Time Machine users help!!

I'm planing on buying a portible hardrive to back up all my data on my macbookpro i dont actually plan to use the harddrive as extra storage as i have enough on my laptop itself, Just wanting to back up.
HERES MY QUESTION
If I have 250gb hardrive on my laptop, would it be ok to get a 250gb harddrive. will it be enough OR is it best advised to have a bigger portible hardrive compared to your laptop hardrive maybe because Time machine stores extra data for its daily back ups??
who knows???
I dont???
macbookproguy

I dont think i'll ever use up all my internal hardrive i still have 120GB left and i suppose i'll get time machine to back up everything!!!
I just dont know how TM works, dose it take alot of space on my portible hardrive its self with all its backups..
Sorry i'm abit dence with this..
I blame windows!! lol

Similar Messages

Concerns ALL Time Machine Users. HOW TO MOVE Time Machine backups. Help !

Concerns ALL Time Machine Users :
MOVE (or COPY) Time Machine backups from a "x"To Disk to an "y"To greater disk.
Hello and thank you all for reading me,
First, excuse me if I make language errors (I'm French).
Secundo, I don't know if you'll find something interesting for you
in what I write about Time Machine and my own problems,
but there's a possibility also that YOU could perhaps help me.
I'm talking about Time Machine and his **** Backups.backupdb folder,
containing "*Name of your Mac*" folder,
this folder containing Time Machine backups, format : YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS
Time Machine doesn't recognize the backups it made *IF YOU MOVE THEM*.
I have perhaps a solution in this message.
You'll see below what kind of problem I (and you could) have.
Since 12/01/10, an Apple Adviser Level Two (and me)
are trying to understand how to move backups from TM1To Disk to, let's say, a bigger one.
My case is TM1,5To.
*Purpose :* Move 19 backups from Time Machine X disk to Time Machine Y disk.
Delete TMX disk Time Machine backups after that.
Make TMY disk the current used Time Machine Disk.
I don't remember exactly what we did before
(we even created a "root" account with password (dangerous to do),
but it didn't solve the problem),
but we finally copied :
TM1To > Backups.backupdb > *MacBook Pro* folder (containing 19 backups) into :
TM1,5To > Backups.backupdb folder.
The Copy application announced *16 hours !* (without antivirus, to remove absolutely).
So I said goodbye and thank you to my Apple Adviser. After *8 hours*, Copy failed.
BUT it had succeeded to copy *4 backups ONLY* (why ?) in TM1,5To.
I immediately verified and checked each of these with Get Info.
They had EXACTLY the same size (Byte to Byte) as in TM1To.
➔ BUT HERE IS MY OBSERVATION :
After designing TM1,5To as Time Machine Disk, I ordered it to Backup (now).
And what did Time Machine do in TM1,5To > Backups.backupdb ?
It created a *NEW folder*, named *MacBook Pro 2* !
➔ *I HAVE NO ACCESS* to TM1,5To > Backups.backupdb > *MacBook Pro* (4 backups copied from TM1To, remember) ;
➔ while I still *HAVE ACCESS* to TM1To > Backups.backupdb > *MacBook Pro* (19 backups) ;
➔ *AND I HAVE ACCESS* to TM1,5To > Backups.backupdb > *MacBook Pro 2*,
where Time Machine makes actually his backups.
*NOTE :* If you *change the name* of your computer,
Time Machine *changes automatically the name* of the folder who is in Backups.backupdb folder.
➔ ① I have *never seen* such protections (Sharing and Permissions).
You are not allowed to do anything. I've tried to change permissions,
first : "R+W", after that : "Make (Me) the owner", I can tell you : DON'T DO IT !
➔ ② It's impossible to install an OS on a Time Machine disk
(I thought it would allow better permissions).
OS Installer detects the existence of a Backups.backupdb folder
and refuses to install on this disk or partition.
I have now the bad intent to install minimal OS X
1) after deleting (how ?) this folder (but not its contents, how to move it ?)
and 2) declare *after that* the disk as Time Machine disk.
➔ ③ Time Machine doesn't backup OTHER Time Machine backups
(who are in an ancient-not-choosed-for-backups Time Machine disk) NOR backups this disk
(detects, once again, the existence of a Backups.backupdb folder).
AND you can't *absolutely not remove backups from the folder the're in*
(for me, *MacBook Pro* or *MacBook Pro 2*).
➔ ④ I didn't have time to do it, but I think there would perhaps be a solution
in restoring backups in partitions specially created to receive them (having the same name,
that sort of thing) and then re-backup these partitions (vicious and complicated).
There is a function on Mac OS X Install DVD : start with it, and then (do not install)
choose "*restore from Time Machine backup*" from the menu bar (it's called "Utilities", I believe).
➔ ⑤ I *absolutely don't understand* what follows :
— If I add (in my TM1To disk) the bytes of the 19 backups
in Backups.backupdb > *MacBook Pro* folder, I obtain about *1,8 To*.
— It's impossible (and not french).
— When I check the size used with Disk Utility (NOT with Get Info),
I find a correct (?) size : *about 750 Go*.
— What are Time Machine backups made of ?
It can't be aliases (because of their size, and because *aliases suppose originals,
and where could they be ?*), or am I wrong and becoming crazy ?
➔ ⑥ If you refer to the numbers shown at the end of this text (*4 backups*),
you'll see I could *delete duplicate elements* inside these 4 backups,
to win space (but *what kind* of space *if I delete aliases* ?).
Back-In-Time (see below) says he does it.
BUT is it really the OLDEST items I have to destroy (see ⑤),
