Time Machine with multiple HDs

Hi,
tried searching but couldn't find an answer so here goes:
Can you use multiple HDs with Time Machine? As in: I have 3 external 500gb HDs. Can I get three more to back up each one?

TM will only back up to one drive at a time. Other applications, such as SuperDuper, will back up to multiple drives. You could use Backup in Applications to back up selective files to another drive.
Joe

Similar Messages

  • Time Machine with multiple users on single computer

    Hi All,
    I have an iMac at home with multiple user log ons. I'm about to get the Time Capsule and start using Time Machine (currently I use backup).
    When I switch on Time Machine, does it switch on for all users, or will each user need to turn on Time Machine?
    If I have to switch on Time Machine for each user, will each user's time machine back up the entire computer (so I'll have two complete copies on my computer on the external drive)?
    If this does occur, can I control what Time Machine backs up so TM only backs up user specific information?
    Thanks in advance,
    Chris

    When you first backup it will backup your whole system (user directories, system directories, applications, etc) unless you specify folders to exclude. When a user account is added to the computer, their home folder will be added to the backup in a similar way to if you added a new application. It will back up the directory structure exactly as it is on your main hard drive. The backup will essentially keep a copy of the whole hard drive on the backup drive.
    The Time Machine will either be on for the whole system, or off for the whole system. It is not on or off for a specific user account. Users (depending on if they've got admin privileges) may have control over turning time machine on or off, but this does not change who can access the backups. All users will be able to invoke Time Machine to get to their backed up files.
    Time Machine does not make separate backups for individual users. Instead, it preserves the permissions for backed up files, so while every user can access the backups, they cant just browse other users' files on the backup. The same restrictions on the main drive are carried over to the backup. Still, a standard user who's lost a file will be able to go into Time Machine, access a backed up version of the file, and restore it. Unlike standard users who are restricted from seeing other users' files in the backups, Admins are also restricted but they can be authenticated to view other users' files if they want to.

  • Time Machine with multiple hard drives

    I use a very large external hard drive for time machine. I back up to this time machine, the two hard drivs that are inside my macbook pro, 512GB ssd, and 250GB SSD that is in the optical drive. I then backup a 1TB portable hard drive which holds all my movies and then I backup another 1Tb portable hard drive which holds all my "reserve" files, which means they are files that are no longer important to be on my computer. Old pictures, music, etc.
    Now, I can't plug all of these drive's in at once. So, let's say I have to do a backup and I have nothing plugged in but the time machine external hard drive. Will it only backup the two hard drives that are in my computer and then later somehow let me go and restore the other drives? Or will it attempt to restore all 4 drives at one time? Because if the one in my computer mess's up, the other's may not be messed up and I do not want it to restore those.
    I have used Time Machine before to restore my system. But never since I have started adding extra drives for Time Machine to backup.
    I am also planning on adding, yet another drive for it to backup which is a 1TB portable hard drive that I keep raw files on for photography. I'm just curious how this works when and if the time comes.

    well superduper is FREE, CCC isnt.........CCC can do the daily updates etc,.  Superduper DOES NOT.    the CCC and Superduper CLONES are bootable.......so, if your HD crashes, you can throw in the CLONE, and youre back and running in mins, rather than hours etc .
    You should NEVER consider a backup a "backup", ........2 copies is 1, and 1 is none.....always have 2 copies of important files / pics etc etc,......... DECADES of work have been lost by people who thought their stuff was safe because they had a (meaning 1) backup.
    Simplicity? Yes, Simplicity is my religion.    CLONE your HD with programs and settings, ......and use a 2nd HD updated daily / weekly etc (preferable 2 such 'seecond' harddrives, copies of each other) with all personal stuff / work / pics / vids/ documents.....
    superficially time machine is simpler,  "smack a button and everything backs up".......in REALITY however when it "all goes up in flames"................the pro method (and my method) is QUICKER and more reliable by far to get down and running.
    Ive restored other peoples from total crash and burns via Time machine.......and "my" way............my way always ends up faster by a mile. Also personal / work etc  files are kept autonomous to the system data / programs OS,.....as it logically should be.
    Time machine is the fastest incremental backup........but its as slow as paint peeling if you need it in case of a TOTAL CRASH.......wherein a bootable clone can be thrown in , in less than 20 mins.

