Time machine not configured in menu bar but when accessed all seems ok?

I have an apple time machine just purchased in nov 2011 i set it up for my macbook pro and all was fine, now the icon in the top menu shows that time machine is not configured and time machine button wont turn on in sys preferences but i can access time machine in airport utility and all seems fine, i don't get it nothing has been changed by me yet it says something has and i don't know what?????

Are you talking about Time Machine (Apple's backup software) or your Time Capsule?
The menubar icon is for Time Machine; Airport Utility is where you configure your Time Capsule and network.
If Time Machine is not configured, it's not making backups, but you can still use the Time Capsule, both to use your network and, if you want, to put files on it.
If you're not making backups, you really should. You don't have to use Time Machine, but you should be backing your Mac up with another backup app so when (not if) something awful happens to your Mac, you don't lose all your data.

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Time Machine not configured / won't open / but it runs?

I'd appreciate some assistance troubleshooting a Time Machine issue.
I recently purchased a 2TB Time Capsule and set it up on my home network. I have set Time Machine up using it to back up 2 out of 3 MacBook Pros with no issues.
On the third MacBook, the Time Machine setup appears to work just fine (I have selected the Time Capsule disk, it has done the first full backup and periodic incremental backups). However, I have the following problems:
I cannot open the Time Machine application. Clicking on the App causes absolutely nothing to happen. No error. No windows. Nothing.
The icon in the menu bar is greyed out and gives no indication of backups in progress (no spinning clock like the other macs). Clicking on it reveals the top, greyed out menu choice that says "Time Machine not configured". (I can open time machine preferences and observe status from within that window.)
I have searched this and other sites for solutions. I have done steps A4 and E4 from this site (repeatedly) with no success.

I'd appreciate some assistance troubleshooting a Time Machine issue.
I recently purchased a 2TB Time Capsule and set it up on my home network. I have set Time Machine up using it to back up 2 out of 3 MacBook Pros with no issues.
On the third MacBook, the Time Machine setup appears to work just fine (I have selected the Time Capsule disk, it has done the first full backup and periodic incremental backups). However, I have the following problems:
I cannot open the Time Machine application. Clicking on the App causes absolutely nothing to happen. No error. No windows. Nothing.
The icon in the menu bar is greyed out and gives no indication of backups in progress (no spinning clock like the other macs). Clicking on it reveals the top, greyed out menu choice that says "Time Machine not configured". (I can open time machine preferences and observe status from within that window.)
I have searched this and other sites for solutions. I have done steps A4 and E4 from this site (repeatedly) with no success.

HT201250 "Time Machine Not Configured", but appears to be working?

The Time Machine menu in the toolbar says "Time Machine Not Configured", yet I have it fully configured in Prefs, it is "On", and when I browse the drive it appears to be doing backups. Anything I can do to fix the menu item?

Solved... Erased entire backup disk, reformatted and seems to be working again.

"Time machine not configured" & Can't reset to factory setting.

Once I removed the Time capsule from my List to back up again. But after removing when i connect the time capsule, the amber light keep on flashing and i can't set up the Time capsule. Although i get it in the wifi network. ( I attached the Pic marked Majmadar's Wifi Network ). Now when i click on the icon of time capsule it shows " Time machine not configured ". Even when i open the time machine preferences i don't see My time Capsule in my list. Please help me to
solve my problem. Thanks in advance.

