When time machine backs up at night, it will delete some files...

Hello,
I have a Mac Mini Server that is backed up via Time Macine every night at midnight. On occassion, when I come in the next morning some files on the server are deleted. I will restore them. Weeks will pass with no issues. It will do it again. I have not seen a pattern to it but it deletes the same files. It is getting frustrating. Has anyone experienced this or know a way to fix??
Gary

There's no normal circumstance where Time Machine should delete files on a source disk for backups, so there's probably something else going on here; maybe a latent volume corruption, application-specified file deletions, errant user commands or some errant maintenance script, unauthorized system access, or some other bug. 
Disk hardware errors usually don't manifest as file deletions, so I wouldn't start out with that theory.  Usually chunks of files disappear, and you start seeing directory and other file system errors.  Then your disk can vanish.
If there's no pattern to the deletions, then I'd check the volume using Disk Utility and verify the structures.  See if there's something off with the disk.
If the system is 'net connected, I'd probably also change all the login credentials, lock down unnecessary services, and look to install a firewall and possibly configure a DMZ, depending on the circumstances.  Also check the server logs and see if there are any unexpected accesses.
If you're not current with the web-facing software you're running on the server — content management systems or other add-on tools, or with OS X itself — then do upgrade that to current.
Without a pattern, there's not all that much to go on.
If your server security has been breached and if the attackers are smart, changing the passwords probably won't keep them out.  (It's not certain that your security has been breached here.  Far from it.  It's just one of the various possibilities; of the situations that can cause random file deletions.)

Similar Messages

  • When using Time Machine, if I delete items from my computer, will they still be backed up to access later on my external hard drive? In other words, when time machine backs up again, will it delete the files from the back up?

    When using Time Machine, if I delete items from my computer, will they still be backed up to access later on my external hard drive? 
    In other words, when time machine backs up again, will it delete the files from the back up that I have deleted from my computer?

    No, I do not believe so. Time Machine would keep all those now-deleted files in previous backups, and as time goes by those backups might be deleted if you needed room, but it would still keep one backup from each day in last month, as well as one from each week forever, as long as you don't start running out of room, then just the oldest would be deleted to make room if needed.
    I use a backup drive about double the size of my drive to be backed up, so I would guess it will never get to the point where deleted files being replaced by new ones being backed fill up that drive to the point where backups actually have to get deleted.

  • I just restored my Mac HD from a time machine back-up and PS 4 Will not open. I get an error code 150:30. Any Idea what I should do ?

    I just restored my Mac HD from a time machine back-up and PS 4 Will not open. I get an error code 150:30. Any Idea what I should do ?

    Photoshop's licensing information might have lost when you restored it to new HD. Re-install Photoshop CS4 and enter the same serial key for PS CS4 which you used before.
    In case you need the download link for PS CS4, you can get it from here. Download CS4 products
    Let me know in case you still get any issues.
    ~ Arpit

  • Finder Freezing when time machine back up files

    I've an 24 aluminium iMac. The finder often freeze (once a day at least) and I noticed that this is often when Time Machine is backing up files.
    It's impossible to relaunch the finder and sometimes other mac apps are freezing (preferences etc..). On the dock I can still see that the finder and the apps are active but in fact there are frozen and it is not possible to force quit.
    Then if I shut down the computer through the apple menu it doesn't work and the only solution is to shut down manually my iMac with the back button.
    Be that as it may it is less frequent since the iMac last software update (graphic card) before everything on the screen was freezing.