when I don't know with what kind of ARTEFACT I'm acting ?
What does Time Machine delete to create more backup space ?
Is it REALLY the OLDEST backups it treats, or duplicates, OR ?
*What you can do :*
Find and go to Tri-Edre.fr or Tri-Edre.com/fr site (it's a french company
that creates small Mac applications since fifteen years at least,
I think I already bought them several programs in 1990) ;
Their program *Back-In-Time 1.4.4* is free (Trial) and complete to download (with PDF docs too).
It is *ENTIRELY DEDICATED* to Time Machine and *things you can't do* with.
Price is about 30 €, I think it's worth.
The TRIAL version you will obtain can only work on the LAST Time Machine backup,
but you will see what's featured *AND :*
You will ACCESS to ANY Time Machine backup you want
(It has to be the last of a serie of backups, but the serie you want.
I've bought the application and own an activation key, but you understand I can't give it to you
(it would not be ethic) and anyway you would be obliged to disconnect AirPort, Ethernet etc.
•➔ I have bought the application because I thought (it's said in PDF FAQs) I could IN THE END move Time Machine backup files, but it cannot, (I'm afraid).
*BUT ANY ACCESS PROBLEM IS SOLVED.*
•➔ Back-In-Time 1.4.4 can *delete :* duplicate backups, complete backups,
or duplicate items inside one or several Time Machine backups,
things that I believe impossible with Time Machine itself
(I've seen it offers to delete ALL occurences of an item) ;
•➔ The application can also restore anything you want, where you want
(but I think Time Machine does it too ?)
•➔ Believe it or not, but since I've bought it on 15/01,
I've only worked about 2 hours (no, much more) on it
and didn't make sufficient progresses (enhancements ?)
to talk of it with sufficient experience (I'm a bad guy, don't you think ?)
•➔ Tri-Edre offers on-line support, e-mail support (and so on),
and I EVEN didn't manage to join them, because I did many other things,
and also somewhat have been disgusted *not to be able to move* or copy
*(accessible by Time Machine after that)* backups,
and I also didn't succeed (*another Time Machine inconvenient*) to DESTROY an ".inProgress"
Time Machine (package) which doesn't work anymore (several interruptions while active),
date (and name) 2010-01-27-164345.inProgress, but is used (*with failure results*)
by Time Machine (it's turned off till I find how to destroy its **** ".inProgress" package.
•➔ I've asked my Apple Adviser Level 2 to wait for news from me
before working himself on the problem, and I think I will send him this message
to prove I haven't forgotten him.
•➔ I'll send it to Tri-Edre too, in the same move.
I hope those remarks to be useful for somebody, tell me if it has helped.
I will also publish this in any Time Machine topics I find here, and in MacRumors site too.
As you can see, I need help too … Does anybody have an idea ?
Perhaps if I used a specific Copy software, it could work ?
You'll see below an example of some time I've spent to study my problem
(you will think I'm crazy).
With my kind regards, and good luck if you have other Time Machine problems !
Olivier Herrbach
<Edited by Host>
Le but du jeu est de transférer toutes les sauvegardes Time Machine
d'un volume/partition que nous appelerons "1 To"
sur un volume/partition que nous appelerons "1,5 To".
*Je rappelle que les 4 sauvegardes effectuées par Time Machine sur le 1 To
n'ont pas été reconnues comme siennes par Time Machine sur le 1,5 To,
bien que strictement identiques en taille après leur copie.
J'ai remarqué dans Back-In-Time des fichiers invisibles (tels que "TimeMachine.log"
ou quelque chose de genre), et je soupçonne fort qu'ils n'ont pas été copiés et que Time Machine,
ne les trouvant pas dans le 1,5 To, a ignoré à cause de leur absence les 4 sauvegardes décrites ici.*
*Sauvegardes effectuées par Time Machine sur 1 To :*
Path : MacBook Pro > Volumes > 1 To > Backups.backupdb > MacBook Pro
MacBook Pro contient 19 items (dont un alias appelé "Latest") :
1°) 2010-01-02-045758 Size : 913.207 B for 41.888 items comprenant :
• Hitachi 1 To Size : 907.664 B for 41.887 items 7 folders
Différence avec 1°) = - 5.543 B - 1 item (1 folder)
2°) 2010-01-03-001957 Size : 982.211.325 B for 67.490 items comprenant :
• Hitachi 1 To Size : 901.516 B for 41.886 items 6 folders
Différence avec 1°) = - 6.148 B - 1 item - 1 folder
• Samsung 500 Go Size : 981.302.510 B for 25.602 items 4 folders
Total • + • = Size : 982.204.026 B for 67.488 items
Différence avec 2°) = -7.209 B - 2 items (2 folders)
— *Supprimer • Hitachi 1 To* dans 2010-01-03-001957. Comparer les dossiers.
3°) 2010-01-04-222709 Size : 5.241.032.819 B for 26.509 items comprenant :
• Samsung 500 Go Size : 5.187.330.874 B for 19.392 items 8 folders
Différence avec 2°) = + 4.206.028.364 B - 6.210 items + 4 folders
• StartUp Disk Size : 53.692.703 B for 7.115 items 4 folders
Total • + • = Size : 5.241.023.577 B for 26.507 items
Différence avec 3°) = - 9.242 B - 2 items (2 folders)
— *Supprimer Samsung 500 Go* dans 2010-01-03-001957. Comparer les dossiers.
4°) 2010-01-05-125449 Size : 9.428.705.396 B for 204.915 items comprenant :
• HD 250 Go Size : 9.374.308.265 B for 181.575 items 7 folders
• Samsung 500 Go Size : 692.898 B for 16.222 items 8 folders
Différence avec 3°) = - 5.186.637.976 B - 3.170 items
• StartUp Disk Size : 53.692.703 B for 7.115 items 4 folders
Total • + • + • = Size : 9.428.693.866 B 204.912 items
Différence avec 4°) = - 11.530 B - 3 items (3 folders)
— Supprimer • StartUp Disk dans 2010-01-04-222709. IDENTIQUE.

