Using 2 time machines on one mac

Can anyone tell me if there are any issues in having two time machines ( in two different locations ) to be used on the same MacBook Pro ?

Time Machine backups up everything on the MacPro, so both user accounts are being backed up.
Each user can only access their own respective backups....unless they have the log on password for the other user and log on as the other user.
When the MBP comes back from repair, then it will resume backing up to the "other" backup drive that is normally used with the MBP.

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I am trying to upgrade from Tiger to Snow Leopard. When I insert the disk and install starts, it states "This disk is used for Time Machine backups" and Mac OSX can't be installed. Does anyone know how to correct this (since Tiger doesn't have Time Mach

I am trying to upgrade from Tiger to Snow Leopard. When I insert the disk and install starts, it states "This disk is used for Time Machine backups" and Mac OSX can't be installed. Does anyone know how to correct this (since Tiger doesn't have Time Machine)?

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2986

Multiple Time Machines on One Mac

I have an iMac with two volumes.
I would like to use two "Time Machines" consiting of the two external FW 800 drives (one is 1TB; the other is a 2TB).
Can I the 1TB external drive for one (1TB) volume on my iMac, and the 2TB external drive for my other (2TB) volume on my iMac?
I f so, how?
Thank you.

Time Machine backups up everything on the MacPro, so both user accounts are being backed up.
Each user can only access their own respective backups....unless they have the log on password for the other user and log on as the other user.
When the MBP comes back from repair, then it will resume backing up to the "other" backup drive that is normally used with the MBP.

(How) Can I use Existing Time Machine On New Mac Without Erasing Original TM Backups?

I just got through doing a clean install from Mavericks to Yosemite and now I'm trying to attach and recognize the original Time Machine Drive (TMD)
I chose to install as a new computer and did not choose a Time Machine backup option because the original TMD was not attached at the time of installation.
Upon arriving at the desktop and connecting my original TMD, I was able to see it in finder but Time Machine did not automatically accept it.
I am able to see the disk in Time Machine but it doesn't tell me that its got data on it .
HERE'S THE ANXIOUS MOMENT: If I select TMD, which is the original, will it overwrite all that orignal information, or will it continue adding to it?
I've read under different parts of the forum that if you go through this process during the original setup and the Time Machine drive is attached to the computer then you will be prompted to inherit the old Time Machine. Since I didn't have the drive attached, I didn't see that.
Now back to desktop and into the Time Machine utility: This option to inherit doesn't seem to exist or is obvious. The only option after selecting the drive in Time Machine is "Use Disk". If I click this, will it erase my original data or will it ask to inherit the drive? It's not very clear what will happen after I click "Use Disk".
Thanks so much to anyone who can help, Jeff

Thanks for the link. I went there but didn't find any information on how to inherit the backup history. The link says "If you’re replacing an old Mac and want the new Mac to use the backups from the old one, click Inherit Backup." At what point in the migration process does it ask "to specify whether you (I) want a new Mac to inherit a backup"? It seems like I got quite a few levels into Migration assistant and the last click that I did not click seemed like it was good to start the process without telling me anything about inheriting anything.
Any suggestions or did I not go far enough?
From Apple Website below
OS X Yosemite: If you want a new Mac to “inherit” your backup history
You can move the backup history from one Mac to another, but after the new Mac “inherits” the backup history, you can’t use the backup history on the original Mac.
You’re asked to specify whether you want a new Mac to inherit a backup if you do any of the following:
Use Migration Assistant to transfer your settings from an old Mac to a new one.
Use Migration Assistant to transfer your settings from a Time Machine backup of an old Mac to a new one.
Clone the disk you use to start your Mac, or physically move it from an old Mac to a new Mac.
Replace your computer’s main board.
If you’re replacing an old Mac and want the new Mac to use the backups from the old one, click Inherit Backup.
If you plan to continue to use your old Mac, click Create New Backup to preserve the backup history and start separate backups for the new Mac.
Connect a new backup disk to your Mac
Transfer your info from a PC
Last Modified: Nov 18, 2014

Two Time Machines for one Mac?

