When I back up on my exertnal HD drive with time machine can I erase what on my computer HD for more space?

When I back up files on my exertnal HD drive with time machine can I erase what's on my Mac HD for space without losing what's on external HD?

If the data is valuable to you, redundant backups are essential. Time Machine is an excellent vehicle when you have to restore data that no longer exists on your internal HDD.
Mende1's suggestion of using Carbon Copy Cloner is excellent because it gives yous a HDD that is 'ready to go' should your internal HDD fail (as all HDDs eventually will).
For example, I have 5 copies of my iTunes folder, one each on three MBPs, on a HDD devoted strictly to iTunes and Time Machine (this does not include the iPod). One may view this as excessive but since I have over 100 GB in this application, I am very comfortable with this.
I advocate that the best backup strategy is Time machine combined with a boot HDD and a third HDD for the most important user data. If there is non essential data, the you may certainly compromise and use just Time Machine.
Ciao.

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Backing up an external storage hard drive with time machine

I have a setup with an external hard drive on which I store photos etc. I also back up my desktop with time machine to a separate external. I want to back up my photo drive to this external through time machine and a tech at the apple store showed me how to remove the external drive from the excluded list and include it in the regular time machine backups. When I go to set this up with my own computer however, the - symbol is greyed out and I am unable to select the hard drive. If anyone has any solutions I am all ears!

redrubi1234 wrote:
When I go to set this up with my own computer however, the - symbol is greyed out and I am unable to select the hard drive.
If it's listed in gray, not black, it means the disk isn't formatted +Mac OS Extended,+ and Time Machine cannot back it up.
You'll have to copy the data elsewhere temporarily, reformat the drive (see #1 in [Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/DU.html]), then copy it back.

When I use my portable hard drive with time machine, can I still use it to put stuff on etc??

Can I use it with time machine and then use it to store stuff on as well?? Or when I plug it in will it back up automatically and I can't do anything else with it??
Thanks for your help

It is recommended that Time Machine has it's Own Dedicated Drive.
- Corza - wrote:
Can I use it with time machine and then use it to store stuff on as well??..
See here > Can I use my TM disk for other stuff?
From Here > http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

Backing up client to server external drive with Time Machine - problems...

Hi,
I'm running 10.5.2 server on a MacMini (G4 1.25GHz/1GB) which has an external firewire drive that has been set as a sharepoint for Time Machine backups. The problem is that from the client MacBook (10.5.2 - connected on a wireless g network) I can select the drive in the Time Machine preferences but when I accept the changes it resets to the 'off' position.
Hmmm? Any ideas?

The server wasn't set up in Advanced. I'm not trying to back up the server itself but the client.
Can anyone offer any ideas!?

Backing up separated Boot and User drives with Time Machine

I'll be making the jump to Leopard soon and was wondering how messed up Time Machine will be on my G5 which has a 74GB Raptor Boot drive that houses all applications and a 160GB drive (internal) that houses my User directory. Will TM automatically back up the Boot AND User drive or will I have to do anything special? Come to think of it, I wonder if I'm going to have to do anything different just to set it up the same way it is now, but in Leopard. I was planning on doing a complete fresh install....hmmm....

He he he... That will be a very good question. TM should backup ALL files on BOTH internal HARD DRIVES(grinding teeth here) and expect to take about a day's worth for the initial backup. I upgraded and TM just won't backup the users folder on the first hd that has all the users and apps, while the second houses all of the movies documents, music, photos. I decided to make TM shut down and leave it off. However, all of the leopard features work very very very very very very very very...very very well for my G5(Dual core 2.5GHz, 4GB RAM, 2x 250GB HD, and NVIDIA GeForce 6800 graphics card with a 30' display). Spaces works like we breathe, the general apps run at almost twice the speed (running Mathematica 6 while rendering video with Final Cut Pro 4 while surfing the internet). Ok probably not twice the speed, but it is certainly faster than Tiger. Also you have more room (up to 16 spaces). Just make sure that you have a spare internal hard drive to replace, just incase.

Hi, ive been backing up my computer to an external hard drive (with time machine). When i buy a new macbook will that hard drive put all my info on to the new computer?

hi, ive been backing up my computer to an external hard drive (with time machine). When i buy a new macbook will that hard drive put all my info on to the new computer?

