Use time machine to save both the iMac hard drive data & an external one

Can i program time machine to save both the iMac hard drive data & an external one

Yes, but it's not advised because it's placing too many backups into one hardware basket, also it will greatly shorted your TimeMachine states where you can go back in time to undelete a file.
It's better to have two backups, each on seperate hardware of each drive.
So if you have a boot drive and a external drive, you should have a clone drive and TimeMachine drive of the boot drive, and a backup drive of the external drive. (or two depending how valuable the data is)
If you drop a drive, or knock it over while it's running, all the data could be lost.
With only TimeMachine as your backup, if you drop or lose it, or if it gets stolen, it takes two backups with it.
A clone and a backp of the external drive stored safely off site is ideal, update it once a week or bi weekly as needed.
A clone is bootable, and is exactly like your boot drive, up in seconds.
A TimeMachine can only boot to restore to a new drive if your boot drive dies for some reason.
read more here
Most commonly used backup methods

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HT201250 I have two external hard drives. One is my Time Machine backup drive. The other I use for external storage of files (documents, photos, movies, etc). Can I set Time Machine to backup BOTH my Mac hard drive and my other external hard drive?

I have two external hard drives. One is my Time Machine backup drive. The other I use for external storage of files (documents, photos, movies, etc). Can I set Time Machine to backup BOTH my Mac hard drive and my other external hard drive?

Yes you can make multiple backups on one hard drive, for example if you’ve 1TB hard drive installed in your PC and you’ve two Mac Machines with 500GB drive each then you just make two backup images with size of 500GB each.
http://www.halfspot.com/use-your-pc-hard-drive-for-time-machine-backup/

Can I use time machine to back up via a hard drive connected by USB to a HomeHub router?

Can I use time machine to back up via a hard drive connected by USB to a BT HomeHub router? Is there a better way to back up and store files than via the USB port on my new MacBook Pro? I'd like storage to be accessible from my earlier version MacBook too.

I think you want to make backups without connecting a hard disk via USB. In other words, you want to have the data storage be shared in your home wirelessly.
If this is the case, I recommend using a Time Capsule.
Time Capsule works great with Time Machine. You can set up all your devices to automatically make backups on the Time Capsule wirelessly and effortlessly.

Time Machine doesn't see the WD Hard drive attached to the AEBS

I've been having issues of dropped connections with my WD HD connected to the AEBS vis USB. My backups have been failing and I sometimes get this error message:
The server may not exist or it is not operational at this time. Check the server name or IP address and your network connection and try again.
I wouldn't mind if I had to start over by trashing prefs but, in the Time Machine preference window I can't select the HD connected to AEBS as it doesn't show in the Change Disk window.

sperkins921 wrote:
I'm having an issue with my external HD not being recognized as a drive for Time Machine. Is it because it's NTFS formatted?
Yes. It must use either the GUID (preferred for Intel) or +Apple Partition Map+ (preferred for PPC Macs) *Partition Map Scheme,* and the +Mac OS Extended (Journaled)+ Format.
Is there anything I can do?
Yes. Make two (or more) partitions, which you should do anyway if you want to put anything on the drive besides TM backups. Use the first for TM, format the other(s) however you want. See item #5 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* at the top of this forum.
Also, should I be able to create a back up file on the internal drive? Not even that drive appears in the list.
Not in the same partition as OSX. You could make a second partition there, but you'd get a warning from TM reminding you that it's not a good idea to have your originals and backups on the same drive.
Sorry for noob style questions- I never bothered with TM before, and having my other MBP stolen has led me to want to use it....
Yup, most of us learn things the hard way, don't we?
You might want to review these:
Time Machine Tutorial
Time Machine 101
How to back up and restore your files
Time Machine Features
Apple - Support - Mac OSX v10.5 Leopard Time Machine
and perhaps browse the rest of the FAQ Tip.

Time Machine doesn't see the WD Hard drive attached to the Extreme Base Sta

All of a sudden I can't get Time Machine to recognize the drive that's been attached to the Base Station.
It doesn't show up in Browse other time machine disks or, when I go to choose a back up disk.
What's going on?

Try connecting it directly to your Mac. If it still doesn't appear, see if Disk Utility (in your Applications/Utilities folder) can see it. If not, and it has a separate power supply, that may be the problem. Otherwise, you need to go disk shopping.
If the Mac does see it when directly-attached (don't try to do anything with it), then the problem must be in the AEBS, communications, security, or network. For that, you may do better in the Airport and Time Capsule forums, hiding in the +Digital Life Section+ at: http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=140

If I use Time Machine to back up my internal hard drive will it back up VMWare Fusion and Windows Xp?