    I have a 1tb and 540 tb Ultramax Harddrive to support my Mac Pro G5. I originally bought the 650 when the G5 was running Tiger and it worked without fault on a 800 firewire. I partly purchased this model of drive as they advertised its extendibility. When time machine was announced I purchased a second 1tb version and installed the two drives running daisy chained by 800 firewire and they worked fine. Maybe 2 weeks after installing Leopard which had caused me problems because of the application enhancer i was not ready to use time machine so declined to switch it on.
    After a few weeks and after the 650 had dismounted itself i started to find after waking from sleep the mac was frozen. There was no way out other than switch it off on the front switch. I later discovered that on powering down the 650 ultramax I could recover my processes but at the danger of corrupting the drive by not removing it properly. As I tried to work out an exit strategy to save data on the 650 I got a system warning to say the Ultramax was beyond repair and was available only to recover files. Eventually it started hanging after a few seconds so i had no choice but to lose data and reformat the drive. That failed and having already contacted Iomega support for advice with little support they eventually agreed the drive had become damaged and agreed to replace the unit.
    With the new unit I expected the problem would be gone.. but it was a matter of hours before the symptoms re-emerged, not as bad as before they seemed to allow other apps to continue to run and work it just disabled the finder so i could open an application from recent apps but not through a finder window and if i asked it to open or save a file it would lock the application so much not even a three fingered quit would solve the problem it would close the app in the finder but in the close app window it would remain listed as not responding.. the only way to recover use of the mac was to power off the ultramax almost on loosing power all hanging functions would re-emerge sometimes i needed to switch the mac off.
    I decided to risk setting time machine on and although it worked it hung on the first back up and ever since I have woken up the mac as i run a very eco friendly power management policy I would find the hang accompanied by time machine backing up.
    I am sure time machine is part culprit in this problem although i cant work out why only the 650 suffers I have tried taking it off firewire and moving to usb and it still does the same....
    Any ideas or pointers to an answer of any sort would be welcome

  • Why does Time Capsule echo when time machine backs up?

    Every time time machine backs up I get horrid echo sounds from my Bose speakers which are attached to the computer.  I use Time Capsule and have for quite a while but this is a new problem - probably about two weeks since it started.  It is driving me nuts as it is loud.

    There is always a low hum from TC which i dislike but I moved it so it is faint. 
    Bad.. very bad.. there should not be a low hum "always" from a TC.. If the hum is 50hz, 60hz 100hz or 120hz.. it is a power supply issue that probably just got worse. They do not hum in normal use.. there is a fault in the power supply.
    Take it back to apple and get it replaced. Wipe it before you take it in.. they should exchange it.
    In normal operation you can put your ear up against the TC.. and power it on..
    The start up cycle goes like this.
    Fan will immediately start up.. and front LED will flash momentarily green go off then begin flashing amber.
    Fan will cut off and the hard disk will spin up.. this is several seconds into the boot cycle.
    Hard disk will settle to normal operation.. disk test complete. TC will finish the boot. LED will go green (if everything is good).. after about 1min the disk will stop spinning. From this point the TC should make no noise at all. Audio noise at least. If you have internal power supply hum.. it has faulty transformer or some other part. Since it is under warranty pass it back for replacement.

  • Does Time Machine back up disk information in addition to all files?

    Hi
      I want to know if Time Machine back up disk information of my current Apple computer.
      These information may include GUID/Apple Partition Map (such as partition names and layout). I check my backups in the Time Capsule, and it seems that only files in the hard drive have been backed up. I kind of know Partition Map doesn't reside in files, but hidden in the hard drive, so I wander if Time Machine does back up them? If so, where are they?
      Thank you in advance!

    DavidCQ wrote:
    Thank you for your information! It seems that Time Machine can only do with Apple OS, and for other OS such as Windows , we need use other tools.
    If it's Windows as a guest in a virtual machine, the backing file will get archived.  That's certainly a backup, but a woefully inefficient one as it'll drag the whole backing file out each time.  Most folks will thus disable that file in Time Machine.
    If it's Windows via Boot Camp or Linux in a GPT partition, that'll require using Windows- or Linux-focused tools. 
    One of the few available OS-agnostic approaches for backing up data is a disk image.   Time Machine is not an OS-agnostic backup tool.
    As for Windows or Linux or OS X or most any other operating system, each has its own tools and requirements for performing an operating system backup and for recovering and restoring, and it's very rare for any other operating system around really has any clue what those requirements are for a given OS.

