Using Time Machine to back up an iphoto library located on an external hard drive.

I'd like to back up my primary iphoto library that currently exists on an external Simpletech hard-drive. I have a separate WD Passport external hard drive also attached to my iMAC. When I turn on Time Machine, it only seems to allow me to choose one of the two hard-drives to receive the back-up, and automatically excludes the Simpletech where my iphoto library is located from the back-up. Am I missing something?

This is normal. If you wish to back up your Hard Drive with the iPhoto library follow these steps:
Open the time maching preferences in system prferences,
Click options,
Choose the hard drive with your iPhoto library,
Click the - button to remove it frok the list. T
Time machine will now back up all the information on this disk as well as that on your hard drive in the computer to your Time Maching Hard Drive.
Hope this helps!!!

Similar Messages

I backed up my iPhoto library manually to an external hard drive. How do I restore it?

I backed up select portions of my hard drive to an external hard drive. At the time, I didn't realize that it was going to be so hard to recover the original photos from the iPhoto library. The backup is basically just a command-line "cp" of the iPhoto Library directory. What's the best way to either recover the original photos or restore the iPhoto library to a new computer?

OK, sorry for the delay. Holidays and whatnot.
Sooooo... the backup was basically a command line "cp -r", however the partition that I backed up to on the external drive was FAT32. So that explains why it's no longer a package. Clearly a mistake on my part, but still need to find a way to recover.
I tried to rebuild the library DB, but it just bails out with the same exact message ("You can't open your current photo library using this version of iPhoto. You have made changes to your photo library using a newer version of iPhoto. Please quit and use the latest version of iPhoto.").
So crap. Should I keep trying to find a way to get iPhoto to recognize my backed up library, or should I give up on that approach and just try to manually get my photos out of the backup? If the latter, what's the best way to do that? I see an "Originals" subfolder, does that have all my photos in it (I only care about originals, don't care about edits)? What about the "Data" subfolder, which also seems to have some photos?

My iphoto library (located on an external hard drive) was open when the hard drive was accidentally disconnected. We plugged it back in, but the library is frozen. Any suggestions on what I can do without corrupting/losing my iphoto library?

The cable to the external hard drive that houses my iphoto library was accidentally disconnected while the library was open and up on the screen. We plugged it back in, but now the screen is frozen. Has anyone experienced this before? If I force quit, will I corrupt and lose access to the library on the external hard drive?

Shutdown the Mac. Disconnect and power off the external drive (if it has its own power supply). Reconnect the external drive and power on (if applicable). Boot Mac. If the external drive is not reading properly, open Disk Utility, select external drive, run Repair Disk.

Can you restore a slideshow in iPhoto using Time Machine without restoring the entire iPhoto library?

Can you restore a slideshow in iPhoto using Time Machine without restoring the entire iPhoto library?

Afraid not.
Regards
TD

HT4927 Using Time Machine but can't find iphoto library anywhere for replacement

I'm having issues with a few wierd duplicate iphoto Events so I thought I would use my Time Machine for the 1st time and just restor the Library ONLY (not all of iphoto, just the library) to sometime last month and go from there. BUT....................
Nothing I have seems to match any useful info I can find on this forum. My iMac is OSX 10.8.2/iphoto 11 vs9.4.2 (everything is latest-updated)
I go into Time Machine, pick a date from early last month, and I see....."All My Files/ Desktop/Applications/Documents" then in Devices are
my external drives. Thats it. Where is the "iphoto library"? I feel like I'm missing something. When I look up the subject in this forum under Time Machine, it says to open Finder 1st (why I don't know), then open Time Machine (of course) but the sample picuture of Apples Website of Time Machine doesn't look like my Time Machine as I've just described.
Even in FINDER I see All My Files/Desktop/Applications/Documents: nothing that says "iphoto Library" (I can find "iPhoto" in Applications, but the application is fine, it's just the messed up 4 or 5 events I want to fix by going back to my library from last month, which was fine).
I assume that I need to:
1-close iphoto (done)
2-open Time machine and pick my date (done)
3- here is my problem (i think): I don't see a "iphoto library" to click on and then click on something that says "replace". I've never had to use time machine so I don't know what it will look like.
Please help,

By default the iPhoto library is in your pictures folder
you choose the one you want from a "finder looking display" and click restore (there is no "repalce")
althought the Mac is great and easy to use, every software program does have a learning curve and it is worth reading the instructions - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
LN

My iPhoto library lives on an external hard drive. iTunes can't find the library, so I can't sync photos to my iPhone. Why?