  • Time Machine with Multiple Disk

    I wanted to know if it is possible to have multiple time machine disk. I was thinking about have one disk at home, and taking another disk offsite. I was thinking about switching these disc out like once a month or something like that so I always have a copy of my Itunes Library and other important files off site, and also so that I have another backup incase both my Imac hard drive, and my backup drive both stop working at the same time.

    Can you "fool" Time Machine into backing up to two separate volumes by giving them the same name?
    You wouldn't connect them at the same time... you'd connect one at work during the day and the other at home at night time.
    That way one backup (the one at work, say) stores all your changes during the course of the day and then the other one (say at home) backs up all your changes made at night.
    They would each, of course, back up all changes made since last connected (for example, as soon as you connect your "home" drive it will automatically back up all the changes you made during the day in one fell swoop, then make incremental backups during the rest of the evening).
    PS: I am using SuperDuper right now to clone a TM backup to another drive but I want to be able to use both drives in turn to make incremental backups (once I've completed the clone).

  • Using external NAS drive for Time Machine and multiple Macs

    I just installed an external NAS drive from OWC's sister company Newer Tech. It is 500g with ethernet and usb2.0 connections. It works very well with easy setup with Time Machine with no hassle.
    However, in very fine print that I missed in the ad, it supports 20 computers but not for Mac only for PC. OWC customer service said I could return it but I'll keep it anyway since it works well but only for one computer at a time in read/write mode.
    Anyone know of a way around this? Are there any drivers from other vendors that would allow this to be used with the multiple Macs on my home network?

    Very doubtful, but even if there is a workaround, you do not want to take that kind of risk with your backups.
    See the pink and yellow boxes in #2 of [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).

  • Time Machine - using multiple drives when the first is not available

    Hello I have been succussfully using Time Machine with my USB external drive. I have been connecting it to my MacBook Air from time to time. Manual backups as well as the hourly backups when the drive has been connected worked without any problem.
    Recently, I connected Synology DiskStation (NAS) to my network and I have added it to the list of drives in my Time Machine setup. When my original external drive (first in the list) is not connected to my MacBook  the hourly backup is not initiated by the Time Machine at all. Manually started backup is runnign fine without any problem.
    The external drive is annotated with exclamation mark in Time Machines list with "not available" error - and it seems that this is causing the interruption of automatic hourly backup to any drive.
    Is there any way how to debug Time Machine? Or to get some logs of Time Machine?
    Any similar experience with multiple drive backup when the first of them is disconnected most of the time...?
    Thanks a lot for any help
    Petr

    Perhaps you should address this to Synology's tech support. Apple doesn't provide any support for third-party NAS, so your best bet is with Synology.

  • Time Capsule and time machine with third party router

    Hi,
    This is the first time I use this site.
    I have over three years old Mackbook.
    APP has expired.
    Now I want to know how to set up time capsule in a new environment.
    I moved from Australian and Singapore.
    I was using Time Capsule and Airport Extreme in Australia.
    I have moved to Singapore.
    I am using router provided by Singtell(Singapore Telecommunication). I do not have an Airport Extreme anymore. My housemate and I are using wireless internet-sharing. Needless to say that internet provider is SingTell.
    Now I would like to know how to use time capsule and time machine with the network created with a router provided by SingTell.
    What I did so far is;
    Connected the time capsule to the power point.
    Orange lamp lit and flashed for a few second and stop. Orange lamp stayed on.
    Apple Utility does not recognise Time Capsule.
    I prefer to use it wirelessly.
    There are only two USB cable ports installed.
    One is used to synchronize iPhone.
    Other is used for a printer.
    but if it is not possible, wired would be OK.
    MacBook 13 inch 2.0 GH Late 2006
    I hope that someone able to give me an answer for this.
    Cheers,
    morepubholidays

