Time Machine window appears every hour

Every hour a pop-up window appears on my iMac as follows:
<Time Machine couldn’t complete the backup to “Time Machine - 2 TB”.
<The backup disk ran out of space unexpectedly. Time Machine will try to make <more space available by removing expired backups during the next scheduled <backup.
<Open Time Machine preferences to select a larger backup disk or make the backup <smaller by excluding files.
However, Time Machine does not remove expired backups. It repeats this message every hour.
This did not happen before I upgraded to Mountain Lion from Safari.
How do I fix this?

Please read this whole message before doing anything. This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it. The purpose of this exercise is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode* and log in to the account with the problem. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:
Shut down your computer, wait 30 seconds, and then hold down the shift key while pressing the power button.
When you see the gray Apple logo, release the shift key.
If you are prompted to log in, type your password, and then hold down the shift key again as you click Log in.
*Note: If FileVault is enabled under OS X 10.7 or later, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t boot in safe mode. Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs. 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(s)? After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

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Time machine dont start every hour on Lion

Hello,
We just installed Lion Server on a 2008 xserve.
Everything work fine, but when it's time for TM to make a new backup (every hour) it just don't start.
We need to start it mannualy. TM keeps the scheduling for the next hour but when it's come again it doesn't want to start!
Whats the problem?

Hello,
Thank you for your kind reply.
The backup is controlled by the server. I mean that we have a Workdisk that our staff access via AFP.
And this disk is backuped by TM to the other one. (3 disk on the xserve 1.System / 2. Workdisk / 3.TM)
No 3rd party apps is used by now.
Nothing is writed on the log until i launch myself the backup.
It's like Time machine is deactived...
Here te copy. backup launched at 10h23 and 12h31 manualy :
10/02/12 10:23:27,321 com.apple.backupd: Starting standard backup
10/02/12 10:23:27,553 com.apple.backupd: Backing up to: /Volumes/TM_BACKUP/Backups.backupdb
10/02/12 10:23:34,700 com.apple.backupd: 3.27 GB required (including padding), 220.31 GB available
10/02/12 10:23:58,246 com.apple.backupd: Copied 6631 files (482.5 MB) from volume Server HD.
10/02/12 10:24:38,404 com.apple.backupd: Copied 8720 files (1.8 GB) from volume Data.
10/02/12 10:24:38,775 com.apple.backupd: 1.10 GB required (including padding), 218.48 GB available
10/02/12 10:24:41,708 com.apple.backupd: Copied 965 files (2.5 MB) from volume Server HD.
10/02/12 10:24:43,232 com.apple.backupd: Copied 1177 files (2.5 MB) from volume Data.
10/02/12 10:24:44,417 com.apple.backupd: Starting post-backup thinning
10/02/12 10:24:50,315 com.apple.backupd: Deleted /Volumes/TM_BACKUP/Backups.backupdb/vous'xserve/2012-02-08-175034 (36.6 MB)
10/02/12 10:24:59,253 com.apple.backupd: Deleted /Volumes/TM_BACKUP/Backups.backupdb/vous'xserve/2012-02-08-171057 (655.9 MB)
10/02/12 10:24:59,253 com.apple.backupd: Post-back up thinning complete: 2 expired backups removed
10/02/12 10:24:59,293 com.apple.backupd: Backup completed successfully.
10/02/12 12:31:45,605 com.apple.backupd: Starting standard backup
10/02/12 12:31:45,719 com.apple.backupd: Backing up to: /Volumes/TM_BACKUP/Backups.backupdb
10/02/12 12:31:53,672 com.apple.backupd: 1.78 GB required (including padding), 219.17 GB available
10/02/12 12:32:09,073 com.apple.backupd: Copied 5185 files (165.1 MB) from volume Server HD.
10/02/12 12:32:27,880 com.apple.backupd: Copied 6683 files (582.1 MB) from volume Data.
10/02/12 12:32:28,098 com.apple.backupd: 1.10 GB required (including padding), 218.59 GB available
10/02/12 12:32:30,355 com.apple.backupd: Copied 471 files (558 KB) from volume Server HD.
10/02/12 12:32:32,120 com.apple.backupd: Copied 587 files (774 KB) from volume Data.
10/02/12 12:32:32,876 com.apple.backupd: Starting post-backup thinning
10/02/12 12:32:40,038 com.apple.backupd: Deleted /Volumes/TM_BACKUP/Backups.backupdb/vous'xserve/2012-02-09-102938 (21.1 MB)
10/02/12 12:32:40,038 com.apple.backupd: Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
10/02/12 12:32:40,081 com.apple.backupd: Backup completed successfully.