Like I said. . .
I recently migrated from an old MacBook to a new MacBook Air. I decided that since I have many tens of thousands of photos, I would keep them all on an external hard drive in the dedicated "iPhoto Library" (which I was very careful to migrate intact then move to the EHD). Now, when I go to the "Photos" tab in iTunes, all I get is a thinking wheel and no interface with which to choose which photos I want to sync to my iPhone (5s).
Any thoughts or advice would be greatly welcome.
Thanks!

Hello Sandra,
The article linked below details how to go about restoring items from Time Machine in Snow Leopard.
Mac OS X 10.6: Recovering items using Time Machine and Spotlight
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH6379
Sincerely,
Allen

HELP! Can't get iphoto library to copy to external hard drive!!!

Have read countless directions online about how to copy my iphoto'09 library to an external hard drive. Despite following the directions, opening 2 finder windows and trying to copy the iphoto library to the hard drive, it continues to show a little symbol (a circle with a slash thru it) when I try to drop the library into the hard drive. I have a signature mini hard drive 250GB with lots of storage space left. Any advice? My first Mac and I am having so much trouble getting used to how everything works. This, I cannot figure out no matter what I try. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Welcome to the Apple Discussions. Do you have ownership on the external HD set to be ignored?
Click to view full size
If not do so and try again. If it still won't, download and run BatChmod on the library with the setting shown below and then try again:
Click to view full size
OT

Why are my photos from iPhoto library deleted from my external hard drive when I am only deleting them from my internal drive?

I did a backup of photos (iPhoto library) from my internal to an external hard drive. I have started to delete photos from my internal hard drive. It seems that when I delete from the internal drive, photos also delete from the external. I did a test and deleted one photo from iPhoto internal drive. When I plugged in the new backup (external drive) and clicked on iPhoto library, it opened iPhoto in the exact place I was working and that one photo was gone. What do I do? I do not want to delete the photos off of my external hard drive.

When I plugged in the new backup (external drive) and clicked on iPhoto library, it opened iPhoto in the exact place I was working and that one photo was gone.
When you clicked on the library iPhoto on the EHD iPhoto is op;ending the last library that was previously opened. To change libraries launch iPhoto with the Option key held down to get this window:
Then select the library that is on the EHD if it's in the window. If it isn't, click on the Other Library button, navigate to the EHD and select the library there.

Can't drag and drop my iPhoto library on to an external hard drive (Seagate Go Flex).

I am trying to move my iPhoto library to an external hard drive (Seagate Go Flex wireless) but it won't let me drag and drop. When I drag the iphoto icon over the 'drop files here' it just disappears. No error message. I am running mountain lion. What can I do?

Susie,
(Seagate Go Flex wireless)
What is your iPhoto version? And your Mac OS X version?
With iPhoto '11 your iPhoto library needs to be on a drive formatted Mac OS X Extended (Journaled). Is your external drive formatted this way? If your drive is formatted differently, iPhoto will not be able to open the iPhoto library there.
When I drag the iphoto icon
And are you really trying to drag your photo library (from your "Pictures" folder) or your iPhoto application from the "Applications" folder? On MAcoS X 10.7 or later you will not be able to drag the application from the Applications folder.
Regards
Léonie

If I upgarde my iPhoto on my computer..can I open my iPhoto library stored on an external hard drive?

I have all my photos saved on an external hard drive..if I upgrade to the latest version of iPhoto..will I be able to access my library?

Greetings,
The current version of iPhoto can read libraries on external drives (just double-click the Library).
It is always advisable to have a backup of your data before you make changes to it (like upgrading) so make a backup of that library just in case.
Finally, make sure the drive is Mac Formated.
Hope that helps.