    In this case the apple support people reveal a truly poor understanding.
    You must bridge something.. you either bridge the TC.. which 90% of people do.. or you bridge the dsl router.. which some people do manage to do.. You will have to look that up for your modem and check with verizon if they support pppoe authentication.
    IMHO just bridge the TC as you were told not to do.. as they are simply wrong about that.
    If you already tried this and it didn't work.. try again.. it is the correct approach.
    You have no choice. But this time let me suggest you do it using the 5.6 airport utility.. as the apple toyland v6 airport utility is likely half your trouble.
    So here is how to get the utility into your computer.
    How to load 5.6 into ML.
    1. Download 5.6 for Lion.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1482
    Click to open the dmg but do not attempt to install the pkg.. it won't work anyway.
    2. Download and install unpkg.
    http://www.timdoug.com/unpkg/
    Run unpkg on the desktop.. it is very simple.. drag the AirPortUtility56.pkg file over to unpkg.. and it will create a new directory of the same name on the desktop.. drill down.. applications utilities .. there lo and behold is Airport utility 5.6 .. drag it to your main utilities directory or just run it from current location.
    You cannot uninstall 6.1 so don't try.. and you cannot or should not run them both at the same time.. so just ignore the toyland version.. the plastic hammer.. and start using 5.6.. a real tool.
    For screen shots see this post.
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4668746?tstart=0
    Then open the manual setup on the 5.6 utility.. go to internet tab. Connection sharing.. off bridged mode.
    Select this and update..
    Then all your IP addresses will be wrong.. I suspect this is where things are going wrong.. and messing you up.
    Once the TC is bridged.. turn off everything and restart.. in correct order.. modem.. TC.. client computers etc. 2min gap between each.

  • How can I restore my data from iCal? I didn't make any backup, but I use  time machine with an external HD. I deleted iCal when I deleted my gmail account. I have tried to restore, but I can only restore the iCal software and not the data.

    How can I restore my data from iCal? I didn't make any backup, but I use  time machine with an external HD. I deleted iCal when I deleted my gmail account. I have tried to restore, but I can only restore the iCal software and not the data.

    So what is your question?
    If you forgot your encryption password:
    Warning: Make sure it's a password you will remember or write it down for safekeeping. If you encrypt an iPhone backup in iTunes and forget your password, you can't restore from backup and your data will be unrecoverable.
    If you can't remember the password and want to start again, you must perform a full software restore and chooseset up as a new device when iTunes prompts you to select the backup from which to restore.
    The above comes from here:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4946

  • When I try to enter a time machine with Snow Leopard backups Lion I get an error code -6584 ... how to fix?

    Hi.
    I had a first gen time machine with backups all on Snow Leopard.
    This died (power supply), and I bought a new time capsule, because to fix the old one would cost nearly the same amount.
    Since, I have started using Lion, and backed up onto my new time capsule in Lion.
    Unfortunately, there was a file I deleted that I really need for a Logic Audio project, that is only present on the old time capsule.
    I got the old time capsule fixed, so it powers up. I even extended my current wireless network with it. I can see inside it -- all the data that I dragged onto its HD in the past is present, and the "Sparse Bundle" containing the data for the time capsule save-states is present too.
    Now, when I try to "Enter" my old time capsule, I get this error message:
    I tried entering the time machine via WiFi and via ethernet, to no avail.
    Can anyone help me to access these old save states on my old "snow leopard" time capsule?
    I was thinking maybe I need to try to access it from a machine with Snow Leopard?
    Please help.
    Thanks in advance.
    JM

    I have the same issue. Does anybody know why this has happened

  • Can I increase the capacity of Time Machine with an external hard drive connected to Time Capsule?

    Can I increase the capacity of Time Machine with an external hard drive connected to Time Capsule via the USB port?  My current Time Machine has a total capacity of 1TB.  I'd like to double or triple its memory.  I don't want to use the external hard drive in lieu of the Time Capsule hard drive.  I'd like to use it in addition to.  Just don't know if/how it's possible.
    This is another one of those questions that I've searched the web for answers, and have gotten tricky answers back.  So now I'm trying to introduce a clean slate to the mix.
    Thank you for your time!

    Well, what you mentioning is possible.  However, I don't know whether it's supported (as in, "easy to set up.").  Time Machine officially supports backing up to a locally attached drive, to a machine running a Time Machine server (i.e. running OS X Server software), and to a Time Capsule.  I don't know that it officially supports a drive attached to an AirPort or to a Time Capsule.  Though I know some people have gotten it to work.
    Best I can say is to try it.  Plug the drive into the Time Capsule, ensure it's shared on the network, and then try and set it as a backup target from a machine in the Time Machine backup panel (you'll need to ensure it's mounted first).  If it works, you're all set.

