What to miss out in partial Time Machine migration?

I have a Mac Book early 2009 machine, running 10.7.5 which had become increasingly slow, with endless spining wheel syndrome, finder windows taking ages to respond etc. Sometimes it will not restart - getting as far as a blank desktop, then giving a spinning wheel instead of loading the desktop icons.
Anyway, I have bought a new Mac Book Pro as my old machine is going to be passed along for less onerous tasks.
Going through the initialisation process, I first opted to restore the new machine from my Time Machine backup. This completed fine, but the new machine is then as sluggish as the old one. Clearly something is locking things up. I tried investigating the old machine for a software problem, used spring cleaning etc and never solved it.
Given the problem, I thought I would initialise the new Mac Book Pro with a clean system install - it loaded Mountain Lion 10.8 (not Maverick) from the initialisation menu.
Now I have a window that will allow me to migrate data from my Time Machine backup.
I was hoping I would have the option of choosing which applications to bring over, rather than having to find installation discs, enter license keys etc. but it does not allow me to select individual packages.
I can select all applications or none.
There is the option of importing system settings and content (where it is possible to define which top level folders are imported).
So what is the best approach?
I'm thinking to bring over the files and system settings, then install programmes piece meal as I need them.
But could issues such as the slow running be due to system settings?
Suggestions welcome.

Time Machine will (should) restore your old accounts. If you used a different user and password to set up your new MBP, try using one of your old accounts to log in. If that doesn't work, call back. You might also want to research your problem on Pondoni's Time Machine FAQ pages - http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html.
Good luck,
Clinton

Similar Messages

I just backed up my mac to an external hard drive using Time Machine. What would happen if I turn Time Machine off and then plug the external hard drive back into my computer?

I just backed up my mac to an external hard drive using Time Machine. What would happen if I turn Time Machine off and then plug the external hard drive back into my computer?
What I am ultimately wanting to do is make more room on my computer by backing up all of my files onto the external hard drive and then deleting them off of my computer. However, neededing to be able to retrieve them from the external hard drive later down the road.
From what I have read and am trying to understand, is that I probably shouldn't have used time machine. I need to use the external hard drive like a basic flash drive where I can put things on and get things off without having it automatically update through time machine everytime I connect it to my computer.
Not tech savvy at all and barely understand basics. I need very simple and easy to understand explanations.

sydababy wrote:
and then deleting them off of my computer.
BIG BIG MISTAKE ..... youre making a linchpin deathtrap for your data trying to shove everything on a single fragile HD.
Dont suffer the tragedy other people make, buy another or 2 more HD, theyre cheap as dust.
The number of people who have experienced terror by having a single external HD backup is enormous. One failure that WILL HAPPEN, and kaput,......all gone!
Dont do it, its all about redundancy, redundancy, redundancy.
follow here:
Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection
Deleting them off your computer is fine....having only ONE copy is extremely BAD.
The Tragedy that will be, the tragedy that never should be
Always presume correctly that your data is priceless and takes a very long time to create and often is irreplaceable. Always presume accurately that hard drives are extremely cheap, and you have no excuse not to have multiple redundant copies of your data copied on hard drives and squirreled away several places, lockboxes, safes, fireboxes, offsite and otherwise.
Hard drives aren't prone to failure…hard drives are guaranteed to fail (the very same is true of SSD). Hard drives dont die when aged, hard drives die at any age, and peak in death when young and slowly increase in risk as they age.
Never practice at any time for any reason the false premise and unreal sense of security in thinking your data is safe on any single external hard drive. This is never the case and has proven to be the single most common horrible tragedy of data loss that exists.
Many 100s of millions of hours of lost work and data are lost each year due to this single common false security. This is an unnatural disaster that can avoid by making all data redundant and then redundant again. If you let a $60 additional redundant hard drive and 3 hours of copying stand between you and years of work, then you've made a fundamental mistake countless 1000s of people each year have come to regret.

IMac 20-inch on OSX 10.7.4 running iphoto 11, my photos from my iphoto library have been deleted. I have time machine but the iphoto library file is missing when I access time machine, help please.

