Uninstalling apps by means of time machine?

Hello. Please advice whether it is possible to uninstall apps by means of reverting to older version of Applications folder? I know I can revert to older version of Application folder in time machine backups but would that be sufficient? I am not sure if mac has windows-like registry that should be taken care of to uninstall apps properly? Don't want to leave any leftovers from the apps plus, of course, want to treat mac registry (if exists) well.
Thank you!

Restoring an older /Applications folder may not entirely delete all traces of any given app.
While it's not as horrendous as the Windows registry, it is possible for applications to store other data on your system. You don't (usually) need to worry about drivers, DLLs or other such cruft, but it's common for apps to store a user preference file (typically in ~/Library/Preferences), as well as various other data files in /Library/Application Support/<app name>/ so at the very least you should check those locations.
The same is true, though, if you just delete any specific app from /Applications, which is generally much easier than carpet-bombing your entire /Applications directory. In fact, I would *not* recommend restoring your entire /Applications from Time Machine because you may end up installing older versions of some applications without realizing it, and this could confuse things like the App Store updates (where it thinks it's downloaded the latest version of a given but you're restored/are running an older one).

Similar Messages

Pondini - Uninstall Lion back to SL Time Machine

Hello,
I'm probably asking this directly to Pondini, but any help gratefully accepted -
I am trying to follow Pondini's instruction on Time Machine FAQ n˚14 to uninstall Lion back to SL from a Time Machine back up using my orignal SL install disc.
When the disc window comes up and I click on Install I get this message (word for word - it's not good english and doesn't make sense to me) :
You can't install this version of the application Install Mac OS X with this version of Mac OS X
You have install Mac OS X 23.1.
I don't know where to go from here. I've also tried restarting holding down the 'C' key as per the instructions but only get a blank screen.
Help ! I'd really like to uninstall Lion.

I had tried a few times and kept getting the same message. I couldn't tell you now 'how' I got there but I think I was in System Preferences, or maybe Apps, and came in 'through a back door' as it were. I am not at all techy but I did it ! lol I also managed to restore from Time Machine the new iPhoto that I paid for whilst I was on Lion - now that did impress me ROFLAO
I'm a happy bunny now

How to access root apps folder again in Time Machine after a restore?

I just did a Time Machine full system restore which worked, but now it doesn't look like Time Machine is backing up my root level apps folder. All of my root apps were indeed restored, but if I try to go into Time Machine with my (root) Apps folder open, it switches the folder contents to my user apps instead so I don't have access to the root apps in TM. It doesn't appear to be backing them up at the root level anymore either (nothing in the exclusions that would cause this). Any ideas on what happened here? I have just one admin level account on this machine.

cubytus wrote:
Hi everyone,
I just reformated the MacBook hard drive using Extended HFS+, journaled partition to get rid of the case-sensitiveness, which is incompatible with just ONE of my softwares. As such, TM partition is formatted as Extended HFS+, journaled and case-sensitive.
This mis-match is likely to cause trouble in the future. If you have, for example, two files named "FileA" and "filea" in the same folder on the TM drive, and try to restore them to your case-ignorant HD, TM is going to have a problem. I've never tried it, so I can't tell you whether it will overlay the first one it restores with the second, or crash, or what, but it can't be done.
And you may have some of these without realizing it -- if you ever changed a capital to lower-case, or vice-versa, after a file's initial backup, it's a possibility.
Indeed, I checked directly in the Time Machine tree on the external hard drive with Apple+I keys, and 'cubytus' was not listed in the permissions.
No, TM automatically denies everything to everybody, among other things, in it's backups, to keep us mere mortals from messing with them. The original file permissions are kept separately, and TM should restore them along with the files, as they were.
What you're probably seeing is, the user that you're signed-on as won't have those permissions, once TM restores the files. I'd suggest trying the same procedure as your other, or original user -- see if you get the same message.

What does "OSStatus error -36" mean in Time Machine?