HT3275 How can I program the Time Machine to backup every 4-6 hours instead of hourly?

My Time Machine backs up every hour and when it occurs my Mac operating speed slows down to a crawl. Is there a way to change the settings so that Time Machine backs up every 4-6 hours or at specific times of the day, e.g. 6AM, Noon and 6PM?
Many thanks,
Time Machine Novice

Sawtooth Prop wrote:
My Time Machine backs up every hour and when it occurs my Mac operating speed slows down to a crawl.
That shouldn't happen, unless you've made lots of changes and have your Mac already pretty well maxed-out. Changing the backup interval is just addressing the symptoms, not the cause.
Check the size of your backups; if they seem much too large considering what you've done since the last backup, see #D4 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting for some common culprits, and ways to find out what's actually getting backed-up.
If the sizes seem reasonable, see #2 there for things that may be slowing your backups down.

I would like to use time Machine to back up to a network SMB drive. I can see the drive on my desktop but it will not show in the time machine window to be able to select it

I currently have a mini server (OSX10.8.5, server 2.2.2) that I am using Time Machine to back up 4 external drives that are connected to the server via firewire 800. I would like to use Time Machine to back up to a windows network SMB drive. I can see the drive on my desktop but it will not show in the time machine window to be able to select it for use.
Can this be done
Thanks for any and all help

The supported targets for Time Machine backups are local (direct-connected) disks, and network targets include Time Capsule, a disk hanging off the current-generation AirPort (though not earlier AirPort devices), and OS X Server systems.
The Time Machine storage is based on the HFS+ file system, so I would not expect TM to work with SMB file services.
While there are hacks to allow Time Machine to access network drives, I would not consider those to be reliable. Skim the forum and the 'net for related details, and for previous discussions of setting this up and the related issues that can arise.
Remember to test the recovery with whatever you decide to use; whole point of backups is the ability to restore the data, after all.
If you want to learn more about Time Machine, Pondini is an excellent resource.

My time capsule backs up every hour. how do I change this to daily backup, my time capsule backs up every hour. how do I change this to daily backup

My Time Capsule backs up every hour.. How do I change this to back up daily?

http://pondini.org/TM/13.html

Why doesnt my external drive show up in the time machine window when im trying to set it up wirelessly

my external hardrive doesnt show up in the time machine window for disk selection . i connected it to a usb hub it shows up when i do the manual setup but it still doesnt show up in the disk window . any help am i missing something ?

The supported targets for Time Machine backups are local (direct-connected) disks, and network targets include Time Capsule, a disk hanging off the current-generation AirPort (though not earlier AirPort devices), and OS X Server systems.
The Time Machine storage is based on the HFS+ file system, so I would not expect TM to work with SMB file services.
While there are hacks to allow Time Machine to access network drives, I would not consider those to be reliable. Skim the forum and the 'net for related details, and for previous discussions of setting this up and the related issues that can arise.
Remember to test the recovery with whatever you decide to use; whole point of backups is the ability to restore the data, after all.
If you want to learn more about Time Machine, Pondini is an excellent resource.

Backupos not visible in time machine window

I wanted to put back a backup of my system today and noticed that only today's backup is visible in time machines window. In Finder i can see the other backups but don't know how to put those back.
Don't know if this is related, but I installed the 10.6.4 OS update. Before this I could see my backups in Time machine's window.
Is there a way to repair my backups? I do need them...
Regards,
Paul

Hi, and welcome to the forums.
There are several possible causes, and fixes, for this. See #E4 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

How can I exit out of the Time Machine window when it has frozen?

So I restored a backup from the 16th of June today from Time Machine. Just now I accessed 'Documents' folder from the 21st June backup and restored the file as I have made changes to Documents since the 16 th of June. Then I went back into 'Time Machine' to look for more files to restore.....and it has frozen on the Time Machine window with all the stars around the finder. How do I get out of time machine now? (Apart from shutting it down).

If it is frozen, there is no option (other than shutting it down) that I am aware of.
Barry

I have a Black Rectangle covering my Time Machine window on dual displays.

I have "Displays have separate spaces" checked in preferences and when I enter time machine I get a black rectangle covering the Time Machine window. Time machine with dual displays and separate spaces is useless. Has anyone found a fix for this other than keeping "Displays have separate spaces" un checked?

