Why is my time machine back-up is taking days?

I have recently had a problem with y time machine. Below is the story in short:
- Never had a problem with time machine backup
- Left for a few weeks as I was moving home
- Plugged in time machine. Error message saying 265Gb to back up but only 253gb worth of space
- Apple took me through variuos proceudre but in the end resulted in me wiping all backup's and re-formatting hard drive
- The time-machine has been running for days.
- I only have a 250gb harddrive. Its backed up 270gb.
- As i am writing this message it seems to be stuck on 26.3mb of 46mb and has been for the past hour
- What is going on???? Someone help!!! I need to upgrade my hard drive. I really cant be bothered to sit on the phone to an advisor for another hour!!!

Start Section D with in the 1st linked article.
Time Machine Troubleshooting
Time Machine Troubleshooting Problems

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My time machine back up is taking 98 days through a thunderbolt connection is there something wrong

My time machine back up is taking 98 days through a thunderbolt connection is there something wrong

sijam11 wrote:
When selecting my home folder on the iMac and using "Get Info" to see how much space has been used it shows around the 256g mark, but the space used up on my external hard drive is right up to 327g.
Is this normal after the first back up?
Hi sijam11,
That appears about right...
It is recommended that the Time Machine Drive be at least Twice the size of the Drive it is Backing Up...
You may find these Links of Interest...
TM 101 > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
How Time Machine Works its Magic
Frequently Asked Questions
Cheers,

Last Time Machine back-up is 45 days old and only of User Account files (not entire HD) and I must now reinstall Lion without being able to perform a new back-up. Will any new User Account files, since my last back-up, be lost when Lion reinstalls (via i

My last Time Machine back-up is 45 days old and only of User Account files (not entire HD) and I must now reinstall Lion (via internet) without performing a new back-up. Will any new User Account files, since my last back-up, be lost when Lion reinstalls ?

Reinstalling OS X doesn't affect user data, provided nothing goes wrong. But it would be very unwise to assume that nothing will go wrong, especially if you're having (unspecified) system issues. You should try to back up all data before you reinstall or do anything else. There are ways to do that, even if you're unable to boot.
If your backups include only user files, you won't be able to access them in Setup Assistant.

Why won't Time Machine back up my desktop?!

For some odd reason Time Machine has stopped backing up my desktop, it last backed it up on September the 29th but every day since then shows my desktop from the 29th, nothing changes (even though my desktop has)!
As far as I can see other files on my HD are being backed-up, it just seems to be the desktop.
I have plenty of space on my external HD (where my Time Machine back-ups go) and back-ups are taking place as normal, every hour, with no warnings or alerts being given. Everything seems fine on the surface, it was only today, by chance, that I checked for an old file on the desktop from a few days back and made this discovery.
Any advice appreciated!

All you could ever need to know about Time Machine:
http://pondini.org/TM/Home.html
(from ASC contributor Pondini)

Why won't time machine back up my computer?

Message was edited by: Linda K. Kadota My last back up was over 12 hours ago. I want to upgrade my computer with a new hard disc, so I removed Microsoft office, and now my computer will not work with Time Machine. I intended to take this computer into the shop 8 hours ago. Does anyone know what is wrong? I'm using OS X Mavericks 10.9.2.

In order to clone my hard drive, I would have to go out and buy another external hard drive. I have five obsolete drives sitting on the floor under my desk. I'm not really interested in going out and buying another new drive after spending a lot of money on a Time Capsule that is supposed to do the job--make that 3 Time Capsules.
If it were a corrupt file on the computer, why does the problem occur with all my computers running Mavericks (2) and doesn't occur on computers running Snow Leopard (2)? Unless the corrupted file came from Apple when I downloaded Mavericks, I don't see how the same problem could occur on both computers. (And the Apple tech person here in Japan admitted to me that others have complained of the same problem).
Actually, today is only the second time TM has failed on the computer I'm now using. It has failed repeadedly on my newer computer since November, 2014, and the release of iTunes 11.
I ended up doing a clean install of my new computer after the hard disc failed, but it is still acting buggy.
I'm curious about your offer to help. Do I need a couple of screwdrivers to do a clone back up? Or do I need the screwdrivers to replace my hard drive? I don't know how to do a clone back up, but I assume that I just need the right software program and a second drive. I will have the Apple Tech people replace my drive for me, so don't need to know how to do that. I've seen it done once and that was enough to convince me to leave the task to experts.

Why won't Time Machine back up onto this external hard drive?

I re-formatted a SimpleTech 320gb hard drive so it would erase the music and videos on it and format it for use with Time Machine. I thought it all went smoothly but then the initial back up which is about 91gb stops after it backs up about 22gb and says an error occured. No matter how many times I restart everything and try to back up more, it doesn't work. I've even tried using disk utility to erase it and that didn't work either. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

First, deselect the drive as your TM backup drive, then turn off TM. Now try this:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder. If you need to reformat your startup volume, then you must boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the number of partitions from the drop down menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Be sure to re-select the drive for the TM backup drive.

Why won't time machine back up my HD?

