Why is my hard drive mostly backups?

Why is my hard drive full of backups?
Okay, my computer was running low on storage space, so I decided to clean it up. Now, my storage tab in "about this mac" looks like this:
What happened? Is there a secret folder somewhere where I can delete all these backups? I have a 2009 macbook pro that has seen better days, and I am currently running on OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.1. My computer doesn't run well after it has less than 100gb of free space left. Can someone please help? I would get another mac, but I don't have the money. Thanks to anyone who can help!

http://pondini.org/TM/30.html

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I bought an external hard drive for backups to use with Time Machine, but however when I try to connect it with the other windows laptop it doesn't work ? intact it doesn't work on any other device except my MAC ?

I bought an external hard drive for backups to use with Time Machine, but however when I try to connect it with the other windows laptop it doesn't work ? intact it doesn't work on any other device except my MAC ?

Do not worry about it.
Time Machine needs that your external drive is formatted in HFS+, or better known as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)". This filesystem is used by Apple on Macs and Windows cannot read or write drives formatted with this filesystem, being this the reason why all your devices do not read the external drive except your Mac.
You can only use your external drive to make Time Machine drives. If you store anything different, you may damage the Time Machine structure, so it is better not to use it as a drive to store other data. Instead, get another external drive to do it or create a second partition on the external drive formatted in FAT32 by using Disk Utility > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU3.html FAT32 can be read by Windows PCs

What is the best external hard drive to backup my MacBook Pro?

What is the best external hard drive to backup my MacBook Pro?

The best is a Hitachi. This is basically the ONLY thing the "HD gurus" agree on.
Toshiba is nearly neck and neck in 2.5" USB external HD to Hitachi.
Here are "best for the money"....at bottom is BEST external USB HD
best options for the price, and high quality HD:
Quality 1TB drives are $50 per TB on 3.5" or $65 per TB on 2.5"
Perfect 1TB for $68
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-Hard-Drive/dp/B005J7YA3W/ref=sr_1_ 1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379452568&sr=8-1&keywords=1tb+toshiba
Nice 500gig for $50. ultraslim and perfect
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-External-Drive/dp/B009F1CXI2/ref=s r_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1377642728&sr=1-1&keywords=toshiba+slim+500gb
2 Terabytes, 2.5" and only $129
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Basics-Portable-HDTB120XK3CA/dp/B00ARJD56K
updated "design" casing cousin $119
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Connect-Portable-HDTC720XK3C1/dp/B00CGUMS48 /ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1379182740&sr=1-4&keywords=2tb+toshiba
*This one is the BEST external HD available that money can buy:
$75
HGST Touro Mobile 1TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive
http://www.amazon.com/HGST-Touro-Mobile-External-HTOLMX3NA10001ABB/dp/B0062FZ2WS /ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1379185002&sr=1-1&keywords=hitachi+extern a l+hard+drive
Most storage experts agree on the Hitachi 2.5"

I bought a new external hard drive for backups, but time machine won't do a full back up. I think it is remembering backing up onto previous external hard drives, which I don't own anymore. How do I do a new full backup?

I bought a new external hard drive for backups, but time machine won't do a full back up.
I think it is remembering backing up onto previous external hard drives, which I don't own anymore. How do I do a new full backup?
When I bought the new (used) iMac, I also bought an external hard drive for backups. It worked fine, but my husband stole it.
Then I bought a new external hard drive (Seagate) and it worked fine for three weeks, then died.
So I just got a new external hard drive, which was put together from an internal hard drive and a hard drive enclosure.
Time machine did the first backup today, and it should have taken 9 hours like it did on the previous first time full back up. Instead, it took 30 minutes. That can't be right. I want to start over and do a full backup to make sure everything gets onto my new external hard drive, but I can't figure out how to do that. Please help.

Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
tmutil compare -E
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
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).
The command will take at least a few minutes to run. Eventually some lines of output will appear below what you entered.
Each line that begins with a plus sign (“+”) represents a file that has been added to the source volume since the last snapshot was taken. These files have not been backed up yet.
Each line that begins with an exclamation point (“!”) represents a file that has changed on the source volume. These files have been backed up, but not in their present state.
Each line that begins with a minus sign (“-“) represents a file that has been removed from the source volume.
At the end of the output, you’ll get some lines like the following:
Added:
Removed:
Changed:
These lines show the total amount of data added, removed, or changed on the source(s) since the last snapshot.

Got a new Macbook Pro today and I plugged in my WD external hard drive to backup with but it didn't allow me to backup.

