What size external hard drive do i need for Time Machine

What size external hard drive should I get to be my Time Machine backup? My iMac is 1TB. (also, I have MBP that is 250gb and will need one for it as well)
Thank you.

It is better to buy an external drive that has 3 times the storage capacity
as  of the computer's internal HD.
Best.

Similar Messages

  • How big an external hard drive do I need for Time Machine backups?

    I run a 2 Ghz iMac with 1Gb memory, currently using around 108 GB of the 150 GB available memory.
    Hpw larghe an external hard drive do I need to run Time Machione efficiently? 500GB? 320? 520?

    Not answered - don't know why!

  • Can you unplug the external hard drive you are using for time machine

    can you unplug the external hard drive you are using for time machine and then plug it back in and it work normals because i have a mac book and don't want to always be carrieing the external hard drive every where i go so can you ?

    Yes, that will work fine. It will back up normally once you plug it in again. I do this with my MacBook.

  • What size external hard drive do i need to backup my macbook pro?

    I know I need to backup my computer, especially since I have been experiencing some problems with it and will need to take it into a store to get looked at, but I do not know what size external hard drive I need to back my computer on.

    Drives are so low in cost today, go for something that will meet your needs for a while...if you are going to use Time Machine, get a drive large enough that you can have a partition double the size of the internal drive for TM backups, and a partition you can use for more storage and work space.
    A decent drive like the Mercury Elite Pro 2 TB drive OWC sells goes for less than $200 (US) now.  Has a fast interface and is easy to setup.

  • Adding external hard drive to airport extreme for time machine error

    Hello,
    I recently bought an airport extreme that I wanted to combine with an external hard drive in order to do wireless time machine backups.  I hooked this up and the hard drive shows up in the devices menu.
    However, when time machine starts to backup, I get the following error:
    "The backup disk image “/Volumes/Blackmer External MyBook/Benjamin Crispell Blackmer’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” could not be created (error 1)."
    When my computer is connected directly to the hard drive, it works fine.
    Any ideas on how to fix this?
    Thank you.

    It is important to understand that Apple does not support Time Machine backups to a drive at the USB port of the AirPort Extreme.  So, that may be an issue here.
    Despite this, users try it anyway. Some appear to be successful for a time, some partially successful, some can't get it to work at all.
    Even if it does appear to work initially, corruption issues may occur down the line without warning. Having tried this myself as a test a few times, I can attest to that.
    If you want to try this anyway, the two important things to check are.....
    The drive must be formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Other formats will not work
    You almost always need to use a powered USB hub...even if the hard drive has its own power supply....because the USB port is under powered on the AirPort Extreme
    You might also want to consider a secondary backup plan to protect your important files

  • My mac mini quit recognizing the external hard drive i am using for time machine.

    I have an IOMEGA external hard drive hooked up to my mini for Time Machine.  It was working for about 4 months then quit.  The PC will not recognize the hard drive and I have switched usb cables and tried different ports to no avail.  Any help would be gladly appreciated!!

    Yes, that will work fine. It will back up normally once you plug it in again. I do this with my MacBook.

  • My external hard drive has been used for Time Machine, now it doesn't work on my TV?

    I bought a new external HD 3TB, I used it as a back for Time machine and also wanted to use it for watching my movies etc on my TV. The TV won't recognise any video's on the HD. Is there some reason this would happen due to using it for Time Machine?

    If you are talking about a drive that you connect directly to your TV, typically they will recognize only drives formatted in some specific way & only certain kinds of movie files. You can check your TV users manual or its manufacturer's web site for information about this, but in general they will not recognize drives using the format Time Machine requires.

  • What size external hard drive needed for Time Machine?

    Can someone offer advice? What size external hard drive do I need to back up my system with Time machine? Hard drive is 232 GB but I'm only using 40 GB of the 232.
    Thanks.

    beach bum51,
    Hard drive space is cheap, so I'm going to recommend that you get something with at least 500 GBs capacity. 500 GBs would be twice the capacity of your internal, which is apparently the "recommended" size, so I have no hesitation recommending it. The larger the drive, the lower the cost per GB.
    What's not so cheap is speed. You'll be happiest with a drive capable of using the fastest bus provided by your computer. If your iMac has a Firewire 800 port, you'll get the best experience from using that port, and a drive that will use Firewire 800 transfer speeds.
    Scott

  • What size external hard drive should I purchase

    What size external hard drive should I purchase?  I'm not tech savvy, so please speak slowly.  I'm looking at OWC Mini Stack Classic to match my  older Mac Mini.  Do I need 500 GB, 1 TB or more?      Plus, I have to add memory to upgrade to Snow Leopard.  How much memory do I need and should I have an expert install it ?
    Mac OSX version 10.5.8
    Mac mini 3.1
    Processor 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
    Memory  2GB 1067 MHz DDR3
    1 Processor
    2 Cores
    L2 Cache 3MB
    Memory 2GB
    BUS Speed 1.07 GHz
    Boot ROM Version MM3.1.0081.B06
    SMC version 1.35f0
    Hard Drive
    Format MAC OS Extended
    Capacity 297.77 GB
    Available 238.69 GB
    Used 59.08 GB on disk