I'm getting intermittent errors with Time Machine. It will not back up to my external HD (LaCie d2 quadra). When this happens, the external HD cannot even by ejected (by Finder or Disk Utility). I have to turn it off. When I turn it back on and run Disk Utility Repair Disk it always says that the LaCie appears OK.
I don't know what's going on, but I'm suspecting it's the HD.
Any help?
The log says:
Dec 19 12:04:56 Roy-PowerBook com.apple.backupd[31851]: Starting standard backup
Dec 19 12:09:58 Roy-PowerBook com.apple.backupd[31851]: Error determining directory contents for /Volumes/LaCie 3TB: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x100507400 "The file “LaCie 3TB” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-36 "The operation couldn’t be completed. (OSStatus error -36.)" (I/O error (bummers)))
Dec 19 13:12:33 Roy-PowerBook com.apple.backupd[31851]: error reading subpaths of directory /Volumes/LaCie 3TB/Backups.backupdb: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x100510530 "The file “Backups.backupdb” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-36 "The operation couldn’t be completed. (OSStatus error -36.)" (I/O error (bummers)))

Thank you. I'd already been to Pondini's TM FAQs and had suspected that the problem was corrupted files or bad media. Only DriveGenius DrivePulse has ever given me any error messages about that LaCie, and it said only that the drive had errors and needed repair ASAP. Disk Utility of course found nothing to repair. A tech at ProSoft suggested corrupted files, saying bad TM files often cannot be detected by normal means and that then the only solution is as you said: backup, reformat, and restore the LaCie.
Unfortunately, the Backups.backupdb file is about 1.5 TB and I didn't have another drive that big to back up to. Now I do, so following the directions in "Time Machine: How to transfer backups from the current backup drive to a new backup drive" I backed up the backup to a new OWC drive. (The copying took about 20 hours.)
I certainly can't trust the LaCie until I can ascertain whether the errors were caused by corrupt files or bad media. At this point, I have little idea how to do that. After the holidays, I'll look into it.

Serious App Store Bug involving Time Machine

Here's the deal as far as I can figure out.
SOMEHOW, Mountain Lion has it in it's head that - even though I only bought my machine a month ago new and no one else has ever signed in, touched it or even so much as blinked at it or my apple ID - it thinks that I own an app that may have previously been backed up on the used drive I have attached to my machine even though that is not a real part of my system.See it is weird.. My App Store believes wrongly that I -> 1. Have an app installed that I have never had in my purchase history - but I must (sort of) still have within the bits on the time machine disk and 2. that my legitimately installed iLife apps brand new on the machine (iphoto included which currently is asking for an update also) were disseminated later in time and therefore the other ghost iLife apps on the unused portion of the timemachine backup were more legit by having simply been registered under another apple ID on someone else's rig before I did on mine with my own ID.. I now can't update my legit copies of iPhoto nor can I get rid of this solitaire app on my update list that I have never in fact seen or downloaded! It's not even in my purchases! I have tried every possible combo of logout, restart, I even stood on my head and spit rainbows out of my butt.. I cannot update iPhoto or do a darn thing! HELP!
JessanneS
Situation Summary:
Newly installed Time Machine with a used 1TB drive my friend gave me he didn't need.. this is the catalyst. -=>
The App Store is super CONVINCED I own an app (and I need to update it!) I've never bought or seen ever.. but MIGHT (this is my best guess!) have belonged to the last person using my newly installed and previously used as a time machine, 1tb Time Machine (get it?)
Also, The App Store is convinced that I have no way of updating iPhoto even though it came installed on my new machine last month and I am the only person who has signed into, set up, used an Apple ID on, or even touched my precious new iMac. So I can't update iPhoto (and that application seriously needs the update... so this *****! )
- my suspicion is that OSX Mountain Lion/App Store is convinced that the original person who had this used 1TB drive that I am now time machining with had iPhoto (and probably everything ever) backed up onto this drive and that somehow the OS is finding some type of registry codes (?) buried on it that it is interpretting as somehow more legitimate than my own currently.. maybe because they appeared first in time (as in before I even bought my new iMac?)
Anyway.. this is pretty seriously upsetting me at the moment. And I think a dev needs to look into this.
Thanks for any possible helpful suggestions. Please be kind, I'm sort of a newbie to Mac land.
JessanneS
Here is the annoying apple ID of the wrong person I don't even know who showing up.. it just so happens to have an email address local to my area so that is how I figured out that the drive I am using for Time Machine may be affecting my OS negatively..
<Edited By Host>

