Q: time machine not backing up system files
I have discovered that Time Machine is not (and apparently has not been for some time) backing up system files (Applications, Utilities, System and Library). What's going on? They are not excluded in the options. Anyone have this problem and know of a solution?
iMac, OS X Mountain Lion
Posted on Nov 30, 2012 1:50 PM
If you have more than one user account, you must be logged in as an administrator to carry out these instructions.
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Triple-click the line below to select it, then drag or copy into the Terminal window — do not type — and press return:
sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist SkipSystemFiles
You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command.
Reboot and run a backup. Check that the previously excluded files are now included. The backup may take much longer than usual.
Posted on Nov 30, 2012 3:17 PM