Start over and redo the setup from a manual factory reset.. do NOT use names like you have now.. this is problematic on Yosemite..
Also do a full reset on Time Machine.. See A4 here. http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Factory reset universal
Power off the TC.. ie pull the power cord or power off at the wall.. wait 10sec.. hold in the reset button.. be gentle.. power on again still holding in reset.. and keep holding it in for another 10sec. You may need some help as it is hard to both hold in reset and apply power. It will show success by rapidly blinking the front led. Release the reset.. and wait a couple of min for the TC to reset and come back with factory settings. If the front LED doesn’t blink rapidly you missed it and simply try again. The reset is fairly fragile in these.. press it so you feel it just click and no more.. I have seen people bend the lever or even break it. I use a toothpick as tool.
N.B. None of your files on the hard disk of the TC are deleted.. this simply clears out the router settings of the TC.
Setup the TC again.
ie Start from a factory reset. No files are lost on the hard disk doing this.
Then redo the setup from the computer with Yosemite.
1. Use very short names.. NOT APPLE RECOMMENDED names. No spaces and pure alphanumerics.
eg TCgen5 and TCwifi for basestation and wireless respectively.
Even better if the issue is more wireless use TC24ghz and TC5ghz with fixed channels as this also seems to help stop the nonsense. But this can be tried in the second round.
2. Use all passwords that also comply but can be a bit longer. ie 8-20 characters mixed case and numbers.. no non-alphanumerics.
3. Ensure the TC always takes the same IP address.. you will need to do this on the main router using dhcp reservation.. or a bit more complex setup using static IP in the TC. But this is important.. having IP drift all over the place when Yosemite cannot remember its own name for 5 min after a reboot makes for poor networking. If the TC is main router it will not be an issue.
4. Check your share name on the computer is not changing.. make sure it also complies with the above.. short no spaces and pure alphanumeric.. but this change will mess up your TM backup.. so be prepared to do a new full backup. Sorry.. keep this one for second round if you want to avoid a new backup.
5. Mount the TC disk in the computer manually.
In Finder, Go, Connect to server from the top menu,
Type in SMB://192.168.0.254 (or whatever the TC ip is which you have now made static. As a router by default it is 10.0.1.1 and I encourage people to stick with that unless you know what you are doing).
You can use name.. SMB://TCgen5.local where you replace TCgen5 with your TC name.. local is the default domain of the TC and doesn't change.
However names are not so easy as IP address.. nor as reliable. At least not in Yosemite they aren't. The domain can also be an issue if you are not plugged or wireless directly to the TC.
6. Make sure IPv6 is set to link-local only in the computer. For example wireless open the network preferences, wireless and advanced / TCP/IP.. and fix the IPv6. to link-local only.
There is a lot more jiggery pokery you can try but the above is a good start.. if you find it still unreliable.. don't be surprised.
You might need to do some more work on the laptop itself. eg Reset the PRAM.. has helped some people. Clean install of the OS is also helpful if you upgrade installed.
Tell us how you go.
Someone posted a solution.. See this thread.
Macbook can't find Time Capsule anymore
Start from the bottom and work up.. I have a list of good network practice changes but I have avoided Yosemites bug heaven.
This user has had success and a few others as well.
RáNdÓm GéÉzÁ
Here is where they discuss a true solution.. replace the rotten DNS app in Yosemite with the one from Mavericks.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/01/why-dns-in-os-x-10-10-is-broken-and-what-yo u-can-do-to-fix-it/

Time display not updating on Menu Bar

I have a MacBook Pro 15" Retina laptop running OSX 10.8.3
The time display on the menu bar doesn't update unless I click on it.
Does anyone else have this problem? Are there any solutions? I have not been able to find any discussions about this.

Thanks LexSchellings for your reply and help. I have nominated a time zone and unchecked "set time zone automatically .." as you have suggested. I still need to restart the machine then time will tell if this solves my problem! (Pun intended ... sorry!)
Thank you again for your response!

"Time machine not configured" after yosemite clean install

I'm on a MBP early 2011, 16gb Ram, Seagate 500gb used to back up with Time Machine. I was doing manual backups once a month. Having wifi problems like everyone else and general slowdowns on the machine even before the regular install of Yosemite (on top of Mountain Lion, on top of Snow Leopard) I decided to do a clean install. Start fresh. Followed all the directions. But,little did I know that by changing my user name (not deliberately) on my brand new OS, I don't have access to TM. At least that's what I think is up with this "TM not configured"
How should I proceed?
Can I configure the drive now with my new username and still have access to my files? I wanted to bring over some of them, not all of them. If it's possible to do this, and I do, will I have all kinds of permissions or other problems? Will I lose my old backups if I configure it?
Or should I just start over with another kind of clean install? It's only been a couple of days.If I restored from the backup or whatever options there are, am I actually reinstalling the problems I was trying to eliminate? The upgrade to 16gb ram was part of my initial troubleshooting.
Other options?
Thanks!

