Backing up I-Mac mid 2011 with WD My Passport for Mac.

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Wonderwalker Author

Level 1

4 points

Backing up I-Mac mid 2011 with WD My Passport for Mac.

How to know if Time Machine is backing up data on My Passport?
Have a 1 TB external hard drive, but little more than 528 G shows.
Not sure I partitioned it correctly first time in 2018. Did another back up

overnight and same amount of data. Tried to determine if data backed

up. Have used 498 GB on my I-Mac. Unable to stop ext. hard drive, so

shut down computer, then unplugged hard drive. Want to transfer info

to new desktop, but it has 512 G storage and it will fill the new hard drive.

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Sep 1, 2023 7:52 PM

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Answer 1

Jack-19

Level 8

46,272 points

Sep 2, 2023 1:31 PM in response to Wonderwalker

Hi there!

If you open System Preferences (available from the Apple menu  in the top left corner), then open "Time Machine" preferences, you can see the status of your Time Machine backups.

If the Time Machine preferences window indicated you need to select a backup disk, Time Machine isn't active. If you see the name of your external disk here, with information on the oldest and newest backup, Time Machine is working, just make sure that "Back Up Automatically" is enabled and the last backup date is recent.

To see the hard disk on your Mac, try to open Finder, then choose the "Go" menu in the top menu bar, then choose "Computer". If it isn't showing here, let us know.

Hope this helps.

-Jack

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Answer 2

Sep 2, 2023 1:47 PM in response to Wonderwalker

Time Machine creates multiple versions of files for recovery at several points in time, when a file has been updated over time. This version history is one of the special features that lets you recover a file from last Tuesday, if you happened to have corrupted it, or got some weird changes by Linda from Work on Wednesday and you want your older copy of the file from Tuesday back. So, the size of the files on a Time Machine backup is probably larger than what will actually be restored for the single most current version of all your files. But, not sure if that 528 GB of versioned historical data will fit of only the most recent copy into 512 GB of space, that is basically the issue, right? I would guess that only the most recent copy of everything you have will be closer to the actual disc usage on the internal drive, the 498GB amount of files you actually have.

While that will fit within the 512GB of the new computer, you really don't have much free space for swap space when you need more memory. You really need to reduce your footprint of files on that new computer so you have like 20GB free space or so, when you fill that hard drive up, things will grind to a halt and run very slowly. You are going to need to pare down your data or get a bigger drive.

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Answer 3

den.thed

Level 10

92,560 points

Sep 2, 2023 5:53 AM in response to Wonderwalker

Connect the My Passport to the new new desktop and Migrate from it.

see > Transfer to a new Mac with Migration Assistant - Apple Support

If it works then you are all set.

If it doesn't work because it is too large for the new desktop, then you need to reduce the amount of data on the old Mac and make a new Time Machine backup that will fit into the new Mac.

Another option is to setup the new Mac using the same User ID, then manually copy your user data (photos movies, music, etc.) to an external drive and manually move those to the new Mac.

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Answer 4

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,600 points

Sep 1, 2023 11:05 PM in response to Wonderwalker

This is extremely simple to test, just restore a file, it does not matter what the file is. If you can restore it then you know Time Machine is working just fine.

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Answer 5

Sep 2, 2023 3:58 PM in response to Wonderwalker

If you don't see the hard drive icon on your Desktop or Sidebar of a Finder window you can change your Finder preferences to show it.

Or, you can use Finder to Go to Folder... to display the /Volumes folder, then right-click on the hard drive icon in there and Eject it.

enter /Volumes to show all the hard drives that are currently mounted. Then you can right-click on the drive you want to unmount and Eject it.

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Answer 6

Wonderwalker Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 2, 2023 12:52 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Thank you for your reply, but don't understand how to restore (open?) on My Passport when I can't find the external hard drive on the I-Mac. Concerned if I plug it in again, and am able to find it, it won't stop running, then I'll corrupt information if I have to shut down the computer to remove it. Don't know how to see what data is on My Passport.

Think Time Machine is working, but think the WD-My Passport for Mac isn't formatted correctly as the backup made in 2018 had 528 GB and the one made 2 days ago has 528 GB. Device doesn't show up on the computer, doesn't stop running and can't find a way to safely stop or eject it.

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Answer 7

Wonderwalker Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 2, 2023 1:07 PM in response to den.thed

Appreciate your speedy reply, but want to learn how to open up the external hard drive to

see what data is backed up. WD My Passport doesn't show up on the I-Mac.

When it does, I don't see a way to safely stop it and remove it. Have read it'll destroy

the ext. HD if you unplug while it's running. Concerned if I could figure out how to

erase the data, and reformat (if I could figure that out as I couldn't in 2018, it might

corrupt the device.

Believe I partitioned the My Passport incorrectly 5 years ago when I made the first

backup, as it has 472 GB empty, as the device lists the same amount of GB now as

in 2018.

If I transfer all data from old to new, then I'll need another new computer as it has

512 GB storage, plus if I do it manually, don't believe I'll live long enough to do that.

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Answer 8

Wonderwalker Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 2, 2023 2:47 PM in response to Jack-19

Thank you for being so detailed. That is helping.

Is there a way I can see data backed up in a list on the external hard drive

and open the file to see if it is intact?

Concerned about plugging in My Passport as the last time I did,

could not find a safe way to stop it and disconnect. Hopefully,

shutting down the computer, stopped the backup on My Passport so

it didn't get corrupted. If I plug the ext. hard drive in, is there a

way to obtain a list of data backed up and if there's so safe mode

to unplug, will shutting down the I-Mac prevent corruption?

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Answer 9

Wonderwalker Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 2, 2023 5:28 PM in response to Glen Doggett

Appreciate your time and explanations.

If I reconnect the ext. hard drive and don't see the icon in the dock,

and it's running, but can see no safe way to disconnect it, will

shutting down the I-Mac prevent the damage and corruption

of My Passport? Perhaps should try to figure out how to erase

all data and reformat and not sure how to do that either.

Would like to see a list of the data backed up on the ext. hard

drive, but concerned about plugging it in and corrupting the

data because it can't be ejected in safe mode. Don't know

how to obtain a list of data, apart from amount of GB backed up.

Would like to make a copy on the ext. hard drive in case I want

info. later. Realize there is too much data to transfer to the

new computer. The 2011 is slow and has 19GB left,

so I don't want to slow down the speed on a new one. Not sure if

the WD My Passport for Mac is compatible with the ports on a

new desktop. Will purchase one after the old one is backed up.

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Answer 10

Wonderwalker Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 2, 2023 6:12 PM in response to Wonderwalker

Thank you for your help.

Is it possible to get a list of data backed up on an external hard drive?

Maybe that's not possible. Concerned I'll corrupt data as I've been

reading reviews for hours from users whose ext. hard drives quit

working or are corrupted. Don't want to accidentally lose 500GB of

data on my 2011 I-Mac.

My Apple mouse doesn't have right and left click options, like on a mouse

for a PC. Nothing happens when I type in "/volumes.

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Backing up I-Mac mid 2011 with WD My Passport for Mac.

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