Folks,
I have a Time Capsule that I do all my back-ups on. Being paranoid, I want to do a second back up and take it off-site, and then rotate the backups monthly. Can Time Machine support two different devices?
Thanks!
Craig

Yes, but with a caution. Once they're both set-up properly, all you need to do is use the +Change Disk+ option in TM Preferences. You'll have two separate, independent sets of backups. After each swap, of course, the next backup will be fairly lengthy, as it catches up all the changes from the previous backup on that drive.
But you should probably swap more often than once a month. After several days, and a large volume of changes, TM may do a new full backup instead of an incremental one. This is not documented, and we don't know exactly what the parameters are, but it appears you're safe up to about 10 days.
Another option is to get a portable USB drive. Attach it to your Time Capsule, then use the "Archive" option in Airport Utility > Disks to copy the TC's disk to the USB drive.

Two or Three Time Capsules/Time Machine in One Mac Pro?

Hi,
I recently bought a Mac pro, and it has 4 HD in the 4 bays. I bought a 1TB Time Capsule for the start up disk, but was wondering if I can expand it to 2 or 3 Time Capsules, so I can also safe guard the other HD's in in the other bays. I dont want to do it with 1 TM for the 2 or 3 HD's as the data wont fit.
I woould appreciate any input as I have searched and cant find a thing on this.
Many thanks!

To back up this much data you would be better of looking at a Drobo. Using 2 TB drives, you could have up to 6 TB backup storage with risk of data loss only if 2 drives fail at same time.

Partitioning an External 320gb drive for use with Time Machine and...

I want to be able to use my Western Digital 320GB external drive for use with Time Machine and to use as extra storage space on both my Mac and when I boot into Windows Vista.
Is this possible?
I was playing around in Disk Utility and would I partition the part I want to use for Time Machine with the Mac OS Journaled, and whatever I want as space for windows, use a MS - DOS format?
Has anyone done this before?
Cheers-

Unless you are using 64 bit version of MSWindows (64 bit XP/Vista), it won't be able to handle a disk with GUID partition table (GPT). Disks with Apple Partition Map (APM) or GUID partition table are the only ones that Time Machine will work with (not MBR disks). Note also that the MBR/APM/GPT are at the DISK level and not the partition level, so don't mix the format with partitioning scheme. Time Machine disks are meant to live in the Mac universe (for now, anyway) and sharing with the MSWindows 32-bit universe is not possible.
See http://img87.imageshack.us/my.php?image=macpcdiskdd06sv8.png for some additional background.

I am out of space on my Macbook Air and have a Time Machine Backup. I want to complete reset my mac, but wonder if I can pick and choose what I restore to my computer? Can I also use my time machine backup and external storage as well?

I am out of space on my Macbook Air and have a Time Machine Backup. I want to complete reset my mac, but wonder if I can pick and choose what I restore to my computer? Can I also use my time machine backup as external storage as well for the files I don't need everyday?

If you are using "Restore from Time Machine Backup" option from OS X Recovery, you can only choose from the broad categories presented.
... Can I also use my time machine backup as external storage as well for the files I don't need everyday?
To be clear, if you are asking if you can use the volume containing your Time Machine backup to store additional, non-Time Machine files, the short answer is yes.
It's not a good idea though, since the Time Machine backup will eventually fill all available space, after which it begins to remove old, "expired" backups to make room for newer ones. The presence of additional files doesn't change that fact, and Time Machine will not erase them, but you will encounter a dilemma should you want to store additional files on that volume when there is no remaining space. You will have to make room for them on your own, by deleting existing files. Furthermore, since Time Machine cannot back up its own volume, those additional files will not be backed up by Time Machine.
The easy solution for what you describe is to purchase additional external storage. External USB hard disk drives have become very inexpensive; about $55 will buy a perfectly suitable 1 TB drive.
You can also choose to replace your MacBook Air's internal storage with a larger capacity one. Look for a suitable replacement from OWC / MacSales:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/Air-Retina
That gets a little more expensive but it is the optimum solution.

External hard drive to use with Time Machine? Thoughts? Mac newbie.

