Using Time Machine to back up an external hard drive

Hi,
This has probably been asked a lot but i'm struggling to find an answer. I want to back up my external hard drive using Time Machine but i'm not sure how to do it?
Is there a way that I can connect my external hdd and create a back up that is stored on my mac?
If this was possible, does Time Machine take a snapshot or does it duplicate the data (in other words would this take up a huge amount of storage on my laptop)?
I don't use Time Machine as I generally don't store anything on my laptop, but my external HDD holds all my photos.
Any help is much appreciated.
Thanks,
Hannah

Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac

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Using Time Machine to back up an external hard drive dedicated to Adobe Lightroom 5

I recently began to use Adobe Lightroom 5 (I continue to use Aperture, as I have for years). All of the Lightroom image files and catalogs are on one external hard drive, which I use on my iMac, my Macbook Pro, and in the digital labs of a school where I'm taking a course.
Not yet having developed a protocoI for creating a back up of all my Lightroom image files and catalogs that I could use in the event of my Lightroom-dedicated drive's failure, I have just done a drag and drop of the whole drive's contents to another external drive (which, as it happens, I have been using for some time for my Aperture vaults).
I am thinking of removing the dedicated Lightroom drive from the excluded list of my iMac's Time Machine (which uses yet another external drive), so that I can easily and automatically create back ups of changes to the Lightroom external drive without having to do the cumberome and inelegant drag and drop at some yet-to-be-determined frequency. (The Macbook Pro uses a Time Capsule for its Time Machine; I envision using only the iMac's TM external drive for Lightroom backups.)
What is the simplest and most desirable way to actually execute the backup? I envision that it would be this: that every time I want to do a Lightroom back up, I'd mount the Lightroom external drive on the iMac (or keep it mounted if my work session has just been on the iMac) and then ask Time Machine to "Back Up Now." When the backup is finished, I'd dismount the dedicated Lightroom drive.
A related question is what if anything would be the effect on my Lightroom work if a Time Machine back up began while I was working in Lightroom? Or if for some reason an hourly TM back up began and I needed to quickly end a Lightroom session before the backup was completed?

Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac

Can you use time machine to back up an external hard drive?

I haven't used Time Machine so far and setting it up now.
Because my retina MBP has the limited hard drive size of 500GB, I'll be using a 2TB G-Tech hard drive as external hard drive.
I'll be partitioning it, 500 GB for the MBP as a time machine back-up, the rest as a hard drive for photography RAW files.
Can I set up time machine to back up the larger partition (the one with the RAW files) to a second external hard drive? Or does Time Machine only handle back-up from the main computer hard drive?
thanks!

Try reviewing this information.
Time Machine FAQ
You will definitely need more than 500 GB to use Time Machine - see question 1.
Time Machine works with the main hard drive and any locally attached storage, but I don't know of any way to make it backup the second partition without resetting the Time Machine Preferences. You can do that with a cloning program.
Clone - Carbon Copy Cloner
Clone – Data Backup
Clone – Deja Vu
Clone - SuperDuper
Clone Software – 6 Applications Tested
Two backups are better than one. Drives do fail.

Time Machine not backing up other external hard drive

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

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

How do I use time machine to backup to an external hard drive plugged into my airport extreme

How do I use time machine to backup to an external hard drive plugged into my airport extreme? I used to be able to but now time machine will not recognize my hard drive to select as a backup when plugged into my airport extreme. I'm not sure what happened or changed. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

First thing to do is go to the Pondini tips page, then follow the link to his full TM site for all the details.

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

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

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

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.

Having trouble getting Time Machine to back up my external hard drive. Any suggestions?

I'm running Mountain Lion on my iMac and I've been using Time Machine to back it up to my Time Capsule. Recently, the iMac's hard drive filled up, so I moved my iTunes library to a new Airport Time Capsule. But I can't seem to get Time Machine to include the new Airport Time Capsule in its back up.
The only suggestion I can find is to make sure it's not excluded in the Time Machine options, and I can see that nothing is excluded. However, when I go into Time Machine, the Airport Time Capsule is greyed out in the Finder window.
Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance, I'm a little nervous about having my iTunes library hanging out there without a back up...

Linc Davis wrote:
You can't back up the internal drive of the Time Capsule with Time Machine. It will only back up locally attached storage devices, not network devices. There's no way around it. You may be able to back up the TC with third-party software such as "Carbon Copy Cloner," but it will be very slow. The internal drive of the TC is only suitable for use as a backup device. It's not suited for storing original data.
yeah well you can use the external hard drive as a data extension to the time capsule internal hard drive. like a RAID in effect...

