Why backups fail despite ample disk space?

PROB: Backups fail. Not enough space. With Disk Utility, erased contents of 239.9 GB Maxtor. Still backups fail with 232.5 of 232.6 GB available.
QUES: Next step in troubleshooting backup failures.
TIA, Jim

jester999 wrote:
I'm having the same problem. I have a 1 TB Time machine hard drive, and I have 761GB to back up.
I reformatted the Time machine hard drive. When I try to back up, I get a message: Backup failed. You have 961GB to back up and only 931GB available space.
That's too small.
First, while it varies greatly depending on how you use your Mac, Time Machine usually needs 2-3 times the space of the data it's backing-up, to be able to keep a reasonable "depth" of backups for you. See #1 in the FAQ per my previous post.
Second, a 1 TB Time Capsule has a total of about 930 GB when counted the way Leopard counts it, after formatting. If the message says it needs 961 GB after adding the 20%, it's trying to back up more like 800 GB. So you must have something else connected. Check the +Total included+ as in my previous post.
See #A1 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] for a handy widget that will display the backup messages from your logs. They'll show more of the detail.
You may be able to squeeze a backup onto your TC by excluding a lot of large things, so the total plus 20% doesn't exceed 931 GB. Then remove the exclusions and run another backup -- since the new amount to be backed-up will be much smaller, the 20% won't be as large, either, and it may fit.
Longer term, you need a much larger Time Machine volume.
Since you have an iMac, your best bet is to get a 2 TB external HD and connect it directly to your iMac. It will be much faster and more reliable, too.

Similar Messages

Hyper-V client backups fail - not enough disk space

Freeing up space on the host won't help - you want to make a copy of a 500GB guest to a NAS with 600GB.
If your guest has 500GB an dis only using 50GB why allocate it 500GB?

Rod-IT wrote:
Bare metal backup, sounds like it is using CIFS as a windows share - you're going to need 500GB for the system, plus space to make it recoverable. I wouldn't expect you to need 600GB but if it says there isn't enough, there isn't enough.
Do other smaller systems work ok?
Why not look at Veeam free edition or EUB to backup your machines instead?
Yeah the whole "not enough disk space" is boggling me. I'm freeing up some additional space on the C drive of the host atm just to try it and see what happens. I'm also downloading the veeam free... no idea they had a free version. I tried to get funding for the real version but as denied so I'll give this a shot.

Time Machine won't create diff. back-ups despite sufficient disk space

Hi,
I have one full back up on my external HDD, and several differential back ups. However, despite there being over 80GB left on my external HDD, Time Machine will fail to complete further differential back ups when I disconnect my external HDD and then reconnect (say a week later or so). Time Machine seems to want to create another full backup when I reconnect my external HDD (or it seems this way). My questions are: why won't Time Machine create further differential backups based on my original full backup when I reconnect my external HDD and/or can I change a setting so that TM will create ONLY differential backups (given that one full back up already exists)?
Advice appreciated,
SM

I should add that when TM attempts to create another backup after I reconnect my external HDD, it fails, stating 'not enough disk space' - which is why I assume it's attempting another full backup. Cheers, SM.

Time Machine for backups for multiple Macs, disk space?

Hey there,
i have an Time Machine drive with backups of my old MacBook and a brand new MacBook Pro. Now i wanted to connect my new MacBook Pro with my Time Machine harddrive.
The Problem is this: First there were not enough disk space available on the harddrive, so i could not create a new backup of my MacBook Pro. Then i excluded some big folders and i could create my backup. My old Macbook is currently (and the next few month) not physically available at my place, so i could not delete old backups manually with this. But i want to keep this backups.
Now my question: In the future, will Time Machine delete my old MacBook backups or will it fail and my harddisk is full after 2 backups of the MacBook Pro?
Best regards and thanks
Johannes

Alright,
i have a few years of backups in this TM. I thought TM will delete old backups if the harddisk runs out of space, or am i wrong? The question is, if TM will delete old backups of other Macs synced with this TM.
Best regards
Johannes

Finder not taking into account local backups when reporting free disk space

Time Machine in Lion (10.7.2) stores local backups of files on your laptop's hard drive when it is not connected to an external Time Machine backup drive. See this article for more information.
If you click on the Apple in the top-left corner of your screen and choose About This Mac > More Info > Storage, you will see exactly how much space your local "Backups" are taking (along with other useful info about how your hard drive space is being used).
Interestingly, the amount of free HD space listed there differes from the amount of free space Finder says is available (when you choose View > Show Status Bar to display it). The amount that it differs is exactly the same as the amount of the local "Backups." So, it appears that Finder is not taking those local Backus into account when it displays free disk space.
So, Finder is telling me I have almost 100 gigs MORE free space than I actually have. I would prefer Finder to show me how much space I have AFTER the local Backups are taken into account.

