Working in other apps while Time Machine backs up???

I just got TM working with my external drive for it's first backup... couple of questions...
How long will this take to back up about 55GB from my MBP?
Secondly, am I able to use the MBP during the backup process? I am looking at the Time Machine page with the Cancel - - - Today (Now) - - - Restore(grayed out) across the bottom, but can't seem to access anything other page or leave this page. A window is open with my devices listed (HD, External HD, iDisk) but, no way to get to any other page...
Any help is appreciated...

How long will this take to back up about 55GB from my MBP?
This depends on the number of files, the i/o rate achievable to the TM's ext HD and the work activity you're placing on the system resources. In general you should see 55GB backed up from 1 to 3 hours IMO. Note that TM is designed as a background low priority task but as with all Apple Macs I've used any intensive i/o tends to dominate and slows down the system response for all other activities.
Secondly, am I able to use the MBP during the backup process?
Yes you can. You can even logout (but obviously not power off the computer) and TM will continue its chore of backing up every hour.
I am looking at the Time Machine page with the Cancel - - - Today (Now) - - - > Restore(grayed out) across the bottom, but can't seem to access anything other > page or leave this page. A window is open with my devices listed (HD, External > HD, iDisk) but, no way to get to any other page...
The TM history via the full screen TM browser will only start to display once the first FULL backup has completed.

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Working while Time Machine backs up

This may seems like a silly question but I, too, am just learning this whole Time Machine back-up functionality. Can I use the internet and other applications while Time Machine is backing up? I know I can use other applications and functions together on Macs but even with Time Machine, especially when it's doing a large backup? Also, do I need to plug in my external drive every time I am on my computer? If I don't plug in (Iomega) in whenever I use my MacBook Pro, does Time Machine keep the backups to dump on the external drive later? Will there be a large backup if I haven't plugged in the external hard drive for a few days? How often should I plug it in?

mcrosby wrote:
This may seems like a silly question but I, too, am just learning this whole Time Machine back-up functionality. Can I use the internet and other applications while Time Machine is backing up?
Yes.
I know I can use other applications and functions together on Macs but even with Time Machine, especially when it's doing a large backup? Also, do I need to plug in my external drive every time I am on my computer? If I don't plug in (Iomega) in whenever I use my MacBook Pro, does Time Machine keep the backups to dump on the external drive later?
Not exactly. It just won't do a backup while it's disconnected.
Will there be a large backup if I haven't plugged in the external hard drive for a few days?
Yes. If you let it go for several days (something more than 10 or so), the next one may be a new full backup -- every file and folder on your system. So avoid that if at all possible.
How often should I plug it in?
For best results, keep it mounted as much as possible, and let it do it's hourly backups (which should be very quick). The longer TM can't back up, the less likely you'll be able to recover a previous version of a file you changed or deleted in error (or somehow got corrupted), and the more you'll lose when your internal HD fails.

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.

Can I keep working on my mac while Time Machine does its first back up?

Just wanting to double check before I do anything I am sorry about. I am getting ready to do my first Time Machine back-up. I have my documents all backed up with an on line service, but feel like I need to back up the whole system (better safe than sorry) and will back up to an external hard drive. I have plenty of space as I have about 60GB to back up on a 320GB drive. I know after the first backup it will only back up changes or additions to my mac and I will probably not notice anything, but is there anything I should be watching out for during this first time?
Thank you
laverne's mom

Thanks for your quick response. I expect it will take a while for it to complete. It took a little more than two days for just the documents to be backed up. I'll give it a good long time before I panic.

Shut down Mac while Time Machine backs up

Since I don't always check if Time Machine actually backs up, I was wondering if it matters to shut down your Mac while Time Machine is doing a backup. I guess Apple would make it more obvious, if it would matter, but anyway, does anybody know for sure?

it does not matter. so long as you shut down properly (from the shut down menu and not by holding the power button) TM will stop cleanly and resume the interrupted backup when you power up the computer.

IMac freezes while Time Machine updates the back up. What to do?

Ever since I upgraded to Lion my iMac freezes or nearly freezes for 5 - 10 minutes every hour while Time Machine updates the back up. What to do?
I have tried everything I can think of but its only improved from total freeze while Time Machine backs up to freeze with an occasional few seconds of activity.
I am really fed up with this.

When I first updated to Lion everything was a mess with freezes happenng constantly like every two or three minutes. Then when looking at the app store I noticed in purchased items that Lion was showing install instead of installed so I downloaded and installed again.
After this install every time Time Machine updated a backup my iMac froze for about 5 or 10 minutes while the backing up was in progress. I was getting really fed up and started this thread. Then one morning I got up and the iMac would not start up. It just sat there with the progress thingy spinning. I started in T mode to look at it from my MacBookPro and two copies of the HD appeared. Both showing zero files. I ran Disk utility on the MacBookPro to try to fix the disk. It showed 8 copies of the disk and all not reparable.
I then created a startup USB drive using my MacBookPro, used it to start up the iMac and restored everything from the previous day's backup. Since then it has been running smoothly with no freezes so maybe the answer is simply to restore a recent backup.
I am using Imation external drives and I don't believe the problem is drive specific.