Best to take your Mac to an Apple Store or Apple certified repair provider.
You can make an appointment in advance at a Genius Bar

Registration window appears every time I open InDesign...and it's already registered

After a recent computer crash, I reloaded ID CS2 on a new system and even though it's been successfully activated and registered, the registration window is appearing every time I open InDesign. I received an e-mail from Adobe thanking me for registering, including the special "offer" I can now take advantage of...so I know it's registered.
How can I stop that registration window from appearing every time I open InDesign?

Bob,
Can you be a bit more specific?
My Registration Window just recently started popping up, too, even though it's been registered -- and registered -- several times.
I went to:
- Control Panel, then selected
- Security Center, then selected
- "Change the way Security Center alerts me"
I'm presented with three options:
1. Yes, notify me and display the icon (recommended);
2. Don't notify me, but display the icon; and
3. Don't notify me and don't display the icon (not recommended).
So, which choice would still keep my system protected, but get rid of the irritating Registration Window from popping up each time I start Adobe?
Thanks.

HT201250 How do you set what the Time Machine window shows?

I just bought a Time Capsule and started using Time Machine. The window that appears when selecting "Enter Time Machine" shows the desktop, but not the Hard Drive. I want to see the contents of the HD, not the desktop.

erickfrombloomfield wrote:
I thought Time Machine made a clone of my boot drive.
TimeMachine copies your entire boot drive, but it's not a clone. Clones are near 100% exact copies of your boot partition.
TM every so often updates with a "state" representing a day, it only saves the changes between states so this way it's not making your external drive full in a couple of days.
You go through the "states" to pick the copy of the file you want to restore with or the entire drive.
So that is not true?
TimeMachine is not a clone.
Aclone is a exact image of your boot partition, just like you picked up all your software and placed it on another drive.
Clones can be updated, and now even save the "states" between clones, but then it's not a clone anymore as it's not a 100% copy, but a bootable clone + backup.
How can I make the Time Machine copy on the Time Capsule bootable?
You can't, a TimeMachine can only restore, not bootable although I hear it's possible to boot to restore only.
Or how can I make a clone on Time Capsule?
You don't. The softwre and technology is not compatbile.
If you want a clone be able to boot from it, and see everything on the drive like any other, then you need to use a new blank drive and Carbon Copy Cloner, then it's a option key bootable clone drive.
TM or TimeCapsule can't do this, it's a backup system, not a clone.
If you want to learn more about TM you can visit this site
http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html
I don't use TM at all, it's for newbies mostly. It takes a long time to restore with as it has to go through all the states to grab files.
Power and seasoned users use clones so they also can boot from them, make more clones or run the computer if the drive dies etc.etc.

Time Machine Backup fails every time "Backup could not be completed"

I want to do a new Time Machine Backup on my iMac2007 Snow Leopard 10.6.8 fails every time with message "Backup could not be completed."
Console says "Error 11" Some Files allways can not be copied/saved by Time Machine, i search an exclude them in TM not to save them, try again, new ones po up every time.
Does anyone know a solution?

One thing which may help.
I had similar issues....a few times.
Have done all the renaming (<8 characters) etc etc as detailed in these forums.
The first time, I erased TC HD and started again. This fixed things for a few days, and then the same issue came back again.
The next time, I simply copied the sparsebundle file (so I had two sparsebundles, one called xxxxxxxx.sparsebundle, and the other called xxxxxxxx copy.sparsebundle (luckily I had room on the HD to do this)). Then I deleted the original sparsebundle, and before I could rename the copy back to the original filename, the image mounted and started backing up....to the sparsebundle with " copy" still in its name.......so I left it be.
A week or so went by, and then I got the same "unable to mount" error message.
Rather than going thru the whole process again, I simply took the " copy" out of the sparesbundle filename, and all was well again.
I continue to get "unable to mount" error messages occasionally, so I simply rename the sparsebundle file (either by adding or removing " copy"), and it seems to resolve the problem, at least for a while.
While not a fix, it seems to be a workaround for me until Apple works out what the issue is, and fixes it.
Hope this helps someone.
P.S. One word of caution. I just had the thought, while writing this, that I have not actually gone into Time Machine to check that previous backups (eg, one hour ago, one week ago, original backup) are there and are able to be accessed, should the need arise. Because the back-ups appeared to be working, I assumed, and assume, they were. Won't be able to check this for a few days as I am on the road.

Why are some of my Time Machine windows greyed out?

