How to make daily shut down work with TM. Also how to only back up once/month adn not have hard drive "flashing" in between.

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How to make daily shut down work with TM. Also how to only back up once/month adn not have hard drive "flashing" in between.

I like to do daily shut down/restart but now with TM it doesn't work. I also don't like constant back up nor the flashing light of the hard drive. How do I stop this adn only back up about once a month? WIll turning it off be enough or eject it? Can I get teh auto shut down to work with TM?

I have snow leopard/ IMAC/My Passport 1 TB hard drive

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8), My Passport for MAC

Posted on Mar 2, 2013 11:34 PM

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Answer 1

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seventy one

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Mar 3, 2013 12:13 AM in response to JD in AZ

Firstly, it is not good policy to shut down daily. It is a subjective matter but that is the consensus I see in these columns. Once a week should be sufficient for the costs are insignificant in energy usage. Use sleep.

The best resource for Time Machine questions is Pondini FAQ.but turning things on and off repeatedly is not good practice. You should just leave it on to do its job in my view.

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Answer 2

JD in AZ Author

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Mar 3, 2013 4:34 AM in response to seventy one

Seems like with everthing there is this constant disagreement between it is best to turn things off (let them rest and save energy/$) vs keeping on for best function.

THANKS for your time and I will take your adveice!

Do you know why the MYPassprot makes "light flashes" when I see it in a dark room? Sounds crazy but it looks unhealthy!

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Answer 3

seventy one

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Mar 3, 2013 5:27 AM in response to JD in AZ

As I said, the amount of energy used is insignificant.

But the constant turning on and off can be detrimental to your machine. That is why I always use sleep. Indeed, unless I am away for a few days I never turn my iMac off.

No, I don't know why My Passport flashes as you describe. I assume this is the Western Digital passport external HD (good choice, I use Western Digital too). Why not eMail the WD service centre and ask?

Message was edited by: seventy one

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Answer 4

JD in AZ Author

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Mar 3, 2013 6:16 AM in response to seventy one

Thanks again for your time! Very helpful.

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Answer 5

seventy one

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Mar 3, 2013 8:31 AM in response to JD in AZ

Thank you too, JD, 🙂

If you find out more about the flashing, do let us know. Someone else may learn something from your discovery.

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Answer 6

JD in AZ Author

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Mar 3, 2013 9:46 AM in response to seventy one

I just called WD as I am still in my 30 day free support. They said as long as the light is solid or flashing it is fine.....no light is a problem. It may be coincidental but for some reason I slightly moved the hard drive to see it better and it stippped flashing and started solid light. She basically said it flashes when "working" and solid for stand by. I read that many hard drives flash wshen not working so I was concerned but my TM reports it is transfering fine.

Hope this helps soemone, and I appreciate all your help!

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