Time Machine won't backup to ext hard drive?

I keep receiving the error message that Time Machine won't backup to my ext hard drive since it can't create the backup file.  Why?  Same ext hard drive for over 2 yrs.  Using iMac (early 2008) with Mountain Lion.

Is it at least twice the capacity of the original?
Is it formatted with a GUID partition?

Similar Messages

  • Time Machine won't backup my external hard drive.

    I am trying to get Time Machine to backup my external hard drive.  I have the external drive formated as Mac OS Extended (journaled) and I have also removed the drive from the Excluded list.  I put some 'test' files on the external drive and told TM to do a backup and when it is finished the only way I can see my external hard drive in TM is if it is connected to the computer.  It doesn't seem to be backed up anywhere in TM that I can see.  Please Help
    Thanks.

    Chihuahua Rancher wrote:
    My thinking is that if my external hard drive craps out it would be ok because it would be backed up on the TM (what I'm trying to get it to do)  How would I open the external drive if it was damaged and then invoke time machine?
    #E3 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting shows how to do that.

  • Time Machine won't backup second external hard drive

    I am trying to store my iTunes music library on an external hard drive because I have run out of space on my hard drive. I have moved my folder to the external drive, but before I delete the folder from my computer I want to make sure my Time Machine is backing up the drive containing my music as well. However when I go into Time Machine preferences and tell it to include the other hard drive in its backups it says "The backup was not preformed because an error occured 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."
    So I have tried again later, and still the same message. I went into Disk Utility and verified my backup disk and it said it was healthy. Ideas as to what I am doing wrong?

    Howdy Kgkgkg12,
    It sounds like this drive you are wanting to use with Time Machine is not in the same format that Time Machine needs to operate. According to this article:
    Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac
    Your Time Machine drive needs to be formatted as Mac OS X Extended (Journaled). If you select an NTFS or FAT-formatted drive, Time Machine prompts you to reformat the drive. Important: Reformatting erases any files on the destination drive. If you're not sure if you want to erase the drive you connected, choose a different drive.
    You can check the format of the drive with these steps:
    OS X Yosemite: View file, folder, and disk information
    Get individual item info: Select the item(s), then choose File > Get Info, or press Command (⌘)-I.
    Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
    Cheers,
    Sterling

  • Time Machine won't recognize new external hard drive

    I recently had a problem with My Passport and had to buy a new one.  I have plugged it in and reformatted it and now Time Machine won't recognize it even though it shows on my desktop and the disk utility doesn't see any problem.   Any ideas?

    Disable Time Machine from System Preferences.
    Choose Select disk button, remove the old TM backup disk and add the new one.

  • Time machine won't back up external hard drive

    Hello,
    Due to my internal memory becoming full, I have connected an external hard drive to store my iPhoto Library.
    There is no problem with this however, I cannot seem to get Time Machine to back up the external drive.
    It is on the "excluded" list, but I am unable to select it to remove from this list.
    Thank you in advance

    Are you using that same drive as the backup destination? If so, you can't back it up. Otherwise see below.
    In the Finder, press the key combination shift-command-C, or select
              Go ▹ Computer
    from the menu bar. A window will open showing all mounted volumes. Select the one in question and open the Info window. What is shown as the Format in the General section?

  • Time Machine: Can I backup an external hard drive?

    Hi,
    I've been using time machine to back up my internal drive to an external with no probs. its really a boon to use. I make music mainly using logic. I have recently started using an external drive to record all my audio to and to save all my logic projects. My question is:
    Can I get Time Machine to recognise and back up my (other, new) external drive that holds all my audio files as well? I thought it might do it automatically when i connected the new drive and also connected my Time Machine dedicated back up drive, but it only backed up my main system drive as before. I can continue to back up manually but I'm keen to use the Time Machine feature to manage backing up my other, new audio dedicated drive - it'll save me time and worry!
    I hope this makes sense!

    open system preferencs->time machine->options and remove your new drive from the exclusion list. TM will back it up from now on along with your main drive.

  • Time Machine won't backup up to external firewire drive

    MacBook Pro - Time Machine won't backup to firewire external drive.  Has worked well in past few weeks..........any ideas?

    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.
    ☞ If you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the page that opens.
    Select "system.log" from the file list. Enter "backupd" (without the quotes) in the String Matching text field. Post the messages from the last backup, beginning with "Starting standard backup."
    Post the log text, please, not a screenshot. If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Do not post many repetitions of the same message.
    Some personal information, such as the names of your files, may be included — edit that out, too, but don’t remove the context.