I have an imac 20-inch Late 2006 model on OSX 10.7.4 running iphoto 11, somehow the application ccleaner has deleted my photos from my iphoto library. I have time machine but the iphoto library file is missing when I access time machine.
To restore photos I have followed the steps below
Quit iPhoto.
Connect your Time Machine drive.
In the Finder, open the folder containing your iPhoto Library. Unless you've moved your iPhoto Library, it can be found in Home/Pictures/iPhoto Library.
Enter Time Machine. (Time Machine can be found in the Dock or in the /Applications folder.)
Choose your desired backup. The timeline on the right side of the screen displays a purple tick mark for each of the backups stored on your Time Machine drive.
Select the iPhoto library you would like to restore, and click the Restore button.
I dont get the option in step 6 as I dont have an iphoto library file to choose? Does anyone know why?

Hi Barry
Thanks but as mentioned all is intact, even at step 3 I can see the current library in Home/Pictures/iPhoto Library which has no photos, but when I access time machine any point before the NOW option the iphoto library in Home/Pictures/iPhoto Library is missing from the finder window.
As you can see here it is
and now its gone. I have no explanantion.
How do I go about moving this question as you suggested.

Restoring from partial Time Machine Backup

I've backed up all my user files with Time Machine and I'm wondering if I can do a clean install of Leopard (erase the contents of the drive, install a fresh version of the OS) can I re-attach the Time Machine backup that I've created and easily restore, say, my desktop files to the new OS? Appl seems to suggest that the only way to restore your files from a Time Machine backup is to boot from the backup and restore the files using the Migration Tool. Can I just attach the new OS to my old Time Machine backup and restore piecemeil, one folder at a time (e.g. my music folder, my desktop, etc.). I ask because my leopard install is bunk (virtual memory is eating all my hard drive space, continusely, until it's empty) and I want to do a clean install, but I want to make sure I'll be able to restore the user files I've backed up with Time Machine.
Thanks.

I would be interested in this too. My 24" is coming back from repair and I'd just like to get my music and photos out of the time machine backup against a fresh OS install.
Any thoughts?

Why is the documents folder "grayed" out in past time machine screens?

Why is the documents folder "grayed" out in past time machine screens?

Just select the Image trace panel from the window menu and then customize it.

Deleting a Partial Time Machine Backup? Trash?

OK so the other night I left my computer alone for a bit and it started making a backup that I didn't want. When I came back to my computer it was half done so I told it to stop backing up. Long story short I had put a clone on the drive and forgot to tell time machine to not backup to that same drive. So now I have a partition with a clone and a partial time machine backup. I want to remove the backup.
I can't find it within the actual time machine window, since it wasn't a finished backup. Also, I read online somewhere that I shouldn't try to delete in the trash, cus a) that can cause problems supposedly and b) it takes forever.
Does anyone know how I can do this?
It is currently sitting in my trash, but I haven't actually deleted it from there yet.
Thanks

The issue is that it may take days for the removal to occur if it occurs at all mainly because the backup contains a disc image file with all the data then a bunch of incremental backups that contain some files and some hard links. The system has a real problem when it tries to delete a file that is pointed to by a link but the file is stuck inside an unmountable disc image.
Trust me. Erasing the volume is your only safe bet.

Time Machine Migration Assistant HELP!

My MacBook Air has a whole lot of storage that is being used for who knows what.
I am going to back up my mac, erase it, and reinstall the backup because that seems to work. But, I have no idea what the differences and similarities in Time Machine and Migration Assistant is. Can I use migration assistant to back it up and reinstall on the same computer? If not, how do I install a time machine backup on a compeletely erased mac? (I'm on OS X Mavericks)

Before you do anything else, I strongly suggest you figure out what's taking up the space.
Empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. If you use iPhoto, empty its internal Trash first:
iPhoto ▹ Empty Trash
To locate large files, you can use Spotlight. That method may not find large folders that contain a lot of small files.
You can more effectively use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can also delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one.
Deleting files inside an iPhoto or Aperture library will corrupt the library. Any changes to a photo library must be made from within the application that created it. The same goes for Mail files.
Proceed further only if the problem isn't solved by the above steps.
ODS can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
Back up all data now.
If you have more than one user account, make sure you're logged in as an administrator. The administrator account is the one that was created automatically when you first set up the computer.
Install ODS in the Applications folder as usual. Quit it if it's running.
Triple-click anywhere in the line of text below on this page to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
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). You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
The application window will open, eventually showing all files in all folders. It may take a few minutes for ODS to list all the files.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means. When in doubt, leave it alone or ask for guidance.
When you're done with ODS, quit it and also quit Terminal.