Using time machine to restore to an external hard drive

Hi my iMac running Mountain Lion has been broken beyond repair but fortunately I have a very recent Time machine backup. I backed up the entire machine and from memory there was about 1.4 TB of data (mostly photos, movies etc)
I want to replace the iMac with a solid state drive air or MacBook Pro however 1.5TB doesn't go into 256GB.
My question is - Can I use my Time Machine backup to restore all my large files to an external drive hooked up to whatever new computer I get, and still use it to restore programs, emails, system settings etc to the new computer. Even if I can't restore system settings I can do all that manually, my main concern is getting the files from Time machine to an external hard drive.
Thanks in advance for any help!
SB

Check here if it helps you but BE VERY CAREFUL!!!
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
http://support.apple.com/kb/dl1399
Cheers
Simon

Does Time Machine also back up wired external hard drives?

I apologize if this is already answered; I can't find the answer. But I am running out of space on my hard drive, and I am thinking about moving my music and movies (ie multi-media content in iTunes) to an external hard drive. I am torn between two options. 1) use my existing external hard drive (LaCie d2 Quadra 1T) and partition it for Time Machine and a Multi-media folder, or 2) just buy another external hard drive, likely another LaCie and dedicate it for my multi-media. I lean towards keeping my back-up hard drive as is -- for one purpose so as to minimize loss of data should (when) the unthinkable happen. Anyhow, I'd like to know whether Time Machine can be told to include my 2nd external hard drive in its regular back-ups. Likewise, if I partition my current LaCie, can I tell Time Machine to back up my multi-media folder? Any info or links you can provide is appreciated. Regards.

I appreciate the comment. Is there a way to find out whether Time Machine backs up external hard drives without having to buy one and plug it in to see if it is listed in the Time Machine pane of System Preferences? If I could read between your lines, I assume you are saying is Time Machine is "smart" enough to include external hard drives provided that I don't exclude it. Right? PS - I will be using the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format.

Time machine not backing up my external hard drive

I tried removing my external hard drive from the excluded list which is available in "option"(time machine prefrences)... but it just does not back the external HD on the time machine hard disk... it does not give any message, when I open options back I still find the HD in the list which I have already removed from there... i recently upgraded to mountain lion, it all worked fine in snow leopard before... please help!

Sorry, i don't have an anwser, but i have a similar sounding issue...
I've been using TM to back up both my Mac HD and a Western Digital 'My Book' 1TB containing data (music, videos etc.) to a second WD My Book 2TB for ages - and it has been working fine... then about mid july i up graded my Mac hardware and alos to ML and did a full migrate etc. now, the HD backs up fine but the external 1TB My Book doesn't - i 'see' the drive volume in the backups folder but there's no content...
I'll let you know if i find out more.
J

Will Time machine automatically back up an external hard drive connected to my iMac?

I have a Lacie external firewire hard disc connected to my iMac, containing Aperture library. Will Time Machine automatically back up both the external disc and the iMac HD?
Adrian

Will Time Machine automatically back up both the external disc and the iMac HD
Open System Preferences (gear icon on the dock) and open Time Machine
Click on Options
Do you see the name of your Lacie drive in the "Exclusions List"? If yes, the Lacie drive is currently not set to backup with your Mac.
Click on your Lacie drive to highlght it, then click the - (minus) button at the bottom of the list to remove the drive from the "Exclusions" list.
Now, Time Machine will backup both your Mac and the Lacie drive on the next pass. Allow plenty of time for this backup, avoiding wireless if possible, and connecting the Mac directly to one of the Ethernet ports on the Time Capsule. Ethernet will go 3-5 faster than wireless, on average.

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.

How do I get Time Capsule to back up an external hard drive?

I need Time Capsule/Time Machine to back up my external hard drive. How do I do this?

The external drive is plugged into the Mac??
Just open the Time Machine preferences, Options, and include the external drive.. done!! (The menu is exclude.. so just ensure it is not excluded.. don't use no double negatives.. is grammar rule apple could learn).
You cannot backup the external drive if plugged into the TC directly.

When using Time Machine to back up to external drive, does Time Machine back up content in your Trash folder?

When using Time Machine to back up to external drive, does Time Machine back up content in your Trash folder?

Go to System Preferences (under the Apple menu) > Time Machine and click the Options button. Click the "+" button in the lower left. In the resulting dialog, check the Show invisible items checkbox. Go to your home folder and look for Trash. Click the Exclude button in the lower right.

Using Time Machine to back up an external hard drive

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