    Good points raised by all.
    In my mini configs - both older and newer flatter model - I have kept their ministack external drive on top of the mini; with 3 or 4 little rubber feet added to the mini's base to give it a bit more elevation from the surface they are sitting on and a bit better chance to breathe. I'm not impressed by the very small air intakes on the bottom and the hot air that often comes out the back or how warm the case feels. Especially in the heat of summer.
    I do turn the ministacks on/off as needed (primarily for backups once a week) as they're not entirely quiet and sometimes seem to have a low hum vibration. Nothing crazy. I just like it as dead quiet as possible sometimes. Plus the fan does not turn off even if the mini and ministack drive have shut down.  The newer wide & slim model does seem a bit quieter than the older model.
    Check through system profiler to see if your system has 2x1GB or 1x2GB. Most likely it is 2x1GB and you'd need to remove both to double your ram. On the off chance it has a free slot; a single 2GB stick would get you to 4GB. Check on the cost difference between the 2x2GB kit and a 2x4GB kit.  I have an older core duo mini that functions fine with 2x2GB of RAM and 10.6.8. But, if you plan to continue to use the mini for several more years as a primary machine including upgrading the OS to Yosemite; it might not be a bad idea to just max it to 2x4 8GB. Yosemite really likes RAM to maximize performance.
    Along the lines of keeping the same mini and doing upgrades. The biggest speed improvements are made by replacing the original internal hard drive with a flash drive. Of course this is a more technical upgrade, you really need to take the mini apart more and you have to weigh the cost of the upgrades and possibly paying somebody to do them; vs the cost of a newer system which would have a significantly faster processor and other improvements.

  • I am trying to get space on an external hard drive which has some old time machine back up files that I do not need but can not eliminate, even by going into the time machine, clicking on the backup file to be eliminated and using the drop down eliminate

    I am trying to get space on an external hard drive which has some old time machine back up files that I do not need but can not eliminate, even by going into the time machine, clicking on the backup file to be eliminated and using the drop down menu with the gear box symbol to eliminate

    I cannot find this 300GB "Backup" in the Finder, only in the Storage info when I check "About This Mac".
    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.
    See Pondini's page for more explanation:   What are Local Snapshots?   http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
    I have restarted my computer, but the information remains the same. How do I reclaim the use of the 300GB? Why is it showing up as "Backups" when it used to indicate "Photos"? Are my photos safe on the external drive?
    You have tested the library on the external drive, and so your photos are save there.  
    The local TimeMachine snapshot probably now contains a backup of the moved library.  Try, if connecting your Time Machine drive will reduce the size of your local Time Machine snapshots.

  • On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture.  How can I access the Aperture Library  on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup?  I can only access the application but not the library..

    On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture.  How can I access the Aperture Library  on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup?  I can only access the application but not the library..

    Go into Time Machine (the program not the bundle on the extrnal disk) and using Time Machine's browser go to the Folder where the library lives. You could look in the library bundle in Time Machine but that won't really tell you much,
    If you want to make sure it truely has backed up your library you will need to restore it and open the restored library with Aperture.
    If all this still has you confused you need to read up on Time Machine in order to get a feel for how it works, for what it is doing and for how to restore files from it.

  • 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/

  • Why is my external hard drive showing up twice on Time Machine?

    This is the first time I am using Time Machine because somebody recently gave me an external hard drive.
    The external hard drive is appearing twice on Time Machine preferences. One of them is currently backing up and the other one says "Waiting to back up" but I don't want it to back up twice on the same disk.
    Here's a screenshot:
    Does anyone know why it is doing this?

    Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
    tmutil destinationinfo
    Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
    Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
    Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
    Post any lines of output that appear below what you entered — the text, please, not a screenshot.

  • I have an external hard drive set up as a Time Machine backup on my IMac. I want to add a second external hard drive and put my Aperture Photo Library on it. Is there a way to have the photos on this second hard drive automatically back up to the Time Mac

    I have an IMac with an external hard drive set up as  a Time Machine for automatic backups. I want to add a second external hard drive and load my Aperture Photo Library on to it so that the library can be shared by both me and my wife. Is there a way to automatically backup the photo library that will be on the second hard drive to the Time Machine hard drive?

    Open System Preference > Time Machine
    Click Options....
    Ckick on external disk in list and hit the - button below the list to remove from the Exclusion list
    Allan

  • Can I switch external hard drives and still access old Time Machine backups?

    I have a Mac Book Pro linked to 2 1TB external hard drives, one used as my Time Machine Back up, the other used as a manual ad hoc back up and to store even older files.
    The TM back up drive is now full. If I just unplug it/switch it off and plug in and set up a new 2TB hard drive as my TM back up, will I still be able to access the back ups on the original TM drive if necessary, through TM?
    Wil it be a start over situation with the new drive, performing a complete back up to begin with?
    Or would you advise me to transfer the old back folder to the new drive, given that it will be larger?

    Hi den.thed,
    Thank you for this - I think the easy option by far appears to be to leave existing backups on disk 1, and plug in disk 2 and start over.

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