The MAS doesn't intend to peek on your network drives. As mentioned, it uses the spotlight indexing to see what's on your system. You can always re-index and mess around, but I wouldn't worry about it too much.
You may have noticed sometimes when mass storage is being indexed, this can take many hours. This is generally when people call AppleCare because they think Time Machine is broken It's not, it's just that millions of modes can take a while, even for a modern Mac.
I'll flag a moderator to move your image.

I want to start my Time Machine. I bought a Goflex Home which says it is compatible with my iMac but it refuses to download an update of the software. This means the Time Machine will not operate. What is the problem?

I want to start Time Machine. I bought a Goflex Home netwrork storage system, which says it is compatible with Imac. Each time I go online to try to get any updates, it always comes back saying Error. In other words, I can't start Time Machine because I can't get any software updates. Anyone else experiencing problems with Seagate software updates?

If you want to use Time Machine the Seagate software is unnecessary. The drive is probably ntfs format which is not for the Mac.
Manually preparing a new disk for Time Machine
If you want to erase a disk before using it with Time Machine, follow these steps:
Open Disk Utility (located in the Utilities folder).
Connect the disk if it isn't already attached.
In the left side of the Disk Utility window, select the disk you want to use with Time Machine.
Optional: If you want to partition the disk, click the Partition tab and select a layout. Make sure "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" is selected in the Format menu for the partition that will be used for backups. Click Apply.
Click the Erase tab.
Optional: If you want to securely erase the disk, click Security Options to configure, then click OK.
Click Erase.
After erasing, open Time Machine preferences in System Preferences and configure as described in the section above.
Reference: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427

Does anyone know what an error 16 means from Time Machine?

Does anyone understand the following error "The backup disk image could not be accessed (error 16)"

Not sure of the error code.. but the fault is just standard typical Mountain Lion losing its network marbles.
Restart the TC..
Restart the whole network if that doesn't work.
ML has forgotten where to find the disk.

Time machine copied my old files over new ones.

Sometimes the Macbook Pro would't load the desktop. Other times it won't load the password window. The backup drive booted up. I ran Norton anti-virus but found nothing.
The disc utility found the disc OK. But repairing permissions won't run. DiskWarrior gave the dreaded error 9972, which means any I one of 10 things could be wrong.
I noticed the Chrome icon had changed to blue, the color when Chrome first came out. Time machine had "updated" my files and apps back to 2009. What the ****. Have I lost all my work since I last backed up my disc in 2009? I had DiskWarrior rebuild the directory. But the disc still won't boot.
What caused time machine to load the backup over the new files?

jquin6 wrote:
The backup drive booted up.
Huh? What do you mean? Time Machine backups are not bootable.
I ran Norton anti-virus but found nothing.
That's well-known to wreak havoc on OSX. It may well be the cause of your problems. Uninstall it immediately. You may need help to do that, as it's also notoriously hard to get rid of all the bits it leaves behind.
Search this forum for Norton and you'll see what I mean, and find a link to an uninstaller.
Also see Thomas Reed's [Mac Virus Guide|http://www.reedcorner.net/thomas/guides/macvirus].
Have I lost all my work since I last backed up my disc in 2009?
You haven't backed-up since 2009?
I had DiskWarrior rebuild the directory. But the disc still won't boot.
Do you mean your Mac won't boot from the internal HD?
What caused time machine to load the backup over the new files?
Exactly what did you do? Did you tell it to restore that 2009 backup? If that's what you told it to do, that's what it did.
Please clarify, with details.