Dear James Pond,
Thank you once again, and, don't be afraid, I will be as short as possible,
but I need to use your last reply (I've cut all what was already said).
JP ➔ You can copy an entire set of backups, but you cannot copy part of it successfully. See #18 etc.
JP ➔ Read this from the first paragraph: "you cannot copy only selected backups,
or merge two (or more) sets of backups." The structure of the backups simply will not allow it.
I've read it, and found it regrettable. And I've also read, after that, what were the solutions under Leopard and Snow Leopard, and my conclusion is that it's a *dead end* for me. In short,
— I can't move (by drag and drop) the 1To's Backups.backupdb folder (containing MacBook Pro, 19 backups, access) to 1,5To, because there exists already the Backups.backupdb folder created by copy on 12/01 with Apple Assistance (containing [MacBook Pro, 4 backups of 19, no access] and [MacBook Pro 2, 15 backups, access]). I don't even know if it could be deleted by the copy (and I don't wanna do that anyway) ;
— I can't rename (and what for, I already forgot it) any Backups.backupdb folder nor delete it ;
— I can't copy any Computer'sName folder (entire set containing backups), being in a Backups.backup.db folder, into another Backups.backupdb folder ;
— I can't copy any (or all of an entire set) YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS backup(s), being in a Computer'sName folder, into another Computer'sName folder (even if it would be empty).
— Saying NONE in Time Machine Preferences and putting it to OFF is simply no use.
All is said. What I can try to do is :
— Delete (not with Finder, but with Back-In-Time) all duplicate things I find in all backups and also entire duplicate backups (I have full access to all with the software) ;
— Restore each of the reduced-to-minimum backups obtained in specially right-sized partitions wearing the YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS name of each restored backup. Time Machine doesn't backup his backups, but will backup these partitions.
I'm afraid to be actually completely running out of the target, when I read what I write … It's time to go to bed !
Reminder (OH) : Where did you find these amazing informations ?
JP➔ Some of it is detailed here: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/10/12/roadto_maco[]sx_leopard_timemachine.html
➤ Thank you ;
JP➔ and here:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2007/10/mac-os-x-10-5.ars/14
➤ Thank you too ;
JP➔ You have to understand the structure. When TM does the first backup, yes, it copies everything.
On subsequent backups, it copies what's new or changed, but also makes "hard links" (sort of like aliases) to the copies of the things that didn't change. That's how it can only back up a few things each time, but show you a complete "snapshot" of the way your entire system looked at the time of every backup.
➤ I'll do my best to understand.
JP➔ Time Machine deletes backups under two conditions. See the first part of #12 in the Frequently Asked Questions User Tip, also at the top of this forum.
Under normal circumstances, you should not have to delete any backups. See the rest of #12.
➤ I understood why Time Machine didn't delete oldest backups : they were not weeklies ones.
Reminder (OH) : How can I destroy the (corrupted ?) not working "2010-01-27-164345.inProgress" in 1,5 To, which causes Time Machine to abort any backup of any size I ask ?
JP➔ Why do you think it's corrupted? TM is designed to "recover" a partial backup.
➤ I'll verify that with the little Tools/Apps I discovered in your FAQ User Tip document and downloaded immediately.
Why didn't Apple tell me anything ? It's my fault, I'm perhaps not clear and not demanding enough more from them.
JP➔ You cannot install OSX on a disk containing TM backups. That's because they need to be on separate disks.
Technically, you could put them on separate partitions of the same disk, but that would not be a good idea.
➤ I never told you that (there would be no interest at all). I talked about the same location, to see if it would allow me more permissions, but if all works without doing it, it's really no use.
JP➔ Sorry, I don't know what that means.
➤ I'm sorry, I didn't explain : "but if all works" meant : Copy Backups.backupdb, "without doing it" meant : Install OSX.
➤ If I install an OSX BEFORE, Time Machine will REFUSE completely to backup on it, it's understood.
JP➔ Correct. The partition you're running from will not be an option in TM Preferences > Select Disk. That prevents TM from backing-up it's own backups!
➤ Would it be so absurd ? Maybe it could resolve my actual problem ?
I think you are right, but I don't know why. I trust you.
Reminder (OH) : "I will not bore you again except if I don't find a specific answer to an unknown-never-seen-incredible malfuction."
JP➔ Don't worry about that -- thats what this forum is for, especially if you're still having problems.
➤ It's seems in fact that there is no possible solution, except what I said above and is certainly crazy/out of subject.
Just try to be as clear and concise as you can.
And please don't post the same things repeatedly -- it wastes your time and ours, and can confuse other folks.
➤ You're absolutely right and I tried to do so this time, and I'm sorry because I see it's still (far) not enough (short).
Thank you once more. I wish you a good evening and week-end. Here it's 01:40 AM.
With my kind regards
Olivier Herrbach
[email protected]

