Trouble Backing Up with Time Machine

I have a 2007 iMac, 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 500GB. Last week my hard drive died so I had to have it replaced. Luckily I use Time Machine with a 1TB external, partitioned so that the iMac backs up to a 500GB section, so the technicians were able to do a complete restore. However, upon returning home and trying to resume backing up, the backups have been failing, saying that there is not enough room on the external partition. I just erased the last backup and have no other backups on there now, so it's basically empty, but I still keep getting the message that it needs over 500GB (about 520 GB) to complete the backup. The iMac currently has 470 GB used. I've run "Verify Disk" for the external in Disk Utility, and excluded everything reasonable o try to reduce the amount being backed up, and I still keep getting the message that more space is needed. Ideas? FYI: I don't want to erase and reformat the external because the other partition has my music files.

When googling "time machine error 11" you'll be getting a lot of stories... and only few solutions. This one might work for you, too.

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Back-up with Time machine is soooo slow.

First back-up with Time Machine. I have a lot of pictures but not much else - but bout 80 GB. Not using encryption.
The back-up has now run for 24 hours - and has only managed to back-up 8 GB - reminaing time estimated to 8 days !
Back-up by wire to external hard disc (USB 3.0 for HD and 2.0 for Mac)
Is this normal?
Anything I could do to speed it up?

You want Lion and MacBook Pro forums.
Yes TM is slow but it depends on the drive interface and disk drive and whether they have trouble with Mac or Lion (or ML)
I prefer to clone and use one partition for that, say 200GB out of your (1.5TB?) drive and use the rest for TM.
How to clone your system:
http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone-backup.html
http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone.html
TimeMachine 101
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
http://pondini.org/TM/Home.html
http://www.apple.com/support/timemachine/
Time Machine stops backing up to external disk
Mac 101: Time Machine Get to know the ins and outs of Time Machine.
Time Machine: Troubleshooting backup issues

I can't back up with time machine to WD my book live

I can't back up with time machine to WD My Book Live home network disk. I get this error : The network backup disk does not support the required AFP features.

This is more a network problem than a disk error..
Reboot.. the network.. restart in correct order.. modem router /TC.. clients with 2min gap.
If you have trouble reset TM and redo it.
See A4.. http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

I have had a series of Macs. They have been backed up with Time Machine. I am trying to restore TM backup files from the older Macs using my new MacBook Pro. No go. What do I do ?

I have had a series of Macs. They have been backed up with Time Machine. I am trying to restore TM backup files from the older Macs using my new MacBook Pro. No go. What do I do ?

I am trying to restore TM backup files from the older Macs using my new MacBook Pro. No go.
Migration Assistant (Finder > Applications > Utilities > Migration Assistant) is the tool that you would use to restore backups from older Macs to another Mac.
Details are here: http://pondini.org/OSX/MigrateLion.html The same info applies for Mavericks and Yosemite. If you are saying that this is a "no go".....where are you getting stuck? What error messages do you see?

The first time I connected my new My Passport portable hard drive to my Mac, the message asking if I want to use the drive to back up with Time Machine did not appear. What is the next step?

The first time I connected my new My Passport portable hard drive to my MacBook Pro, the message asking if I want to use the drive to back up with Time Machine did not appear. I would like to set it up to do this. What would my next step be?

Drive Partition and Format
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. 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. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply 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 Security 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.
Open Time Machine preferences to select this drive for use as the backup drive. Turn on Time Machine.

I just fix my macbook air because it was kernel panic. They changed the hard drive. I could not back up with Time Machine, because it did not work and I had over Adobe creative suite 5 design premium student. But I finished my studies last year and I'd li

I just fix my macbook air because it was kernel panic. They changed the hard drive. I could not back up with Time Machine, because it did not work and I had over Adobe creative suite 5 design premium student. But I finished my studies last year and I'd like to know how to get the serial number for me to reinstall Adobe creative suite 5 design premium when I am no longer study because I would still like the used? It is not fair if I do anymore because I really need.