  • Using Time MACHINE with a USB drive connected to an Airport Extreme

    Disclaimer: Apple does not necessarily endorse any suggestions, solutions, or third-party software products that may be mentioned in the topic below. Apple encourages you to first seek a solution at Apple Support. The following links are provided as is, with no guarantee of the effectiveness or reliability of the information. Apple does not guarantee that these links will be maintained or functional at any given time. Use the information below at your own discretion.
    Please click here:
    |
    Using Time Machine with an Airport Extreme AirDisk
    |
    Note: If you got here by clicking a link that looks like this:
    _. . . discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2299608#Q1_
    Note the number at the end, after the +*pound sign,+* (#) and click the corresponding item below:
    Please pardon the inconvenience.
    |
    QUESTIONS
    *Q1. Can I use the USB drive(s) for Time Machine backups AND other data?*
    *Q2. How do I set up Time Machine to back up to a USB drive connected to my Airport Extreme?*
    *Q3. How do I delete backups?*
    *Q4. How do I back-up my backups?*
    If you don't see your question here, try Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.
    |
    PROBLEMS
    *P1. The Backup disk image could not be created.*
    *P2. Time Machine could not complete the backup . . sparsebundle could not be accessed. (Error 109).*
    If you don't see your problem here, try Time Machine - Troubleshooting
    This is the 3rd version of this tip. It was submitted on May 16, 2010 by Pondini.
    Do you want to provide feedback on this User Contributed Tip or contribute your own? If you have achieved Level 2 status, visit the User Tips Library Contributions forum for more information.

    Hi, Nubz!
    Yes, I just saw that, and am still chuckling.
    Maybe that will mollify the Jive gods?
    Thanks again,
    Jim

  • Using Time Machine with a network Drive

    I recently bought a WD My Book Live network drive to use as my Time Machine backup. I was previously using a USB external HD for Time Machine with no problems. I have set up the new network drive but when I go in to Time Machine to select it as the drive to back up to, it is not showing up. The only drive I see is my old USB external HD. I have the latest firmware for the network drive and I am running Mac OSX10.5.8. Any suggestions?

    If you bought the WD in a USB enclosure it probably came formatted with NTFS (Windows). Time Machine can't use NTFS drives or SMB (Windows) network shares as a backup destination because that format does not allow the proper permissions to be set. If this is the case with your drive, open Disk Utility and reformat your new drive (NOT you system drive!!) with HFS+ aka 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' and then the drive should show up as a target selection in Time Machine.

  • How to use Time Machine with an external drive?

    Hi…I’m new to this, I hope someone can help me=)
    I’m trying to back up my Macbook Pro 10.6.8 using Time Machine with an external drive Seagate Backplus Slim. I’ve tried several solutions that I’ve found through different forums but still wouldn’t work.
    Every time I opened Time Machine, it has this appearance:
    Then when I click “Select backup Disk”, it goes on like this:
    And after I click “Set Up Time Capsule”, it has this:
    It keeps saying that it couldn’t find AirPort wireless, even though I have good WIFI connection.
    Anyone know what I should do? Please help….Thanks everyone

    Ayuphie ~ In your Time Machine Preferences panel, slide the OFF-ON switch to the ON position:

  • Setting Up Time Machine with a Partitioned External Hard Drive

    I recently bought a new external hard drive (MyPassport) and I was advised to partition it in order to keep my movies/music files separate from the rest of my files. So I partitioned it, but now I can't figure out how to set up the Time Machine with 2 separate hard drives. Is there a way to set it up so that I can use Time Machine for both, one for movies/music and one for everything else?

    I recently bought a new external hard drive (MyPassport) and I was advised to partition it in order to keep my movies/music files separate from the rest of my files. So I partitioned it, but now I can't figure out how to set up the Time Machine with 2 separate hard drives. Is there a way to set it up so that I can use Time Machine for both, one for movies/music and one for everything else?

  • Time machine with network drive?

    I heard I could use time machine with the hard drive I have connected to my airport extreme.  Problem is I can't get the disk to appear in the time machine set up window as an option

    Unfortunately Apple does not support Time Machine backups to a HDD attached to the AirPort Extreme USB port. Doing so is not recommended as most users who attempt this end up with corrupted backups over time. However, you could use a different backup solution with this configuration, just not Time Machine.

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