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.

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.

Can i do work on my mac while it is backing up with time machine?

can i do work on my mac while it is backing up with time machine?

Doing backups should have hardly any impact on the Mac itself.. so if by work you mean typing a document or working with photos or something local it will have very little impact.. it is only internet connection that will be affected..
And incremental backups that are usually small should be over in a minute or two.. even by wireless. If your backups are huge each time.. there is something being backed up that should not be.. eg a parallels virtual disk. Or a local drop box. Where small changes internally to a file of very large size makes the TM do another whole backup.

Mountain Lion causing apps not to work, how can I downgrade to Lion without Time Machine Back-up?

Since installing Mountain Lion, I have found applications that don't work. I want to go back to Mountain Lion, unfortunately I had trouble with my Time Machine back up hard drive a couple days after installing Mountain Lion and I don't have any back up to work from. Tried to go to App Store and redownload Lion from there under purchases, but I got message that said "You can’t upgrade this version of Mac OS X because a newer version is installed."
I have another mac that I can download the Lion install package to and then drag it over to this computer, so the question is, Will I be able to re-install Lion over the upgraded Mountain Lion without any problems?

Babowa - By On Screen, I mean it still shows up in the disk utility and reads the following:
MATSHITA DVD-R   UJ-898:
Firmware Revision:    HE13
Interconnect:    ATAPI
Burn Support:    Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache:    1024 KB
Reads DVD:    Yes
CD-Write:    -R, -RW
DVD-Write:    -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies:    CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO
Media:    To show the available burn speeds, insert a disc and choose File > Refresh Information
There are several links here on the support forums with manyyy others having the same problem: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4150905?start=30&tstart=0

If I already purchased FaceTime for Mac and recently upgraded my HD. How can I retrieve that app again? I found it in my Time Machine back up, but the files won't work. Please help.

If I already purchased FaceTime for Mac and recently upgraded my HD. How can I retrieve that app again? I found it in my Time Machine back up, but the files won't work. Please help.

Nope. I do the same exact thing. If you have DVD's and blu-rays you can't download a free application called Handbrake. You can set it to Apple TV2 automatic format and they will come out as playable m4v's that can play I'm iTunes. All you have to do is turn on Home Sharing in both iTunes and your Apple RV and you'll be good to go!

How to restore Time Machine back-up if not even Recovery Tools work?

After a hard and unexpected crash on 2012 macMini I tried everything from this list: OS X Yosemite: Ways to start up your Mac Only 2 things worked: hardware test (via Ethernet: option+D; everything passed) and detailed status mode (command+V) which listed a bunch of errors concerning booting (missing or corrupted files and/or folders). Which is probably the reason I couldn't launch Recovery Tools - neither locally nor directly via Internet (Ethernet plugged in, option+command+R). I would get the message that the Tools are launching, but after the Apple logo showed up followed by the spinning circle, the screen would go light grey 4-5 seconds into the process and the thin black progress bar would appear. It would grow to 1/3 of its length, stop for several seconds, then the computer would restart, the bar would show up again, grow to 1/3 etc., etc.
Assuming that nothing else could be done I started the mini in the target mode (T), plugged it into my old 2007 mini and re-formatted the internal drive, thinking that I could either try Recovery Tools again (no luck) or just clean install Yosemite on the 2012 mini first and then use my Time Machine back-up to restore my files. Unfortunately 2007 mini can only install Lion - even on the external drive - but nothing higher (so I can't upgrade to Mountain Lion, Mavericks and finally to Yosemite). And 2012 would not start with Lion on it. Still no luck with Internet Recovery Tools btw (same symptoms).
The only other thing I can think of is finding a newer Mac and use it to install Mavericks or Yosemite on my 2012 mini. If this fails, it's a trip to the Apple store.
If anyone has any other ideas, please share.
(2012 has no CD/DVD drive)

Your description of Internet Recovery sounded much like Safe Mode, not Internet Recovery. I don't think you will see an Apple at all. It should be a spinning Globe. Or, when you say "spinning circle" was that the globe spinning?
From the App Store on the 2007 mini, can you download the Yosemite installer?
That's about all I can think of besides taking it to an Apple Store.

The disk drive in my iMac 8,1 has stopped working, so I now use an LG 8x Slim Portable that works. However, every time I use the LG drive, I lose contact with my Time Machine back-up drive that has to be deleted and reinstalled. Help!

The disk drive in my iMac 8,1 has stopped working, so I now use an LG 8x Slim Portable that works. However, every time I use the LG drive, I lose contact with my Time Machine back-up drive that has to be deleted and reinstalled. Help!