Error "The Connection Failed" in Time Machine, Migration Assistant and Restore From DVD

I am receiving this error when trying to connect to my Time Machine Backup in my Time capsule. I input the proper password to access my Time Capsule and It returns me to the screen with the caption "The connection failed" under the Time Capsule name in the "Select your Disk" screen. What would cause this error. I am connecting via WIFI (AirPort) and have full signal. I am using Mac OSX 10.6.8
I recently had my 1TB hard drive replaced and I am attempting to restore using Time Machine, migration assistant or from the startup dvd (tried multiple ways, no success). The initial setup of mac OSX 10.6 would not let me connect or other attempts after erasing hard drive and reinstalling OSX from disk.
Worked on it all weekend and don't have enough beer to drown the frustration, any help is appreciated.

You are correct TM is not at all easy to do a full restore.
To answer your question: Yes TM disk does show up in finder.
After my initial startup setup I was able to start TM and access all my previous backups. I migrated some files and was able grab the data from finder. Not satisfied with that I tried to do a restore to that previous date, to no success. I then erased the HD and reinstalled OSx and tried again from the setup screen. That didn't work, sulked over some beers. I then tired with Migration assistant...same result (more beer).
In starting TM after trying MA, only one backup was showing in the Star screen (today). None of my previous backups were showing. Since exiting TM it has been "Making Backup Disk Available" ( xGB of 6.29GB). Considering the size, I can only assume that these are my previous backups.
I have reviewed Pondini's posts, FAQs, and tutorials. I am a little scared to try and locate the drives through Terminal as in Pondini's TS #6 guide. If I can get my previous backups to show up, I will be happy with dragging files from Finder to restore my data and slowly work at restoring my settings/applications.

Missing a month's emails after time machine migration

I backed up my MacBook Pro before migrating all the data to a new iMac. Opening Mail on the iMac I discover I am missing the last month's emails. What might be the problem? Has TIme Machine lost them or not recognised them? How can I now get the missing email datga from the Macbook Pro into the new iMac Mail package? Advice, please.

Quit Mail. Force quit if necessary.
Back up all data. That means you know you can restore the Mail database, no matter what happens.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select
Go ▹ Go to Folder
from the menu bar. Paste into the box that opens (command-V), then press return.
A folder window will open. Inside it there should be files with names as follows:
Envelope Index
ExternalUpdates.storedata
Move those files to the Desktop, leaving the window open. Other files in the folder may have longer names that begin as above. Move those files, if any, to the Trash.
Log out and log back in. Relaunch Mail. It should prompt you to re-import your messages. You may get a warning that the index is damaged and that Mail has to quit. Click OK. Warning: The process may take hours if you have gigantic mailboxes. For reasonable-sized mailboxes, it should only take a few minutes.
Test. If Mail now works as expected, you can delete the files you moved to the Desktop. Otherwise, post your results.

How to I restore missing StickiesDatabase file from Time Machine?

I have looked all over for a solution to this. Basically, I am trying to restore a stickiesdatabase file from a Time Machine backup. I put in a new HD and am slowly pulling files over in pieces. The thing is, the backup that had the stickies I want to restore did not seem to back that file up. I navigated to user/library to find StickiesDatabase, and it is not there, even though I went into the terminal and unhid invisible folders and files (other greyed out invisibles showed up so I know it worked). But here's the weird thing, when looking on my current hard drive, I could find that file for my new, empty stickies just fine. Also, I went further to a Time Machine backup from a year ago, and I found the stickiesdatabase file in the library as well. It's like these last two backups I did that had the stickies I want did not include that file in the backup. Any thoughts? Am I doomed? Oh, and I am currently on Mavericks and the backup in question was also Mavericks. And I have a 2008 Macbook Pro if that info is helpful.