The article that you linked to gives the rationale for this:
Note: You may notice a difference in available space statistics between Disk Utility, Finder, and Get Info inspectors. This is expected and can be safely ignored. The Finder displays the available space on the disk without accounting for the local snapshots, because local snapshots will surrender their disk space if needed.

Why doesn't my free disk space increase when I delete files on Mountain Lion?

I just upgraded my Macbook Air to Mountain Lion. Now whenever I delete files my free disk space doesn't increase. I show only 500Mb free space now (out of 120Gb), even though I just deleted 50Gb of files. I tried to reinstall Mountain Lion, but it said I don't have enough space. I have a very simple setup, with no external apps except for Office 2011. I am NOT using Time Machine (I have it set to "off"), or any other backup programs, so I don't think this is the problem.
Also, I noticed that whenever I move a file to the trash, I am asked for my password, which is extremely annoying.
I am living in France, far from the nearest Apple store. Can anyone help? Thanks.

slsperry wrote:
p.s. does anyone know how to get Finder to stop asking for my password every time I move a file to the trash? this did not happen with Snow Leopard, and is really tiresome. thanks
I think you should try repairing permissions on your Home folder...
http://osxdaily.com/2011/11/15/repair-user-permissions-in-mac-os-x-lion/
Startup holding command-r keys.
You will boot into the Repair Utilities screen. On top, in the Menu Bar click the Utilities item then select Terminal.
In the Terminal window, type resetpassword and hit Return.
The Password reset utility launches, but you’re not going to reset the password. Instead, click on the icon for your Mac’s hard drive at the top. From the drop-down below it, select the user account where you are having issues.
At the bottom of the window, you’ll see an area labeled ‘Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs’. Click the Reset button there.
The reset process takes a couple of minutes. When it’s done, quit the programs you’ve opened and restart your Mac. Notice that ‘Spotlight’ starts re-indexing immediately.

Why is my available hard disk space disappearing?

Hi,
Occasionally my hard disk space will start disappearing for no apparent (to me) reason. I'll have 15 gigs of available hard disk space that will disappear, and I'll get messages that I'm running out of disk space, interfering with what I'm doing.
After I restart my computer, it seems to reset, but I would like to stop it altogether (as, obviously, it's not always convenient to restart my computer in the middle of tasks.)
I tried Disk Utility, but it didn't find anything. Are there any other legit programs I should use to solve this and other general issues?
Or is it something I could fix myself (with only basic computer knowledge)?
Thanks!
L

1. Empty Trash.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10677
2. Delete "Recovered Messages", if any.
    Hold the option key down and click "Go" menu in the Finder menu bar.
    Select "Library" from the dropdown.
    Library > Mail > V2 > Mailboxes
    Delete "Recovered Messages", if any.
    Empty Trash. Restart.
3. Repair Disk
    Steps 1 through 7
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836
4. For more on this and very helpful tips:
    http://pondini.org/OSX/DiskSpace.html
    http://pondini.org/OSX/LionStorage.html

Why I ran out of disk space?

I have a brand new macbook air, since I need windows for my business I did install parallels 8 and windows 7 but my machine is useless now with just 25GB of disk space left, how I could free disk space to work?

From the Finder Menu Bar > Apple Logo > About This Mac > More Info... > Storage
Take a screenshot and post in your reply.
I would advise against Parallels. Bootcamp is not virtualization software, which is the major difference, along with being proprietary Apple software.
KB Parallels: Mac OS often crashes with kernel panic

Aperture slideshow export fails - not enough disk space

hey
aperture 3.0 on Lion on macbook air 2011.
i am trying to export a slideshow I created in aperture (200 files, total several hundred mb plus 1 audi mp3)
however, anything over "ipod touch" resolutions throws the error
Unable to Export Slideshow
Not Enough Free Disk Space.
Free up space on the disk and try again.
I have more than 15 GB free, how could it possibly be the reason?
Any ideas?

and where would this data be stored now? because I cannot find it to delete it to recover that disc space...
my situation is critical... I cannot even open the finder because I have zero disc space left after trying to render out my video from a 1 hour slide show with music.
I was supposed to have this completed by tonight and move onto other editing tasks..