  • Time Machine not backing up other external hard drive

    Hi,
    I recently upgraded to Leopard and am trying to use Time Machine. I have one external hard drive that is used specifically for the Time Machine Backup, it's called "Backup Drive". The other hard drive is called "Captured Memories" and is used to store my graphic design files. Time Machine seems to backup my iMac because there is a folder called iMac and it contains the files, but the folder for Captured Memories is blank. I was getting errors saying that the backup failed but when I clicked the "Back Up Now" option on Time Machine, it doesn't list the error - but the Captured Memories folder is still blank so it didn't back up that external drive. I also changed the Spotlight preferences so that it does not search the Backup Drive.
    Both the Backup Drive and the Captured Memories drives are the same, they're both Seagate Free Agent Pro drives, 1TB each.
    The Free Agent Pro drives both have a sleep timer that I cannot adjust, does that have anything to do with why Time Machine won't backup the Captured Memories drive? If that is the case, what other software can I use to backup the Captured Memories external drive? I want it to sync to the Backup Drive because I am constantly saving and moving files around on the Captured Memories drive.
    I was using a Memeo backup software that came with the Free Agent Pro drives but the problem I was having is it would make copies of files rather than move them. For example, I have a folder on the Captured Memories drive that is called, In Progress and one that is called In Proofing. So once a project is complete, I move the file to the In Proofing folder. The Memeo software would copy the file to the In Proofing folder rather than move it. So I'd end up with 2 copies of the file, one in the In Progress folder and one in the In Proofing folder.
    Does anyone know how I can simply have the drive backed up like that?
    What do I do?
    Please help! I really need to make sure that the Captured Memories external drive is being backed up!

    I am having a similar problem. I initially set it up 3 days ago and had it back up just the iMac to Time Capsule (about 120 GB) which it did no problem (I initially had my LaCie drive excluded). I then un-excluded my other drive, where all my photos and music reside (about 130 GB). Since then, it keeps trying to back up about 102 GB each time. Looking at the list of backups it does not appear that it has ever successfully backed up the LaCie. I am not aware of any error messages, but I have not been home much. I normally shut down the computer at night but I have been leaving it on trying to let Time Machine do its thing. All I can say is that every time I am at the computer TM is running and it always looks like it is in the middle of backing up 102 GB (usually seems to be near the beginning, never seem to see it more than halfway done). Looking at the TM panel it says the latest backup was 2 days ago. I'd appreciate any advice!

  • Time machine won't backup, yet plenty of space & not much used on Mac HD

    Well, this is yet another "Time machine won't backup becuase there is not enough space" thread. I have searched Google and threads here but it's still a mystery why this error is occurring and it seems there is no clear solution. I also looked at the Apple Time Machine errors FAQ as well.
    Here are my specs and what I have tried so far.
    2010 Mac Pro Quad Core with 1 TB hard drive with 12 GB RAM. (137 GB used so far on internal Mac hard drive disk, so about 863 GB free space).
    - New external 1 TB hard drive initialized as Time Machine backup disk when inserted for the first time.
    The exact error I am getting is this: "This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 1.80 TB but only 999.20 GB are available."
    I have tried deleting the Time Machine system preference, reinitializing the external disk, clearing the system caches with Cocktail, restarting and letting Time machine ask me all over again if I wanted to use the external drive for Time Machine. Still the same error.
    My question is how on earth can 1.80 TB be required for the backup when I only have 137 GB of used space?

    danomatic12 wrote:
    My question is how on earth can 1.80 TB be required for the backup when I only have 137 GB of used space?
    Two possibilities:
    There's another disk (or disks) connected to your Mac. If they're formatted HFS+, Time Machine is trying to back it/them up as well. You can exclude them per #10 in [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). The 1.8 TB includes 20% for temporary workspace on the TM drive, so TM is estimating the backup at about 1.5 TB.
    Something on your internal HD is corrupted, causing an incorrect calculation. Verify your internal HD, per #6 in [Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/DU.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Using Snow Leopard+ forum).

  • Time machine won't backup. Says disk is full ( stand alone disk). Souldn't it delete enough to create new backup. Last backup was 7/20/11. When I click "enter time machine' it goes to mail screen and nowhere else.

    Time machine won't backup. Says disk doesn't have enough room. Shouldn't it delete old info to make space for new.
    When I click on "enter time machine" it takes me to the last backup 7/22/11 and doesn't allow me to go further back.

    No idea's?
    I'm starting to think I just need to delete the sparsebundle file altogether and start over again...

  • Time machine won't backup on second mac because it says sparsebundle is already in use?

    time machine won't backup on second mac because it says sparsebundle is already in use. What is the fix?

