Mac Time Machine Question..???? - GoFuckYourself.com

Halcyon · 07-02-2008, 08:50 AM

So Time Machine filled my terrabyte drive with (multiple?) backups of my 200 gig hard drive.

Should I delete the old backups and start fresh?

Will that mess with anything?

Rand · 07-02-2008, 08:51 AM

Bump for an excellent question. I'm just now trying to select a drive to use with Time Machine.

ScriptWorkz · 07-02-2008, 08:53 AM

I have an external drive, not that much space, but i use it to backup the main drive in my mac with time machine. It got filled up the other day and i went into it and deleted the old backups (they're organized by date), it takes forever to get rid of that much data, but it doesn't seemed to of broken anything and i now have more space on that drive.

I'd disable time machine first tho for sure.

DateDoc · 07-02-2008, 08:55 AM

It should automatically handle it. This is from Apple's website:

Backing up to a full disk.
One day, no matter how large your backup drive is, it will run out of space. And Time Machine has an action plan. It alerts you that it will start deleting previous backups, oldest first. Before it deletes any backup, Time Machine copies files that might be needed to fully restore your disk for every remaining backup. (Moral of the story: The larger the drive, the farther back in time you can back up.)

munki · 07-02-2008, 08:55 AM

No option inside the program to overwrite older copies?

Halcyon · 07-02-2008, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DateDoc

It should automatically handle it. This is from Apple's website:

Backing up to a full disk.
One day, no matter how large your backup drive is, it will run out of space. And Time Machine has an action plan. It alerts you that it will start deleting previous backups, oldest first. Before it deletes any backup, Time Machine copies files that might be needed to fully restore your disk for every remaining backup. (Moral of the story: The larger the drive, the farther back in time you can back up.)

Hmmm...I was hoping to use the drive for other things as well. I wonder if I can say, "Use 500 gigs of drive for backup" or whatever.

tranza · 07-02-2008, 09:00 AM

IIs better you delete!

DateDoc · 07-02-2008, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halcyon

Hmmm...I was hoping to use the drive for other things as well. I wonder if I can say, "Use 500 gigs of drive for backup" or whatever.

You should be able to partition the back up disk using Disk Utility. Assign one part for backup and the other for storage.

ScriptWorkz · 07-02-2008, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halcyon

Hmmm...I was hoping to use the drive for other things as well. I wonder if I can say, "Use 500 gigs of drive for backup" or whatever.

Just create a partition and have it backup to that instead of the whole drive, then have another partition for whatever else you wanna put on there

EDIT - i see DateDoc has beat me to it

Rand · 07-02-2008, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halcyon

Hmmm...I was hoping to use the drive for other things as well. I wonder if I can say, "Use 500 gigs of drive for backup" or whatever.

Yes. You can do this by partitioning the drive. See this and you'll get the gist of it.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....79532&tstart=0

Thurbs · 07-02-2008, 09:06 AM

get a timecapsule .. i use it solely to back up the three macs in my house, external harddrives should be transfer and archive

DateDoc · 07-02-2008, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thurbs - NichedSites

get a timecapsule .. i use it solely to back up the three macs in my house, external harddrives should be transfer and archive

Me too. I picked up a 1TB Time Capsule solely to back up too.

Halcyon · 07-05-2008, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScriptWorkz

Just create a partition and have it backup to that instead of the whole drive, then have another partition for whatever else you wanna put on there

EDIT - i see DateDoc has beat me to it

'

Can I partition after I've been using it? Or will it wipe the drive?

digifan · 07-05-2008, 06:03 PM

Preference Explanation

On and Off slider

Time Machine backs up your files every hour. To stop automatic backups, move the slider to Off. Automatic backups will resume when you turn Time Machine back on.

Change Disk

Click Change Disk to choose a disk or partition where Time Machine will keep your backups.

Options

To exclude items from being backed up, click Options.

DamianJ · 07-07-2008, 06:53 AM

DO NOT partition a drive you want to use for back ups. It is ASKING for trouble.

Hard drives are cheap as you like nowadays. I just got a 750 gig SATA for 80 USD.

I lost one year's worth of data once with a HDD fail, so now I have one ext with time machine back ups, and another one with a bootable SuperDuper mirror of my whole drive.

