Verifying a time machine back up package?

Hi
I need to do a clean install on my macbook. I have started a time machine back up of 200Gb or so, the backup was progressing over several hours but i can't confirm that it was completed. When i came back to the MacBook the message "this computer must be restarted due to a serious problem, etc, etc" was displayed.
Is there a way of verifying that the time machine back up is not corrupted? Time Machine is backing up now - a backup package of changes of 85GB size.
It seems to suggest that the first large backup was successful, or is it unwise to make that assumption?
the initial 200Gb backup took all night - approx 12 hrs. Can i verify the package?
many thanks for your advice
Nick

hi again, an update
the second, or perhaps more correctly, second half of the first back up completed with this log:
Starting standard backup+
+Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb+
+No pre-backup thinning needed: 95.18 GB requested (including padding), 108.57 GB available+
+Waiting for index to be ready (100)+
+Waiting for index to be ready (100)+
+Waiting for index to be ready (100)+
+Waiting for index to be ready (100)+
+Waiting for index to be ready (100)+
+Copied 28.6 GB of 78.8 GB, 20748 of 790814 items+
+Copied 38.9 GB of 78.8 GB, 22274 of 790814 items+
+Copied 43.6 GB of 78.8 GB, 22276 of 790814 items+
+Copied 58.6 GB of 78.8 GB, 22276 of 790814 items+
+Copied 71.5 GB of 78.8 GB, 22276 of 790814 items+
+Copied 22631 files (73.2 GB) from volume MacBook.+
+Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: MacBook+
+Starting post-backup thinning+
+No post-back up thinning needed: no expired backups exist+
+Backup completed successfully.+
it seems that there were issues but no hanging or problems. the transfer rate appeared to accelerate and it finished with approx 6Gb remaining on the clock but the log appears to reflect this - the size appeared to be miscalculated.
I've forced a second backup through time machine, not waiting for the hourly schedule and it wants to do a deep traverse, perhaps due to the misreported size of the initial( incomplete) back up. Although, as i write this expecting a lengthy deep traversal it appears to have completed that in minutes. I have now selected a 3rd off-schedule backup and nothing happening much ie v quick check, so it would appear time machine is up to date.
I'm hoping all is normal. I'm now going to verify the disk.....done in only 2 or 3 minutesand log as follows:
+2010-11-02 19:36:41 +0000: Verify and Repair volume “Time Machine”+
+2010-11-02 19:36:41 +0000: Starting repair tool:+
+2010-11-02 19:36:42 +0000: Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.+
+2010-11-02 19:36:42 +0000: Checking extents overflow file.+
+2010-11-02 19:36:43 +0000: Checking catalog file.+
+2010-11-02 19:37:09 +0000: Checking multi-linked files.+
+2010-11-02 19:37:12 +0000: Checking catalog hierarchy.+
+2010-11-02 19:38:03 +0000: Checking extended attributes file.+
+2010-11-02 19:38:33 +0000: Checking multi-linked directories.+
+2010-11-02 19:40:32 +0000: Checking volume bitmap.+
+2010-11-02 19:40:32 +0000: Checking volume information.+
+2010-11-02 19:40:32 +0000: The volume Time Machine appears to be OK.+
+2010-11-02 19:40:33 +0000: Volume repair complete.2010-11-02 19:40:33 +0000: Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.2010-11-02 19:40:33 +0000: Repair tool completed:+
+2010-11-02 19:40:33 0000:
+2010-11-02 19:40:34 0000:
Having completed your advice i forced a back up (selecte 'back up now') andafter a quick check there was approx 50Mb of data to complete. So all would appear operating normally in time machine.
Now the acid question, can i trust this backup for a restore (as per the advice on top tips etc) as i'm about to run a clean install to my MacBook, the reason why i came here.
Many thanks for your help pondini, any more tips appreciated.
regards
Nick

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time machine back up on time capsule never stop.

You need to do a bit of troubleshooting.. and it isn't an easy one to solve.
TM could be stuck on a corrupted file..
It could be slow due to network issues.. wireless is terrible.. use ethernet if at all possible.
Is there an error message??
Look at Pondini.. http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
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Verify both the source and backup sparsebundle. A5
Look at some of the reasons he gives for over long backups.
Look at section D.
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To help further we need more info.

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I have 2 Macbooks each with an account for me and one for my wife. I use one Macbook logged in with my account and my wife uses the other Macbook only logged in on her account. We both make regular time-machine back-ups each on a separate external disk. Is it possible to update her account on my macbook using her external disk without overwriting my stuff on the same Macbook and vice versa?

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None of those works on the TC.. it is plugged in by ethernet or use wireless connection.. that means it is a network drive.. not an external drive. The difference might not mean much to you.. but it is totally different to the computer. In the former case the computer has full control of the disk. In the case of the network drive, the disk is controlled by the TC firmware and the files are stored and accessed by network. This has large implications.
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Store files on the TC.
This is asked several times a day.. obviously people are struggling with their latest SSD being too small.
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You are probably using Time Machine to backup your MacBook Pro, right? Then the additional 300 GB could be local Time Machine snapshots. Time Machine will write the hourly backups to the free space on your hard disk, if the backup drive is temporarily not connected. You do not see these local backups in the Finder, and MacOS will delete them, when you make a regular backup to Time Machine, or when you need the space for other data.
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