My family upgraded to Yosemite on our 3 Macs four days ago: on an iMac, a MacBook Pro, and a MacBook Air, all three Macs from early 2014.
In Mavericks there was never any trouble with the Time Machine. But now on all three Macs, the TM doesn’t function properly.
1) on entering TM, the Restore and the two Arrow buttons for selecting the date are dimmed out 90% of the time; nothing can be done, for example, clicking on the Finder folders or files and so on is impossible.
2) sometimes, however, only the Restore button is dimmed out, or vice versa, only the two Arrow buttons.
3) on two occasions, no buttons were dimmed out, but on the very first click, all the buttons were again dimmed out
4) on the iMac and the Mac Book Pro, thank God, the backups still seem to be working; however, on the MacBook Air, a „preparing backup“ message just keeps on running and running.
The TM is a major feature of OS X that Apple pushes hard in its ads. Hopefully this means we’ll soon have an update. As a normal Mac user, I would find it difficult to apply any more exotic workaround solutions that some Mac experts might offer. My patience and ability to troubleshoot doesn’t go much beyond David Pogue’s latest OS X manual.
Anyway, a last more point: the previous TM was a thing of beauty, and I really enjoyed being sort of shot into space with the stars, like Dante on his way to the Empyrean; but now, on entering the TM in Yosemite, it looks like the Finder has fallen into an ugly pool of mud.
Thanks for any help or feedback you can offer.

Time Machine on Mountain Lion Server Accepts But Doesn't See Backups From Lion

I recently (hopefully) upgraded our Mac Mini Server from Snow Leopard Server to Mountain Lion plus the Server app. A Drobo F is attached via FireWire and has a Time Machine partition on it. I've configured the Server app to offer the Time Machine partition on the Drobo for backups and we've got three machines using it: a relatively new MacBook Air running 10.8.2, an aging MacBook Pro running 10.8.2, and a pretty new MacBook Pro running 10.7.5. All three of the machines are able to backup to the Time Machine volume on the Mini. However…
Only the backups from the two machines running ML show up on the Time Machine Backups tab in the Server app. There is an entry for the Backups from the Lion machine, but the latest backup is reported as "Unknown." If I click on the Time Machine icon in the menu bar on the Lion machine it shows a reasonable (and recent) time for the latest backup. The log entries in Console for com.apple.backupd also look reasonable – and uninteresting. And newly backuped up files are visible in Time Machine.
The on obvious difference that I notice is that the in the .sparsebundle folders for the ML machines there are two files called:
com.apple.TimeMachine.Results.plist, and
com.apple.TimeMachine.SnapshotHistory.plist
Those files are not present in the .sparsebundle folder for the Lion machine (even after a successful backup).
Is this a clue or is it a Lion vs ML difference?
Does anybody have a Lion machine successfully backing up to a ML server and showing up on the Backups tab?
Any advice on this would be appreciated!

Same here - TM clients running 10.6.8 display as "unknown" on the /Backups tab on ML Server (ML 10.8.3).
My one client on a ML machine is correctly displayed (time/date of last TM backup).
As far as I can tell, the TM backups are working properly on the 10.6.8 machines. The problem seems to be a bug in ML Server
Solution: upgrade all 10.6.8 machines to Mountain Lion.
Roadblock: my 1st-gen MacBook Air doesn't support ML.

Time machine not restoring

I just got a new iMac to replace my older 2011 model and the old one used time machine to back up automatically to an external hard drive so I expected I could just set up the new one no problem. When I use migration assistant, I go through the steps to transfer from a time machine backup from a hard disk but when I get to the "select your system" screen where it would normally present me with options to choose from, the loading circle just spins forever with the message "looking for other computers" nothing comes up, it just keeps spinning. I've also tried directly connecting the two macs together and running the import from another mac option but the same thing happened. The drive will mount on the desktop and I can open it in finder and see the backup files in it, but it just won't come up in migration assistant. Any suggestions? Both computers are running 10.8.4

After transferring the data, do as follows.
This simple procedure will clear your Time Machine settings, including exclusions. The backups won't be affected. If you have a long exclusion list that can't be recreated easily, you may prefer a more complicated procedure that preserves the exclusion list. In that case, ask for instructions. Otherwise, do as follows.
Triple-click the line below on this page to select it:
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select
Services ▹ Reveal
from the contextual menu. A Finder window should open with a file selected. Copy the file to the Desktop. Then move it (the original, not the copy) to the Trash. You'll be prompted for your administrator password. Reboot and recreate your settings in the Time Machine preference pane. It will show that you have no backups. Don't worry; that's expected. Run a backup to test. The backup may take much longer than usual. If TM now performs as expected, delete the file you copied to the Desktop.

