Time Machine Woes

Well, it is unclear if the behaviour with the TM disk is solely down to that disk, or if there is something else afoot.

Disk first aid just checks things like directory structures and repairs them if it finds errors.
 
Pound Coin said:
Well, it is unclear if the behaviour with the TM disk is solely down to that disk, or if there is something else afoot.

Disk first aid just checks things like directory structures and repairs them if it finds errors.
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Thanks. Bit the bullet and did it. MacBook didn't explode!
 
How old is the drive? Has it been used with other macs?
 
Things wear out. The screen of my wife's iMac has just bitten the dust after 9 years service. As she used it at least half the time with Bootcamp, we're replacing it with a Mac Mini and one of those (almost) pocket sized PCs.
 
So this thread is interesting to me, as I've had related but different problems over the past few days. First off, Time Machine wouldn't complete because of a problem with a file in BitDefender's Cache. I reckoned cached files must be disposable, so tried to delete it, but nothing I could do would make it go away. Then I found the bit in TM's settings where you can exclude a file... well, it promptly found another couple of files.

Things got complicated about here. I think I was having difficulty ejecting the disk (it's a Seagate 2TB), so stupidly pulled it out. Now whenever I attach the disk my MBP slows to treacle, and it won't eject; the only safe way I've found to get it off is to close down the Mac and remove it then. I've been round this circle many times, and got the BitDefender folk on it; they also seem stumped.

I've now ordered a new disk, so I can make a new Time Machine backup (I hope) before attempting to format the old drive! If there are problems, I'll be re-readi g this thread, very carefully! Thanks...
 
Marc said:
It's about 3 years old. Was used with my iMac then my MacBook from November
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Did you start a fresh Time Machine when you got your MacBook, e.g. formatting the Time Machine drive. Or did you load from Time Machine and just carry on?

At 3 years old the disk should still be OK, I had my last Time Machine drive running for 10 years, but that was an external 3.5" drive in a good enclosure (well ventilated etc), a 2.5" drive may have a shorter life span. I would suggest getting a new drive if you can, if there is a question mark over the drive, I would not want to use it for backing up crucial data.
 
Craikeybaby said:
Did you start a fresh Time Machine when you got your MacBook, e.g. formatting the Time Machine drive. Or did you load from Time Machine and just carry on?
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I loaded from Time Machine then deleted all the old backups (I think)
Craikeybaby said:
At 3 years old the disk should still be OK, I had my last Time Machine drive running for 10 years, but that was an external 3.5" drive in a good enclosure (well ventilated etc), a 2.5" drive may have a shorter life span. I would suggest getting a new drive if you can, if there is a question mark over the drive, I would not want to use it for backing up crucial data.
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Yes, been having a look at replacements. any recommendations? I have 2 Toshibas atm.
 
The one I had was a G-Drive, and given how well it lasted I would not hesitate to buy again.
 
I like G-Drives, I have gone off Seagate.
 
Unless I'm doing something wrong, they seem very expensive.
 
They aren't the cheapest, but they use good hard drives.
 
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