Why backup fail

I use Oracle9i,and I create two database,such as "TestDB" and "RealDB",I use RMAN to backup datafile of TestDB,I use following command to backup:
C:\>rman catalog rman/rmantarget system/system@TestDB
Recovery Manager: Release 9.2.0.1.0 - Production
Copyright (c) 1995, 2002, Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
connected to target database: DATAWARE (DBID=95313549)
connected to recovery catalog database
RMAN> connect target system/system@dataware;
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS ===============
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-06167: already connected
RMAN> backup datafile 5 format 'd:\file9';
Start backup in 2005-12-05
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS ===============
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-03002: failure of backup command at 12/05/2005 14:25:08
RMAN-06004: ORACLE error from recovery catalog database: RMAN-20001: target database not found in recovery catalog
I have connected to database 'TestDB',why oracle say 'target database not found in recovery catalog'? I am puzzled with it very much. How to backup my datafile?
Thanks in advance!

Sorry,I make a mistake by spelling just now,following is correct post,I am reading the part Backup of the book "oracle9i Database Fundamentals II",Please help me solve follow question:
I use Oracle9i,and I create two database,such as "TestDB" and "RealDB",I use RMAN to backup datafile of TestDB,I use following command to backup:
C:\>rman catalog rman/rman target system/system@TestDB
Recovery Manager: Release 9.2.0.1.0 - Production
Copyright (c) 1995, 2002, Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
connected to target database: TestDB (DBID=95313549)
connected to recovery catalog database
RMAN> connect target system/system@TestDB;
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS ===============
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-06167: already connected
RMAN> backup datafile 5 format 'd:\file9';
Start backup in 2005-12-05
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS ===============
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-03002: failure of backup command at 12/05/2005 14:25:08
RMAN-06004: ORACLE error from recovery catalog database: RMAN-20001: target database not found in recovery catalog
I have connected to database 'TestDB',why oracle say 'target database not found in recovery catalog'? I am puzzled with it very much. How to backup my datafile?
Thanks in advance!

I tried creating a startup backup via Disk Utility. There wasn't enough space and now I have no internal disk space. How do I fix this?

I used DIsk Utility to create a startup backup clone for the first time yesterday. I cloned it to my internal drive on my Mac. I let it run all night and when I woke up this morning it showed it as failed (not enough disk space). Now when I boot up my Mac, it showed a warning at the login screen (not enough disk space at startup). I do not have an external hard drive (which is why I chose to backup internally). Do I need to purchase one?
It still allows me to log in. When I open Finder and look at my internal drive, it shows less than 100.00 MB space available. I tried deleting a bunch of old files and stripped needless apps. However, it keeps showing my computer as having less than 100 MB of storage.
Is there a way to find the failed clone backup and delete it? I tried looking in Spotlight for the backup clone (I named it 4-21-14.dmg). I cannot find the file. I was hoping to backup my files so I can install OS Mavericks on my computer (mid-2010 Macbook Pro), but I do not have enough free space.

I solved the problem by deleting over 100 gb of files and apps. I would have rather not gone that route, but having less than 100 MB of storage is an unacceptable headache to deal with. Now I have to decide on whether to try again with the backup internally route or risk it and download/install Mavericks.

RW-20001 Error: Unzip failed: Insufficient disk space:

Hi ,
I'm trying to install Oracle apps 11i on windows xp professional. I'm having 320 GB hard disk and 4 GB ram. I have divided into 3 partitions .
C 60 GB
D 120 GB
E 140 GB.
I've staged all the dvds into E Drive. I'm installing apps on D Drive. At the step 4 of 5 after 1200 file i'm getting RW-20001 Error: Unzip failed: Insufficient disk space: Please create enough space for the install.
After I've pressed Retry It went to 60% to 80% and it was stopped from there it did not proceed further. Its saying Staring CVM on Middle Tier and strucked there.
I'm totally new to oracle apps. Could any please help me out from this problem.
Any suggestions to get past this would be appreciated.
thanks & regards,
Venkat.

Hi,
At what file RapidWiz gives this error?
Please review the following document and see if it helps.
Note: 786816.1 - Installing Oracle Apps 11.5.10.2, Fails With Insufficient Disk Space On Win2003 Server
https://metalink2.oracle.com/metalink/plsql/ml2_documents.showDocument?p_database_id=NOT&p_id=786816.1
Regards,
Hussein

Why does TimeMachine say the disk is full when it isn't?

