MeatTenderizer wrote:
So yesterday I formatted by external hard drive figuring that would solve everything. I go to back up, and the same thing happens. It gets half way through (my entire hard drive this time!) and it fails.
Any idea how I can fix this? I really want to get my stuff backed up...
Hi, and welcome to the forums.
We really need some more information. First, when you "formatted" your TM drive, just how did you do it -- erase with with Disk Utility? Then set to Mac OS Extended (journaled)? Using the GUID partition scheme for an Intel Mac?
How do you know it got halfway through?
What error did you get? Usually the place to start is to go to TM Preferences and get the exact error message, then look here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3275
If that doesn't help, download the +Time Machine Buddy+ widget. It shows all the messages from one TM backup at a time in a small window. If nothing there gives you a clue, copy and post them here (be sure to get them all, as sometimes they overflow the little window).
Also, tell us how big your HD is, and how full it is. And how big is your TM drive/partition?
For future reference, two weeks without a backup is much too long. After a period (I think it's 10 days), TM will no longer do an "incremental" backup; it will do a full backup of your entire HD. This will, of course, take lots of space, possibly filling-up your TM drive much too soon.