Time machine restore help

I've recently been having issues with my early 2008 black Macbook. I ran the apple HW diagnostics and determined it is a bad hard drive. I went out and bought a new 500GB SATA HD, and attempted to restore my system using a Time Machine backup. I booted into the Leopard Disc that came with my computer, formatted the drive, and ran the Time machine restore. Everything appeared to go fine (took about 2 hours, no error messages). However, after the machine rebooted and attempted to boot into OSX an error similar to this popped up. http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/7792/pict0017lo8.jpg
Any thoughts as to why this is happening? I don't really want to start over with a clean install, that's why I have Time Machine!
Other information:
My computer originally had Leopard, and was upgraded to Snow Leopard.
I have boot camp setup on my mac for Win 7. (I know this isn't backed up or restored as part of a time machine backup, which I'm O.K. with.)
Thanks in advance for all your help.

Any number of possibilities. First, did you prep the drive properly:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (for Intel Macs) or APM (for PPC Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Any brand new drive should be setup per the above because they usually are configured for use on PCs rather than Macs.
Second, depends on how you went about the process of restoring your system. Select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "time machine." Look for an article specifically about performing a full system restore. Also, see User Tips for Time Machine for help with TM problems. Also you can select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "time machine" to locate articles on how to use TM. See also Mac 101- Time Machine.
What you saw was a kernel panic screen. Panics at startup may be indicative of a hardware problem. You might give this a try:
How to run hardware diagnostics for an Intel Mac
Boot from your original OS X Installer Disc One that came with your computer. After the chime press and hold down the "D" key until the diagnostic screen appears. Run the extended tests for a minimum of two or three hours. If any error messages appear note them down as you will need to report them to the service tech when you take the computer in for repair.
Some "common" error indicators:
SNS - sensor error
MEM - memory error
HDD - hard disk drive error
MOT - fan error
To assure the problem isn't with your backup you might consider installing OS X by itself. If all is OK, then you can complete the TM restore using Migration Assistant.

HT1338 lost word document. time machine no help. suggestions?

lost word document. time machine no help. suggestions?

Need more info. How do you think you lost a Word Document?
Try Easy Find, Search program, and search for *.doc*. That will turn up all Word Docs with both the .DOC and .DOCX extension on your complete hard drive.
If it is truly lost, Deleted, then you are basically SOL. Unless you do have a recent TM backup that has that file included.
As for recovering it from TM do a search for Pondini TM FAQs.

Time Machine recovery Help!

