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Time Machine slow, bogging down computer.

I am having problems with Time Machine backups taking forever and, at the same time, bogging down my computer to the point I cannot use it.

For example, a 70MB backup yesterday took almost 5 hours. a 500MB one today is on hour 5 and still going. I have it set to back up while I'm at work (it's my home computer) but when I get home and it's still going I cannot use my computer at all without cancelling the backup due to lag, spinning beachballs, and apps crashing.

The hard drive it's backing up to is a 1TB Iomega drive connected via USB with 500 gigs of free space currently. I've got a 2011 MacBook Pro running 10.8.5, 500gig hard drive with 70 gigs free. I have run backups with my normal apps running and with virtually all apps quit, including Finder and Dropbox, which doesn't seem to effect the time spent backing up. I do not have any virus scanners running. I've tried different USB cables in case it's a faulty cable. I have gone through Pondini's guide dozens of times, nothing's helped.

Do you guys have any more suggestions? I dream of the days long past where Time Machine would work in the background and I'd never notice it. Backing up is now an all-day ordeal with nothing else able to happen in the meantime. I'd like it to do it's hourly back-ups and get away from using TImeMachineEditor to only do daily back-ups, but I can't have my computer unusable every time it tries to back up.

Also, somewhat related; I tried to update my back-up drive to a 2TB Western Digital and to a 1.5TB partition on a 3TB Western Digital drive but was unable to get Time Machine to complete a back-up to either drive; it kept crashing and burning at various stages. I had followed Pondini's guide to the letter with formatting them yet never got anywhere. That's why I'm using my older, smaller drive; it's the only one I can successfully get to back up. Any thoughts on that?

MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Sep 19, 2013 1:44 PM

26 replies

Oct 24, 2013 8:23 AM in response to GoaliGrlTilDeath

The "mds" and "mdworker" processes belong to Spotlight. They're involved in indexing all the new files that the update installed. I'd wait a few hours to see if things settle down.

Oct 25, 2013 4:43 PM in response to GoaliGrlTilDeath

Got a successful backup while I was at work today. Took 8 hours and 57 minutes to do about 4 gigs from the looks of it. This is the read-out from my widget Time Machine Buddy. Does this give any hints?

Also of note; my computer hadn't been sluggish until I got home and now it's just slogging. Maybe somewhere in the middle of a back-up is where it goes wrong?

Starting manual backup

Backing up to: /Volumes/Shinako/Backups.backupdb

Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Dominick

Deep event scan at path:/ reason:must scan subdirs|new event db|

Finished scan

Found 32270 files (2.77 GB) needing backup

7.3 GB required (including padding), 296.79 GB available

Copied 1.47 GB of 2.77 GB, 26770 of 32270 items

Copied 1.47 GB of 2.77 GB, 1766512 of 1766512 items

Copied 1.47 GB of 2.77 GB, 3229428 of 3229428 items

Copied 3252863 files (2.73 GB) from volume Dominick.

Using file event preflight for Dominick

Will copy (108 MB) from Dominick

Found 113 files (108 MB) needing backup

4.11 GB required (including padding), 292.35 GB available

Copied 2486 files (109.5 MB) from volume Dominick.

Created new backup: 2013-10-25-112054

Starting post-backup thinning

Error: Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-50 "The operation couldn’t be completed. (OSStatus error -50.)" (paramErr: error in user parameter list) deleting backup: /Volumes/Shinako/Backups.backupdb/Dominick/2013-10-22-041638.inProgress/25053BF 5-20EC-4477-85D1-F7FABE12DB86

No post-back up thinning needed: no expired backups exist

Backup completed successfully.

etresoft

Level 8

46,614 points

Oct 25, 2013 5:33 PM in response to GoaliGrlTilDeath

GoaliGrlTilDeath wrote:

Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Dominick

Deep event scan at path:/ reason:must scan subdirs|new event db|

This is the reason it took so long. Sometimes when Time Machine detects a mismatch between disks it decides it needs to check the whole thing. That is what it did in your case. This can take even longer than a full backup because it isn't just backing everything up, it is checking every single file to see if it needs backing up.

Hopefully now that it is complete, subsequent backups will run at a quick, normal speed.

Oct 27, 2013 5:10 AM in response to GoaliGrlTilDeath

There is an update for airport utility firmware that doesn't normally come with Apple updates, I was told by an Apple tech. Make sure you open airport utility and click the time capsule and see if you have version 7.6.4 listed. You can go into airport utility preferences on the top and select Check for airport utilities upon opening, and also check the second box Check for updates automatically. You may have old firmware. JUST A THOUGHT.

Oct 27, 2013 11:04 AM in response to Sherri39401

Does this apply even if I don't have any AirPort things set up?

Oct 29, 2013 11:01 AM in response to GoaliGrlTilDeath

GoaliGrlTilDeath wrote:

Does this apply even if I don't have any AirPort things set up?

No.

Mar 19, 2014 8:47 AM in response to GoaliGrlTilDeath

Sorry for dredging up an older thread, but just wanted to leave a note in case anyone comes across this with the same problem.

It ended up being a failing hard drive in my case; a new hard drive later and my time machine back-ups were swift and flawless, and have been since then. Of course, having a new 960gig SSD doesn't hurt 😉

Good luck to future time machiners!