When you boot the new machine for the first time, you'll be prompted to import your data from a Time Machine backup.

Had to wipe my drive so I could do a clean install of snow leopard Now I look every where on how to move bookmarks, address book and I cal settings. I have them back up on a external drive with Time machine but can not move, copy or restore my old sett d

Had to wipe my drive so I could do a clean install of snow leopard. Now I have look every where on how to move bookmarks, address book and I cal settings. I have them back up on a external drive with Time machine but can not move, copy or restore my old settings. The instructions I have found or no help or needs more clarafication on what to do.

Use migration assistant to move your files. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4889

I am backing up my computer to an external hard drive using Time Machine. It has been at 288.91 "used" for a while... should I just let it ride? It's been going for about 7 hours now.

I am backing up my computer to an external hard drive using Time Machine. It has been at 288.91 "used" for a while... should I just let it ride? It's been going for about 7 hours now

It does not immediately delete the files that are missing.. it merely tries to backup the new files it has discovered on the external drive. Since you moved the files there, the backup at least for a while will contain both copies.. and that is why it doesn't have enough space to backup.
Fixing the problem.. hmm pondini is the expert.. you should be able to delete the backup of the photos in existing backup.. there are instructions to do it.. but it is a very poor way to do things.
Much better. .archive off the existing backup.. this is long and slow but worth it. you need a usb drive of the same size as the TC drive. Then erase the TC and start a fresh set of backups.
The alternative is to use the USB drive as a new target.. but it is much slower than the TC internal drive.
http://pondini.org/TM/12.html

I restored my hard drive with time machine but when I log in I get "home folder protected by fire vault and needs to be repaired. But I can't get past the regular log

I restored my hard drive with time machine but when I log in I get "home folder protected by fire vault and needs to be repaired. But I can't get past the regular log

Maybe you might find some info to the right>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Backing up an encrypted drive with Time Machine under Snow Leopard

In a nutshell, my question is “Can I back up an encrypted drive using Time Machine under Snow Leopard, and if so, how do I access its data from a previous day?”
I have a 1Tb USB drive connected to my MacBook, which runs Snow Leopard. The drive is formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). This drive is included in the drives that Time Machine backs up. I used Disk Utility to create an encrypted drive on the USB drive (998Gb), also formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). The encrypted drive is not on TimeMachine’s list of excluded files/drives.
When I go into Time Machine, I can see the USB drive and the encrypted drive in the side bar. I can access the files on the encrypted drive as long as I’m looking at how it stands now. But if I move backward in time, the encrypted drive is grayed out and inaccessible. If I click on the USB drive, I get a window that tells me it is 75.9Gb in size, and nothing else is available to me.
When I open the back-up drive in Finder and navigate to Backups.backupdb > macbook name > some date and time, I see my MacBook’s hard drive and the USB drive. The encrypted drive is not shown. When I click on the USB drive, I see an entry for drivename.sparsebundle. When I click on that I’m prompted for the password for the encrypted drive. When I enter it, I get a warning telling me that the disk image could not be opened and that the encrypted drive has no mountable file systems.
Is my encrypted drive really be backed-up and if so, how do I access the backed-up data?

Having received a bunch of views but no replies over the last 5 days, I decided to venture into my local Apple store and ask this same question. The response I got from the geniuses was that you can't get a reliable back-up of an encrypted drive using Time Machine under Snow Leopard. So, my only alternative is to copy the encrypted drive's contents elsewhere, unencrypt the drive, and then copy the contents back. This is what I expected, but not what I wanted to hear.

Trouble backing up external drive with time machine

I have a small USB stick that I use to store important documents but documents that I don't access very often. I have an additional 500 GB hard drive that I use for backing up with Time Machine. I want Time Machine to backup both my internal hard drive (Macbook Air 2011 Lion) as well as the small USB stick. I've searched the forum and discovered that I needed to reformat the USB stick, which I did (it is now Mac OS Extended). The USB now appears in the list of excluded drives in Time Machine preferences, which I removed. Thinking that Time Machine would be backing up my USB stick now, I backed up and then turned the computer off. The next day, I looked at the external drive, and it didn't seem to have a backup of the USB. I entered Time Machine and the USB is "greyed out" which means it wasn't backed up. I've retried backing up several times by including the USB in Time Machien preferences, but it seems that when I click "save" it doesn't actually save because when I open Preferences up again, the USB stick is in the list of excluded items again. Have I done something wrong? Any imput would be greatly appreciated.

