There appears to be several threads regarding deleteing Time Machine backups but I can't seem to get the correct answer to delete the entire backup folder (Backups.backupdb). I move the location of my backups files and they are working fine now so I want to delete the folder on the disk it used to backup to. How can I do that? I have everything backedup to the proper disk so I don't need this folder any longer. Thanks.
The easiest thing to do is going to be to erase that hard drive. Whatever you do, don't try to drag the backup folder to the trash... that causes problems.
Thanks. I'd prefer not to erase the HD since it has other things on it. I would have to move them and then replace them.
BTW, I learned the hard way awhile ago not to drag it to the trash.
Well, in that case, you should be able to delete that folder from the Terminal. However, you need to be forewarned that the command I'm about to give you is exceedingly dangerous! It can easily erase everything on your boot drive if there's a minor typo. So, use this at your own risk. Also, note that this requires that you are using an administrative account.
In the Terminal, paste (do not type!) the following:
sudo rm -rf
Make sure there's a space at the end of that. Then, drag the backup folder onto the Terminal window, which will insert the path to that folder in the command. Now, back in the Terminal, hit return. When asked for your password, enter your login password. (Nothing will be displayed... that is normal.) Press return again, and wait for the $ prompt to reappear.
Thanks, again. It didn't work- kept saying "operation not permitted." Is it because the folder is an an external HD? Sorry if I should have made that clear.
If "sudo rm" isn't able to delete that folder, then you'll really need to erase the drive. Time Machine backups have a very weird file structure that even the Finder can't properly handle.
Thanks. I sort of came to the same conclusion. I haven't had to use TM because I've not lost any info so it seems like a pain but I'm sure I will be gratful to it some day.
The best backups are the kind you never have to use. But you still have to have them, or sooner or later you'll wish you did. I've been saved by backups more times than I could easily count.
I tried everything to erase my external hard drive (which I had used with Time Machine), including Disk Utility. The external hard drive was full and I had to erase something.
I finally downloaded SuperDuper! which I plan to use instead of Time Machine, and SuperDuper! took less than 30 seconds to erase the external hard drive of Time Machine backups.
I'm afraid to erase my backups on my external drive because I'm not sure I have everything I need off them. But keeping them where they are stops me from using the rest of the drive which has over 700GB of free space. There is also a chance that some of the files in the TM backups are corrupted:( It's a real mess, do you have a fix you could suggest? Thanks,
Peter
I don't advise using a backup drive for a secondary purpose. If your backup drive is wastefully large for what you're backing up, you shouldn't use the extra for storage of other items. If you do, where are you backing up those other items? That leads to confusing storage and backup methods. Keep backup drives dedicated to that one task only.
I'd say you should probably buy another drive for storage and then back up both that drive and your internal to the backup that is currently too large (but may be a better fit when backing up two different drives to it). Also, keep in mind the potential for growth, based on what you do. What's way to big today might be just right in a few months.
Ultimately that's what I want to do. I will use my current GoFlex Home 1TB drive for time machine and get a second for storage of photos & videos. But how can I get one copy of each file from the time machine backups on the GoFlex so I can then reformat and start fresh? Is there an easy way or do this or do I have to go through each backup file by file?
I'm not understanding what you're trying to do. Why do you want to start backups fresh on the GoFlex drive? Why not just keep the same backup going?
I'll try to keep this simple... The TM backups on the GoFlex are mostly from my MacBook that I sold in February and a small portion from my MacBook Pro that I bought right after. The backups are from 10/7/2011 until late February or early March 2012. When I got the new MB Pro I did a restore from TM to set it up, but something went wrong, and Apple's Genius Bar concluded that the TM must have been corupted or had corupt files. They wanted me to wipe the MBP and pull everything off one by one to try and isolate the problem. I did wipe it but never pulled everything from the TM, at least not as they suggested. I've pulled a lot of the photos, music, videos, & movies, and I believe most of what's on the TM backups is on my MB Pro and Mac mini, but I'm positive there's more that isn't and I'm overwhelmed by how to get the rest off.
I think some of the photos I took off the drive might have been one of the problems, because when I ran duplicate annihilator in iPhoto, some of the photos had lost all their metadata. I'm trying to give you as much info as I can without confusing you or myself. This has been quite an ordeal.
I think the Genius Bar is leading you astray. Did you restore the entire system from the Time Machine backup? If so, you undoubtedly ended up with a system that the new MBP was incapable of running. That doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with the backup. I wouldn't do anything drastic based on that advice just yet.
If you end up wanting or needing to erase the backup and start over, and there's still data in the backup that you haven't restored yet, just use Migration Assistant to import it. Don't import any apps, just documents. Once you've done that, or if you have already got all the documents you need, just erase the Time Machine backup hard drive and start the backups all over again.
One word of warning, though: erasing the backup drive will leave you temporarily without backups. That's never a good idea. You'd be wise to have more than one backup anyway, so get another external hard drive and create a backup using some other software, like Carbon Copy Cloner. (It's always best to have a minimum of two backups, created with two different backup programs.) Make the backup once you have all the data on your machine, but before erasing the Time Machine backup drive.
Thomas A Reed wrote:
Did you restore the entire system from the Time Machine backup?
Yes, I restored from the last backup of my previous MacBook. But what happened was odd! Once it finished restoring, my MBP said the HDD had 499GB of data with 1GB free, but in the storage tab of "about this Mac" it displayed the proper amount which was in 100GB-160GB range.?
Theres another thing I think you should know: during the period my MB was backing up to TM, I went in to time machine and started making DVD backups of my iPhoto and iTunes libraries content. I did not know I wasn't supposed to do this and Apple said that's why everything got screwed up.? I wanted to have two backups as you mentioned and I figured since I had the DVD's it would be cheaper than buying another external HD?
I don't think I understand exactly how time machine backups work and that's why I haven't attempted to fix this drive. Is it not possible to grab one of the backups and pull it off the drive, see if there's anything in there I'd like to keep, and then delete it? Here's a copy of what I'm talking about.
Here's another shot of something I can't figure out. It's the one MBP backup on the GoFlex that has 28GB yet I can't open it.
I'm sorry if I'm complicating this more than it really is but I am not that advance with this stuff.
Delete Time Machine Backups