Imac won't restore from time machine backup after HD (hard drive) recall replacement

I have an imac bought in 2011, running Snow Leopard. It required an HD replacement due to the 1 TB Seagate recall - the replacement was done by a certified Apple repair station yesterday. Before the guy left he started a backup/restore from my latest time machine backup set. It failed. I attempted it two times and got error messages that it failed and the computer needed to be restarted to try it again. No luck. I called the guy back and he told me to call Apple Care. Not thrilled about that response since the guy had just left my house I did what he told me to do. (A quick sideline here: I recognize that a time machine backup should be no big deal and SHOULD work everytime, but it doesn't. It irks me that Apple is replacing my HD through no fault of mine and yet they don't allow the restore of data to be a "covered" expense in this process - this isn't just because this was an authorized repair guy - the Apple store would have done the same).
Back to the issue. When I called apple care they pretty much had me try the same thing again with an earlier back up set. To my knowledge, it didn't work. I say this because it looked like it was working and when I came back to the imac later, it had restarted and once again booted to the OSX install. (The boot disc is still in the imac). When I tried to boot from another location, one did not show up to boot from so I assumed that the data didn't transfer and it forced another restart. So, I tried something else. I tried to re-install the snow leopard OSX without using the restore function. That appeared to work and then when the machine restarted it asked if I had another mac and I chose the option to get the files/apps/etc. from my time machine backup. The computer chose what I can only assume is the most recent backup set (It chose what I know to be a subfolder that appears under the dated backup folder - Macintosh HD--which btw is confusing seeing as that's always the name of the HD on the imac). I again stepped away from the computer so it could do its thing for two hours. When I returned, I was back to the MAC OSX screen that asks you to choose a language. There were no more options to choose DISK UTILITY or RESTORE FROM BACKUP, etc. When I clicked on English it took me right back into the screen where you say whether you have another Apple that you want to transfer data from. I realized that the imac must have restarted and I assumed maybe it was because the boot disk was still in - except how do you get the disc to eject? I also initially assumed that the backup had somehow failed again and triggered a restart. I tried to choose the option to just set up the machine without transferring data and when I got to the choose a name for your HOME folder message I tried to enter the same name I had it as before and it wouldn't allow me to do so, saying that that name was already in use. I also tried a different name and that didn't work either - got the same message (I assume if it is not the same name that it won't sync up with the time machine data from the backup set). So, I almost tried the "select time machine backup" option again until I looked at my HD space. Clearly, there is space that has been used. HD space was 997 at the start and now it's 636. My initial thought is to somehow get back into the setup area where I can use disc utility and erase the whole thing and then start over but 1) I don't think it's going to work even if I could get back there 2) I have no idea how to get this thing to reboot into that mode 3) I can't get the boot CD out to even try to restart to see if this thing did what it was supposed to, SO NOW I AM TOTALLY STUCK! I have not called Apple Care back because quite frankly they were useless the first time. I have a call into the repair guy but who knows how much help he will be. In the mean time, I have a million things to do and a computer that isn't working - Whoever said Apples never have issues needs to be seriously censored!
A few other notes: I use Time Machine Editor to run my backups weekly. It was set up that way from the get go by an Apple rep who came to my house to get us up and running. Editor should not effect the way that time machine does its work, so I doubt there is relevance but thought it worth mentioning.
One other note is that the Apple Care agent tried to have me do something called a "Source" something or other from the disk utility screen but when she realized that my backup file (shown by date) contained many other sub files (11-27-12/MacintoshHD/MyNamesIMAC/etc.), it was not possible to run this operation - thus we aborted. Sorry I don't remember the name of the process and unfortunately now can't access that option to go find it.
If you can help me, I would be eternally grateful! I am open to having a phone conversation if you are willing to give me your email to mail you my number. I have so much work to do this week and this was the last thing I needed. Did I mention this was supposed to be EASY?
I used to be quite the geek with my PC - still on the learning curve with the mac but not enjoying it. I am fairly tech savvy and I can follow instructions for a step by step solution if you've got one.

