What will Time Machine/T.C. actually backup?

1. A firewire drive mounted.
2. a NAS drive mounted.
3. Of the mac's files, will it take everything, OS included, or just the documents/movies/music it finds? What about the desktop junk? Can you specify what?
4. Can you tell T.M. when to do the backups? or does it interrupt you all the time?
I have a time capsule, it's working, but I have yet to delve into using it as a backup. I can't decide if I should use the drive in the TC as it's intended purpose, a backup (which I would then backup again to a USB attached drive), or keep using my Lacie NAS as my main backup, and then backup everything to the T.C. and only use an external for a 3rd level of backup that I take off-site once a month.
Thoughts?

The general rule of thumb is that you need about twice as much space on the backup drive for Time Machine as you are using on your computer. In other words, if your files use 250 GB on your computer, ideally you would want to have 500 GB available for Time Machine backups. This will allow Time Machine to build a long history of backups. If you don't need to go back in time more than a few weeks or months, you can get by with less storage space.

Similar Messages

  • Will time machine do a full backup of external volume (extra storage) after new logic board?

    I have a MacBook Pro running leopard, that just had the logic board replaced. I haven't picked it up yet, but I am told that my hard drive and data were not touched.
    I have read Pondini's very helpfull info/site, so I know that time machine will want to start a new set of backups.
    Here is my question, based on my setup:  in addition to the internal HD, I have a firewire drive for additional storage of files. Time machine backs up both volumes to another, larger, FireWire drive
    Now, after the new logic board, will time machine make a whole new copy of the external storage drive as well as the internal?  Or just the internal?
    Basically, I know time machine will think it's on a new machine, but will it treat the external storage as if it were new as well?
    I would appreciate any help or advice you can give me.  Thanks. 

    Still no answer? I do have the same trouble on my iMac G5 PPC with 10.5.8: I just replaced the MOB and Time Machine insists to create a new bkup! Attempted with "tmutil" command but doesn't work on my OS...it is really impossible to tell the machine to learn the new address? I DON'T want to believe it!
    Tks for any help

  • Will Time Machine (TM) reset my backups if I upgrade my internal HD ???

    Hi everyone,
    I am upgrading my internal HD (160GB HD) on my MBP to a larger one (WD 320GB HD). However, I will be upgrading it while having my system cloned; for this reason, I would like to know, if and when I connect my computer to the TM HD, I will be risking to lose any of my previous backups? Or, will TM recognize my system because I had it upgraded from a clone? Does it make any difference if I backup my information and instal the system from the beginning (Mac OS X DVDs), I mean to TM previous backups?
    Any help will be truly appreciated.

    I had a problem on the other side, the USB backup drive. TM re-started my backup from scratch after I moved the drive! Here's what happened:
    Started with Time Machine backing up to USB hard drive connected directly to MacBook Pro. Had about three months of backups.
    Moved USB hard drive to Airport Extreme as a network drive. Mounted drive to MacBook Pro. Since it still had the same name, Time Machine recognized it and started backing up to the drive in its new location (on AEBS).
    In this scenario, I would have hoped that my backup would simply continue, but it started over on the day when I moved it to the AEBS!
    BEING ABLE TO MOVE FROM USB TO WIRELESS WOULD BE SO GREAT:
    For long backups I could connect it directly to my MacBook Pro. Or even take the drive with me while traveling (for backups/restore while away), then return to wireless backups when I get home.
    Has anyone had a different experience?
    =Emmanuel

  • What will Time machine do after a complete uninstal of OSX?

    If I completly remove OSX from the machine, format the drive, then do a brand new install of OSX, on the new install, if I hook up my Time Machine HDD and run time machine I can re-load specific folders from my old (1st) install?
    Also I used bootcamp to create a second partion that runs windows.  Will that partition remain intacted if I re-install OSX?  Will only the OSX partition be formatted?