Got a new Macbook Pro today and I plugged in my WD external hard drive to backup with but it didn't allow me to backup. The problem is that now my computer won't show the drive in finder. I can see it in Disk Utility and cannot access it. Help?

First
Finder>Preferences>Sidebar>Devices>External disk
but it didn't allow me to backup
did you get an error code or error dialog box?

Trying to copy iPhoto Library to external hard drive for backup. Error message: The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "iPhoto Library" can't be read or written (Error code -36).

Trying to copy iPhoto Library to external hard drive for backup. Error message: The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "iPhoto Library" can't be read or written (Error code -36).

That code is
-36
ioErr
I/O error (bummers)
Make sure the EHD is formatted OS X Extended (journaled) and run Disk Utilty on the EHD and repair the disk. If that fails to help I'd try the following:
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
Click on the Add Library button,
navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
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 external HD as the location of the newly rebild library.
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

How do I reformat my External Hard Drive (Seagate Backup Plus).

Hello everyone. How do I reformat my External Hard Drive (Seagate Backup Plus Portable Device). I accidentally clicked to use it with Time Machine and my hard drive is of little use now. When I open my hard drive, it just shows 'backup', the same thing when I open it with Windows. Thinking of reformatting it back to be used to Mac and Windows. And not use it again with Time Machine. New to Apple, appreciate the help

Hello,
"Thinking of reformatting it back to be used to Mac and Windows. And not use it again with Time Machine"
If you want to format the External drive as universally compatible, your best bet is to format it as exFAT. Note that reformatting the drive erases all contents of the drive.
1) Open Disk Utility located in /Applications/Utilities/ (or simply type it in spotlight and the application will show up)
2) Select the external Hard drive
3) Click the 'erase' tab.
4) Under format: select exFAT
5) Click "Erase" in the lower right hand corner to reformat the drive.

Why does my hard drive state I have used 500 gb when I have only used 280 gb?

Why does my hard drive state I have used 500 gb when I have only used approximately 280 gb?

Have you emptied your trash lately...
Also... See these links...
Apple ML = Increase Disc Space
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10677
See Here > Where did my Disk Space go?
And Here > The Storage Display

External Hard Drives as backup

I have recently purchased a mac and setup a wireless network using airport extreme. I have an external hard drive connected to the airport extreme (USB) that is used as a backup through time machine. I have also connected an imac notebook to the network and want to use the same external hard drive to back it up also using time machine. I cannot find anything that tells me how the two macs share the same external hard drive for backups. When I go into time machine on the imac notebook it doesn't seem to be able to locate the hard drive even though my mac does it wirelessly. Can anyone help?
<Post Relocated by Moderator>

TimeMachine backups on an air drive (a drive connected to the airport extreme base station) are stored in disk images with each computer that backs up to the air drive getting its own disk image. In short, TM was designed with the idea of shared wireless backups.
In order to back up using TimeMachine the hard drive has to be mounted on the computer. Obviously you are able to connect to the air drive, log on, and mount it on the desktop Mac. If not you wouldn't be able to back up. So my question is this: when you open a Finder window on the notebook and look at the sidebar under Shared do you see your air drive? Assuming you can, can you logon to it and does it mount?

What external hard drives for backup are compatible with Yosemite?

I have an early 2013 MBP Retina 15" and have installed Yosemite. I want to purchase an external hard drive for backup via Time Machine. I have read that Western Digital drives were associated with data loss with Mavericks; I do not know if that has been corrected. Has anyone backuped successfully on an external hard drive with Yosemite installed, and if so, can you let me and others know the brand and model. Many thanks.

Understood.
I don't receive any compensation for promoting any product from any computer, hard drive or computer peripheral manufacturer. I don't receive any compensation from any of those manufacturers or sellers for any reason. In fact I was not promoting any product, I was responding to the poster's query and was stating that I have observed the drives in use and working with the Mac OS.
My workplace is a consumer of these items and we buy and use thousands of PCs, Macs, WD and non-WD drives, and so forth. I was providing information about whether WD drives work with Macs running various operating systems. I don't promote any particular brand, we use many different ones here.

