Trouble with finder and time machine

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Level 1

6 points

Trouble with finder and time machine

My external drive was nearly full so I went to the finder and tried to delete old time machine backups. They seemed to go to the trash, but now I cannot shut down my computer because finder is perpetually trying to empty the trash. I clicked on the x to "stop" the operation, and even though the x is now grayed out, nothing seems to happen. I have figured out how to correctly now delete items from time machine but can't do it because the trash is in a state of perpetual "stopping" . . . Help!

MacBook Pro (15-inch Mid 2009), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3)

Posted on Mar 26, 2013 3:13 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Niel

Level 10

732,455 points

Mar 26, 2013 3:45 PM in response to Deb Bradley

Click on the Finder's Dock icon with the Option and Control keys held down, choose Relaunch, and then shut down the computer. If that doesn't work, open the Activity Monitor in the /Applications/Utilities/ folder, force quit the Finder, and shut down the computer.

(79502)

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Answer 2

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,317 points

Mar 26, 2013 4:06 PM in response to Deb Bradley

You really do not have to delete backups from Time machine. It will do that automatically for you;

http://pondini.org/TM/12.html

Ciao.

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Answer 3

Deb Bradley Author

Level 1

6 points

Mar 26, 2013 4:11 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

In theory yes, but I use the disk for other storage as well, and so I was getting error messages that there was insufficient space for time machine to create a backup.

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Answer 4

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,317 points

Mar 26, 2013 4:19 PM in response to Deb Bradley

Though I personally feel that Time Machine should have a disk devoted entirely to it, if the external HDD is large enough, you can use it for additional uses. Read the following regarding partitioning the external HDD:

http://pondini.org/TM/3.html

I would strongly urge you to have a partition for TM at least as large as the internal HDD of your Mac. By partitioning the external HDD, you would not have to delete any backups from the TM volume. which I hope would make life a touch simpler for you.

Ciao.

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