    What you want to do is make yourself a "hold the option key" bootable clone.
    1: Get yourself another external powered hard drive.
    Disconnect any other drive, don't want to format them by accident.
    2: Open Disk Utility in your Applications > Utilities folder
    3: Select the new external drive makers name and click Erase > Format HFS+ Journaled (default setting) click Security Option > Zero all Data from the drop down menu that appears. Now wait, it could take a hour or so.
    The "Zero" is a extra step to map off potential bad sectors on the drive before data is laid, I do this to all my new drives once, makes the data more reliable, after that a regular Erase is sufficient unless you want to scrub the drive of any trace of data.
    4: Once finished you'll have a ready HFS+Journaled external hard drive to clone to.
    5: Download the free to use (donations accepted) Carbon Copy Cloner here:
    http://www.bombich.com/
    6: The default setting to clone one drive to another should be fine for cloning to a blank drive the first time (it takes awhile), it's just later on that CCC offers a high amount of customized backup features when you update the clone. You will need to learn to understand what will happen when you update your clone. (files that changed will be archived on the same drive for instance) For now you can just leave things be and clone A to B.
    7: Once that's finished, open Disk Utility and Repair Permissions on both drives, there will be a long list of things fixed and if you do it again the same list, it's ok to ignore it.
    https://support.apple.com/kb/ts1448
    8: Now you can experiment and hold the option key and boot from the external drive. You will notice you can access the files on your internal drive.
    Check out your clone and make sure your happy because later on when you erase your internal drive from Disk Utility (either option booted from the clone or hold c booted off the OS X installer disk) it's going to contain your old system in it's entirety.
    9: Now hold c and boot off the OS X installer disk and use Disk Utility to erase your OS X partition and reinstall OS X like you want. When you go through setup use the same hard drive name and user name as before (different password) this way when you reboot and drag & drop copy the contents of your user folders from the old clone into the user folders of your new boot configuration your iTunes playlists and other "references" (pathnames) to your files remains intact
    You can cherry pick user files from the clone this way, cleaning house essentially, with only what you want on the new internal boot drive configuration. But before you do that, make sure you Software Update fully and install your program from fresh sources to make sure they are pristine. Doing Software Update and installing programs first before returning files optimizes OS and programs so they are placed on the faster part of the drive near the front.
    10: Once your up on your new drive good, clone that to yet another hard drive, using the same methods above and you'll have a bootable backup.
    Note: TimeMachine + Migration or Setup Assistant for restoring is indiscriminate, it just copies. And TimeMachine drives are not bootable.

  • I just moved iPhoto (9.6) library to EHD from my MBP. I had been running time machine backups. With the library now on an EHD, will time machine run a seamless backup next time i connect  (if i allow TM to see other drives)?

    I have MBP 2012 running Yosemite and iPhoto 9.6. I run Time machine backups daily.
    I just moved iPhoto library to EHD and removed the iPhoto library on MBP. I have enabled external drives to be accessed on TM. The next time i run a TM backup with the EHD  connected, will TM run a seamless backup or will it not like the fact that a backup is now spread across two devices where it used to be on only one?

    By default EHDs are excluded for TM backups - you have to go to the TM preferences ==> options and remove them from the excluded list
    And you need two disks connected -one for your iPhoto library and one for the TM backup - TM will backup all hard drives that ar not excluded - you do not need  multiple TM backup disks
    LN

  • What will Time machine do after complted uninstal of OSX?

    If I completly remove OSX from the machine, format the drive, then do a brand new install of OSX, on the new install, if I hook up my time capsule and run time machine I can re-load specific folders from my old (1st) install?
    Also I used bootcamp to create a second partion that runs windows.  Will that partition remain intacted if I re-install OSX?  Will only the OSX partition be formatted?

    I moved this question over to the Apple Support Communities > Mac OS & System Software > Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard  Forum.

  • Due to NAS issues, when I started a new time machine backup it did not have the old backups available. My question is do I need to delete them or will time machine automatically reclaim the space?  Only one Sparse Bundle, same name.

    Due to NAS issues, when I started a new time machine backup it did not have the old backups available. My question is do I need to delete them or will time machine automatically reclaim the space?  There is only one sparse bundle but when I enter time machine I don't see my historic backups.  I use a synology DS212 for my time machine.  Started a new backup which is 218gb but it says 618 gb is occupied  therefore it looks like 2 or 3 backups are still on the disk. Before my NAS issues the last backup was in 2014.  As you can see there is a second sparse bundle from 2012.  Not sure what that is.

    This is an old message now, but what happened to me similarly was:
    I had a major computer crash and through complicated pathways ended up reinstalling (Mavericks) as a new user (long story).
    At least I had good Time Machine backups on an NAS drive (Synology DS212j), or so I thought - when I started Time Machine up again, the old backup file was gone, replaced by a new one using my "new computer" name. The old file was gone both by directly mounting the NAS drive and by clicking "Enter Time Machine".
    It's like I had {OldShareName}.sparsebundle and then it was replaced by {NewShareName}.sparsebundle, all of the old info vanished.
    (I have spent a week finding old files elsewhere and have completed a satisfactory self-restore. It pays to "archive" [my own variation of] as well as "back-up".)
    My belief is that if this were a wired-netword-drive, e.g. plugged right into my iMac with a USB cable, then the old file would have remained.
    But this is an NAS drive, connected directly to my Airport wireless router, and I don't know the significance of the fact that it stores its Time Machine backups as "sparsebundle" files rather than simply as plain(er) files.
    As usual when things get complicated with computers (not just Apple computers) there was never a warning message. Something like "YOU'RE ABOUT TO DELETE A TIME MACHINE BACK-UP FILE!!!" would have made my life a lot simpler.
    BTW, I did try a "restore from Time Machine" option the first thing I had my "new computer" (old hardware, 2009 iMac) up and running, using Migration Assistant, and it ran for many hours and then failed in the wee hours - what that has to do with anything I'm not sure.
    I'm not sure that I have a question about this other than "why do these things happen to me?", but it's a warning. Apart from that I've been very happy with the stability and reliability (but not the cost or set-up complexity) of NAS vs. directly-cabled external drives.
    Charles

  • I have iOS 10.7.5 and if i update to Mountain lion 10.8.2 will i lose all my old applications i've purchased and other software i've downloaded? and what is time machine ?