There is another, huge thread on TM backups on this forum and exactly this issue has come up. Sadly, no one has a perfect answer. I do not have a spare drive available to test this myself, but I would try something along these lines.
-- Ask TM to restore your full Library and the Masters, if Referenced. I believe that TM will give you the option to not overwriting your current Library, but be careful. However you do, stick this "Recovery Library" out somewhere. (Yes, this is gonna take some time, run it overnight.)
-- Open "Recovery" with Aperture and select the Project(s) that contain the images you want. Export these "Projects as New Library." (Don't export as either Versions or Masters.) I would select the box "Consolidate Masters" and I would probably discard the Previews. Stick this somewhere.
-- Now open "Original Library" and import the "Library" that you exported back into your Original Library as something like "Stupid Lost Project."
-- You should now have a Project full of adjusted, and adjustable images. (N.B. this is basically the technique I use with my laptop. I shoot, load into AP3 on the laptop, noodle, and then export/import into AP3 on the MacPro when I get home.)
-- Clean up. (Delete "Recovery", convert the recovered Project back to Referenced Masters, if you wish, etc.)
One good argument for never throwing those old USB drives away.
I have missed some of the details in the process, so be careful, but I believe that this will work until Apple lets us run Aperture inside Time Machine.
Best wishes.

What are the proper xattr in Time Machine folder hierarchy?