Hi forum.
I have Time Machine setup on a MacBook Pro backing up to a Time Capsule.
Now the user has lost his iphotos and we want to get them back from the backup.
When I "enter" timemachine, I cannot navigate, it seems the interface is locked on "today". The Arrows dont work and the timeline on the right shows no other date than today.
Yet on the timecapsule, there is a sparseimage 500gb with 245GB free. Mounting the sparseimage there is a folder for the computer and a ONE SINGLE file in there called DDMMYY.inprogress . That file is 136MB big and was last modified on the 27th of November (looks good my data must be in there).
Problem: I cannot access this file. How can I access it?
If I try to copy the file to another drive it says "cannot copy the file Error -1426"
Help!
Is there anyway to view the contents of this file directly?
Thanks for any tips
the wumpus
PS - sofar, Im not impressed with Time Machine. I set it all up to backup, it backs up fine for months, and when you need it it fails you. Sofar 0/10 (given Im doing things corectly...)

You mean going into the pictures folder and entering time machine?
As I said, I tried that and I cannot navigate inside timemachine at all (the arrows dont work) nor do I see any dates.
Or did you mean something else?
Thanks

IPhoto library corrupted by Time Machine? Help!

Hi,
I need some advice. It appears that I have lost thousands of photos. I know that's not true cos I have a Time Machine backup, but I want to run my situation past you before trying to recover my library. You see, I had a Time Machine backup error. Actually, scratch that, I had a problem with iPhoto not showing some particular photos. They showed up as just a dotted outline, yet when I chose 'show original file' or clicked to edit the photo, it appeared. So, the photos were there, but the thumbnails had a problem.
After some time spent searching for a fix, I started iPhoto with the command and option keys pressed and chose all options to rebuild iPhoto. This looked like it was gonna take some time (I have over 4500 photos) so I left it alone and went to bed. In the morning, iPhoto appeared to be fixed but Time Machine had reported an error while backing up. I clicked ok, did a new backup by clicking 'backup now' which worked fine and carried on as usual.
I've used iPhoto some more today and then, this evening, another TM backup failed. I tried again, and it failed again. I searched the internet to figure out why and discovered how to view the log file. This reported this: Jun 19 21:22:59 lee-webbs-intel-imac /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[10907]: Error: (-8062) SrcErr:NO Copying /Users/leewebb/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Library6.iPhoto to /Volumes/Time Machine Backup/Backups.backupdb/Lee Webb’s intel iMac/2010-06-19-210546.inProgress/5A645817-7095-47FC-A658-A447B5A5814C/mac hd/Users/leewebb/Pictures/iPhoto Library
Jun 19 21:23:46 lee-webbs-intel-imac /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[10907]: Copied 1656 files (294.5 MB) from volume mac hd.
Jun 19 21:23:46 lee-webbs-intel-imac /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[10907]: Copy stage failed with error:11
Jun 19 21:24:17 lee-webbs-intel-imac /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[10907]: Backup failed with error: 11
So, something seems to be wrong with the iPhoto library. I reckon that the rebuild process was somehow interrupted/corrupted by a TM backup. Following some instructions I found in C3 here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2057525 I ran a verify on my TM backup drive. This returned with OK. I then excluded my iPhoto library from my backup and ran the backup again. It worked fine, which would confirm that the iPhoto library is indeed the problem. Good. Ok. So, that's where I am now. Except it isn't. When I now start up iPhoto, my library has shrunk down to 748 photos! Eeek! What's happened, and what can I do about it? In iPhoto, those 748 photos add up to 1.4gb yet the iPhoto library file is still 12.87gb.
Please can you help me.
I just want to make sure I do the right thing instead of panicking. I've switched off my TM backup for now.
Many thanks,
Lee

Does your library work as it should? Try a minimal backup: launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys depressed to rebuild the library. Select the last three options.
Click to view full size
Another option would be to rebuild the library with iPhoto Library Manager as follows:
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
1 -Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
2 -Click on the Add Library button, navigate to your User/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
3 - Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the File->Rebuild Library menu option
4 - In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
5 - Click on the Create button.
Note: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments but not books, calendars or slideshows. The original library will be untouched for further attempts at fixing or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.
Then keep the old library excluded from the Time Machine backup and run TM to see if the new library will backup normally.
OT
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier versions) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. There are versions that are compatible with iPhoto 5, 6, 7 and 8 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. Just put the application in the Dock and click on it whenever you want to backup the dB file. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.
NOTE: The new rebuild option in iPhoto 09 (v. 8.0.2), Rebuild the iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup" makes this tip obsolete.

First time uses of time machine. Help appreciated.