  • CS3 locks up when time machine backs up

    When I'm working in Adobe CS3, namely Photoshop, illustrator and After Effects, the program locks up if time machine tries to make a back up. Time machine seems to get stuck too, appearing to make a backup forever until I force quite from the CS3 app.

    Where are your backups going, to an external disk, Time Capsule, or ??
    Where is the data for those apps, on your internal HD, an external, or ??
    Try the things in #D2 of the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
    If still no help, copy and post the +TM Buddy+ messages (per #D2) for one of these backups here.

  • How do i control when time machine backs up

    I do not carry around my external hd with me and yet time machine keeps looking for it whenever I am on ac power.  I find this irritating but have been unable to figure out an option for when tm backs up.  I did see that tm backs up onto the hd when the backup disk is not connected and then transfers those backups to the external hd when connected.
    Anyone else find it irritating that tm keeps wanting to back up to an external hd that is not there?  Have you found anyway to solve this problem.  By the way, my laptop is encrypted with lion file vault in case that makes any difference.
    david

    that is not in the options.  Here is a screen shot

  • When Time Machine is backing up files, I can't work on other apps

    When Time Machine backs up files, I am not able to work on other apps such as Safari.  I try to cancel the back up but nothing happens.  Then the rainbow-colored wheel appears and I can’t do anything.  I have turn off the computer and the external hard drive, restart both and log in.  After this happens, I see that Time Machine is no longer backing up anything and I am able to continue work on Safari.  What is happening?  Should I quit Safari before Time Machine starts backing up files?  Please help.  Thanks.

    to ssis6:
    I guess this is something that happens once in a while because Time Machine is backing up files now and I am able to work on Apple Discussions and reply to your post.  I just wonder if in addition to your explanation, there is any other explanation as to why what I described happens.  Thanks for your help.   

  • HT201250 when does time machine back up?

    I don't see an option to set when time machine backs up.

    Time Machine makes hourly backups, and there's no way to change that without hacking. There's also no good reason to change it.
    These statements are sheer nonsense. There are not only good reasons to change Time Machine's backup time frames (even if it's personal desire), but there are simple and effective means of doing it that do not adversely affect the system. Time Machine Editor is one of them, and has worked quite effectively for numerous people.
    BTW, your link you use to support your argument was quite arguably not from the use of Time Machine Editor, as the user had numerous other and true "hacks" installed that were the root of numerous console errors and problems. I'm glad the developer chimed in and investigated, and pretty much invalidated your unfounded initial claim of "the mess he created" with his program. Libel is a pretty outrageous practice.

  • Change Time Machine backing up times?

    Is there a way to either i) have Time Machine back up at night or ii) have it back up less frequently than every hour. I can hear the thing going on in the background all day long and it's beginning to get a bit annoying.

    You can use Terminal to reset the time between backups. The default time is set to 3600 seconds, but you can change it to whatever you want as long as it is in seconds.
    There is another app called TimeMachineScheduler which provides a bit more customization. You can set a time frame when you don't want it to backup in.
    Or the app Eric suggested.
    Both the Terminal process and TimeMachineScheduler app are listed in this article:
    http://osxdaily.com/2012/02/02/change-the-time-machine-backup-schedule/
    You can also just turn TM off and back up manually. Check the box to show TM in the menu bar and you can access it at any time easily and hit backup now.

  • Time machine back up taking 1 day so removed external HD, now taking TWO days?

    Hi,
    I started my time machine back up last night and the estimated time it said it would take was 1 day. I woke up this morning and there was still another 15 hours left. I am only backing up 533GB - is this normal?
    I thought maybe my external drive was effecting the backup so I removed it and when I did the time machine started again, now backing up 324 GB but says it's going to take TWO days?! This makes no sense.
    Could someone tell me - is it normal for TM to take a day to back up 533GB (certainly can't be normal for 324GB to take TWO)?
    And what are the general tips for helping time machine move faster? I'm running OSX 10.8.5.
    Thanks