But to answer your question, time machine makes hourly back ups and then when your hard drive is full switches to weekly backups. So you just leave it alone basically and it manages your shit for you.

But don't partition a drive you rely on for back ups.

Halcyon · 07-07-2008, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DamianJ

DO NOT partition a drive you want to use for back ups. It is ASKING for trouble.

Hard drives are cheap as you like nowadays. I just got a 750 gig SATA for 80 USD.

I lost one year's worth of data once with a HDD fail, so now I have one ext with time machine back ups, and another one with a bootable SuperDuper mirror of my whole drive.

But to answer your question, time machine makes hourly back ups and then when your hard drive is full switches to weekly backups. So you just leave it alone basically and it manages your shit for you.

But don't partition a drive you rely on for back ups.

Helpful info. Thanks!

cranki · 07-07-2008, 08:43 AM

good info here, I'm gonna use that time machine for the very first time now

07-02-2008, 08:50 AM	#1
Halcyon Spread The Pink! Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: TrampStampStudios.com Posts: 8,609	Mac Time Machine Question..???? So Time Machine filled my terrabyte drive with (multiple?) backups of my 200 gig hard drive. Should I delete the old backups and start fresh? Will that mess with anything? __________________ HAL on TEDx:

07-02-2008, 08:51 AM	#2
Rand Industry Vet Industry Role: Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Santa Monica, CA Posts: 2,663	Bump for an excellent question. I'm just now trying to select a drive to use with Time Machine. __________________ -- Rand Payment Industry - Communications - Quality Assurance

07-02-2008, 08:55 AM	#4
DateDoc Outside looking in. Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: To Hell You Ride Posts: 14,243	It should automatically handle it. This is from Apple's website: Backing up to a full disk. One day, no matter how large your backup drive is, it will run out of space. And Time Machine has an action plan. It alerts you that it will start deleting previous backups, oldest first. Before it deletes any backup, Time Machine copies files that might be needed to fully restore your disk for every remaining backup. (Moral of the story: The larger the drive, the farther back in time you can back up.) __________________

07-02-2008, 08:55 AM	#5
munki Do Fun Shit. Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: OC Posts: 13,393	No option inside the program to overwrite older copies? __________________ “I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.” -Oscar Wilde

07-02-2008, 09:00 AM	#7
tranza ICQ: 197-556-237 Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: BRASIL !!! Posts: 57,559	IIs better you delete! __________________ I'm just a newbie.

07-02-2008, 08:53 AM	#3
ScriptWorkz Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Intraweb Posts: 274	I have an external drive, not that much space, but i use it to backup the main drive in my mac with time machine. It got filled up the other day and i went into it and deleted the old backups (they're organized by date), it takes forever to get rid of that much data, but it doesn't seemed to of broken anything and i now have more space on that drive. I'd disable time machine first tho for sure.

07-02-2008, 09:06 AM	#11
Thurbs The Thrilla in Manila Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Thurbs' Lagoon, Christmas Island Posts: 4,785	get a timecapsule .. i use it solely to back up the three macs in my house, external harddrives should be transfer and archive

07-05-2008, 06:03 PM	#14
digifan The Profiler Industry Role: Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: ICQ 76281726 and I'm female Posts: 14,618	Preference Explanation On and Off slider Time Machine backs up your files every hour. To stop automatic backups, move the slider to Off. Automatic backups will resume when you turn Time Machine back on. Change Disk Click Change Disk to choose a disk or partition where Time Machine will keep your backups. Options To exclude items from being backed up, click Options. __________________ [email protected] Webair Rocks

07-07-2008, 06:53 AM	#15
DamianJ Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: A magical land Posts: 15,808	DO NOT partition a drive you want to use for back ups. It is ASKING for trouble. Hard drives are cheap as you like nowadays. I just got a 750 gig SATA for 80 USD. I lost one year's worth of data once with a HDD fail, so now I have one ext with time machine back ups, and another one with a bootable SuperDuper mirror of my whole drive. But to answer your question, time machine makes hourly back ups and then when your hard drive is full switches to weekly backups. So you just leave it alone basically and it manages your shit for you. But don't partition a drive you rely on for back ups.

07-07-2008, 08:43 AM	#17
cranki Confirmed User Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Café del Mar Posts: 5,162	good info here, I'm gonna use that time machine for the very first time now