Hello!
A lot of my backups recently have been failing because TimeMachine says the disk is full, when that simply isn't true. As of right now, I have 1.18 TB available of
2 TB. Why do my backups fail even when sufficient space is there?
Thank you so much in advance!!!
-Professor AR

This main explanation is here.
OS X Yosemite (10.10)
This is pretty much equivalent to kids talking to each other on tin cans over a wet string.
The TM in Yosemite is also exceedingly bug infested.
The best solution for now..
1. Use ethernet instead of wireless to do backups.
2. If you upgrade installed Yosemite a clean install might improve it.
3. Using local disk (USB drive plugged in for example) can be a huge improvement over networks and wireless.
4. If you continued the backup from the old OS, wipe the TC disk and start over a new TM backup. (you can archive the old one if you want to maintain the history).
5. Use an alternative to TM until apple get their act together.. eg Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper etc.

Deleting past backups from time machine disk

Hi all
I was wondering how do you delete old time machine backups?
Josh

Hi Barry,
I don't know about Josh's reasons, but I can give you two from my personal experience:
1) If you use an OS X Server that shares one of its drives as a Time Machine location for the clients, they will create sparsebundles (containing the Backups.backupdb) on the share. The also do backup thinning, but if the drive runs out of space and more than one backup is currently running it is possible that the backup fails due to free space suddenly being not available anymore. It usually works fine with only 1 concurrent backup.
2) You want to move your TM partition to another drive/partition and it is a little too big for that. Deleting some old backups can help.
Björn from frozen Germany

Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit backup failed (0x80780119)

first I try to install windows 7 ultimate RTM 64 bit on Hitachi 80G sata hard drive, after fresh install I create a system Image to DVD it backup ok no problem at all.
I received seagate 320G HD replace, I restore the Image from DVD to 320G hard drive, after I install photoshop and some thing I need. now I try to make a system image to external hard drive or dvd I got the same error
" Threre is not enough disk space to create the volum shadow copy on storage location. Make sure that for all volume to be backup up, the minimum disk space required for shadow copy creation is available. this applies to both the backup storage destination and volume included in the backup. Minimum requirement for Volumes less than 500 megabytes, the minimum is 50 megabyte of free space. for voulimes more than 500 megabytes, the minimum is 320 megabytes of free space. Recommended at least 1 gigabytes free of disk space on each volumes if volumes size is more than 1 gigabytes (0x80780119)"
I unplug all device just use only seagate 320GB and My external hard drive has 400G space.
some one help please.

According to the error message, it indicated that there is not enough disk space to do a system image backup on the computer. Firstly, Windows 7 has a 100MB system partition that Windows setup during the installation that was under capacity, but not every computer has the 100M on their computer. Now, I suggest you check the disk usage in disk management carefully and make sure all the partitions have enough space to do system backup image:
Click Start->Right Click on Computer->Choose Manage->Expand Storage->Click on Disk Management
You can see the clearly of the usage of the whole hard drive. Please check it carefully and make sure all partitions have enough space.
Notice: if you have some hidden partition on the computer, please also make sure the hidden partition has the enough rest space to do the system image on the computer.
If you only have one partition to save the system files on the computer, maybe there will be a problem of backup system image. At this time, we can shrink a partition in disk management, and then do a system backup again to test this issue.
Also, this error may be caused by the system image backup configuration on the computer or some related components or services or registry incorrect on the computer, you can follow the below steps to check it firstly:
1. Run “vssadmin list writers” to check if there is any error.
2. Register related dll files (we can ignore error messages if there is any)
cd /d %windir%\system32
Net stop vss
Net stop swprv
regsvr32 ole32.dll
regsvr32 vss_ps.dll
regsvr32 es.dll
regsvr32 stdprov.dll
regsvr32 msxml3.dll
regsvr32 msxml.dll
regsvr32 msxml4.dll
3. Stop related services
a) Volume Shadow Copy Service.
b) Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider.
c) COM+ event system
d) COM+ System Application
4. Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft\EventSystem\{26c409cc-ae86-11d1-b616-00805fc79216}\Subscript, delete the "Subscriptions" key and leave the EventClasses key
5. Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VolSnap add MinDiffAreaFileSize (DWORD) and set the value to 3000
6. Restart above services
7. Restart to check the issue
And then, you can follow the below detail instructions to set the configuration and do a system image backup again:
How to Create a System Image Backup in Windows 7
In addition, you can try to back up the whole system image on the local disk to test this issue, please don’t backup the system image on the external hard drive or DVD directly. If you can back up the whole system image on the local disk, we can copy the system image to your external hard disk or DVD.
Also, you can use a different imaging app to do a system image. Such as Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download
Betty

Why backups fail despite ample disk space?

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