Time Machine icon not present

Just pick up a My Book 500G external hard drive and discovered that time machine icon is not present in the system preference folder. My computer's name is using proper characters under the sharing folder???

In the Finder Preferences set what folder you want new Finder windows to open to:
That should set the Finder icon in the Dock to open to the window you want.
As for the closed side pane, in a Finder window with the side pane showing bring up the View options and click on the Use as Default button:

Similar Messages

  • Time machine icon not rotating during backup

    I'm doing my first Time Machine backup after installing Mavericks yesterday. The Time Machine icon seems frozen - not rotating as before during the backup. A glitch or just something new?

    In the Finder Preferences set what folder you want new Finder windows to open to:
    That should set the Finder icon in the Dock to open to the window you want.
    As for the closed side pane, in a Finder window with the side pane showing bring up the View options and click on the Use as Default button:

  • The time machine Icon does not does not show up in my menu bar

    The time machine icon does not appear in my menu bar. The desk top icon for the external hard drive is green. I've checked preferances and the time machine is turned on and the box is checked that has the icon appear in my menu. I've turned off the time machine and rebooted and then turned it on and rebooted again. Nothing seems to work. I'm running Mavericks and I have an Intel I5 processor.

    the box is checked that has the icon appear in my menu
    Uncheck it and check it again. Any change? If not, see below.
    Please read this whole message before doing anything.
    This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
    Step 1
    The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.
    Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”
    While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your personal files or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.
    Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?
    After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.
    *Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.
    Step 2
    The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
    Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
    Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
    Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
    The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
    Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
    After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of Steps 1 and 2.

  • TIME MACHINE icon is not showing correctly

    Time machine icon is not showing the circle around the clock arms.......it´s only showing the little "sticks" no circle around it.
    Works fine, but it does not seem right

    now it's in jpeg
    No, it's not the animation.....look at the icon: does not have the circle that forms the clock

  • In Yosemite time machine icon does not indicate when saving.

    I am using an iMac (20 Inch), early 2008, 5 GB 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM. Recently I updated from Snow Leopard to Yosemite OS X 10.10.2.
    In Time Machine I can back up to an external drive however the Time Machine icon in the Menu Bar does not spin to indicate that it is backing-up as it did with Snow Leopard. What can I do to restore it to its previous behaviour?

    Joh,
    Since the release of Mavericks, Apple removed the rotation animation.
    There is no user capability to change that behavior.

  • Restore from time machine does not list all my backups.  I know they exist but there dates are not present on the restore list.  Any help appreciated.

    Restore from time machine does not list all my backups.  I know they exist but their dates are not present on the restore list.  Any help appreciated.  If I must use one of these older dates to restore, how do I then get the more current data off time machine?

    Ok, so am i correct in saying that the steps to fix are as follows.
    That's one option, but not what I meant by restoring in the time-travel view. The latter is what you get when you enter Time Machine.
    is the fresh install not going to be able to "see" the time machine backups that I have at the moment.
    It should, but sometimes people report that it fails. I'm not sure why that happens.

  • Time machine icon does not rotate and back up icon on desktop does not show during backup session.

    Time machine icon does not rotate and back up icon on desktop does not show during backup session since I installed Maverick.  Why? How do I fix it?

    That's the new look of it. No way to change it other than file a complaint with Apple. If ENOUGH people do thst they may "fix it".
    http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

  • Why is the Time Machine icon in menu bar not spinning when backing up? It stop working when I changed to Maverick.

    Why is the Time Machine icon in menu bar not spinning when backing up? It stop working when I changed to Maverick.

    my imac came with lion and don't think it ever span with lion and mtn lion and now maverick not sure if it's a setting

  • HT3275 Time machine icon yellow and not backing up

    Had hard drive repaired and wiped clean computer, now time machine icon is the yellow color not backing up and can't find it in system preferences. I am able to open and access files though. How do I get TM to back up on new system?

    The colour of the icon doesn't matter.   The best resource for time machine problems is ...
    http://pondini.org/TM/              
    Pondini FAQ

  • Time Machine icon does not rotate

    Hello,
    The small Time Machine icon in the upper right hand corner of my iMac no longer spins while it's backing up. Is this something I should worry about?
    Tom

    Look at the icon closely and if it's backing up there will be an arrow head at both ends of the circle.
    Otherwise there's only one arrow head. (Bring a magnifying glass to the job to make it easier to see. )

  • Time Machine will not delete.