It's not Logic that can't find them, it's your Komplete apps, though if you did exaclty as you say I can see no reason why they can't.
Do you know where the apps installed them in the first place? I chose a non-standard locarion for mine, but I'm sure it installs sounds to your documents folder/native instruments/name of app.
Go into the prefs of each app and choose the library location button on the library tab and point it to the relevant folder in documents/native instruments and see if that works
jake

Western Digital My Book World EditionI have bought a WD My Book World Edition to use for back-up of my iMac, but when I try and log onto the drive with Apple time Machine (back-up software) or connect in any other way i get the message 'There was a proble

I have bought a WD My Book World Edition to use for back-up of my iMac, but when I try and log onto the drive with Apple time Machine (back-up software) or connect in any other way I get the message 'There was a problem connecting to the server "MybookWorld.local" The version of the server you are trying to connect to is not supported. Please contact your system administrator to resolve the problem'
It is a brand new iMac and running Lion OSX
Any ideas on how to solve would be gratefully received?

Followed the directions on this page and it worked!
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1102423
Part One - Turn on SSH (in the admin panel)
[1] Go to to http://mybookworld.local
[2] login: username will be admin, password will be whatever you have setup. If you can't remember it should be in your Mac OS X keychain (Utilities > Keychain Access, search for "mybookworld"). If you have not changed if from the default the password will be admin as well.
[3] Switch to advanced mode.
[4] From the System tab, pick Advanced.
[5] Enable SSH Access, and click submit.
[6] Click on the network tab and then the LAN button
[7] Make a note of the IP address
Small, maybe obvious, but nevertheless important point: For the install to work, your NAS needs to be connected to a router with internet access.
Part Two - Install netatalk2.2
[8] Open Terminal.app (Utilities > Terminal)
[9] Enter the following command (substitute in 127.0.0.1 for the actual IP address you noted down in step 7), then hit return:
Code:
ssh [email protected]
[10] When prompted, enter the ssh password (will be welc0me).
[11] You are now going to download the installer. Enter the following command, then hit return:
Code:
wget http://mybookworld.wikidot.com/local--files/netatalk2-2-on-whitelight/install_netatalk.sh -O install_netatalk.sh
[12] Once completed, you will need to run the installer. Type:
Code:
sh install_netatalk.sh
[13] You will be asked a number of question during install, answer yes to all. When asked about the "DHX2 login process", I opted to install the modified version, so I can confirm it works.
[14] Once the box has restarted, you should be able to connect to your afp shares and continue to use Time Machine.

HD failure with neither time machine back-up or OSX install working

Hi,
I recently had the OEM HD fail on my Mac book pro resulting in the blinking folder question mark on startup. I purchased a new intel SSD to replace it and it installed it in the laptop. I then performed the command + r on boot and went through the system recovery from network. This seemed to be working fine at first and I was able to open the disk utility after load, I created a single partition on the SSD and then was able to verify successfully. I then closed this window and tried to restore from a time machine back up on an external hard drive. About 30 seconds after it started, it returned an error saying that it was unsuccessful and to restart the computer. I accepted and then it rebooted.
I power cycled the system and again tried the command + r on reboot. This time I first erased the new SSD from the disk utility and then proceeded to create the partition. This time I tried the option to load the OSX and did not plug in the external HD. It began to download from the network and looked to be working fine. However, at some point about 1.5-2 hours later it looks like the system reset itself and came up with the flashing folder with a question mark.
When I power cycled the system for a third time to check the disk again it gives a white screen and command + r does not do anything. I tried resetting the PRAM which the system responded to the option+ command+ p+r and rebooted but it still returns to this white screen. In order to check if it was the SSD that was the problem I opened the computer again and disconnected the SATA cable from the SSD. Then with the SSD disconnected at boot I was able to attempt a system recovery from network using the command + r.
Does anyone have any advice or did I just end up ruining the $200 SSD?
Thanks in advance.

Followed the directions on this page and it worked!
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1102423
Part One - Turn on SSH (in the admin panel)
[1] Go to to http://mybookworld.local
[2] login: username will be admin, password will be whatever you have setup. If you can't remember it should be in your Mac OS X keychain (Utilities > Keychain Access, search for "mybookworld"). If you have not changed if from the default the password will be admin as well.
[3] Switch to advanced mode.
[4] From the System tab, pick Advanced.
[5] Enable SSH Access, and click submit.
[6] Click on the network tab and then the LAN button
[7] Make a note of the IP address
Small, maybe obvious, but nevertheless important point: For the install to work, your NAS needs to be connected to a router with internet access.
Part Two - Install netatalk2.2
[8] Open Terminal.app (Utilities > Terminal)
[9] Enter the following command (substitute in 127.0.0.1 for the actual IP address you noted down in step 7), then hit return:
Code:
ssh [email protected]
[10] When prompted, enter the ssh password (will be welc0me).
[11] You are now going to download the installer. Enter the following command, then hit return:
Code:
wget http://mybookworld.wikidot.com/local--files/netatalk2-2-on-whitelight/install_netatalk.sh -O install_netatalk.sh
[12] Once completed, you will need to run the installer. Type:
Code:
sh install_netatalk.sh
[13] You will be asked a number of question during install, answer yes to all. When asked about the "DHX2 login process", I opted to install the modified version, so I can confirm it works.
[14] Once the box has restarted, you should be able to connect to your afp shares and continue to use Time Machine.

Working in other apps while Time Machine backs up???

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