You can download Creative Suite 5 here:
Other downloads
To deal with the issue of the serial number and using it again, you'll have to use Web Chat. Here's a link:
Adobe ID, sign in, and account help
See the bottom of the page for a link

Can i do work on my mac while it is backing up with time machine?

can i do work on my mac while it is backing up with time machine?

Doing backups should have hardly any impact on the Mac itself.. so if by work you mean typing a document or working with photos or something local it will have very little impact.. it is only internet connection that will be affected..
And incremental backups that are usually small should be over in a minute or two.. even by wireless. If your backups are huge each time.. there is something being backed up that should not be.. eg a parallels virtual disk. Or a local drop box. Where small changes internally to a file of very large size makes the TM do another whole backup.

HT1553 i am upgrading my 2008 macbook to an ssd drive and want to save my settings. how do i save then? I have my files backed up with time machine ,but dont want to restore all files ,as there might be some junk backed up too. Help will be appretiated

i am upgrading my 2008 macbook to an ssd drive and want to save my settings. how do i save then? I have my files backed up with time machine ,but dont want to restore all files ,as there might be some junk backed up too. Help will be appretiated

When you restore from a Time Machine back up you can pick and chose what is restored. It is not an all or nothing process. Nor do you have to do the partial restores all at the same time. If days after the first partial restore you find something else you want you can restore just that.

My macbook pro mid 2009 OSX Lion 10.7.4 randomly Hanging when backing up with Time Machine

My macbook pro mid 2009 OSX Lion 10.7.4 randomly Hanging when backing up with Time Machine to Time Capsule. Anyone else have this issue?

bumping this up. Same issues persist even with 10.7.5

Kernel Panic while backing up with Time Machine - now everything is GONE!

I got a kernel panic while i tried to back up with Time Machine....when i shut down the computer, and restarted it (with the external still plugged in, and on), it came up with an error message that said
"The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer."
And my three options were to "Initialize...", "Ignore", or "Eject"...
I didn't hit either of those buttons, i was trying to contact apple for support only to find out that i am just a week past my minimum 90 day telephone support, so i am trying to scrape up enough to order the APP immediately.
However, in the meantime, everything on my external harddrive is gone...Disk Utility doesn't even see that there was once a Partition on that drive, and thus, it is not showing up on my desktop, and there is no information to be recovered...everything is gone.
This is kind of ironic because i was just reading an article about how people are losing their info on their User account after having the Guest Accounts enabled....logged into guest, and back out of guest...
I am a part of one of those statistics because i do NOT have the Guest account enabled at all...
Can anybody else help me with this?

where can i find the panic.log?
I did a spotlight search with no results.
I checked /Library/Logs, and didn't see a panic.log
I also checked ~/Library/Logs and didn't find a panic.log either....i was unable to find anything related to a kernel panic log, or anything.
Could you point me in the right direction for this please? Could it be that i had a kernal panic, and it did not record the log?
So what can i do to correct this?
Disk Warrior didn't detect the drive, and zapping the PRAM didn't correct it either.
I keep getting the error message i posted previously.
I even tried to plug the drive into my old 15" PowerBook G4 running 10.4 tiger to see if i could see the drive appear on the desktop, and i also got the same error there as well.
If i go into Disk Utility, into Partition, i have to create a Partition. There is absolutely nothing on the drive at all. Everything is gone because of a kernal panic - which happened when i was trying to use Time Machine to back up the drive.
I'm 1/2 afraid to do anything at the moment because i want to figure out what happened to the data i lost on my Time Machine backup drive, and how to get it back...at the same time, i'm afraid of losing all my information on my computer as well since people are having issues with the so called Guest Account issue that wipes everybody's user account's information.
Is there another scenario for this, could it be not just Guest Accounts deleting a users home folder, but also kernal panics related to Time Machine, which end up erasing your entire Time Machine backup drive too?
Apple really needs a fix for this and should somehow reward us with something for the unprofessionalism in their own technology.
Message was edited by: tool

I replaced the original hdd in my early 2008 iMac. I can't move my files that were backed up with Time Machine to my new hdd using Migration Assistant. When prompted to select the "from drive", the ext. hhd does not appears as a selection. Please help!!