I have used only 169 gb on my hard drive. There is still 86.66 gb available on my backup disk. Time Machine has always backed up flawlessly, but now it says that there is not enough space available. Can that be possible when I still have 86.66 gb of space available? I know any backup program needs some extra space to work with, but does it need more than 86 mb? Thanks.

All you could ever need to know about Time Machine:
http://pondini.org/TM/Home.html
(from ASC contributor Pondini)

HT1338 Time Machine Back-Up Slow

Time Machine Back-Up takes 4+ days to do initial back-up. I am hard wired connected to my time capsule have erased the disk and reinitiated a brand new back-up. I am trying to back up about 960 G and it takes anywhere between 4-7 days. That would be OK but after 1-2 days the iMac loses connectivity to the Time Capsule and I have to start over again. I have tried everything including a complete reinstall of the Montain Lion Operatin System but nothing seems to help. This problem first happened after the Mountian Lion upgrade before that Time Machine worked flawlessly.

Hey aarthur2060,
Thanks for the question. I understand you are experiencing issues with Time Machine. The following resources may help to resolve your issue:
OS X Mountain Lion: If Time Machine is slow
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11172
Time Machine: Troubleshooting backup issues
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3275
Thanks,
Matt M.

Why does time machine back up change root directory of software?

about a year ago i did a time machine back up of my old macbook pro, then when i came to use a piece of software (native instruments-traktor) it said the root directory had been changed and it couldnt find the file. i had to remove the whole program from my mac and redownload it. then since then had no problems.
now ive just purchased a new macbook today and wanted all my old files and software on it so i did a migration expert with time machine. it seems to have bought most things over.....a few files are missing from logic but again when i went open traktor, again it said root directory changed,,,im not to good with these root directorys so havent got a clue what to do so again ive had to remove the program and redownload it which is a bit of a pain.
any ideas why time machine changes it??

I'm also puzzled because it continually wants to back up some 15MB or more when I've changed nothing
Suggest that you download and install BackupLoupe to find out exactly what is being backed up on each pass.
soma-zone: BackupLoupe
If you want to change the backup frequency of Time Machine, an application like Time Machine Editor will allow you schedule backups whenever you like. But, you may not need to do this if you can figure out what might be causing the first issue.
TimeMachineEditor
If you ever decide to delete Time Machine Editor, be sure to change the backup frequency back to hourly before you delete the application.

Why is the Time Machine icon in menu bar not spinning when backing up? It stop working when I changed to Maverick.

Why is the Time Machine icon in menu bar not spinning when backing up? It stop working when I changed to Maverick.

my imac came with lion and don't think it ever span with lion and mtn lion and now maverick not sure if it's a setting

I just backed up my 1TB (mostly full) internal hard drive to an external 1TB Time Machine drive, and it says I'm fully backed up. Why is the Time Machine drive only half full?

I have a 1TB internal drive in my MacBook Pro (15", mid-2009, running Snow Leopard). A couple days ago I decided to format my unused 1TB external drive and use it for Time Machine, so I could wipe/format my internal drive for the Mavericks upgrade I've been putting off. Time Machine backed up the entire drive, and it appears to have successfully worked! Except that Finder shows 157 gigs free on my internal drive and 463 gigs free on the external... I'm hesitant to erase everything in case some stuff didn't get backed up and might disappear. A Google search tells me that Time Machine doesn't compress files at all... so where the heck did those 300 gigs go? Is there really 300 gigs of stuff on my internal drive that Time Machine just decided didn't need to be backed up?

By default Time Machine will not back up all files, i.e. temp file, cache, and system files. Also you can set Time Machine to exclude some folders/files, take a look at this link for more information. http://pondini.org/TM/11.html

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.

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.

HT204057 Time machine back up via USB hard drive connected to Airport Extreme.

Why did Apple stop supporting time machine back-up via USB hard drive connected to Airport Extreme? It worked very well.

Why did Apple stop supporting time machine back-up via USB hard drive connected to Airport Extreme?
Time Machine backups are supported via USB hard drive connected to the AirPort Extreme"ac" version.
Time Machine backups were not supported via USB hard drive connected to earlier versions of the AirPort Extreme.
Some users who tried this on earlier version AirPort Extremes seemed to have some success with Time Machine backups....some had moderate success and some had no success with this. Count me in the "no success" category.
See the topic about Time Machine support for USB disks in this Apple Support document:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5924?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Creating Encrypted Time Machine Back Ups to a Network Hard Drive

Hello all, I can't seem to create an encrypted Time Machine back up on a network hard drive. Can this be done? And if not, why not? It seems that Macs have all the necessary functionality already available in Mac OS. Time Machine can create encrypted backups with multiple computers so what's the difference if it is to a network backup drive, honestly? Any suggestions?
My Set up: Three Macs, Airport Extreme Base Station, Seagate 3 TB HD (with separate partitions for each computer's backups). 2 of the Macs use ethernet to connect to the network and one uses wireless regularly. Basically, I'm trying to encrypt my family's backup drive and I don't know how or why I can't.
Thanks in advance for the help.
Appleguy514

First, you need to know that backing-up that way is unreliable and not supported by Apple. See: Using Time Machine with an Airport Extreme Air Disk.
Second, no, you cannot encrypt a network backup on Lion or earlier. Only Mountain Lion.

Why is my time machine back-up is taking days?

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