow deleted all my events. I do have time machine and have a back up of iCal. I restored the program from Time Machine, but the events are not back. I suspect that I need to restore the actual files that must be kept in a database somewhere?
Will someone please tell me how to restore the actual events and where exactly I can find the iCal events data. My plan is that once I restore iCal I will export and import into Entourage.
I really do not want to lose all my events. Thank you in advance for your help!
Brandon

HELP! Please.
I am a new iMac user. For weeks, the system ran perfect. This morning, I tried to synch my iCal with Google Calendar to let others have access to my events. Somehow, after the sync, all events at my iCal suddenly disappeared. Not just that, the list of calendars (private, business, etc.) was gone too. I then tried to synch iCal with all the events stored in my iPhone, but that only lead to my iPhone calendar being completely deleted too. I am totally desparate now. What happened? I then tried to use Time Machine to restore. But in earlier time machine dates, there was no calendar folder which I could use to replace mine. But I could not find a calendar folder there. Thank you for helping. Kind regards from Munich, Germany.

Restoring backup files from Time Machine without system preference/Library files

Hi all. I recently ran into some trouble with my MBP and had the Apple store do a erase/install for me. At the time when I got my laptop back, I was told it would be best if I transferred my files including applications the drag and drop way to avoid restoring library/system files that could've been the cause of the problem in the first place. I'm currently still at the setup assistant stage and I'm really unsure of what to do to be honest because I'm under the impression that my application settings would pretty much be gone if I did the drag and drop method.
I read that setup assistant transfers only files that you want but I also read something from user Pondini that the Library files are automatically restored even if I unchecked everything. Which is problematic since that's what I want to avoid in the first place. If possible can anyone recommend a better option for my dilemma? I've read in one of the forum boards that dragging and dropping files can also cause some problems with how applications will work and I really don't want to have to deal with that after the trouble I'm going through with this. Is there a way to just restore Applications and the user folder (desktop, documents, downloads, etc) without including the library system files and folders through setup assistant?
Or do I really have to deal with dragging and dropping files instead? Would you recommend doing the stars wars method of Time Machine and picking only the files I want? Would that be most advisable?
Also, it would be really helpful if anyone can explain to me what the "other files and folders" mean exactly. Thanks very much!

Well what happened was my laptop ran into 2 kernel panics within 2 days (I posted a question here: https://discussions.apple.com/message/25605663#25605663). Which sent ME into a panic. I couldn't trust myself to go any further so I went to the Apple store who then helped did an erase/install for me because they suspect it could be a software issue (maybe it was missing codes or something) and suggested that it would be best for me to drag/drop restore my stuff manually. I'm not very keen on a full system restore either because I know there are some system files which I'd rather not have sticking around (like com.rims which are super stubborn to get rid of) and which could even have been the source of my trouble right now.
I was reading through every single page of Pondini's articles and I'm couldn't find anything which said I could just restore the apps in my apps folder without transferring anything else (ie. the library folder in the macintosh hd folder) since i'm assuming anything from the library folder of the user would be obsolete if I choose not to restore those files using setup assistant. But I'm more reluctant about not using setup assistant for restoring my apps because I don't know how bad it will turn out. Not to mention I won't know if they would restore system root files that should've been long gone since I uninstalled them.

Why are photos inaccessible In time machine interface

I,recently posted something similar to this dilemma a couple of days ago on this discussion board. I also have had zero responses to this issue,must be that I am the only person that has experienced this problem,or maybe no one understands the words in context that I used in my previous post in regards to this problem with TM and iphoto. Since I posted the other day I have reformatted my external hard drive that I use for TM . I'm still having the same issue that I previously stated in the next paragraph that I had written in similar context a couple of days ago.
When I open iPhoto and then start Time Machine and I get the Time Machine interface with pages of iPhoto interfaces I am not able to access any of the photos on the interface while in TM. If I exit out of TM I am able to access any of the photos. When the iphoto interface is present in the TM interface an and you click on a event or a photo the interface doesn't open the photo it just retracts further into the interface of TM. It is though the interfaces are stuck in the middle of the screen. Has any one experienced this with TM?
I,will wait and hope that someone has maybe an answer to this problem. If not I will be going to talk to a genius at the local Apple Store.

I'm using ilife 09, this was installed sometime at the end of March. I cannot recall having any issues prior to the install of 09. I just recently noticed this dilemma the other day. I don't recall having this problem prior to install of 09 of course I haven't needed to use it until now. I know that I can replace the photos by using finder and going to that particular folder that they are stored in,but the point of TM is that you should be able to use the interface of any application and recover what you need.

HT203177 Time machine calculates for hours. Never goes any further. Help!!!