Hey Guys.
I have an iMac desktop and will be purchasing a Macbook Pro soon. I have never used time machine before and want to make a back up of my iMac to then install on the Macbook. Excuse my ignorance, but what is the best way to do this? Any advice would be great!
Thanks very much, Josh.

josh19_83 wrote:
Hey Guys.
I have an iMac desktop and will be purchasing a Macbook Pro soon. I have never used time machine before and want to make a back up of my iMac to then install on the Macbook. Excuse my ignorance, but what is the best way to do this? Any advice would be great!
You should be making regular backups, with Time Machine or another app, so when (not if) something awful happens to your Mac, you won't lose everything. 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).
When your shiny new Mac arrives, you easily can set it up just like the old one, via +Setup Assistant,+ either directly from the old Mac, or it's backups. See #19 in the FAQ.

Time Machine Weirdness - HELP!

Using a mid 2010 MacBook Pro with 10.9.4 installed, all updates present. Attached a WD 750GB My Passport to the Macbook Pro, reformatted the passport to MAC OSX Extended Journaled. Check both MacBook Pro and Passport with Techtool Pro 7 latest version plus Disk Warrier 4.4... Everything seems to check out on both notebook and External HD.
Opened Time Machine in preferences, chose the WD / HD and began an initial back up on Sunday morning. It's now 12 noon on Monday and I only have 117 GB backed up so far...
This is when it gets weird. I've turned off the screensaver, put everything to the max in terms of power, clicked the "put the hard disk to sleep" to off etc.etc. and just dimmed the screen thinking the hard disk would stay awake.
However, every few minutes Time Machine hangs and stops backing up files... If I walk over and click the arrow on the system preferences box, which is open to the Time Machine box showing progress, then magically, it will start backing up again. I click the box itself not any buttons. Few minutes later, I go back, it's hung, I click on the box, it starts again. This is just not the way it was intended to work... BTW, Don't think it's the My Passport... I use my passports on my iMac (2 of them backing up in tandem) my other brand new MacBook Pro retina and my daughter's macbook.
My worst nightmare is to have this initial back up go on till Wednesday and then it gives me an error message,
Anyone seen this before, anyone got any ideas? I'm stumped!

These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.
Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select
SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages
from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar at the top of the screen.
In the top right corner of the Console window, there's a search box labeled Filter. Initially the words "String Matching" are shown in that box. Enter the word "Starting" (without the quotes.) You should now see log messages with the words "Starting * backup," where * represents any of the words "automatic," "manual," or "standard."
Each message in the log begins with the date and time when it was entered. Note the timestamp of the last "Starting" message that corresponds to the beginning of an an abnormal backup. Now
CLEAR THE WORD "Starting" FROM THE TEXT FIELD
so that all messages are showing, and scroll back in the log to the time you noted. Select the messages timestamped from then until the end of the backup, or the end of the log if that's not clear. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.
☞ If all you see are messages that contain the word "Starting," you didn't clear the text field.
☞ The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.
☞ Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

Time Machine Error - Help!

Hello everyone. I am having a problem with backing up my time machine in Lion and get the following error message: "The backup was not performed because an error occurred while copying files to the backup disk. The problem may be temporary. Try again later to back up. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk."
Here is the context and history. I recently installed Mavericks on my Mac Mini (late 2009), which was causing all sorts of problems and constant computer crashes. About a week later I used TM to restore to the previous OS version and backup (Lion) before the problems began, and the computer is now working normally as before, except for TM. Initially I thought it was a problem with the drive, so I tried a TM back-up on my second back-up disk but got the same above error message. Thinking it had something to do still with the disk or older back-ups there saved, I erased one of the disks (using disk utility), performed disk repair, tried another TM back-up but continue to get the same error message. Any suggestions of next steps to try? I am not great with code or computer speak, so would greatly appreciate easy instructions if possible.
One last thing to note, this problem only began after doing the TM restore mentioned above. TM was still working normally even with Mavericks, so intuitively I am guessing something went wrnong during the restore, but everything seems to be working fine except with TM. I have done disk repairs also on the Mac HD and no errors were found. Please help!
Cheers!

This is happening to me too.
It seems that the HD randomly becomes unavailable.

Time Machine / Email help?

