Hi Guys,
When I backup my Mac using Time Machine then I deleted some photos from my photo library to make some space, the photos in my backup is also deleted despite the fact that I have deleted the photo when my HDD was disconnected. Any ideas how this problem could be solved?
I really need your suggestions guys...
MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)
Yes. That is what happens. Time Machine is not an archival backup. However, Time Machine would have only deleted from the old backups if it needed the space. Were they not back in the history before you deleted them.
Did you empty iPhoto's Trash?
Are you using iPhoto? When did you delete the images from iPhotot?
Have you looked back in time at your TM backups? The deleted images will remain on the TM backup for some time depending on the size of your TM disk. If you deleted the images fairly recently there is a good chance they are still in the TM backup.
But as Barney wrote TM is not an archival backup. If you delete something off your HD it will eventually disappear from TM also. For photos especially you need to have a second backup procedure in place.
Hi Braney,
I have emptied iphoto trash. What I would like Time Machine to do is backup my data and leave it archived, my point is to delete things I need from my Mac just to make space for newer things.
How can I do this?
Thank you Frank and Barney,
Any idea how to archivaly backup just my photos and movies? I do not care if it is done by Time Machine or anything else.
Hi tigger,
Use another type of Backup. Time Machine doesn't do that.
Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper, among others.
Or, get a really huge hard disk for Time Machine so that it never runs out of space and decides to delete the old bakcups. I wouldn't count on that one.
Thanks Barney,
What if I copy my photo library into the same external HDD that I am using for Time Machine, would it be overwritten when Time Machine reuns out of space? I am using 1TB HDD for now.
Do you think Time Machine can play with my copied iphoto library at the same desk without partitioning?
It would not overwrite it, but what are you going to do when you want to "back up" your Library again? The new "backup" will overwrite the old one, thus deleting the photos you were trying to archive.
And, you'd only have one copy of those photos. You would need to at least make one more copy of those on some other media.
Your best bet would be to just export the photos you want to delete to make space prior to deleting them. Store them on the backup drive in a folder (organized however you want), and then burn that folder to DVD or copy to another hard drive for the backup to those photos.
The other drawback to using the same drive for multiple backups is if that drive fails you loose everything.
But I'm still curious about your current TM situation. How long ago did you delete the images you are looking for now? What is the size of your TM drive?
Have you gone into the TM interface (the starwars screen) and looked for the missing images. How far back does your TM backup go?
An Archival backup for your stills and videos would have at least one external drive that you copy the files to. A better and safer setup would have two drives with the second drive being a clone of the first.
Barney and Frank,
What if I export all my photos libraries to my windows, whould it work and export all my photos and movies?
if yes, would copying my master folder (originals) from my iphoto library content work for copying all my photos?
Tiger911 wrote:
Thank you Frank and Barney,
Any idea how to archivaly backup just my photos and movies? I do not care if it is done by Time Machine or anything else.
Buy a very large external drive, periodically copy your iPhoto Library to it, don't delete the old copies
You can export them and store them anywhere else that is not your current hard drive.
Your desire was to backup some photos (or movies I guess now), so that you can delete them from your hard drive to save space.
Ok, to do that, you should not use Time Machine. Any other way you move the files to another location will suffice. But remember, one copy of a file is not safe. You need at least two copies on separate media. Continue backing up your iPhoto Library with Time Machine, but you'll need to do something else with the photos you wish to delete, but keep.
Help is desperately needed, when deleting photos from photo library it is also deleted from my Time Machine backup!