    Greetings.
    The problem I'm having is that my 300GB backup disk is full. Time Machine says there is not enough room and it will not delete old backups to make room. How can I get it to do its thing?
    Thank you.

    dmac,
    This might help...
    *_“This Backup is Too Large for the Backup Volume”_*
    First, much depends on the size of your Mac’s internal hard disk, the quantity of data it contains, and the size of the hard disk designated for Time Machine backups. It is recommended that any hard disk designated for Time Machine backups be +at least+ twice as large as the hard disk it is backing up from. You see, the more space it has to grow, the greater the history it can preserve.
    *Disk Management*
    Time Machine is designed to use the space it is given as economically as possible. When backups reach the limit of expansion, Time Machine will begin to delete old backups to make way for newer data. The less space you provide for backups the sooner older data will be discarded. [http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/15137.html]
    However, Time Machine will only delete what it considers “expired”. Within the Console Logs this process is referred to as “thinning”. It appears that many of these “expired” backups are deleted when hourly backups are consolidated into daily backups and daily backups are consolidated into weekly backups. This consolidation takes place once hourly backups reach 24 hours old and daily backups reach about 30 days old. Weekly backups will only be deleted, or ‘thinned’, once the backup drive nears full capacity.
    One thing seems for sure, though; If a new incremental backup happens to be larger than what Time Machine currently considers “expired” then you will get the message “This backup is too large for the backup volume.” In other words, Time Machine believes it would have to sacrifice to much to accommodate the latest incremental backup. This is probably why Time Machine always overestimates incremental backups by 2 to 10 times the actual size of the data currently being backed up. Within the Console logs this is referred to as “padding”. This is so that backup files never actually reach the physically limits of the backup disk itself.
    There appears to be a method for getting around this that may work for some. Bear in mind that it will involve deleting older backups that Time Machine does not yet consider “expired”. But it should allow you to complete the current backup attempt while at the same time preserving some of the previous backups. It is fitting, as well, to remind users that backup disks should be +at least+ twice as large as your Macs’ internal hard disk.
    The Time Machine error message tells you how much space the current backup requires.
    Using that measurement, go into the Time Machine Preferences and click “Options…”.
    Now using the Exclusion List, begin adding things like System & Library folders, and anything else that will get the “Total Included…” figure down to the amount that Time Machine reported was necessary. Leave your User folder for last. If it is still not enough, you can begin including folder within your Home folder.
    Once the “Total Included…” is below what Time Machine requires, then perform a backup. During the backup, Time Machine perform certain house-keeping duties that frees up additional space.
    Once the backup is complete, check Time Machine Prefs “Available:” line. You may discover that you now have more room than expected.
    Go back to the Exclusion List and begin removing items until the “Total Included…” is again just under what “Available” states.
    Perform another backup. Again more room may become available. You may have to repeat this procedure several time until a backup includes ALL of your desired files.
    *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 itself by default. But on rare occasions it can forget. When your backup begins, Time Machine mounts the backup on your desktop. (For Time Capsule 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 Prefs “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. Do NOT, however, delete files from a Time Machine backup disk by manually mounting the disk and dragging files to the trash. You can damage or destroy your original backups by this means.
    Additionally, deleting files you no longer wish to keep on your Mac does not immediately remove such files from Time Machine backups. Once data has been removed from your Macs' hard disk it will remain in backups for some time until Time Machine determines that it has "expired". That's one of its’ benefits - it retains data you may have unintentionally deleted. But eventually that data is expunged. If, however, you need to remove backed up files immediately, do this:
    Launch Time Machine from the Dock icon.
    Initially, you are presented with a window labeled “Today (Now)”. This window represents the state of your Mac as it exists now. +DO NOT+ delete or make changes to files while you see “Today (Now)” at the bottom of the screen. Otherwise, you will be deleting files that exist "today" - not yesterday or last week.
    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. If it has been some time since you deleted the file from your Mac, you may need to go farther back in time to see the unwanted file. In that case, use the time scale on the right to choose a date prior to when you actually deleted the file from your Mac.
    Highlight the file and click the Actions menu (Gear icon) from the toolbar.
    Select “Delete all backups of <this file>”.
    *Full Backup After Hardware Change/Replacement*
    If you are running out of disk space sooner than expected it may be that Time Machine is ignoring previous backups and is trying to perform another full backup of your system? This will happen if you have replaced your computer with a new one, or had significant repair work done on your existing Mac. Time Machine will perform a new full backup. This is normal.
    You have several options if Time Machine is unable to perform the new full backup:
    A. Delete the old backups, and let Time Machine begin a fresh.
    B. Attach another external hard disk and begin backups there, while keeping this current hard disk. After you are satisfied with the new backup set, you can later reformat the old hard disk and use it for other storage.
    C. Ctrl-Click the Time Machine Dock icon and select "Browse Other Time Machine disks...". Then select the old backup set. Navigate to files/folders you don't really need backups of and go up to the Action menu ("Gear" icon) and select "Delete all backups of this file." If you delete enough useless stuff, you may be able to free up enough space for the new backup to take place. However, this method is not assured as it may not free up enough "contiguous space" for the new backup to take place.
    *Outgrown Your Backup Disk?*
    On the other hand, your computers drive contents may very well have outgrown the capacity of the Time Machine backup disk. It may be time to purchase a larger capacity hard drive for Time Machine backups. Alternatively, you can begin using the Time Machine Preferences exclusion list to prevent Time Machine from backing up unneeded files/folders.
    Consider as well: Do you really need ALL that data on your primary hard disk? It sounds like you might need to Archive to a different hard disk anything that's is not of immediate importance. You see, Time Machine is not designed for archiving purposes, just as a backup of your local drive(s). In the event of disaster, it can get your system back to its' current state without having to reinstall everything. But if you need LONG TERM storage, then you need another drive that is removed from your normal everyday working environment.
    This KB article discusses this scenario with some suggestions including Archiving the old backups and starting fresh [http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/15137.html]
    Let us know if this clarifies things.
    Cheers!