Time machine not performing housekeeping - previous days' & weeks' multiple backups remaining

As you can see from this image, time machine stopped cleaning backups from previous days and weeks.
A bit of background, this is a networked backup for a MacBook Pro. (Thus, the backups only happen when I'm at home on my home network.) The MBP: OS 10.8.4 2.4 GHz, 8 Gb: 750 Gb drive, currently using 125 Gb - 625 Gb free.
The time machine "drive" is a 350 Gb partition on a 1 Tb drive, 75 Gb free; the other parition has the time machine backup for another MBP, also OS X 10.8.4; this problem does not occur on that time machine partition with that computer. The problem started on 5/12 with previous days multiple entries not being deleted. (The timing does not seem to align with a software update: 10.8.3 on 3/25 and 10.8.4 on 6/6.)
One more thing, backups take much longer (around 25 minutes for just a few Mbs) than they do on the other MBP which uses the other partition. The other MBP has many more files and folders and the .sparsebundle is bigger (252 Gb).
I have read through Pondini's wonderfully thorough website on time machine (pondini.org) and looked through discussions here. All seem to focus on ways in which time machine prunes old backups to make space. In my case, space is not (yet) a problem, but I am concerned that these problems indicate time machine is not working properly and that there may be other problems.

I gave it a try last night. For the record it is item A4 at the pondini.org site. The result:
- the back up was 1.43 Gb (rather large considering that the only activity on the MBP since the previous backup had been to read mail).
- no change to the list of previous back up entries and the mulitple backups from the last few days were not pruned (that is, the problem perists).
- I looked at the backups using the Time Machine interface and only the ones snce removing the .plst are visible. (All of the prior backups are still visible using the finder interface looking at the mounted virtual disk.)

Creative Cloud installs and appears in my menu bar, but will not truly "open".

I'm on OSX 10.9.3 . Creative Cloud downloads, installs, and appears in my menu bar, but will not truly "open". I only see the spinning symbol (the Adobe one, not the Apple beach ball). I never even get a chance to log in and download anything. I've tried on three different Macs with the same result. All three meet the system requirements for CC. Thanks in advance for any assistance!

Sorry, it didn't work for me. I closed the application (it hung the first time I tried and I had to restart the Mac to get rid of the window), and deleted the recommended file. When I tried to re-open the app, I got this:
I never got the opportunity to log in, either before or after the attempted fix.
Thanks,
A

I cannot log onto the App Store, the page appears when I call it from the dock or the Apple menu. I can call the log-in box from the menu bar, but on signing in the spinning icon just keeps spinning,(not the beachball). Any suggestions? Using 10.6.7 and u

I cannot log onto the App Store, the page appears when I call it from the dock or the Apple menu and I can call the log-in box from the menu bar, but on signing in the spinning icon just keeps spinning,(not the beachball). Using 10.6.7 and up-to-date on all software. Any suggestions?

Could be a third party app preventing you from being able to login.
Mac App Store: Sign in sheet does not appear, or does not accept typed text
If it's not a third party issue, follow the instructions here.
Quit the MAS if it's open.
Open a Finder window. Select your Home folder in the Sidebar on the left then open the Library folder then the Caches folder.
Move the com.apple.appstore and the com.apple.storeagent files from the Caches folder to the Trash
From the same Library folder open the Preferences folder.
Move these files Preferences folder to the Trash: com.apple.appstore.plist and com.apple.storeagent.plist
Same Library folder open the Cookies folder. Move the com.apple.appstore.plist file from the Cookies folder to the Trash.
Relaunch the MAS.

Time Machine thinks backup disk is full but its not

I just purchased a new 1 Terabyte hard drive for backup. In the past I backed up both my internal Mac harddrive (250 Gb with 8gb free) and an external iOmega archive drive (DRIVE H 320Gb with 41Gb free) to a 500Gb Lacie drive. I purchased an iOmega 1 Terabyte drive (DRIVE G) because the Lacie drive was full. I went into Time Machine and changed the backup drive to the G one terabyte drive and did a full backup of my internal hard drive. When I did this I did not have the external H archive drive attached so Time Machine didn't back that up. I did it that way because I wanted to first backup the internal drive then do some work and then go backup the external archive drive over night. I plugged the H archive drive in, so it show up in the finder and then told Time Machine to Backup Now. It started the back up but right after doing the initial computations when it actually started backing up I got the standard error message that "the backup disk ran out of space unexpectedly..." I've double checked that the backup disk is set correctly in Time Machine to the 1Tb G drive and when I do a Get Info on the G drive it shows Capacity: 1TB, Available: 713.54 GB.
Is it possible something is wrong with the new drive? Can I test that?

