Time Machine freezes iMac

The same freeze problem happened to me. After looking in the Discussions for a solution, I realized that this happened right after I upgraded to VirusBarrier X5. Following the discussion suggestion, I added the Time Machine drive to the list of Trusted Zones, and all went back to normal. I had the same problem and solution on both my G5 and my iMac.

Yep - I had just upgraded to VirusBarrier X5. I added the TM volume as excluded. Thanks very much for your suggestion!

Read your TM freeze solution. Sounds good to me. I also recently upgraded to Virus Barrier X5.

Where is the list of Trusted Zones? I'm anxious to apply this fix. Thanks for your help.

Boot VirusBarrier X5, and then click "preferences" at the top of your screen (under VirusBarrier X5 at the top left). Under Preferences click "Scanner". Then, under Trusted Zones, add your TM backup volume. I have also added my clones, since I believe them to be safe.

Thanks bobio - this has been haunting me and finally solved the issue with your advice. Time machine is now working as designed. Virus Barrier X5 was culprit.

I also have freezes with Time Machine which I can't figure out. It worked fine for a long while. I suspect the update to 10.5.1 but not sure. Glyph GT050Q drive. Was running on Firewire 800 but now trying USB 2.0 to see if that helps. So far not.

I discovered the problem when I got an error saying there had been no backup for 10 days... who knew?

In Sys Prefs under Time Machine the "backup failed" indication either shows "unable to create backup directory" or "unable to mount drive" as the two common error indications.

Oftentimes the "sync in progress" moving icon in the finder window next to the drive name spins for hours with nothing happening.

I generally have to force quit the computer and reboot.... not so great for a hard drive, though checking with Disk Utility shows no problems.

It's very annoying to have such an opaque application as Time Machine. You can't even do something as simple as "Make Backup now" to see if all is working. You have to wait around for the next scheduled backup.

I'm not too impressed with Time Machine, the main reason I upgraded to Leopard.

Message was edited by: Bruce Coughlin

Bruce Coughlin wrote:
"unable to create backup directory"

Another poster who had that error fixed it by running disk repair.

My pleasure, but I can not take credit for solution. Someone much smarter than I (and probably much better looking) posted the solution in a previous post.

Thanks... but Disc Utility and TechTool Pro both say disc is fine.

I've run into the same problem with other 500GB drives _both Firewire and USB_but not on smaller drives - Hope there's a fix out since this very broken at this point...

Thanks for your help. Added drives to "Trusted Zone" and TM appears to be working.

Much credit to you for remembering this fix and relaying the info to others.

Actually you can to a 'Make Backup Now' by Control clicking the TM icon in the dock and selecting "Backup Now'.

Well, you just cured my problem. I had unpgraded to VirusBarrier 5 and had freezing problems. Added the drive to my scanner preferences and bingo ! No more problems.
Yves

Message was edited by: Yves Nadon

I have the same problem as the others. I have a 500GB MyBook (USB) used as a TM box. I also have firewire drives.

Ever since 10.5.1 I would get the system freezing up, nothing responsive, spinning wheel,etc. Had to shut down using button on the front of unit. After a LOT of experimentation, I found that turning OFF Time Machine makes the issue go away. What is really odd is that I can run manual backups no problem. If I make it go back on again, its hose city.

cmon apple, fix this!

...c'mon Apple, fix this!

I really don't blame Apple for what an (unnecessary) third-party utility is doing to one's system.

I, too, had "Time Machine freeze" problems on my new install. But I disabled Intego's software, and all is now well.