Hi there,
this is a highly technical question as I am trying to reconnect a corrupt Time Machine volume to its original Macs, one of them running SL, the other Yosemite.
I tried what Pondini advises on his website, including a migration of the network preferences. When first plugging the TM volume, I get this in the Console:
16/01/15 02:32:12    com.apple.backupd[38751]    Starting standard backup
16/01/15 02:32:12    com.apple.backupd[38751]    Backing up to: /Volumes/TW2/Backups.backupdb
16/01/15 02:32:13    com.apple.backupd[38751]    Detected system migration from: /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/snowy/2014-09-16-141637/Macintosh HD
16/01/15 02:33:19    com.apple.backupd[38751]    Backup content size: 646.7 GB excluded items size: 444.5 GB for volume Macintosh HD
16/01/15 02:33:19    com.apple.backupd[38751]    Starting pre-backup thinning: 242.65 GB requested (including padding), 69.61 GB available
16/01/15 02:33:19    com.apple.backupd[38751]    No expired backups exist - deleting oldest backups to make room
16/01/15 02:33:19    com.apple.backupd[38751]    Error: backup disk is full - all 0 possible backups were removed, but space is still needed.
16/01/15 02:33:19    com.apple.backupd[38751]    Backup Failed: unable to free 242.65 GB needed space
16/01/15 02:33:24    com.apple.backupd[38751]    Backup failed with error: Not enough available disk space on the target volume.
I don't understand how it can detect a migration but still can't delete older backups on this drive to make room.
MAC address
So I followed a rather old link on MacOSX Hints to reset the MAC address on the drive, and now I have:
drwxrwxr-x@   9 cubytus staff
986 15 jan 22:01 .
drwxrwxrwt@ 174 root
admin
5916 16 jan 01:41 ..
-rw-r--r--
1 root
staff
0 15 jan 22:01 .0026b0XXXXXX
-rw-r--r--
1 root
staff
0 15 jan 20:25 .3c0754XXXXXX
-rw-r--r--@   1 cubytus staff
15364 16 jan 01:34 .DS_Store
drwx------
4 cubytus staff
170 19 nov 04:45 .Spotlight-V100
drwxrwxrwt
4 cubytus staff
136 19 nov 04:45 .TemporaryItems
d-wx-wx-wt
3 cubytus staff
102 16 jan 01:41 .Trashes
-rw-r--r--
1 cubytus staff
162570 4 déc 23:27 .VolumeIcon.icns
-rw-r--r--
1 cubytus staff
302 13 déc 14:58 .apdisk
-rw-r--r--
1 cubytus staff
0 4 déc 23:27 .com.apple.timemachine.donotpresent
-rw-r--r--
1 cubytus staff
0 4 déc 23:27 .com.apple.timemachine.supported
-rw-r--r--
1 cubytus staff
785 4 déc 23:27 .disk_label
-rw-r--r--
1 cubytus staff
3149 4 déc 23:27 .disk_label_2x
drwx------@   2 cubytus staff
748 16 jan 01:39 .fseventsd
-rw-r--r--
1 cubytus staff
0 16 jan 02:07 .keepThisDriveSpinning
drwxr-xr-x
2 cubytus staff
68 17 aoû 2013 .prpro.scratch
drwxr-xr-x
2 cubytus staff
68 31 mai 2008 .vol
drwxr-xr-x@   4 cubytus staff
204 16 jan 01:44 Backups.backupdb
lrwxr-xr-x
1 cubytus staff
11 26 fév 2009 etc -> private/etc
-r-xr-xr-x
1 cubytus staff
47712 24 sep 2007 fsaclctl
-rw-r--r--
1 cubytus staff 10310496 9 déc 00:41 mach_kernel
-rwxr-xr-x
1 cubytus staff
115716 9 déc 00:41 tmbootpicker.efi
lrwxr-xr-x
1 cubytus staff
11 26 fév 2009 tmp -> private/tmp
lrwxr-xr-x
1 cubytus staff
11 26 fév 2009 var -> private/var
The MAC address in 3c belongs to the Snow Leopard Machine, the 00 one to the Yosemite machine. I know it sounds weird, but it is unclear how TM recognizes its backup drive. I first disabled ACL with fsaclctl (taken from a Leopard install DVD), and it worked, as said by:
sudo /Volumes/TW2/fsaclctl -p /Volumes/TW2
Access control lists are not supported or currently disabled on /Volumes/TW2.
Made sure the hidden file with the MAC address was correct, then re-enabled the ACLs.
ACLs and Xattr
Since the internal HDD had to be replaced, I wrote the com.apple.backupd.SnapshotVolumeUUID with the new HDD UUID in directory "Backups.backupdb/snowy/Latest":
Latest cubytus$ sudo xattr -w com.apple.backupd.SnapshotVolumeUUID 361B184E-E1FF-3860-95E2-XXXXXXXXXXAE "Macintosh HD"
Then went up two levels and checked the xattr:
Backups.backupdb cubytus$ ls -al@
total 0
drwxr-xr-x@ 4 cubytus staff   204 16 jan 01:44 .
    com.apple.FinderInfo      32
drwxrwxr-x@ 9 cubytus staff   986 15 jan 22:01 ..
    com.apple.FinderInfo      32
drwxr-xr-x@ 14 cubytus staff   578 15 jan 20:39 snowy
    com.apple.backupd.BackupMachineAddress      17
    com.apple.backupd.HostUUID      36
    com.apple.backupd.ModelID      13
drwxr-xr-x@ 31 cubytus staff 1088 16 jan 02:18 Whitebook
    com.apple.FinderInfo      32
    com.apple.backupd.BackupMachineAddress      17
    com.apple.backupd.HostUUID      36
    com.apple.backupd.ModelID      10
And checked their content:
snowy:Backups.backupdb cubytus$ sudo xattr -l Whitebook/
com.apple.FinderInfo:
00000000 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000010 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0B |................|
00000020
com.apple.backupd.BackupMachineAddress: 00:26:b0:XX:XX:XX
com.apple.backupd.HostUUID: BBD6D268-F58D-5407-974E-XXXXXXXXXXXX
com.apple.backupd.ModelID: MacBook5,2
snowy:Backups.backupdb cubytus$ sudo xattr -l snowy/
com.apple.backupd.BackupMachineAddress: 3c:07:54:XX:XX:XX
com.apple.backupd.HostUUID: 94BE92F5-E652-546C-8B33-XXXXXXXXXXXX
com.apple.backupd.ModelID: MacBookPro8,1
Each computer has the correct addresses and HostUUID, i.e. the current ones.
Yet neither of those give the "Reuse existing backups" shown on Pondini's website, and tmutil on Yosemite doesn't succeed in reconnecting to the backups.
What is the point I am missing?

Hey 2cpd2,
I see that you need help with restoring your computer from a Time Machine backup. Here is an article for you that should be able to address this question for you:
OS X Mavericks: Restore items backed up with Time Machine
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14111
You can also find more information about using Time Machine here:
Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac - Apple Support
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250
Thanks for being a part of the Apple Support Communities!
Cheers,
Braden

Faces thumbnails missing after recovery from time machine

I got a new harddisk in my iMac via Apple's harddisk replacement program. I recovered all my data via a Time Machine backup (from a Time Capsule). All seemed fine after recovery of backup. When firing up iPhoto after the recovery iPhoto asks for updating all the thumbnails (don't know why). After a while everything seems fine - all photos are available with thumbnails in the events view. However all Faces thumbnails are missing - all persons in the faces view are black boxes. I can see that all the faces tagging are intact - when clicking a person I can see all the tagged images as black boxes. When switching the little "Faces - Photos" control to "Photos" I can see the photos containing all the tagged persons all right. I seems like it's only the face thumbnails that are missing.
So far I have tried the following without succes:
Repaired the iPhoto database with iPhotos own tool (holding Command and Option down when starting iPhoto)
Updating the entire library from an earlier backup
Updated the faces database files from an earlier backup as explained in this post
I'm out of good ideas now - can anyone help?

Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
Click on the Add Library button,
and select the library you want to add from those in the selection window.
Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the Library ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
Click on the Create button.
Note 1: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments. However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost.
Note 2: Your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.
OT

What Files are Saved during a Time Machine Backup??

Hi,
When I carry out a time machine backup, what files are saved?
I have just plugged in my external hard drive to carry out a back up and its 56GB!, my last TM backup was only 2 weeks ago and I haven't downloaded that much data!
Many Thanks
Chris

Sorry, that wasn't typed very well!!
The TM backup is 56GB
;o)

What means: Promise Pegasus compatible with Time Machine RAID-support

On the (Dutch) Apple shop it is stated at the Promise Pegasus page: the Promise Pegasus is compatible with Time Machine RAID-support.
What does this mean? What is then the "physical connection path" between the TC and the Thunderbolt Pegasus RAID system?

Thanks for responding to my question. I guess I'm not sure I understand your reply though. I had no problem installing OS X on the 3TB WD Caviar Green and WD assured me that if I wanted to install only Windows 7 on it, there would be no compatibility issues. The problem lies with wanting the drive to be dual-bootable I guess via using Boot Camp (I know of no other way to go about it). The tech at OWC (where I bought the drive) said he had never heard of any problems with being able to install both Mac and Windows OS on the drive. In fact, he gave the same reply as yours: most hard drives should be able to work perfectly fine with your Mac. It's just that I can't get XP or Windows 7 (32 bit or 64 bit) to install on the 2nd partition, making the drive I have now not dual-bootable. The tech said 2TB hard drives were different and should solve the problem but when I asked him for any discernible spec I could look for in shopping for a replacement drive, he couldn't give me one, i.e. most drives should be okay. I have paid to have the 3TB installed and will have to pay to get the drive taken out and a replacement put back in -- I want to make sure whatever drive I put in this time allows me to have 2 partitions: one for my Mac OSX system and the other for my Windows enviroment (either XP or Windows 7).
If there is a work-around not involving Boot Camp, please let me know. I thought the reason for using Boot Camp as opposed to Disk Utility to create the dual-bootable drive was the benefit of using Mac drivers on the Windows side.
If there is another way, I don't understand why PC world made this blanket statement:
"Mac users should know that WD's new drives do not support Boot Camp, therefore they cannot be used as a dual-boot hard drive."

What Third Party Software to Modify Time Machine Backup Schedule?

Hello -
I was hoping to get some suggestions to what third party tool to use that will allow me to change the timing of backups from the regular hour intervals. As far as I know that cannot be changed in Time Machine and am looking for suggestions of software that will allow me to modify the schedule.
Thanks in advance...

Katie 'OConnell wrote:
This may be so, but Time Machine DOES say that it will continue backing up files until the hard disk is FULL. That could be a problem if one doesn't have a massive HD that can be dedicated exclusively to this activity, nor tons of money to purchase extra HDs so that Time Machine can back up to its heart's content.
Frankly, I don't need hourly backups and would prefer to eliminate those altogether.
The hourly backups don't really add much space, since they're only kept for a day, but they do protect you better. If you back up less frequently, you can lose more when (not if) your internal HD fails, or something else awful happens to your Mac.
And there's a much better chance of recovering a previous version of a file that you change or delete in error (ever do "Save" instead of "Save As"?), or that somehow gets corrupted.
As noted on the Time Machine Preference window, after 24 hours, it keeps one backup per day (the first) for a month, then one per week as long as there's enough space. After that, it automatically deletes the oldest backup(s) to make room for new ones.
It varies widely, of course, depending on how you use your Mac, but Time Machine usually needs 2-3 times the space of the data it's backing-up to keep several months, or more, of backups.
By the way, if you're mixing other data with your backups, in the same partition, that's going to be a problem sooner or later, but it's easily avoided by partitioning it. See #3 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
Message was edited by: Pondini

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