Good morning,
I am hoping somebody is able to help as I am totally baffled by an issue I am having.
I purchased a new Macbook Pro today so decided before I formatted my old one, I would make a time machine image so I could transfer the data straight across to my new machine. I thought this would be simple but I have stumbled across an issue.
I plugged my external HDD into my new Macbook and opened time machine to transfer my files. It advised me it was not set up on the new machine, so I went ahead and set it up, this made a new image of my new Macbook onto my external device.
When I open time machine it will only open it for this mac and there is no way to choose the time machine backup from my old mac which is extremely frustrating.
Now, I know you can access files without using time machine by openening the HDD and browsing the files, or browse other time machine disks. I used this method to download all my files with no issues at all but what I really need is my mail folder from my old Macbook.
I located the library folder but within there is no 'mail' folder. I used terminal to unhide files but this seemed to have no effect on the external HDD.
If I plug the external HDD back in to the old mac it again tells me no time machine is set up on this product and wants to make a third image.
Please help as these emails are vital!
Regards
Nicola Rutherford

Today this happened again: lost all the emails on MobileMe account. This time I am sure there was no interference with checking mail from the office or any other computer other than iPod Touch.
Switched on email. Opening an email it got stuck and after a minute everything in the mobilme inbox disappeared.
I use the iPod Touch to check email so now and then. Up until now no surprises.
Start to feel very uncomfortable that this can happen at random. Fortunately I back up on GTech external harddrive, but nevertheless. Any clue?
(I have posted this message wrongfully under Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger, it should have been Mac OS X v10.5.7 Leopard. Do not know how to move this to the right forum.)

Time Machine Restore Help Needed

Hello All,
I replaced my hard drive and restored from Time Machine.
I have a MacBook Pro that just missed the age barrier for Mountain Lion, so I have the latest Lion - 10.7.4.
Now that my laptop is more or less back in shape, I cannot play music in iTunes, the message says can't find originals. I have tried restoring the Music file again, but to no avail.
As well, my Mail is messed up. It has been running for 2 hours now with the message "Importing Mailbox . . ."
Alas, iPhoto cannot locate my pictures.
I need help. When I backed up to Time Machine before all this happened, everything had backed up and was working. I clicked ctrl R to begin the back up.
HELP - I am not sure what to do. I havn't had the heart to check my videos!! As well, my budget spreadsheet in excel was an original document when it was backed up, not it is an 'alias' and I am getting the message that the original cannot be found.
Thanks to all who can offer some guidance - this is way to stressful.
Clint

Well, iPhoto and Mail are back to normal. But for the life of me, the following are still giving grief - ANY SUGGESTIONS would be welcome:
I cannot play music in iTunes, the message says can't find originals
my budget spreadsheet in excel was an original document when it was backed up, not it is an 'alias' and I am getting the message that the original cannot be found.
Clint

Need to restore trashed time machine backup - help

Help..
I was recently burgled and my iMac and my backup drive ( on which I used TIme Machine) were taken. So I lost everything. (No, i didnt have the time or extra monel to create another backup for off-sire storage, a mistake i will never make again)
I have an older ext harddrive that I used to use for Time Machine backups, but since i decommissioned it from being a backup drive, I deleted (trashed) the TM backup folder on it, and have written new data on there.
So far the situation is sounding grim, I know.   Surely there must be a chance of recovering at lease something from the drive.
Will things like MacKeeper or Stelar phoenix Mac Data recovery (or others) work?
Please help. I have lost the majority of my life's work (some was on other drives thankfully).

MacKeeper is something to avoid.   Period.   There are data recovery services but they do tend to be expensive.   Type 'data recovery' in the search box above, you will certainly find some recommendations ... the link below is typical.
Accidentally erased external hard drive: Apple Support Communities

Time Machine problem - help!

My Time Machine disc is full. I was expecting it from now on to delete old backups automatically, but it just kept failing to back up instead. What should I have done?
What I did though was go into the options and reselect the same disc. This has had totally the wrong effect: now it is trying and failing to start a whole new backup in the tiny amount of space available.
How do I (a) get Time Machine to reconnect with the old series of backups sitting on the disc and (b) delete them as necessary to continue backing up?
TIA
Nic

mrmarbach wrote:
- I stupidly told it to use the same disc it already was using. It seems to have started a new backup. There is only one entry.
That shouldn't have changed anything -- you should have gotten exactly the same message.
So my first step was to try to reconnect with the old backups in order to then delete things as suggested on your website.
That won't help; you don't have a new Mac, new Logic board, or a new or erased internal HD.
There is no sign of the year's worth of backups. Would these have been automatically deleted when I reselected the disc?
It shouldn't have deleted anything at that point.
But, the first time it failed for lack of space, it would have already deleted all but your most recent backup, trying to make room for the new one.
The disc is still claiming to only have c. 10Gb available. Adding up the folders, there is only 1500Gb of data there.
It sounds like something else may have happened, or perhaps there's a problem with the backups. You might try repairing your backups, per #A5 in the Troubleshooting article.
But you can't just add-up the folder sizes; there are hidden and system files you aren't authorized to see, so their sizes won't show up.
Use Get Info on your internal HD and the TM drive; the size of a full backup should be a few GBs less than what's on your internal HD (TM automatically excludes some things, such as system work files, most logs and caches, trash, etc.).
But there may also be the remains of a failed or cancelled backup, although in this scenario it's doubtful, unless there was a failed backup before the one that ran out of room. That will be automatically recovered on the next backup, but could be taking up some space.

