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Level 1

31 points

Time machine taking over 48 hours to back up?!!

I finally got this 'Time Machine' to work, & am now regretting it; it's been on ALL NIGHT; ALL DAY; and is telling me it still needs to take another 12 hours?! This is insane. This is the first back-up, but I omitted all my photos from the back-up, so it is ONLY backing up around 59GB; this cannot take 48 hours, surely?! I've been previously backing up photos manually by dragging & dropping & have already copied across around 58GB to the hard drive in just a few hours. Is there something wrong with it? Will it ever finish?

What will happen if I just stop it; will all of the stuff it's copied so far vanish? Or can I re-start it & it will simply finish off where it left off?

Apart from anything else I really do not like to leave my computer on for this length of time!

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Oct 3, 2012 12:52 PM

22 replies

AliWonder Author

Level 1

31 points

Oct 3, 2012 1:55 PM in response to AliWonder

Ok I just checked the Disk Utility - it does say 'Mac OS Extended (journaled)'.

AliWonder Author

Level 1

31 points

Oct 3, 2012 1:59 PM in response to AliWonder

Further reply to last post by Kort! I don't understand what would change on the contents of the Mac HD that would require loads of different versions of the back-up? The HD will stay essentially the same for years, apart from the occasional new application, & all my photos & music etc - which I am already backing up manually in at least 2 different places. How do I stop it constantly backing up all the time? I don't really want my new 3TB HD to be filled up with several copies of the same stuff; I bought it mainly for backing up my photos!

John Galt

Level 10

141,180 points

Oct 3, 2012 2:00 PM in response to AliWonder

I surmise you missed this thread AliWonder: time machine slow in 10.7.5

Quick summary: It's a bug introduced with the recent OS X 10.7.5 update.

Prognosis: A fix is anticipated, but it's not out yet.

... Is there something wrong with it? Will it ever finish?

Yes, and maybe not, respectively.

AliWonder Author

Level 1

31 points

Oct 3, 2012 2:04 PM in response to John Galt

Thanks. Yes I DID miss this thread - oh Great, so it's a fault! I think once this has finished I switch OFF the Time Machine & I back up manually using drag & drop in Finder for any new stuff I add to my computer. This seems easier. (I did search this forum but it's not that easy to find stuff).

Kort

Level 3

828 points

Oct 3, 2012 2:08 PM in response to AliWonder

It looks like John has the answer for you Ali.

In regards to the multiple backups, if you don't change a file, then it doesn't get backed up. Only revised and new files will be backed up. Somehow TM knows how to sync them with all the files that haven't changed as well if you ever need to restore your system. That is why subsequent backups go much more quickly. So it won't be copying the same photos over to each new backup, just the new ones, if that makes sense.

As I said, you may want to look into SuperDuper!. You have to manually make your backups with it however, though after the first, it too only back up the files that have changed or are new.

AliWonder Author

Level 1

31 points

Oct 3, 2012 2:12 PM in response to Kort

Thank you very much to everyone for all the time & patience in responding to my frustrated questions!!

AliWonder Author

Level 1

31 points

Oct 3, 2012 11:56 PM in response to AliWonder

Another question! Sorry... It finally finished the back-up, sometime last night (after around 35-40 hours!). But how do I actually access the function screen to change the settings? This probably sounds a bit stupid, but it came up automatically before, but now when I click on 'Time Machine' in 'Applications', all it shows me is that ridiculous 'Star Wars' type screen showing the back-ups - there is no menu bar so I cannot access the dialogue box where I previously switched it on & set the back-ups. Sorry if I've missed something obvious.....

Time machine taking over 48 hours to back up?!!