Partition of external hard drive for backup different computers

I have a macbook(40Gig) and an iBook(80 Gig); I want to make an external hard drive to backup.
1. Is this possible to partition the external drive into two to make a bootable backup for both laptops?
2.If so how big the external drive should be?
Many thanks

1. Is this possible to partition the external drive into two to make a bootable backup for both laptops?
Yes. Set up a partition for each on the external and then clone a bootable copy of your current drive to the appropriate partition.
2.If so how big the external drive should be?
At least 40 + 80 = 100 GB. You're probably going to end up with an even bigger drive. I'd set up partitions to roughly match each of your computer drives in size (so 40 GB and 80 GB), then another for any extra. Having them match size makes it easy when cloning. Don't forget that if you store files on the extra you will also need to back those up on yet another drive.
Cloning And Backup Tools
A bootable clone is an exact copy of your drive which is capable of booting your computer. Making a copy of your computer which is capable of actually starting the computer requires special copying procedures. Some people just back up data files but if you have problems you have to reinstall all your operating system and all your applications. With a bootable clone you just start up from the backup drive and clone back everything.
To copy files from one hard drive to another hard drive you can use:
[CarbonCopy Cloner|http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html] (donationware)
[SuperDuper|http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html] (shareware)
[IBackup|http://www.grapefruit.ch/iBackup/index.html] (free)
The Restore function of Disk Utility included in OS X. [Kappy's directions|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8799711#8799711]
[Tri-Backup (commercial)|http://www.tri-edre.com/english/tribackup.html] (payware)
[Silverkeeper|http://www.lacie.com/silverkeeper> (free) - version 2 has some issues (references: [1|http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/backup/index.html#d12jan2009],
[2|http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/backup/index.html#d13jan2009]) and it is recommended Tiger users stick with 1.1.4.
[Kappy's Backup Software Recommendations|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9065665#906 5665]
[Overview of Mac OS X Backup Programs|http://8help.osu.edu/1247.html]

I have 750gb of photos on external hard drives from my pc. how do I download then to my Mac and reformat the hard drives as backup drives for my Mac?

I have 2 Seagate 1T hard drives that I used as auto backups on my old PC. I now need to organise my photos on my iMac and need to reformat the hard drives to backup my photos again from my new computer.
Does anyone have any suggestions that will help me get there??

First, this article discusses migrating documents to your iMac.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2518
Next, for organization of photos, I use iPhoto, which is part of the iLife suite.
http://www.apple.com/ilife/iphoto/
Next, this thread discusses the formatting of the drive:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/12859938?messageID=12859938
while this page discusses setting up Time Machine which is a pretty easy backup solution that you can use.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427
Good luck

Why is my hard drive full when I only have the operating system loaded and nothing else? No pics, music, nothing...It's the 60 Gig hard drive on the air built in late 2010.

Why is my hard drive full when I'm only running the operating system and nothing else is loaded? No music, pics, nothing! I understand the hard drive is small at 60 gig, but I can't believe the os would take up that much space.

First, empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. Then reboot. That will temporarily free up some space. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB free on the startup volume for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of your data. Use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space. Proceed further only if the problem hasn't been solved. 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 really see everything, you have to run it as root. Back up all data now. 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. After installing ODS in the Applications folder, drag or copy — do not type — the following line into the Terminal window, then press return:sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
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.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. When you're done with it, quit it and also quit Terminal.

Why is my hard drive requiring authentication before allowing me to drag documents to it?

Why is my hard drive requiring authentication before allowing me to drag documents to it?

Why do you even think it needs defraginng, your iMac is not an old MS Windows machine?. Defragging HD's is a very antiquated and unneccessary thing to do. Even current MS Windows machines don't need it.

Why do new hard drives keep failing in Mac Mini OSX Server?

Why new new hard drives keep failing in Mac Mini OSX server?

If it only failed in 8 days.. I just return the drives back to newegg and get a different brand like western digital. NewEgg has a 30 day return policy.
If you deal with any hard drive manufacturer now, they will give you a refurbished item and not a new item that you are entitled.
As for testing hardware....
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509
even if it still passed Apple tests.. it does not mean logicboard is fine..... it just means it passes the tests.
At this point, If i were you, I would just go back to NewEgg and send back the Seagates letting know they are bad and prefer a different brand such as Western Digital.
Install the Western Digitals and see how long they last. If they fail again in a a short amoung of time, it's the logicboard then.
This is based on experience in dealing with repairs with Macs, PCs, and other various kinds of Servers and computers over the last 10+ years.
In fact, One of my clients who has a Dual 4-core Intel Xeon Server with a Supermicro logicboard, one of their SATA drive ports are bad. Every 4 months like clock work the Mirror RAID Drive would degrade on that port. Then after figuring out that the drives are not necessary bad, I swapped to using another spare SATA port and since then no problems.

Why is my hard drive mostly backups?

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