I need time machine restore help

Can someone please tell me what the screen should look like when I do a complete restore onto a new hard drive? The blue candy cane bar is spinning. There is no percent complete or hours until completion showing. It ran all night. 500G hard drive. I think it could possibly take 20 hours but I don't want to let it run if it is virtually locke

First I would like to say thank you for replying to my question. After 24 hours of the blue candy cane bar just spinning and spinning I decided to open the disk utility option that was being offered. I noticed that the same number of files and gigs were still on the hard drive. I figure it was NOT doing anything. So I opted for a restart and held command R again and tried it with a slightly older time machine file. This time it started right up and now I see the progress bar. It has 7 hours left to go. Hoping this will actually work. It will save me so many hours trying to drag files from my old hard drive. BUT I am going to mark that you answered my question just because you replied and I am certain that if I had not discovered this on my own you would have known the answer. So thanks for the help. (editing so that hopefully it will let me click the correct support acknowledgement)

ALL Photos missing after Time Machine restore (help)

So, I accidently formated the wrong drive while in Windows, (big oops) which gave me the opportunity to take Time Machine for a test drive.
I put the DVD in, and was able to restore from the TIme Machine drive. Very impressed! Everything came back just as I had left it except - whats this? The default Leopard wallpaper instead of a picture of my son? Huh strange, I thought. Until I noticed I had no photos in iPhoto.
There seems to be reminents of photos in the iphoto database - the size is 1.3gb instead of the 7gb it used to be. But 0 photos in iPhoto 08.
I went into iPhoto and choose File/Browse Backups. I selected Nov 8th, which was the last day of my backup and showed all 7000+ photos, and clicked "Restore All". This brought up something odd - a 2nd iPhoto icon in the dock, which showed a progress bar for the restore. Once the restore was completed, I still had a 2nd iPhoto icon the the bar, which was iPhoto running - but no photos in iphoto! I exited the 2nd iphoto, which disappeared, and launched my normal Iphoto icon. Still no photos! (That just seems odd that it would launch iPhoto with a 2nd icon)
So, I moved my iphoto database, and launch iPhoto in order to create a fresh database - thinking maybe that was the issue. I then did File/Restore again, and went through the whole processes again, including the odd 2nd icon. Still, no photos! And another 1.3gb iphoto database!
Is it normal for a Time Machine restore to not include your photos? Surely you are not supposed to restore them separately from within Iphoto?
What do I do now? At this point, everything went very well - except no photos! Which is awful and not at all expected! 7000+ family photos! At least, if I ask iPhoto/Time Machine to restore 'all photos' you would think it would restore 'all photos' - not show a progress bar, and then show me no photos!
p.s. I just tooked at the iPhoto Library. The 1.3gb is in /Data/ which contains folders 2000-2007, my Events, and thumbnails of all the photos - but no actual photos (the 'Originals' folder is missing).
I then went back in time, and found the 8gb iPhoto Library database. I supposed I could copy it over manually via Time Machine, and not iPhoto's Restore/TM - but - i'm so far off track of how this should have went I don't know what to think!
p.s.s. So I did just that - copied the 8gb iPhoto Library manually from TM, and pasted it in place. I help down option, and launch iPhoto, selecting the 8gb library - and BOOM... no photos!
Something is #$%# up here.
Message was edited by: metzen79

This is what it says in the help file:
Reverting to a previous Mac OS X version
If you’ve used Time Machine to back up your computer, you can easily revert to a previous version of Mac OS X if you’re experiencing trouble after installing an update.
IMPORTANT: Reverting to the previous version of Mac OS X will erase any additions or changes you’ve made to the files on your computer after installing the new version of Mac OS X. To save new or revised files, copy them onto a different disk or back them up using Time Machine before you follow these instructions. Use Time Machine only if you’re reverting to a previous version of Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), since Time Machine is not available with Mac OS X 10.4 or earlier.
To revert to a previous version of Mac OS X:
Insert the disc you used to install the new version of Mac OS X, and double-click the Install Mac OS X icon.
In the Installer, choose Utilities > Restore System From Backup.
In the Restore Your System dialog, click Continue.
Select your Time Machine backup volume.
Select the Time Machine backup you want to restore. To restore your computer to the state it was in before you installed a new version of Mac OS X, choose the most recent backup.
Follow the onscreen instructions.
If you backed up any individual files as described under the Important message above, you can restore them now. If you backed them up using Time Machine, recover them using the Time Machine application. (You’ll find the Time Machine application in the Dock or in the Applications folder.)
Hope this helps
Denisimo

Time Machine users help!!

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