I replaced the original hdd in my early 2008 iMac. I can't move my files that were backed up with Time Machine to my new hdd using Migration Assistant. When prompted to select the "from drive", the ext. hhd does not appears as a selection. Please help!!

I'd recommend staring over, Pondini has created an excellent guide on how to use Setup Assistant. I'd recommend begin reading Pondini Setup Assistant tips where he talks about "Second Chance." Assuming your Time Machine backup is sound the restore should be very smooth.
Roger

Macbook backs up with time machine to time capsule, imac won't

I'm going nuts, and have spent hours trying to fix this. My family moved from PCs to macs a couple of years ago- we've got three Macs having varying success backing up with time capsule. 1. Our macbook backs up with time machine to time capsule- it even backed up today. 2. Recently attempted to back up the imac for the first time- it starts backing up (maybe 3%) but stops and I end up getting an error message-it has never backed up- 3. The macbook pro has backed up many times but recently has not backed up. It gets the same error message as the imac when time machine is used to back up to time capsule. As an added treat, i attempted to backup the imac with time machine to an external hard drive, it began backing up, stopped and I got the same error message: "time machine error unable to complete backup an error occurred while copying files." Little help!

dilagan wrote:
i attempted to backup the imac with time machine to an external hard drive, it began backing up, stopped and I got the same error message: "time machine error unable to complete backup an error occurred while copying files." Little help!
Yes, that message is not some of Apple's best work.
Most likely, there's a damaged/corrupted file that Time Machine is choking on. See #C3 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum).
If you're getting a different message from the Pro, see #C2.

My Imac drive just died. Always backed up with Time machine to a WD My Passport. But after connecting it to my other imac (also running Snow Leopard) all the files are missing. I click on backup.backupdb but no files - just applications. Any ideas?

My Imac drive just died. Always backed up with Time machine to a WD My Passport. But after connecting it to my other imac (also running Snow Leopard) all the files are missing. I click on backup.backupdb but no files - just applications. Any ideas?

Welcome to the Communities.
We want to help you but unfortunately you have given us insufficient information.
Please find a moment to tell us more about your machine, the model identifier, the OS version, and the total amount of RAM you have. It also helps to know where you are, nothing specific, just the country. Macs do not run on iOS 6.1.6 as your profile says.
Then fill those same details in your profile for future use
These documents may prove helpful .. Solving Time Machine problems Pondini FAQ
http://pondini.org/TM/ Troubleshooting.html

Can't back up with Time Machine.

Hi, Im having troble with time machine. When I tried to back up today this error occured.
The problem may be temporary. Try again later to back up. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk.
Repaired back up with both Disk Utility & Drive Genius. Disk seems to be working fine. But, it won't back up.
Any help will be appreciated.

This is more a network problem than a disk error..
Reboot.. the network.. restart in correct order.. modem router /TC.. clients with 2min gap.
If you have trouble reset TM and redo it.
See A4.. http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

HT1553 DO I HAVE TO HAVE THE ORIGINAL INSTALLATION DISCS IF MY HARD DRIVE IS REPLACED BUT I MADE A BACK UP WITH TIME MACHINE TO AN EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE ?

I have an imac from late 2009 and received an email saying the seagate hard drive may fail and apple is going to replace it free of charge. I will back up using time machine to an external hard drive but do I absolutely have to have the original installation CD's or is there a way around this to restore the computer once they replace the hard drive??

Yes, you can partition your 2TB drive that way. In fact, I have an external hard drive with 3 partitions: one for a SuperDuper! clone of my Snow Leopard partition, one to clone my Lion partition, and one larger partition for Time Machine (which only backs up the Lion partition).
I would expect the authorized reseller to have a complete set of OS X disks.

Trouble Backing Up with Time Machine

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