I got a recall and had the drive replaced. I have retored 3 timesa dn even had apple do the job and it is still not right. I still can't get a simple ghost of the data from time machineback tot he new drive.
This is Apple's explaination as taken from their web page.:
Restoring your entire system from a backup
If you are restoring a backup made by a Mac to the same Mac
With your backup drive connected, start up your Mac from the Recovery system (Command-R at startup) or Mac OS X v10.6 installation disc. Then use the "Restore From Time Machine Backup" utility.
Note: If "You can't restore this backup because it was created by a different model of Mac" appears when restoring a backup that was made on a different Mac, follow the onscreen instructions.
I even posted this information on the community and apple removed it... because they don't like the:
Off-topic or non-technical posts
Non-constructive rants or complaints
But here is my experieince:
Take in 27iMac running 10.6.8, 5-7 days, what a joke, my boss will be happy to pay for a week without working. Finally get, "if you have TM back up, 3 days." Get machine back with 10.6.3, hit the R recovery, click TM back up, runs for 2 hours, reboots, looks great. Box up take back to office... update to install - OH NO, still running 10.6.3. Updates crash with no specific error on install, BUG PROBELM, nothing runs.
Call Apple... after hours, tells me to boot using 10.6.2 disk, wipe, reinstall OS, udate to 10.6.8, THEN do the restore. GREAT! Only thing 10.6.2 DVD won't read... now back on phone... take back to the store, Genius says, he'll ix it just like it was. PROMISES it'll be fixed.
Pick up next day, supposedly, booted to disk, wiped drive, reinstalled, updated to 10.6.8 and THEN did the RIGHT restore... Looks GREAT... apps run and 10.6.8 OS. Back to the office... NOT RUNNING right!!!... fonts messed up, drop box app needs new install, cocktail needs upgrade, Fetch not working, memorized paths gone... back ups locked out of permissions... ***!!
4 hours on phone with apple and still no rsolution - to missing "settings". Seems there are THREE WAYS TO RESTORE (according to apply tech)... Running MIGRATE ASSISTANT and being able to choose your files, including settings, "R" RESTORE after they load a new OS... or NOW WAITING for them to send me a bootable 10.6.3 disk and then boot from disk, w/o installing OS and doing a restore from TM. I think this is done via the disk Utilties application.
So now can't back up without doing a full 400 GB back up since permissons are screwed and possibly destroying any good back ups... can't work, like having hands tied behind back. WAITING for solution! Very upset!!!
I did my first restore just like they said and now an 10 days without proper machine. Just FYI. I thnk I am going to make the store do the tech work so I have somthing to fall back on.

Server problem with my imac - maybe due to Time Machine

I am new to macs but have jumped in the deep end and not so long ago bought an Air (love it) and even more recently bought a 2011 iMac (love it too).
Having set up my Air with apps etc I used Time Machine to install everything onto my iMac - it all worked remarkably smoothly.
I do have one problem though.
When I try to watch anything on Sky Player I get a c:1501 error.
I appreciate that you may have no idea about Sky Player - it's a UK online Tv service.
I have been on the Sky forums trying to resolve this but no joy.
I have tried removing and reinstalling Silverlight but to no avail.
I asked Sky to give me some kind of technical explanation that mac experts might understand - here it is:
"The C:1501 error usually indicates a problem connecting to the Sky Player servers, this is commonly found when proxy servers are used in your connection or a firewall has been set up to filter certain traffic.
There are a few instances we see where neither of these issues cause the problem however the most common as stated above is to do with network connectivity to the Sky Player Servers."
I suspect that Sky sees my iMac as a dupe of my Air and it doesn't like that.
Does this mean anything to you and if so can you help me?
Regards

Hello,
first time posting on any forum, whoopee for me ...
my solution was DRM ... got c:1501 when logged on as standard user, changed to super/administrator user and sky go/player worked.