When I enter Time Machine, some of the windows (say Finder windows) are white and I can access them for a restore. Others are greyed out (actually a purple color) and I cannot access them, even though they are relevant to my User files i.e. not someone else's. There are two standard users on this laptop, plus a User with Administrator rights plus a guest User.
The same pattern of windows appears in each of the other Users.
Not a desperate issue at the moment, but I am interested to know why.
Paultageist
(my present kit is 15" Macbook Pro, OS X Lion, 500Gb Time capsule, and wireless network.)

The unavailable snapshots don't include the folder from which you're entering Time Machine. Start from the top-level view in the Finder that shows all volumes connected to the computer. Enter Time Machine and then descend to the folder you want to restore from.

Don't try to do screen capture in Time Machine window...

Was going to show off Time Machine to my brother by taking screen capture.
Brought up Time Machine, pressed standard "Command-Shift-Number 4" key combo. Ouch... Time Machine screen became 'frozen in time'. Many key presses and 'strong words' later it woke up and came back.

Correct. I was in habit of using Command-Shift-4 + mouse drag for a region, or same key combo and then spacebar on a window for just a window for doing screen captures.
Command-Shift-3 worked fine with no lockup for whole window. People will still need to be careful not to attempt Command-Shift-4 and then spacebar or select area with the mouse as it appears to lock up the Mac and no key combos work.

Time Machine fails about every six months

10.8.5
MacBook Pro 13"
Wired ethernet to Time Capsule 3rd generation
Time Machine has a distressing pattern: it seems to work like a champ for about six months. Then, it fails to back-up, stuck at "Backing Up: nnKB of nnMB" where nnKB is some small but variable number. On the MBP I've repaired disk permissions and used Disk Warrior. No change. On the backup image on the Time Capsule, I used Disk Warrior. No change. I created a new temporary image, used SuperDuper! to copy the contents of the backup image to the temporary image, erased the backup image and copied the temporary image contents back to the backup image. No change.
Previously I've just deleted the backup image and started from scratch, but I'm tired of losing my accumulated backups every six months!
Any advice?

Start to investigate HD clones. Time machine is a backup, not an archive or secure storage.
Some advantages of a cloned HD:
If you do an option key startup at boot you can directly boot to your cloned drive externally and operate from same like normal.
Sandboxing: With the help of the Cloned Drive, you can perform sandboxing, or the testing of new software, their updates and applications before they are installed on your Mac system. Moreover, if there are issues with the system, you can troubleshoot them by booting off the Clone. Many people test new APPS or experiment with a secondary clone and never worry about a failure or serious issue since the internal HD is untouched and the secondary clone can be wiped afterwards if any major issue occurs in testing. This is an invaluable tool in many instances.
If you sell you computer for purchase of a new one, you can take the clone you have on hand and install same or clone it to the new internal drive of your new Mac.
As it turns out one of the huge positive benefits of a clone is that people were seeing faster HD speeds; with APPS booting up from the clone than they had seen with the internal HD. The cloning applications in cloning the drive defragments the data to the clone and remove the “holes” in the cloning process.
With a small portable HD clone you can take your ‘computer’ anywhere to most any other current Mac and boot from your HD clone and have your entire system and its data immediately there for use. In case one is across the world and their macbook gets stolen, or damaged, with another Mac you can be up and 100% in the time it takes to boot to the new or borrowed Mac!
You can clone from your external clone to the internal HD/SSD in case of corruption.
The best thing that can be said, ideally, when your HD crashes with all its data is “so what, I’ve got a clone right here” and you can return to normal operation within seconds (by booting from the clone) or minutes (by swapping drives).
In separating out your system hub (OS) and your data hub, and storing them separately, is if you make only periodic clones (every month or so), and have a HD crash, the worst case outcome is that what is lost on your clone are some bookmarks and preferences since your data hub containing your vital files is constantly archived separately as it should be.
Time Machine is a system backup, not a data archive
Important data you “don’t dare lose” should not be considered ultimately safe, or ideally stored (at the very least not as sole copy of same) on your Time Machine backup. Hourly and daily fluctuations of your system OS, applications, and software updates is the perfect focus for the simple user to conduct ‘click it and forget it’ backups of the entire system and files on the Macbook HD.
Bootable clones are the choice of professionals and others in that Time Machine cannot be booted from and requires a working HD to retrieve data from (meaning another computer). Your vital data needs to be and should be ‘frozen’ on some form of media storage, either in a clone, as an archived HD containing important files, or on DVD blank archival media.
A file that is backed up to Time Machine is unsafe in that if that file is deleted off the computer by accident or lost otherwise, that file will likewise vanish from Time Machine as it reflects changes on the internal computer HD/SSD.

Time Machine window appears every hour

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