    Make sure that the first Mac is not backing up at the time....then....
    Pull the power cord from the back of the Time Capsule
    Count to ten
    Plug the power cord back into the back of the Time Capsule
    Try a backup again from the second Mac in a few minutes
    Post on your results

  • Creating Encrypted Time Machine Back Ups to a Network Hard Drive

    Hello all, I can't seem to create an encrypted Time Machine back up on a network hard drive.  Can this be done?  And if not, why not?  It seems that Macs have all the necessary functionality already available in Mac OS. Time Machine can create encrypted backups with multiple computers so what's the difference if it is to a network backup drive, honestly?  Any suggestions?
    My Set up:  Three Macs, Airport Extreme Base Station, Seagate 3 TB HD (with separate partitions for each computer's backups).  2 of the Macs use ethernet to connect to the network and one uses wireless regularly.  Basically, I'm trying to encrypt my family's backup drive and I don't know how or why I can't.
    Thanks in advance for the help.
    Appleguy514

    First, you need to know that backing-up that way is unreliable and not supported by Apple.   See:  Using Time Machine with an Airport Extreme Air Disk.
    Second, no, you cannot encrypt a network backup on Lion or earlier.  Only Mountain Lion.

  • Time Machine says both of my external hard drives require reformatting to case insensitive. What do I do?

    I have been successfuly using Time Machine to back my iMac  to an external hard drive (via usb) and everything has been fine for the last year. I have been using TM to back up to a HD called Terra LaCie via usb.
    A week ago, my iMac hard drive was full--so I spulrged and bought a 6 TB external hard drive (Western Digital My Book-Thunderbolt). I set up the new Thunderbold HD to use RAID 1 (mirror) and copied most of my iMac hard drive over to the Thunderbolt HD.
    I kept my working photographs (most recent) on my iMac and felt good to know my older photographs are on my new Thunderbolt hard drive.
    For a few days, Time Machine seemed to work fine (backing up my iMac to Terra LaCie HD. I haven't been concerned with backing up the Thunderbolt drive (as I feel that mirroring is same as backing up).
    Yesterday, Time Machine indicated the lastest back-up failed (for the HD called Terra LaCie). Now, when I go into Time Machine, the dialog box indicates the following message:
    "Are you sure you want to erase the backup disk “Terra Lacie”? Erasing will destroy all information on the disk and can’t be undone.
    The disk must be erased before it can be used for Time Machine backups because a disk you are backing up is case sensitive, but the backup disk is not."
    When I open Time Machine to look at my external hard drives (I also have a third usb portable drive); two of the three drives indicate the following:
    "reformat required; case insensitive disk".
    The small, portable hard drive (that I'm also using) doesn't say it needs to be reformated (but my new Thunderbolt and my old usb HD both indicate the same message (above).
    What should I do? I just spent days transferring my photographs from my iMac to my new Thunderbolt. Should I just not use Time Machine any longer and work from my Thunderbolt drive?
    Am I to understand that my iMac suddenly become case sensitive? Sorry if this was too much information about my hard-ware set-up.
    Any help someone can provide me would be greatly appreciated. I suppose I need to understand Time Machine and perhaps my Thunderbolt better.

    Hi BDAqua,
    Bravo, you helped me solve my problem.
    The Case Sensitive Disk was the small portable hard drive that I was using termporarily.
    I just disconnected it and I started TM machine and everything seems to be working just fine.
    Thank you very much!!!!

  • HT201250 I have thousands of pictures on my Mac.  If something happens to my Mac I don't want them lost.  I do time machine back ups to an external hard drive once a week.  Is this good enough for making sure my pictures don't ever get lost?

    I have thousands of photos on my Mac.  If something happens to my Mac obviously, I don't want to lose the photos.  I do Time Machine back ups to an external hard drive once a week.  Is this good enough to make sure my pictures don't get lost?

    tgs6164 wrote:
    I have thousands of photos on my Mac.  If something happens to my Mac obviously, I don't want to lose the photos.  I do Time Machine back ups to an external hard drive once a week.  Is this good enough to make sure my pictures don't get lost?
    Purchase a couple of these when they go on sale.
    Start burning all the photos onto DVDs. 
    At least you'll have all your photos if your computer, time machine or any other backup you use goes bonkers.

  • How can I get Time Machine to back up an external hard drive (iPhotos) that is attached to airport extreme base station. Note: Time machine is usb to macbook pro and external drive with iphotos is usb to airport extreme base station. Help please. Thanks!

    How can I get Time Machine to back up an external hard drive (iPhotos) that is attached to airport extreme base station. Note: Time machine is usb to macbook pro and external drive with iphotos is usb to airport extreme base station. Help please. Thanks!

    Once you have the drive connected to your Mac, click System Preferences (gear icon) on the dock
    Click Time Machine
    Click Options
    Be default, the hard drive will be Excluded from backups. Click the drive to highlight it, then click the "-" (minus) button at the bottom of the list to remove the drive from Excluded items.
    The drive will be backed up on the next Time Machine pass
    Everything above assumes that the hard drive has been formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as Time Machine will only backup drives in that format.

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