Time machine and iPhoto '08

I asked a similar question on the iPhoto discussion list earlier today, and have had no luck, so now I will try the Time Machine discussion list.
I want to know why Time Machine "allowed" iPhoto '08 to migrate my backed up photo files and directory structures to the new "package" structure without my knowledge or permission?
I want to know why, when I go to the folder in Time Machine that contains my archived/backed up photos, the package directory backed up on, say, June 29th 2008 points to pictures that I uploaded LAST WEEKEND?
Does this mean that Time Machine's back ups of iPhoto are moot, b/c once corruption occurs, the fact that there is "one package to rule them all" will also mean that if a corrupted iPhoto db is backed up, then I will no longer have an uncorrupted file, even if my back ups go back months?
I understand iPhoto '08 updating my current photos in the Unix directory into the new "package" structure. I understand that the new "package" structure is supposed to save us from ourselves. I have read Devlin's advice on how to access the package files. I don't want advice on any of that.
I simply want to know WHY Apple has designed a software package that migrates BACKED UP DATA to the new, "approved" structure? That is like Microsoft designing software to seek out every .doc file I have and changing it to .docx.
I didn't want or expect my archives to be updated, and please save me the speech on how the package structure will save me from corrupting my iPhoto files, and how I "shouldn't" access my files through Finder, in the first place. I'm not interested in lectures on how I use my own computer.
I simply want to know why Time Machine allowed a software program to migrate the structure of my "archival" files without my knowledge or permission.
I also want to know if there is a way I can "undo" the iPhoto '08 migration in my back up files or if I am just stuck with this now. I plan to uninstall iLife '08, as after one weekend I am rather disgusted with iPhoto; I'll leave out my opinion of "Mobile Me".
I discovered this (the migration of my photo files to the iPhoto '08 package) when I went to Time Machine to reinstall my system to where it was prior to the install of iLife '08. I work in digital preservation (as much as there is such a field) and the entire idea that Apple has designed software to search around and migrate someone's archival data without the permission or knowledge of the owner is pretty stupid from a legal perspective.

I'll take the question to the Apple Genius Bar.

Does Time Machine back up USB Flash Drive?

I have a 128GB USB Flash Drive. The contents of this flash drive was restored from a previous external SSD (used as storage and has died on me).
Now I would like my Time Machine to backup both my MacAir and my USB Flash Drive.
My First Concern is
So when I plug in my USB Flash Drive, it appears in the Exclude List.
However, after I remove the USB Flash Drive from the exclude list and click on Save.
I start to Back Up using Time Machine.
Does it mean that time machine will back up my USB Flash Drive for this One Time?
Because when I open up the Time Machine preference, the USB Flash Drive re-appears in the Exclude List again.
Second Concern
When I open the HDD I use for Time Machine, I noticed that the latest backup consist of both my MacAir
and the name of my Previous External SSD (instead of my current USB Flash Drive).
I am wondering if Time Machine recognise my current USB Flash Drive as my previous external SSD
since I restored my contents from there.
So is my USB Flash Drive really backed up (just that Time Machine recognise it as my previous external SSD)?
Hope someone can share their experience and advice on this.
(Please do not recommend other app like Carbon Copy Cloner, as I already plan to use the CCC Trial.)
Thank you to all.

What is the format of the volume on the flash drive? It's shown in the Finder Info window.

A Few Little Time Machine Questions

I just got a 1TB External Drive from Western Digital (My Book Studio Edition.) I just used Time Machine on my Mac Book Pro and now all my files are backed up. But I have a few questions:
1. Does this mean that I don't have to manually drop and drag files into the External Drive?
2. Does this mean I can delete files off of my computer and retrieve them later from my External Drive? (If this seems like a dumb question, it's rooted in my misunderstanding of Time Machine - I'm not sure if it temporarily backs things up, backs things up only when you command it to, or backs things up permanently.)
Thank you!