Apple tells me I need to back up my Seagate 1Tb HD so they can replace it I have just spent several days getting stuff onto it and don't want to re-install XP if I don't have to. VMWare Fusion is running XP (NOT on boot camp). Does Time Machine back up the whole thing?

I am assuming when you refer to the Seagate 1tb drive, you are referring to an internal drive on your Mac?
Time Machine will automatically back up your virtual machine if it is running on your Mac hard drive, unless you have excluded it in Time Machine Preferences. However beware, it will back up an entire copy every time you do anything with your virtual machine, and will rapidly eat up your backup drive space (I lost 6 months of backups doing this) so it is usually better to backup from within Windows to a separate drive.
Presumably you just want to do a one-off backup of the Virtual machine so you can restore it after the drive is replaced. If so, go to the Time machine Preferences pane in System Preferences and click the Options button. If your virtual machine is not listed in the excluded files list it will be automatically backed up. If it is listed, remove it from the list and run a manual backup (it will probably take quite a long time and you will need to make sure you have enough disk space on your backup drive). Then check your backup disk to ensure it is there. Then if you don't want it to backup lots of copies of the VM, go back into preferences and exclude it again.

I want to know about time machine if i can use the hard drive that i use for time machine back up as a normal hard drive too or if it's only for time machine

I want to know about time machine if i can use the hard drive that i use for time machine back up as a normal hard drive too or if it's only for time machine
and if it yes i want to know if i have 1TB hard disk to use the 500gb for time machine and the other 500gb for normal use

thank you very much because i am considering to buy the porsche design hard disk 1TB and i want to have it for normal use and for time machine is a pitty to give 1TB for back up only again thanks and i know seperate the back and the working jobs are better but the i have to have 2 hardisks and i want only 1

How can I restore files from my old iMac to this new purchased MacBook Air? I am using time machine backup in my old imac.

How can I restore files from my old iMac to this new purchased MacBook Air? I am using time machine backup in my old imac.

Hi,
Try Target Disk Mode
OS X Yosemite: Transfer files between two computers using target disk mode
There is also Migration Assistant.
OS X Yosemite: Transfer your info from a computer or storage device

Is it possible to reinstall Mac OS X Lion on MacBook and then use Time Machine to restore to the previous backup I made before reinstalling Mac OS X Lion?

Is it possible to reinstall Mac OS X Lion on MacBook and then use Time Machine to restore to the previous backup I made before reinstalling Mac OS X Lion?

My MacBook was not normally booting up. It would turn on, make the Apple startup noise, and the bottom loading bar would progress just a little bit, then my MacBook would shut down. I tried rebooting it many times and the same thing would happen, it would just shut down. Then, I read that I can reset the PRAM (by holding Option+Command+P+R after the Apple startup noise comes). That worked, but now I get a screen that asks me to choose one of the 4 options (see: http://images.macworld.com/images/article/2012/07/lionrecoveryutilities-289404.j pg). I choose Restore From Time Machine Backup, but it progresses to 17.6% and gets stuck there forever. I tried doing it again, and it got stuck at 17.6% again. That is why I am asking if I should just reinstall Lion, then restore a previous backup on the fresh new Lion?

HT3275 Error: Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to (drive). The backup image (volume).sparesebundle is already in use.

I have rebooted in Mountain Lion (all updated)on my MacBook Pro and keep getting this error:
"Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to (drive). The backup image (myvolume).sparesebundle is already in use.)
I have a 2TB time machine with about 240GB left. Any ideas?
Thanks, Jeff

Please look over to the right side of this page under the heading of More Like This for multiple answers and solutions.

Will using time machine also save online user names?

Will using time machine also save online user names, such as online banking, forum login etc.?

If you're using a web browser which remembers that information, yes.
(107065)

I purchased Apple TV. I had to upgrade my OS to Lion which I did. I cannot get Lion to open because time machine is backing up to two hard drives, my external hard drive and my internal hard drive. How do I just get the backups going to the external? thx

I have a desktop Mac. I bought Apple tv and wanted to connect my photos to the tv. I learned that I had to upgrade my OS as I didn't have icloud capability. I purchased and downloaded Lion. I cannot open it however, because when I go to select the hard drive to install Lion onto, the dialogue box says that I cannot open it in either my external hard drive or the internal hard drive because of the backups to time machine. I have tried the 'fix' of moving the backup folder to the trash and then putting it on the desktop, but I still can't access either one of the drives to install Lion. Any suggestions? Thanks.