Hello. Switched to an imac and have loved the experience. Was just about to buy an external hard drive when apple announced the time capsule. I've been holding off thinking I would purchase one but now I'm re-thinking it.
Between music, videos and pictures, I currently have about 400gb of stuff (and it will grow). My main concern is backing up (archiving) a copy of these files. Backing up other system files is a second concern after that.
I'm thinking of buying a 1TB external hard drive, firewire capable, partitioning part of it to be an archive drive, and the other part to use with time machine. Skip the time capsule.
Will that work? Other recommendations?
If so, any recommendations on a quiet, reasonably sized (i.e. doesn't take up the entire corner of the desk), 1tb external hard drive?
Thanks.

Clayton, if you're only backing up one Mac, then you can purchase any good, reputable 750 GB or 1 TB external drive.
Considerations:
1) Reliability is key here. You want a drive that works. Various people have complained about Western Digital (me included), so take that into consideration.
2) Quiet is important. You have a quiet computer -- why louse up the working environment with a noisy drive?
3) FW (Firewire) 800 is faster than FW400, which is faster than USB. But once you get the initial backup done, it really doesn't matter how fast the drive is, because it works in the background and doesn't hamper your work. And if you DO need to restore your entire computer via Time Machine (I've done it), speed is less important than reliability. Even if it takes 3 hours, you'll be grateful. So while some may counsel you to get a 'fast' drive, reliability is more important.
4) On FW versus USB, you'll hear many claims. Again the key is reliability versus speed. A good USB drive is fine for what you are doing; FW is faster. Some folks have had problems with one or the other, so hear what they have to say.
5) Every drive dies. That's true for any electromechanical device. Don't think you've solved your backup problems by plugging in a drive and walking away. Your most critical files need a second backup, be it to a DVD, CD, thumb drive, network drive -- something. The more critical it is, the more backups you need. If you're writing your Ph.D. thesis, by definition you can't have too many backups
6) Convenience matters. You can 'roll your own' drive if you have experience -- buy a case, buy a drive, assemble, etc. But it's many times easier, particularly for a Time Machine backup drive, to just buy a reliable (there's that word again) external HD off the shelf.
7) Finally, follow directions. Apple tells you how to set up a TM drive. Do it their way. That means, format the brand new drive and make it a 'GUID' partition. Use the Apple Disk Utility. Follow directions.
Good luck,
Steve

Mac os x mountain lion The volume is already used for Time Machine backups

Hey
I downloaded the Mac OS X Mountain Lion and then I clicked on the hard disk and then was "The volume is already used for Time Machine backups.
Can you help me please

Well, this isn't a download window, it's an installer window. You need to select one of your hard drive volumes on which to install Lion.
Your computer's main drive apparently has been used by you for TM backups which is a first class "no no." See: OS X v10.6, OS X Lion- Cannot install Mac OS X v10.6 or later on a volume used by Time Machine for backups.

External usb disc used for Time Machine backup disconnects when Mac has been into sleep mode

I use a 1Tb External usb disc used for Time Machine backup which works fine, but when the Mac goes into sleep mode & powers back on I get a message stating that you should always eject the Drive before removing.
Any suggestions on how to get around this problem would be welcome

Look at the root of your hard drive for a folder called Backups.backupdb.
Or, a sparse bundle disk image for one of mobile computers that might have tried to back up to your Mac.
If you have those, remove them and try again.

Using 500 gb WD Passport as both Time Machine Backup and Mac OS bootable HD

I just bought a 500 gb WD Passport to use as a Time Machine Backup HD with my MacBook Pro and was wondering if I could make it into a Mac OS bootable HD as well. I like having a backup HD and a recovery HD with me on the road and thought it would be great to have them in the same HD. One thought I had was to make two partitions on this HD: one for Time Machine and one for Recovery. Would that work? Is there a better way? Let me know your thoughts. Thank you.