crimson_ghost,
Your questions appear to be answered, but I'll chime in too with some (perhaps) additional information...
Time Machine is mainly a backup and recovery tool. It makes a comprehensive backup of your entire installation, including all installed applications and all user data. The intention is that you will be able to completely recover from any potential disaster, such as a total failure of your internal hard drive.
Each backup that Time Machine makes is a complete "snapshot" of your installation at the time of the backup, complete with each and every file on your computer. Time Machine is able to make this "complete" backup each time it runs- without consuming much, if any, additional disk space on the backup drive- by using an advanced file system feature called "multi-linked files." In this scheme, the data for a given file is only copied once to the backup drive, but multiple "hard links" that point to that data can be created. In effect, it is like having multiple phone numbers, all of which ring to the same phone. Each backup will contain one of these "hard links" that points to the data associated with a given file that has not changed since the last backup. If the file is new or has changed, the new data is copied to the backup, and a new string of hard links will be created. Since each additional hard link consumes almost zero space, many, many backups can be made without using much disk space.
An additional benefit of this Time Machine scheme is that we are able to "go back in time" to retrieve a file that may have been deleted from the "source," and there is a truly innovative interface for doing so. Some of the OS X and iLife applications even have "Time Machine awareness" built in, and the interface can be accessed from within those apps. Pretty cool.
However, this does not mean that Time Machine can be used as an "archive" tool. It can not be used in this manner, and you should not depend on using it this way! Especially if Time Machine is used in its "default" mode, where backups are made every hour, part of its routine is to regularly "thin" the backups. This process involves the removal of old backups that do not conform to the "one backup a day for the past week," "one backup a week until disk is full" rule. At some point, Time Machine will also begin to "expire" the very oldest backups, then remove them to make room for new ones. If you attempt to use Time Machine for "archival" storage of files that have been removed from the source (your installation), you will ultimately lose them.
Now, given the way Time Machine works, it will eventually consume all- or close to all- of the disk space given to it. So it makes sense to limit what we allow it to use. How much is appropriate, and how do we limit what it can use? That's easy enough to answer...
Time Machine needs at least twice the amount of space necessary for the initial backup. I say "at least," because it will work best when given closer to 3 times the amount of space needed. If your installation of OS X, including all your user data and applications, amounts to 100 GBs for example, you'll need to give Time Machine at least 200 GBs, and my recommendation would be more like 300 GBs. If you do not give it at least this much space, your backups will eventually fail. Time Machine first makes a new backup when it runs, and then goes about checking to see what can be deleted from the older backups. Because of this, it must always have plenty of "headroom."
Giving Time Machine more than the stated "3X" figure, though, is wasteful of precious disk space that could be used in more beneficial ways. For instance, by using that disk space for "archival" purposes
In order to limit what we give to Time Machine, it is necessary to partition the external drive. Multiple logical volumes can be created, and we can size these volumes to meet the needs of Time Machine. For various reasons (I could explain, if needed), I always recommend that the first partition be used for Time machine backups. If you do not know how to use Disk Utility to partition your external drive, just ask.
Scott

Time Machine deletes old files without notice

Once in a month I intiate the Back Up Now command
Time Machine works about 30 minutes and then anounces it could not backup
Then I see most of my old backups in the Trash. I could not recover them.
There is now 40 Gb space on the external hard disk but it seems not enough
The computer has about 70 Gb data.
Does it mean htat Time Machine backs up 70 Gb each time I initiate the Back Up Now ?
I also looked into Preferences: it is checked to receive a warning before old backups are deleted
But I did not get a warning.
WHat can I do now ?

Bomiboll wrote:
I had to trash all the backups. Then I had to empty the Trash or otherwise the external hard disk was still not empty and so TM asked for more space. It was quite time consuming, took more than 2 hours
To trash all the backups, all you have to do is erase the partition -- takes seconds.
But we still don't know what's going on. Again:
What message did you get when it failed earlier? Post the messages for that backup from the widget.
How much data is on your Mac, and how large is the backup drive?
Then I made a backup of about 55 Gb and that took another hour.
That's about right for USB2 or FireWire 400. How is your drive connected?
I would like to make it speedy but how ?
The first backup will take a while, as it copies nearly everything; subsequently, only additions and changes will be backed-up, so should be fairly quick under normal circumstances -- a few minutes at most.
But if you only back up once a month, it will be much longer, and sometimes Time Machine will do a full backup. It's designed to back up changes hourly.
Now that I have my backup, I wonder where is the mail app which has mails on My Mac, where is Reminders and Notes etc. I cant find them on the Backup.
For Mail and Notes, see the blue box in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #15.
I'm not sure where Reminders are.