Its funny how sometimes asking a question can prompt your thinking. As soon as I finished posting this I thought "of course Disk Utility". I ran a check disk and got the following error message:
Unused node is not erased (node = 107)
I did a restore which corrected the error. Turned Time Machine back on and its backing up the rest of my data now.

Time machine says my drive is full, but it's not

time machine says my drive is full, but it's not. it is a 298 gig external drive with 51 gigs available. my internal drive on my lap top (the one I am backing up) is a 148 gigs with 44 gigs available. the backup folder on the external drive is
152 gigs.
how can i fix time machine so it can figure out that the external drive isn't full?

Lisa W wrote:
Thank you both for your replies. Something is seriously wrong with a backup program that needs that much extra space! So much for incremental back ups.
It doesn't, necessarily. We still have no information on what's going on with your situation.
It's a back up for a laptop and I would like to connect it to the backup hard drive once a week or so, but from what I read time machine only works one way... for a computer to have it active all the time.
No. It works BEST that way, but isn't required.
That just won't work for me for many reasons. Most importantly, time machine slows up my computer and I have to leave it off to run my applications.
Then something else is wrong. Again, without any details, we can't help you determine what.
There is no setting to have it turn on in the middle of the night or once per week.
Not in TM itself. But there is a free 3rd-party app that will do this, Time Machine Editor: http://timesoftware.free.fr/timemachineeditor/
It would sure be nice if I could back up when I want. Seems like time machine is just one of those ideas that apple didn't think all the way through.
You can. And TM works just fine for most people. There is something unusual in your setup, or the way you're doing things, that's causing your difficulties.
Let's be clear: if you'd like some help with this, please answer my previous questions and download and post the messages from the wIdget.

How can I get my time machine to allow me to recover files again? After upgrading to OS X, the time machine still backs up the files; but, I'm not able to navigate within the time machine or select any folders or files for restore.

How can I get my time machine to allow me to recover files again?
After upgrading MBA to OS X, the time machine still backs up the files; but, I'm not able to navigate within the time machine or select any folders or files for restore.
I've searched and can not find a solution to the problem that's being encountered.

Yeap that all makes sense now.
Do you only have the current backup showing in the TM display?? Won't it fill in the rest?
Over wireless are you waiting for the indexing to finish.. ??
Previous backup may not show for a couple of hours.
Long short of it.. Mavericks version of TM is a pain.
Sometimes it is easier to completely ignore the TM backup and do the restore manually.
I have posted the details here. See if this helps.
Can't access old files on time capsule

Keep getting popup coupons - says that it can be deleted by clicking coupon button on menu bar but I don't see one

Recently started getting a lot of popup coupons - on the coupon it says that you can stop this by clicking on coupon button on menu bar but I do not see a coupon button on any of the menu bars. How do I delete this problem?
Thanks

Your Firefox and plug-ins are outdated and introducing security risks to you which can be a reason for unwanted popups. Outdated software can allow malicious people on the internet to take control of your machine without you knowing. Download a new version of Firefox. Uninstall the old version, then install the new version.
After updating Firefox, to update your plug-ins, go to:
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/plugincheck/
and find the ones to be updated, then update them.
Safe browsing requires vigilance, and this includes making sure you have programs installed on your computer to protect you online, and that they are regularly updated.
Steps to take:
<br /><br />
*Updating everything can be time-consuming, and if you're not sure what to do, use a program like Secunia's [https://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/ Personal Software Inspector (PSI)] to help automate the process of updating all software on your computer.
*Make sure Windows Update is turned on and set to automatic.
*Always run antivirus software -- there are many free programs from vendors like Avast, AVG, TrendMicro, etc.
*Make sure your Windows firewall is on (if you are not using a replacement firewall, if so, keep that one up to date).
*Make sure your browsers are the latest versions.
Once you get everything up-to-date, then install a couple of helpful add-ons to your new Firefox installation:
<br /><br />
*[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/ Adblock Plus] will help block unwanted advertisements.
*[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/noscript/ NoScript] will only turn on scripting (automated web-page actions) for websites that you trust.
After you've updated everything and have your new add-ons installed, you'll be safer on the web and should not be bombarded by adverts.

Time machine not configured in menu bar but when accessed all seems ok?

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