When I turn Time Machine on it calculates for hours and never goes any further. Then when I turn it off, it goes to "Stopping backup... and does that for hours. Is ther anyway to reset it or start over. The external drive I am using (directly connected to the iMacvia USB) tests OK and Time Machine was backing up to it just fine until mid January. How do I solve this dilemma. Is there any way to solve this problem, or do I just give up on Time Machine and get some third party software that will work? Thanks. JAK

Have you looked through Pondini's extensive TM help site?
http://Pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
Get carbon copy cloner...
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
Or SuperDuper...
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/
Or the most expensive one & my favorite, Tri-Backup...
http://www.tri-edre.com/english/products/tribackup.html

Time Capsule: Storage and Time Machine - Could this work?

Hi everyone,
my Macbook got stolen last Friday and thank God I had an external HD and Time Machine (TC)to keep all my data. Now here's the dilemma.
I bought time capsule (1TG) to use as a back up. I figure I can hide it somewhere in the house and not worried about having it disappeared. My laptop should be here tomorrow, so I want to get it right before do anything.
The present external HD is partitioned in 2: 250 Gb for time machine, and 250Gb for other storage (iMovie projects etc etc.)
Since I cannot partitioned TC, I was wondering if this would work.
When I get my laptop (Macbook - w. 320 Gb HD), I will do my re import for my data (appr.60Gb) from my first HD, then let time machine do its thing with TC. Now here's what I want to do. Take all the "storage" (appr. 200Gb), import it to the Macbook , use time machine to back it up. Then I delete the "storage" from my macbook, so it's not 3/4 full before I even install programs such as Aperture. If this works, that means I would have access to all my storage if I return to day 1 of time machine. Do you think it will work, or is time machine going to dump it after a certain amount of time?
Thanks in advance,
SG

You needn't go to all that trouble if you simple connect your old backup drive to the computer then exclude the TM backup partition from the TC in TM. TM will backup both your computer's drive and the storage partition on your other drive. The storage partition will be backed up separately on the TC from the computer's drive. If you copy that data to your computer's drive then backup entirely to the TC then delete the data from your computer's drive, the backup on your TC will eventually be deleted as well and you'll have no backup of the data on the external drive's storage partition.
A TM backup is not simply a substitute for storage space. Once you delete a file that has been backed up by TM eventually when TM does a weekly or monthly consolidation it will delete the file and all its copies from the backup.

Iomega external hard drive either 'not found' by Time Machine or is now in 'read only' format

I don't know what's going on with my iomega external hard drive. Sometimes the HD is recognised by the computer; other times it isn't; if it isn't I can restore to an earlier back up via Time Machine app; but it's like the disk isn't writable.
Ten days ago, I had trouble backing up my iMac using Time Machine. After turning it off and restarting my external hard drive, it backed up successfully.
However, today I am trying to back up my files, and TM tells me it can't find the external hard drive. Nothing has changed -- I have been out of town this past week -- but somehow my HD now seems to be in 'read only' format. It does turn on, and I could restore my computer to an earlier back up.
"Mac OS X can't repair the disk. You can still open or copy files on the disk, but you can't save changes to files on the disk. Back up the disk and reformat it as soon as you can."
Annoyingly, despite my HD not showing in Finder or on my Desktop (as it usually does), when I simply turn it off I get that warning message "The disk was not ejected properly".
Have tried verifying and repairing using Disk Utility, to no avail.
Am prompted to reformat but I don't have a good understanding of what this means and how to do it. I'm guessing this would wipe the disk clean and I'd have to create the initial back up image all over again -- I'm reluctant to do this since this HD is my only back up and if it all goes tits up I'll be up that famous creek without a paddle.
Thoughts, suggestions, input all welcome and deeply appreciated -- thank you!

fzgy wrote:
"Mac OS X can't repair the disk. You can still open or copy files on the disk, but you can't save changes to files on the disk. Back up the disk and reformat it as soon as you can."
It's possible a heavy-duty 3rd-party disk repair app can fix it, but they're expensive (DiskWarrior is about $100), and there's no guarantee it can do it.
Am prompted to reformat but I don't have a good understanding of what this means and how to do it.
That will erase it. See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #5.
It sounds very much like the disk is beginning to fail, although it's possible there's a bad port, cable, connection or power supply (if it has its own).
I'd suggest getting a new one, and using it for your Time Machine backups; once you have a good backup there, reformat the old one (and select Security Options to write zeros to the whole drive -- if that fails, you know the drive is toast). Use it for secondary backups, per FAQ #27. If it has failed, get a second new one for secondary backups.

Time Machine Dilemma

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