Using time machine to back up additional external drives

My mac mini contains a 160 gb hard drive. Aiming to keep this free, I connected a 500 gb WD mac-specific hard drive. I also use this drive when attempting to access work files on my macbook pro. When using time machine, which backs up to a 1 TB WD hard drive (also attached to the mac mini), I cannot figure out how to use time machine to back up simultaneously the contents of the native (160 gb) drive in the mac mini and the contents of the portable external drive (500 gb). *Is there any way to set time machine to accomplish this?* Please help - I really need to continually back up the contents of the portable drive as well.

carbon copy cloner will do this. you set up a scheduled job (can be daily, weekly, etc. & even every hour!) & is free to use (donations accepted).
http://www.bombich.com/ccc_features.html

How can i view and upload photos from an older version of iPhoto which are on an external hard drive to my new iMac? i currently have copied the application version 9.4.2. on my lacie backup and want to view and upload this to my new iPhoto version 9.5.1

our old iMac died suddenly, but i had backed up the iPhoto application to a lacie external hard drive. however, when i try to open it in my new iMac which is installed with version 9.5.1 and is upgraded to maverick, it comes up with “cannot be opened, to open you must upgrade to latest version” and then makes you press the quit button.
the iPhoto version on the external hard drive is iPhoto 9.4.2 which i upgraded on 29/11/12 onto our old iMac (early 2007 version)
my new iMac is running on version OSX 10.9.1
i have looked at buying iphoto library manager and have emailed them about whether this would work, but any advice would be gratefully received as i cannot be the only person that has had this problem but i cannot find any answers that work.
thanks
Julie

YOu can rebuild with Library Manager and this does not require a purchase:
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In early versions of Library Manager it's the File -> Rebuild command. In later versions it's under the Library menu.)
This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.

I have backed my Mac Book pro up to my external hard drive using time machine. My iPhoto now does not show any images, even when I upload from my iPhone

I have backed my Mac Book pro up to my external hard drive using time machine. My iPhoto now does not show any images, even when I upload from my iPhone

Mac 101: File Sharing
Mac OS X 10.7 Help: Transfer files between two Mac computers
Mac OS X 10.7 Help: Set up a Windows computer to share files with Mac users
Mac OS X 10.7 Help: Use iDisk to share files
Mac OS X: Sharing your files with non-Apple computers
How to share a Mac's files with a PC and vice versa.

HT201250 I use Time Machine to back up my entire computer with my external hard drive. I am getting a brand new iMac this month and was wondering what is the process of using this back up to restore my new computer exactly how my old computer was?

I use Time Machine to back up my entire computer with my external hard drive. I am getting a brand new iMac this month and was wondering what is the process of using this back up to restore my new computer exactly how my old computer was? I want to make sure I will still have various important files on my new computer, like my songs in iTunes, my photos in iPhoto, etc, etc. Thanks so much in advance!

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
When you turn on the new iMac for the first time, Setup Assistant will ask you to restore a backup, so connect the external disk and follow steps to restore all your files to your new iMac. Your new Mac will have the same settings and programs as your old computer.
In other cases, I would recommend to restore the whole backup without using Migration Assistant or Setup Assistant, but a Late 2012 iMac uses a special OS X build, so the OS X version that you're using on your old Mac won't work on the new one. For more information, see > http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html

I have been storing my Aperture and IMovie Libraries on an external hard drive that recently died. Fortunately I've been using Time Machine to back up to a 2nd external drive. How do I restore my libraries to a new external hard drive?

I have been storing my Aperture and IMovie Libraries on an external hard drive that recently died. Fortunately I've been using Time Machine to back up to a 2nd external drive. How do I restore my libraries to a new external hard drive?

This is a tricky one.
Open up Time Machine and go back to a date using the timeline on the right side of the window when you know the drive was working and was backing up as part of Time Machine backups.
Click on the name of your Mac under the Devices heading on the left side of the window in Time Machine, and if things are working correctly you will see Macintosh HD (or whatever you have named it) and the name of the external hard drive that was backing up in the past.
Right-Click on the name of the external hard drive and then click on "Restore (name of drive) to....." You may be asked for your adminstrator password at this point.
It might be easier to restore the drive contents to your desktop if you have room on your Mac, and then copy things over to the new external drive where you want to store the Aperture and iMovie Libraries.
Once the libraries have been moved over the new external hard drive, you will likely need to "point" Aperture and iMovie to the location of the libraries on the new external hard drive.

Using Time Machine to back up an iphoto library located on an external hard drive.

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for