    Welcome to Apple Support Communities. We're users here and don't speak for "Apple Inc."
    How is your (external, I'm assuming) Time Machine storage connected? USB 2, USB 3, FireWire, Thunderbolt, or Ethernet network? If network, then is the storage drive connected with Ethernet or a USB device connected to the network router? 100Mbit or Gigabit Ethernet? Does your MacBook Pro have a wired or wireless connection to the network?
    If it's over a network, to a Time Capsule or another NAS (Network Area Storage) device then yes, it could take a day or longer. If your Time Machine drive is Thunderbolt-attached, then that seems a bit long, but there are a number of variables, including the size(s) of the files and types of files(s), and whether they're compressed or encrypted.
    My mid-2007 MacBook (1.5Mbit/sec theoretical maximum SATA speed, 3GB usable RAM, 500GB 7200rpm hard drive) took almost two and a half days to back up 350GB to a network-attached Lenovo/iomega server I use for Time Machine via a wireless connection. I don't recommend wireless, by the way, because when verification fails (quite often in my experience), then TM erases all the old backups and demands to begin anew. It required about 18 hours to back up the MacBook when directly connected by RJ-45 Cat 5e cable over Gigabit Ethernet on both devices.
    My mid-2011 iMac backs up 350GB via FireWire 800 to a 1TB Time Machine drive in an estimated 11 hours. (I don't know precisely, I went to bed and it was done in the morning.
    Time Machine (and most every OS X update and App installation program, for that matter) seems to be quite incapable of predicting ACCURATELY exactly how long the process will take.
    I also use CarbonCopyCloner to create a bootable system backup occasionally, so I'm not stuck for a day and a half of restoring from TM just to get back up and running.
    Ancient computing proverb: "You can never be too rich or have too many backups."
    Message was edited by: kostby

  • How do I delete a Time Machine back-up from my trash?

    I use an external hard disc for my Time Machine back-ups.
    In order to make some room on the external hard disc for some other files I wanted to store while I reformatted their original disc, I moved the Time Machine bach-ups into my iMac Trash.
    Now when I try to delete thes old unwanted back-ups I get this message -
    There are some locked items in the Trash. Do you want to remove all the items, including the locked ones, or just the unlocked items?
    I've tried selececting Remove All Items but they just stay there.
    I tried to darg them out onto the desktop but although that creates a new folder, the back-ups stay in the trash.
    I've tried switching Time Macine off in the preferences bu that doesn't help.
    Can anyone help me with emptying them?

    dear Sue
    i've tried the alt solution to empty trash but it does not work
    I still got the -8003 error
    for emptying time machine backups that i foolishly put in the trash
    i've also tried this solution using terminal and it did not work either
    http://www.imore.com/how-force-empty-trash-your-mac-using-terminal
    any help you might offer would be greatly appreciated
    i am using a 24 inch iMac
    OSX 10.6.8
    Message was edited by: summer_laughter

  • Will existing Time Machine back ups build after 1 account migration

    I have one i-Mac happily backing up with Time Machine to an external hard drive.
    I have just bought a second i-mac (the old one's filling up) and propose to use migration assistant to move an admin account from the old to the new i-mac leaving two other accounts (and their files etc) on the old one. I see from some posts that it seems as if Time Machine will start a new back up series for the new i-mac's back ups (cos its a new MAC address). But what about the old i-mac? Will that continue to extend the existing (old) Time Machine back up files, albeit without my transferred account and its files? I'd like to end up with the old i-mac continuing to work with and build its Time Machine back ups (less my account and its new files) and have a new back up series from the new i-mac building to a separate partition on the external drive.
    Second minor point: I have read that putting a partition on the external drive is the best way forward as it will stop competition for space and allow changes in one set up in future to have no impact on the other. Is this the best way forward?
    Does this all make sense?
    Sorry but I can't see an answer in the forum to what must be a reasonably common issue in this expanding mac world.

