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I just bought a new iMac. My Time Machine drive is full and has been replacing the oldest versions. Do I need to clean the drive up for the new computer, or just plug it in and let it continue replacing outdated saves?
Welcome to the Apple Support Communities.
You cannot/should not clean up the Time Machine drive!
To move your data, see: Setup Assistant and Migration Assistant - Apple Community.
After that, setup the Time Machine drive again on the new Mac: Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support.
How full is the Time Machine drive? How much data do you have to backup?
Cheers,
Jack
Welcome to the Apple Support Communities.
You cannot/should not clean up the Time Machine drive!
To move your data, see: Setup Assistant and Migration Assistant - Apple Community.
After that, setup the Time Machine drive again on the new Mac: Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support.
How full is the Time Machine drive? How much data do you have to backup?
Cheers,
Jack
To best answer your question, the key would be do you want to save any of these backups?
You basically have two options:
Also, as Jack-19 has mentioned, if you want to migrate any data from your old computer to you new, DO NOT erase the old computer's backups yet. Using either the Setup Assistant or Migration Assistant on the new Mac, you can migrate this data from this backup set. Once done to your satisfaction, you can then elect to Archive, Erase, and then, start a new backup set for the new machine.
I have Migrated everything over to my new iMac. My Time Machine drive is 2TB and is full. It reports that it is deleting the oldest files to make room for new backups.
I'm not sure what you mean by "how much data do I have to backup." I don't know how much space each backup takes.
Is there a special way to archive the old backups? Or can I just create a folder for them on my DSS drive and copy them over?
I used Migration Assistant and my new iMac up and running. I'm not sure what you mean about "migrating the data for this backup set."
Once I have archived the old backups, how do I erase the old backups on my Time Machine disk?
Thanks a lot for the help.
I didn't see this reply. I just want to know if I can just unplug my Time Machine from my old computer and plug it into my new one. It is a 2TB and Time Machine reports that it is full and erasing the older backups.
The old computer is currently booting from a 1TB DSS drive I got when the Mac drive started to fail. The DSS is my boot drive and is using 245 GB of storage. It is the only computer/drive that the Time Machine is backing up.
If you go to the Apple menu (top left) > About This Mac > Storage, how much storage is your boot drive (source drive of backup) using?
Cheers,
Jack
You cannot move (copy/paste etc.) Time Machine backups.
My boot drive is using 245GB of storage.
Is that the only drive Time Machine is backing up?
Yes, it is.
Need info on moving time machine to new iMac