    I have iOS 10.7.5 and if i update to Mountain lion 10.8.2 will i lose all my old applications i've purchased and other software i've downloaded? and what is time machine ?

    No. You will not lose any of the applications and data will be safe.
    But make sure that you have working backup. This is very important.
    Time Machine is the built-in backup software/application.
    Best.

  • Can anyone tell me what this Time Machine error means? The network backup disk does not support the required AFP features?

    Can anyone tell me what this Time Machine error means? The network backup disk does not support the required AFP features?

    AFP - Apple Filing Protocol
    The Network Attached Storage (NAS) that you are pointing Time Machine at does not have the features needed by Time Machine in order to do its Thing.  Time Machine needs some specific features that are not typically available on generic networked storage devices.
    There are manufactures that support the Mac OS X HFS+ file system formats and implement all the needed AFP protocol packets necessary so that they can be used with Time Machine, but apparently yours does not.
    If you are not using a networked mounted volume for Time Machine, then more information will be needed about your Time Machine setup.

  • HT3275 time machine could not complete backup because it says a (filename).sparsebundle is already in use.  Anyone know what that is?? and who could be already using my file?

    Do you understand this error message?  Time machine could not complete backup because it says a (filename).sparesbundle is already is in use.
    What is the sparsebundle extension?  

    See here...
    The Backup disk image ... sparsebundle ... is already in use.
    From Pondini’s excellent Information Here...
    http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.htm

  • Will Time Machine delete what I delete?

    If I delete some old photos to free up space on my laptops hard drive, will Time Machine do the same the next time it's plugged into back up hard drive? Or can I just run the old photos from the back up hard drive? thanks

    Just to confirm, Thomas has given you the correct answer. TimeMachine keeps multiple save states (which is of great value) but the only thing you can rely on for certain is that TimeMachine will have the same data your computer currently has.
    As each new hourly backup is made there is the possibility that the oldest backup set (or several of the oldest backup sets) will have to be deleted. Also, each day the hourly backups are thinned to create a single day backup and each week the 7 days of backups are thinned out to create a weekly backup. So the file you created a couple days ago (or weeks or months) and deleted yesterday may still be on TimeMachine or it may be gone. It depends on whether TimeMachine needed to delete the backup set that file was on to make a new backup set.

  • HT201250 Will Time Machine backup the files on my desktop?

    Will Time Machine backup the files on my desktop? Backup files anywhere on my computer even if they're not neatly in the document folders?

    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3107
    Most commonly used backup methods explained

  • HT3275 Have OS 10.7.5. Computer off three days and now message comes that Time Machine could not complete backup because the "/volumes/PH's timecapsulPro.sparsebundle" is already in use. Whats that about?

    Have OS 10.7.5. Computer off three days and now message comes that Time Machine could not complete backup because the "/volumes/PH's timecapsulPro.sparsebundle" is already in use. Whats that about?

    Two Solutions for "sparse bundle already in use" Error
    Simple solution (from Bob Timmons):
    1. Make sure that no other Macs are backing up the Time Capsule at the time
    2. Pull the power cord from the back of the Time Capsule
    3. Count to ten
    4. Plug the power cord back into the back of the Time Capsule
    If Simple doesn't work:
    The Backup disk image ... sparsebundle ... is already in use.

  • 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.

  • Does Time Machine require add'l backup space?

    I have two 2TB external hard drives which are pretty much full.
    I want to partition a 4TB drive into two 2TB sectors and backup my two drives.
    I don't need additional "archived" backups, those previous changes that Time Machine stores when additional space permits.  I just need an exact backup of the drives in their current state and that's all.
    If one of my current hard drives is full to 99% capacity (say 1.98 TB) and my backup drive has 2TB capacity, will Time Machine let me backup?  Or does it require additional space?
    I ask because I've been reading other posts that talk about "recommending" an additional 20-50% in size for saving previous changes.  I understand the suggestion, but I only have these two 2TB partitions and I don't believe I need those previous backups. 
    Is that "additional" space mandatory or optional?

    Thanks for the reply, ds store.
    I wonder if you (or anyone else) can still answer a question or two for me. 
    Are there any free options for making mirror backups of my drive?  I don't need the thing to be bootable.  It's all media files that don't change, but do get added to from time to time.
    I would settle for a click-and-drag copy of the drive, but the occasional addition of a new file makes it a hassle to remember what I need to add to the backup drive. 
    Sure would like a *free* solution to the problem of needing to backup a mostly full 2TB hard drive to another 2TB drive (ie, not much "work space") and not needing archived time machine-style backups ... just a system for knowing to add that occasional addition to my files.
    Seems like time machine should do something like that ... simply pass on additional archived files ... just copy the disc at hand, but I get the idea it doesn't.  It insists on creating those additional archived files AND requiring me to allocate substantial extra space for "work space".
    I don't want to buy another drive.  I want to back up my 2TB to another 2TB and make updates from time to time - without the wasted space of archived backups.
    Any free solutions to that?  Possibly something already in my Mac that I'm not aware of?

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