  • Time machine icon in menu bar doesn't spin anymore in Mavericks

    On three separate machines, new iMac, MacBook Pro, and Air, menu bar Time Machine icon no longer spins when backing up.

    Maybe it has to do with Maverick's memory/power usage techniques. By not having the Time Machine icon spin it save one processing and power. That's my uneducated guess.
    I will say that I am not a fan of it either as it looks like the menu is stuck or has crashed rather than actually doing something. That is why I came here. It comes across as something being wrong.
    It is not a very good icon or representation of what is going on. They could have at least moved the clock hands to another position or something.The small additional arrow is just not enough.
    Cheers, Andrew.

  • "Time Machine could not complete the backup. The backup disk is not availab

    I have a Seagate 750 MB external disk connected to the USB port of my Airport Extreme Base Station. It worked fine with Time Machine under Leopard but it's not working the way it was under OS X 10.6.2. I'm hopeful someone can help me solve the problem.
    Let's say the name of my Airport Extreme Base Station is "Airport." If I remember correctly, under Leopard time machine would start a wireless backup not long after I turned on the Seagate drive. That no longer happens.
    I've erased and re-formatted the Seagate drive with 2 GUID partitions, one for my 24" iMac and one for my 17" MacBook Pro. Both computers are about 3 years old. In order to do the re-partitioning, I had to unplug the Seagate drive from the base station and plug it into one of the iMac's USB ports. If I didn't do this, nothing other than the iMac's drive appears in the left pane of Disk Utility, although the name of my base station, i.e, "Airport" does appear in the Finder and PathFinder (a replacement for Finder that I use).
    In fact, Time Machine works under 10.6.2. as long as the Seagate drive is plugged into the iMac's USB port. As soon as I plug the Seagate drive into the USB port of the base station, Time Machine no longer works. The backup is "delayed." When I click on "Back Up Now" a few seconds go by and I get the following dialog box: "Time Machine could not complete the backup. The backup disk is not available."
    In my Airport Extreme Base Station setup (Airport Utility version 5.4.2), the "Disks" pane sees both partitions on the Seagate drive. File sharing is enabled on the "File sharing" pane and "Secure Shared Disks:" is set to "With a disk password." "Airport Disks Guest Access:" is not allowed, nor is "Share disks over WAN."
    When the Seagate drive is plugged into the base station and I click on "Airport" in the Finder or PathFinder, I'm prompted for the password I mentioned above because the shared disks are secured with a password. Once the password is typed, both partitions on the Seagate drive appear in Finder and PathFinder. When I try a Time Machine backup at this point, I get the same error I described above, i.e., "Time Machine could not complete the backup. The backup disk is not available."
    One last thing, I did an "Archive and Install" when I upgraded to Snow Leopard since I thought the changes were relatively minor as compared with past OS X upgrades. Normally, I do a clean install but didn't feel like it this time. I also tried deleting the file /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist to no avail and restarted my iMac to no avail.
    At this point I'm completely stumped. As I said, Time Machine works as long as the Seagate drive is plugged directly into one of the iMac's USB ports as opposed to the base station's USB port. But doesn't this defeat the purpose of having wireless backup? Once again, the wireless backup worked fine under 10.5.8.
    I hope my message is clear and a solution would be most welcome.
    Thank you,
    Richard

    I'm having the same problem. If my TimeMachine drive is not connected, I'll get the "Time machine could not complete the backup" "The backup disk is not available" warning a couple times a day. This is extremely problematic if I'm giving a presentation. I have tried changing my TimeMachine drive, removing that drive, repairing permissions, and have not been able to solve the problem.
    Please help!

  • Time machine icon in Menu bar no longer rotates during backups

    Ever since upgrading to Mavericks, the Time Machine icon in my menu bar does not turn while it's doing a backup.  I have to click on it to see whether it's doing a backup.  This started with Mavericks, and was not fixed in 10.9.1.   Will it be addressed in 10.9.2?

    That's just the way it is now.
    Apple - Mac OS X - Feedback

  • My time machine is not working and the disk utilities cant repair it and is asking me to format the drive again. How can I backup the files before formatting the drive so that I don't lose my files?

    Hi
    My time machine hard drive has stopped working after the latest update and the Disk Utilities says,:
    Error: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files."
    How can I back up my files before reformatting when I can't even open the drive's folder?
    Thanks for the help.

    I think my time machine is not working correctly and I dont know how to get it back... I really need to get back my photos!!!!!
    Exactly this was the way I USED to make restores of files and photos..
    but know I CANT!!!!
    When I am inside iPhoto y click on the Time Machine icon at the Dock and it goes to this...
    at my right side there are the backups but when i click them nothing happens they are like NOT CLICKABLE...
    PLEASEE!!! Help me!!

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