Time Machine backups disappeared... in a way.

I've been having problems with my iMac for months now. I'm feeling like I'm on Microsoft PC again... not even joking.
I had to bring it to the Genius bar 4 times, first time my HDD was failing, was replaced (no more AppleCare so, shucks), but it started behaving even worst after that... they changed it AGAIN, I changed and upgraded the RAM to no avail, they did diagnostics, all was in fine condition... so their only idea was corrupted files or prefs.
So I reinstalled OS 10.8 clean and imported everything but the prefs (to start) and it seemed to do the trick... for about a month. And it went bad again.
Main problem was Finder : wouldn't see anything plugged in USB (or would stop seeing it after a few seconds/min), would get sluggish, I wouldn't be able to shut it off...
I got the SBBOD regularly, in any app...
And MAINLY... if I restarted or shut off and re-started, I would get stuck on the grey login screen... with no actual login screen (just the grey fabric-like background). Or, sometimes, just the white screen after the "dong", spinning gear, or not, apple icon, or not.
All in all... bad.
So... I re-installed OS 10.8 from scratch, AGAIN. But didn't import anything.
I had a fresh backup in Time machine AND I used Carbon Copy Cloner to get a full copy of my HD (not a startup disk, just the files). I also copied my documents on my macbook, just to be on the safe side.
(side note: to those intereste, is the iMac running well now? Seems so. But last time it did too, for almost a month... so I can't trust it at all, I don't dare start to use it as my main computer again, I don't know what to re-install and how long to run it before installing the next app to be sure I could put my finger on what the **** problem was, if indeed it WAS coming from my side and not something in the hardware!)
Main bug...
As I said, before I pulled the plug and did the clean install, I made sure I had a full, fresh backup on TM.
Now, if I plug in my backup HDD and look inside, I see, indeed, that the latest backup is from a few days ago. And if I open it, everything seems to be there (as far as I can tell. I'm far from being a newbie but I couldn't know if all the hidden files are there for all apps)
BUT... if I open, say, the Finder or Mail app and go in Time Machine to bring back "lost" files... it says my last backup (or last available files) are from 3 MONTHS AGO! Which is when my HDD first failed.
What the heck?!
Now... I'm happy to see the backups are in fact, there. But how do I access those files?
Why don't they show up?
Does it mean that nothing in Mail was backed up? Why wouldn't it be? (No, it wasn't selected as "exclude from backup")
Plus... all my documents are there in the latest backup... so, shouldn't they show up when I try to see them in Finder/TM?
Thanks!

Hey...
I'm not sure I get what you mean... do you mean if you move your mouse around on the grey "fabric" screen you eventually can "guess" where to enter your login and it eventually works?
In my case I also can move the mouse around, but I never got it to change to anything other than the arrow, and the Genius couldn't get it to do anything either... the only solution is to shut the computer off manually, unplug it from the wall, wait 10 sec, replug it, wait another 10 sec and try again...
(they tried all the possible options of starting with CTRL-this and shift-CTRL-that and nothing had worked)
Now we're getting off topic, but I'm happy to see I'm not alone!
And right now I'm almost happy because my iMac seems to be getting buggy again! Yup, almost happy because it's better than not knowing... and because it proves that it wasn't my data, HA! I knew it didn't make sense!
I tried to change preferences in Finder (show hard drives and start with Home folder screen) and it wouldn't take effect... I also got the SBBOD... so I tried to restart my computer... and now it wouldn't because iPhoto is unresponsive (I was using it with my externa HDD, but just so you know, last time things bugged it had not been used at all)...
AND... I also got the error message that "this disk has not been ejected properly"... while all my external HDDs have not been touched and my energy settings are set to NEVER go to sleep (except the screen). That had been a symptom before too. And killed an HDD or 2.
Isn't this fun.
Anyone knows how long the AppleCare repair lasts for? Is it for 90 days after the last time they had it, or since they first did ANY repair? 'cause I only have a few weeks left if it's the latter...

Uninstalling apps by means of time machine?

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