    I then tried to move it (TM back up files) off with Restore, whilst preserving the TM back ups but I couldn't seem to do it to the i-Macs hard drive nor to partition that to allow this to happen (assuming the lack of a discrete partition was the problem).
    That's likely correct. This only works if you restore one entire partition to another, and check the +Erase destination+ box.
    The problem was that I could not (maybe for the same contiguous reasons) create a new partition on the old i-Mac just to temporarily move the TM back up to. Without it I could not 'empty' the WDC firewire drive and partition it prior to returning the TM back ups to it albeit contiguously in a dedicated partition.
    Unfortunately for me to retain the TM back ups for the account I moved to the new i-Mac, I will have to leave that account on the old i-Mac as well. I can't see a way around that? If I delete the account on it then surely I will lose the ability to Log onto it and then to click TM and see back in time on that account?
    If I understand you correctly, that will be true eventually, but not immediately, as TM will, eventually, delete it's copies of anything that's no longer on your internal HD. That will depend, of course, on how long TM can keep it's backups. But while they're still there, if you log on with Admin privileges, you should be able to view the old backups.
    Not sure I explained myself clearly. Sorry. Having understood from your earlier help that 'migrate' actually means 'make a copy in another place', I have the migrated account in two places: one now dormant, on the old i-Mac and two, where it is migrated to (the new i-Mac). But TM continues to back up all accounts, indeed everything, on the old i-Mac by dint of its MAC address. So to see the migrated account's past history I assume I have to access the version on the old i-Mac. To put it another way, when logged into one account on the old i-Mac I believe it is not possible to see the TM history and files of another account on that i-Mac despite TM backing the entire HD. You have to be logged in to that account to see it. On the new i-Mac, with its different MAC address, TM is busy creating the first TM back up and I assumed that in the migrate it did not bring TM history as I had read that it is MAC address specific.
    The only issue (apart from having this account's history spread over two machines (pre-today on the old i-Mac's TM and today onwards on the new i-Mac) is that I have all the files on both machines. I am not worried about security only unnecessary usage of disk space. It isn't critical, there's lots of it, but it just seems wasteful and untidy. Unless you guys know otherwise?
    If I understand what you've done, you do have duplicates of the current contents, but only one copy of the old backups (on the old F/W drive).
    On the old i-Mac I have the two accounts I wanted to stay there plus the now dormant account I migrated. TM continues to work away at memorising ALL these although there will be no further changes to the dormant migrated account as I will not be running it on the old i-Mac. On the new i-Mac I have the migrated account of which TM is now creating its first (huge) back up but starting today. There is no history here. So I have copies of everything; its just that the old history of the migrated account remains on the old i-Mac and a new history (does that make sense?) is building from the new one. My point was that if I were to delete the dormant account from the old i-Mac, then I could not access it to use TM with it. I believe TM only shows the history of the account and screen you're in at the time?
    There is an option in TM that will allow you to selectively +Delete all backups of+ selected items. +Enter Time Machine,+ locate and select the item(s), click the "gear" icon in the Finder window's toolbar, and select the +Delete all backups of ..+ option.
    What you can't do is, keep the backups of only previous versions of things that were changed or deleted. It's all or nothing.
    Not sure I understand this. What would have been nice but I do not think is possible is to have moved the account to the new i-Mac together with the TM's back ups of that account and continue to build it up (whilst having access to its history) on the new i-Mac. If that were (is?) possible I could have totally deleted the old account and with it its files from the old i-Mac, freed up some HD space and had a full AND growing TM history all on the new i-Mac.
    Many thanks for staying the course and for your continuing help.

  • Time Machine back up to MyBook (2TB).

    When Time Machine backs up to WD MyBook (2TB), it transfers 100GB of my iMac HD (500GB capacity) each time. Consequently, MyBook is full. How do I get Time Machine to only add changes/alterations to the next backup?

    Thanks again rkaufmann. I have successfully deleted all files from MyBook. Unfortunately, I now have a large number of large files in my Trash that I am having trouble deleting. However, my initial problem is resolved. I will try to find a way of getting TM to only apply updates to existing files on MB.
    Regards ........ LM

Maybe you are looking for