Comments on: Tweaking Time Machine

By: Time Capsule full!! - Mac-Forums.com

Time Capsule full!! - Mac-Forums.com — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:22:14 +0000

[...] assuming you’re using Time Machine to do the backups? Link Link You might also want to change the time schedule and how often you make the backups. Try [...]

By: Malte

Malte — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 22:48:20 +0000

I’m sorry but I don’t get it… If TM backs up hourly all my files that changed in the last hour why are all my files / folders that I kept on my desktop and e.g. that I deleted not findable and restoreable in the time line?
I tried it again and again, but everytime I just can’t find them…
Maybe you can help me solving this problem?
Thanks!

By: How to improve Time Machine | Rick Tech

How to improve Time Machine | Rick Tech — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 23:29:42 +0000

[...] My biggest issue with Time Machine is the way it backs up everything by default. It’s easy to change although a bit confusing at first.It’s also easy to delete certain parts of old backups or [...]

By: L.W. Brown

L.W. Brown — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:51:02 +0000

You can exclude any drive or folder you desire. You can’t add the iDisk to that list, so I gather TM already, by default, does >not

By: Michael G

Michael G — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 05:02:00 +0000

Can anyone confirm that it is possible to exclude the /Applications folder and still be assured that if one has to use the â€œRestore from Time Machine backupâ€ option when reinstalling OSX, that the Restore will work?

I have excluded this folder, for the same reasons in this post, but I want to be sure that if I ever have to “Restore from Time Machine” on a totally wiped computer, that all my data can be restored.

By: Victor Johnson

Victor Johnson — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 18:21:09 +0000

The reason for excluding folders is simple. To maximize the amount of space you have available so you can extend the amount of time it backs up before deleting old backups. You wouldn’t make it a habit to backup temp files and cache and every single change made to a video file. That just doesn’t make sense. Most people want to get the most out of this feature…this is how.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:40:11 +0000

For the vast majority of users, including many users who frequent this website, the default setup of Time Machine is absolutely fine, no need to follow these steps and remove certain folders, just make sure your Time Machine drive is as big or larger than your internal startup disk.

I guess I’m just confused as to why you would be looking to “save space” with your backup drive? It’s a backup drive. If you are using the same external drive for multiple purposes than just a backup drive, than I would suggest partitioning into two partitions and limiting how much space you are willing to give Time Machine, say exactly as large as your internal startup disk that you are trying to backup.

When your Time Machine drive gets full, it removes the oldest backup, by default it’s set to warn you when old backups are deleted, but I’ve yet to see what that warning looks like.

I recently restored did the Restore System from Time Machine backup feature that is found in the Utilities menu of your Leopard DVD, and it was very impressive, I upgraded my Mac Pro to a new 400GB internal startup disk, and used my Time Machine backup to get that new drive up and running with all my stuff, exactly the way I like it, with all my apps installed and all the shareware is registered. It’s comforting to know that even if the Mac Pro dies tonight, I’ve got the Time Machine backup, I can restore that onto any Mac capable of running Leopard.

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 23:49:38 +0000

What happens when your Time Machine destination drive gets full? I haven’t really seen anything about this.

I was thinking a Drobo would work for that (drobo.com), since it allows you to easily add drives for storage expansion.

What is everyone else using for a destination drive? Cheapest they can find? Something that was laying around?

– Jim

By: links for 2007-11-14 « kobak del.icio.us kÃ¶nyvjelzÅ‘i

links for 2007-11-14 « kobak del.icio.us kÃ¶nyvjelzÅ‘i — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 23:08:23 +0000

[...] Tweaking Time Machine | MacApper time machine tweak (tags: Leopard mac howto backup macosx osx timemachine) [...]

By: Paul Taylor

Paul Taylor — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 05:02:55 +0000

As to your question of why back up applications, the answer is easy. Literally. It makes full restores about as easy as you can get. About the only thing easier would be to just boot off of a SuperDuper clone drive. If I had my way, I’d have a TimeMachine share on my NAS and would simply use the Leopard version of SuperDuper (when it comes out) to perform a full image of my entire machine once a week with a daily Smart Update.

I am very interested in knowing how to disable TimeMachine for individual mail folders, though. My Junk folder doesn’t need to be backed up constantly. If I needed to restore my machine, that’s some data that I know I wouldn’t miss.

By: Superdotman

Superdotman — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 02:35:50 +0000

Joe: He meant that it would be smarter to have only one backup of a file you’ll never modify again, but as you said, Apple already took care of that.

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 23:12:08 +0000

“This allows for Time Machine to only make one version of the completed file, instead of multiple instances of a file in progress.”

Isn’t it beneficial to back up your work as you go? If you lose your work right before you finish and you don’t have a backup, you’ll have to start over. I don’t get your point here.

I also think you should clarify that TM doesn’t backup every file on your system every hour. It backs up what files have CHANGED. That’s a huge difference.

Time Machine is working well for me.

By: Victor Johnson

Victor Johnson — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 22:28:11 +0000

Oli: I certainly will work on an article for the directories I listed.

By: Oli

Oli — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 19:15:35 +0000

Would you consider posting a list of directories to exclude from time machine, with the full location string? Good post, but I’m having a hard time locating all the folders you’re referring to

By: Alex Clarke

Alex Clarke — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 18:43:56 +0000

MAKE IT BOOTABLE!!!

I’m going to keep my Superduper backup of my Tiger system just in case anyway, but please, oh please make TimeMachine create Bootable backups.

I like the peace of mind knowing that if my HD fails I can reboot into my backup and find myself at the same state I was in last backup and can continue where I left off.

By: f1sh

f1sh — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:15:59 +0000

TM is working steller for me backing up to an eSATA drive. Good tips all around, I might add that moving your iTunes folder to your external drive was a great space saver for me. To do this:

move /Users/~username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music
…to your external drive.

in iTunes go: > Advanced > Consolidate Library
…this takes some time while it copies over your entire music library and podcasts, art etc.

Don’t forget to delete the contents of your old iTunes Music folder to save some space.

By: donjuan

donjuan — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:05:02 +0000

This will be nice once Time Machine works…

By: Tweaking Time Machine

Tweaking Time Machine — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:05:55 +0000

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