The current OS is Mountain Lion 10.8.3, so I if the purchase was recent, that is what you should have.
It should be possible to see what disk space is being used by opening the Disk Utlity in the Applications>Utilities folder. It looks like both disks are set as TM disks:
If you have Time Machine backup of both the internal and external disks and want to rationalise the system to only backup one, then set the TM preferences>options to exclude volumes as required:
When you download the installer from the Apple Store (MAS) it will come up with a dialogue to run it. It will then ask which disk you wish to install the system on. Is this where you have got to, before it says they are both unavailable?

Since installing Lion, I have not been able to utilize Time Machine (does not recognize the back-up drive); my wireless mouse does not function properly; I have experienced unreasonable delays in the system. Is there a fix or upgrade coming?

Is there a fix or upgrade to deal with the many problems I am experiencing since I installed Lion? I can no longer utilize Time Machine (Does not see the back-up drive); my wireless mouse does not work properly; my iMac has slowed down considerably. I am reminded of having a PC machine again. Bummer!

Either downgrade to Snow Leopard or try reinstalling Lion.
Reinstalling Lion Without the Installer
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alterhatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You can also re-download the Lion installer by opening the App Store application. Hold down the OPTION key and click on the Purchases icon in the toolbar. You should now see an active Install button to the right of your Lion purchase entry. There are situations in which this will not work. For example, if you are already booted into the Lion you originally purchased with your Apple ID or if an instance of the Lion installer is located anywhere on your computer.
Downgrade Lion to Snow Leopard
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, 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. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard (see below.) I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner 3.4.1.
If you have Snow Leopard Time Machine backups, do a full system restore per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions. If you have subsequent backups from Lion, you can restore newer items selectively, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 there, but be careful; some Snow Leopard apps may not work with the Lion files.

I just had to reformat the external hard drive that houses my iPhoto library, then restore it from a backup. Now Time Machine is telling me my backup hard drive suddenly does not have the space to complete a backup. I also noticed when I go in to Time Mac

I just had to reformat the external hard drive that houses my iPhoto library, then restore it from a backup. Now Time Machine is telling me my backup hard drive suddenly does not have the space to complete a backup. I also noticed when I go in to Time Machine, there are only about 5 backups recorded on the ext. hard drive. There were many more before. Any idea what happened and if I have to buy a new back up hard drive?

Hallo Kieth ,
I am not quite ready to restore the full iphoto library , as I have days of work re - imputting titles,descriptions and enhancement . I hope that your suggestion works , as I use my Macbook basically to work with digital photography. Through time , I will need to delete my library to recover more disc space and I would hate to have to spend more time re - imputting titles and descriptions all over again .
Thanks for your interest and advice.
regards - Alan

I have a time machine backup file on a USB hard drive. I bought a time capsule / airport extreme, flat 3TB. I wish to transfer the backup file from the usb hard drive to the time capsule hard drive. 10.6.8

I have a time machine backup file on a USB hard drive. I bought a time capsule / airport extreme, flat 3TB. I wish to transfer the backup file from the usb hard drive to the time capsule hard drive. 10.6.8

Unfortunately, Time Machine backups that are stored on a drive that has been connected directly to a Mac are completely different than Time Machine backups that are stored on a Time Capsule.
Frankly, it is not worth the effort and trouble to try to transfer the old backups to the new Time Capsule.....my opinion....having done this in the past.
It is possible though, but I would not recommend it due to the complexity and downsides involved with this. To give you an idea of how to do this, check out this support article.
http://pondini.org/TM/18.html
Even if you transfer the "old" backups over to the Time Capsule successfully, Time Machine will not simply "add on" to the old backups.
Time Machine will make a new complete backup of your Mac and then add incremental backups from that point.
My advice.....start a new backup on the Time Capsule and move forward. Keep the USB hard drive around for a month, maybe 2 or 3 in case you need to go back to an old backup for some reason. At that time, you will not likely need the old backups at all since you will have a current 2-3 month history of new backups. At that point, you can erase the USB drive and use it for another purpose.

Use time machine to save both the iMac hard drive data & an external one

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