One thing to consider is that certain WD external drive models do not work reliably as startup drives for Mac OS X, or at least for the latest versions of that OS. Before you get too far into this project, I suggest that you partition the drive (making sure that you use the GUID Partition Table partition scheme & HFS+ journaled volume scheme), install or clone Snow Leopard to one of the partitions to create your 'recovery' volume, & verify that your Mac will boot from it. If this works, you are good to go.
Obviously, you should not use this 'recovery' volume as your everyday startup drive or for data storage because as mentioned, if the WD drive fails, you would have no backup, but otherwise this is a good plan.
One little trick you might be interested in that I like for an external drive I use somewhat similarly: Normally, all the volumes on a drive will mount automatically when the drive is attached to a Mac, but it is sometimes handy if only the Time Machine one does this & the 'recovery' volume (or in my case a reference clone of my old Leopard installation) does not, which insures that this volume isn't accidentally disturbed by user error, is safe from any OS errors that might corrupt its files, doesn't tempt you to use it for normal data storage, & so on.
As it turns out, the OS provides an elegant method to do exactly that. As described in the Mac OS X Hints post "Prevent a given partition from mounting at boot" (which discusses doing this for essentially the same use as yours), you can create an "fstab" file in /private/etc/ that (among other things) can instruct the OS not to mount selected volumes automatically. This works perfectly with Leopard or Snow Leopard.
The really cool thing about this is that since the file is a part of the OS on the normal, everyday startup volume, it only has an effect if you start up from that volume. Thus, if say that volume is damaged & you can't start up from it, you don't have to do anything special to start up from the protected volume -- it appears in the Startup Manager's icons if you use the option key at startup time & even if you don't, if it is the only viable startup volume the Mac can find at boot time, it will start up from it automatically, after a brief delay.
If nothing else, check out the Hints post. It should reassure you that others do the same thing that you are considering.

I'm running Pages version 5.2 on a Desktop Mac version 10.9.2. with the Pages app open how do I use the Time Machine to go back five hours to see the work?

I'm running Pages version 5.2 on a Desktop Mac version 10.9.2. With the Pages app open how do I use the Time Machine to go back five hours to see my page? Can I access Time Machine within an app like Pages? How do I enter Time Machine within the application? It always takes me to the Finder. I apolgise for the mumbo jumbo. I simply do not know how to use Time Machine. It makes sense when I follow the Tutorial but then I lose it.

OK. You've kind of skipped over the reason why you want to go back five hours, but my assumption would be that you've made changes to a Pages file that you want to revert.
There are two ways to tackle this. From Pages itself, open the current version of your document, and from the File menu, click Revert To, and Browse All Versions. You'll then be in the Time Machine interface for that file, and can browse back to the version you want.
Or, outside of Pages, you can select the file (or the folder it was originally in, if you've since deleted it) and enter Time Machine from the TM menu (it sounds like you've already tried this?)
best
Matt

How do I use Time Machine on my Mac to back up files stored on an AirDisk?

I have a Macbook Pro 17-inch, Mid 2009, with a 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. I use an external HDD connected directly to my Mac via FireWire 800 for Time Machine backups. I have an external HDD connected to my Airport Extreme (Gigabit) router that I use for file storage. My iTunes library and iPhoto library are both stored on this AirDisk. Can I use Time Machine on my Mac to back up the files that I store on my AirDisk? If so, then please describe how to do so. Thank you for your assistance.

Unmount and physcially disconnect the TimeMachine drive and reboot the computer without it being connected.
Reboot the comptuer with the disk inside the machine holding the option or c key down, select the disk to boot from.
Second screen in is the installer, under the Ulitites menu is Disk Utility.
Use Disk Utility to Erase with Security option Zero all Data if your planning to wipe the drive and install 10.6
Don't do the above if your simply reinstalling only OS X 10.6 to cure a problem with it.
How to reinstall just OS X or erase/install OS X
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6

How do I change permissions for the documents and files on my Mac Book Pro after I re-instaalled the HD using a Time Machine back-up?

I had to re-install the HD on my Mac Book Pro. I used a Time Machine back-up for all the apps and files. Most were restored, However, I cannot unlock a number of them. I tried changing the permissions using Get info but it is not working. I am using the latest version of Moutain Lion OSX.

Linc:
Very helpful suggestion and response, Thanks for pointing out that it is a permission issue. I am working through the issue and resolving my problem.

Using 2 time machines on one mac

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