I don't use Time Machine but my view is that it is too dangerous for sticks which may be removed - I understand that it may delete previous backups if it discovers that the stick no longer exists.
You could:
manually copy the stick to your main drive from time to time
use Carbon Copy Cloner to backup the stick
use a utility to mirror the stick to your main drive

Backing up a shared drive with Time Machine

I've searched all over the place and refuse to believe I'm the only person in this situation but I can't find a solution to my problem!
My set up is as follows; I have an AirPort Extreme Base Station to which I've connected 3 external hard drives via a powered USB hub. I have a 320GB one for work, a 500GB one for media and a 2TB one for wireless backups.
I have a MacBook Pro and an iMac both of which I use for work around the house. Girlfriend has a MacBook. All three backup via Time Machine to my 2TB drive perfectly and all 3 have access to my work files (plus colleagues can easily access work when they're over) and all 3(+) can access our media collection. But the problem is I want to backup my work drive as it's the thing which needs backing up most vitally.
As I write this I'm thinking that maybe Time Machine isn't the best way but does anyone have any ideas as to a solution? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
James

jameskoster wrote:
As I write this I'm thinking that maybe Time Machine isn't the best way
TM can not backup networked drives. see _*Disks that can be used with Time Machine*_
but does anyone have any ideas as to a solution?
check out ChronoSync.
JGG

Accessing back-ups on external hard-drive with Time Machine.

Hi guys,
I hope someone can help me with this problem. I am a novice at this so please be patient and forgive my ignorance.
I backed up the internal hard-drive of my '06 iMac onto an external Iomega 500GB hard-drive using Time Machine.
A couple of weeks later the internal hard-drive of my iMac fried and I got the " grey screen of death ".
Now I have the external hard-drive connected to my '06 MacBook.
There is 300GB of data on the external hard-drive. There is only 50GB of space available on my MacBook.
I would like to access my iPhoto on the external hard-drive but when I click on the iPhoto icon in Time Machine, I get "error code 10657 ".
I am NOT trying to do a full restore of the back-up onto the MacBook because :
1. There is not enough space available on the MacBook and
2. I will do a full restore when I have bought and installed a new bigger hard-drive into the iMac.
So, I guess my question is this : Is it possible for me to access my iPhoto on the external hard-drive using my MacBook without doing a complete transfer and if so, how ?
Thanking you in advance,
Sean.

If this is a network device, you can't back it up with Time Machine. If it's directly attached, and in Mac OS format, delete it from the exclusion list in the Time Machine preference pane.

Backing up an external hard drive with time Machine

I backed up my internal disk with Time Machine, but I can not back up an external drive that I use for my media. I see the drive in the options part of Time Machine system preferences, but the minus sign to take it off of the "do not back up these drives" is blanked out. Any suggestions?

I successfully backed up the contents of an external hard drive, but the next time Time Machine did a backup, I didn't happen to have that drive connected, so Time Machine said it couldn't find it and deleted the existing backup. Is there any way to get it to keep the backup? The drive I want to back up is only used occasionally (naturally, anything I use more frequently is on my Mac) and I don't want to have to plug in both hard drives every time I want to run a backup, only to risk losing all of that history if I ever accidentally plug in only the backup drive. But I do want to keep Time Machine backups of that drive because it contains my iPhoto Library.

HT201250 Backing up an auxiliary drive with Time Machine

I have iphoto loaded on an external lacie drive to free up space on my macbook pro. I use a mybook and time machine to backup my macbook pro, but it won't let me include the Lacie in the backup even though there is plenty of room. I want to make sure all my photos are backed up. Any ideas?

wmiller9 wrote:
Thanks, Eric, but the minus sign is grayed out next to the drive so it won't let me remove it.
That means the drive isn't formatted for a Mac (probably set up for Windows), and Time Machine can't back it up.
You'll need to copy the data elsewhere temporarily, format it for a Mac (per #1 in Using Disk Utility), then copy it back.

When I back up on my exertnal HD drive with time machine can I erase what on my computer HD for more space?

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