Eric Root

Level 10

684,057 points

Mar 19, 2014 9:57 AM in response to GoaliGrlTilDeath

Based on your experience, I suggest you have 2 backups minimum. If you get another external drive, you can set Time Machine to back up to both. It will automatically alternate drives.

Mar 19, 2014 8:23 PM in response to Eric Root

If I had more USB ports I would consider that, but with only two USB ports to try and run the four to six peripherials I need, having one taken up with my back-up drive is already asking too much. I do occasionally manually back up to a second drive but for day-to-day my USB ports are in too high of demand for that 😉

Also, to clarify, it was the internal hard drive in my MBP that was failing, not the external back-up drive.

Feb 28, 2015 9:54 AM in response to Sherri39401

Thank you for this! I had Avast installed but--I thought--turned off. I uninstalled it and now Time Machine and my Mac in general are both running much faster.

Apr 2, 2016 7:29 PM in response to etresoft

Hello etresoft,

I've read through this post and downloaded your software to help the diagnosis. My mac seems to run better when I'm not backing up to Time machine however it still displays the beach ball between actions. I've just bought a new 1TB external back up disk and I'm backing up just over 500 GB as I write with USB 2.0. My mac is a mid 2010 with i7 Processor, 4 GB RAM and a 1TB hard drive - the best I could afford at the time. I'm considering upping the RAM to 32GB whilst trying to avoid purchasing a new hard drive. I'm also focussed on moving all my docs, images, movies and songs from the hard drive to the cloud so there is nothing but OS and apps installed on the HD. My aim is to get my content below 500 GB so if I do get a new SSD it will be cheaper than going for a 1TB SSD.

If you have the time, could you please advise me on the results of this test? I chose option 1, mac running slow. Thank you, D.

EtreCheck version: 2.9.10 (261)

Report generated 2016-04-03 09:00:22

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 14:06

Performance: Poor

Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Problem: Computer is too slow

Hardware Information:ⓘ

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

iMac - model: iMac11,3

1 2.93 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4-core

4 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

Empty

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

Empty

BANK 1/DIMM1

Empty

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Video Information:ⓘ

ATI Radeon HD 5750 - VRAM: 1024 MB

iMac 2560 x 1440

System Software:ⓘ

OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 (13F1134) - Time since boot: about 15 hours

Disk Information:ⓘ

ST31000528AS disk0 : (1 TB) (Rotational)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 999.35 GB (457.04 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5680H ()

USB Information:ⓘ

TOSHIBA External USB 3.0 1 TB

EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Time Machine 2016 (disk1s2) /Volumes/Time Machine 2016 : 999.86 GB (743.67 GB free)

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Apple Inc. Apple Keyboard

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Gatekeeper:ⓘ

Anywhere

Kernel Extensions:ⓘ

/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.sophos.kext.sav (9.4.52 - SDK 10.9 - 2016-03-29) [Support]

[loaded] com.sophos.nke.swi (9.4.52 - SDK 10.9 - 2016-03-29) [Support]

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.wacom.kext.wacomtablet (6.1.2 - 2016-03-22) [Support]

System Launch Agents:ⓘ

[not loaded] 6 Apple tasks

[loaded] 137 Apple tasks

[running] 41 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[not loaded] 48 Apple tasks

[loaded] 137 Apple tasks

[running] 64 Apple tasks

Launch Agents:ⓘ

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (2015-11-25) [Support]

[running] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist (2015-11-25) [Support]

[running] com.brother.LOGINserver.plist (2014-09-02) [Support]

[failed] com.extensis.FMCore.plist (2013-05-18) [Support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-03-03) [Support]

[not loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Support]

[running] com.sophos.uiserver.plist (2016-03-29) [Support]

[failed] com.wacom.wacomtablet.plist (2009-10-13) [Support]

Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist (2013-08-25) [Support]

[running] com.adobe.adobeupdatedaemon.plist (2015-11-27) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.agsservice.plist (2015-10-18) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-03-19) [Support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (2016-03-03) [Support]

[loaded] com.malwarebytes.MBAMHelperTool.plist (2016-03-29) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (2010-08-25) [Support]

[not loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Support]

[running] com.sophos.common.servicemanager.plist (2016-03-29) [Support]

User Launch Agents:ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (2011-08-15) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2015-02-05) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2012-12-21) [Support]

[loaded] com.apple.SafariBookmarksSyncer.plist

[loaded] com.divx.agent.postinstall.plist (2012-08-16) [Support]

[running] com.seagate.mediasync.plist (2013-06-21) [Support]

[running] com.spotify.webhelper.plist (2016-03-29) [Support]

User Login Items:ⓘ

AdobeResourceSynchronizer Application Hidden (/Applications/Adobe Acrobat X Pro/Adobe Acrobat Pro.app/Contents/Support/AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app)

Android File Transfer Agent Application (~/Library/Application Support/Google/Android File Transfer/Android File Transfer Agent.app)

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

AdobeResourceSynchronizer Application Hidden (/Applications/Adobe Reader.app/Contents/Support/AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app)

Garmin Express Service UNKNOWN (missing value)

AirPlayitServerManager Application (/Applications/AirPlayit.app/Contents/Resources/AirPlayitServerManager.app)

Other Apps:ⓘ

[loaded] 0x7fa1a1c05870.mach_init.Inspector

[running] [0x0-0x39039].CCXProcess

[running] [0x0-0x63063].com.etresoft.EtreCheck

[running] com.adobe.acc.AdobeDesktopService.78880.9A0F9775-DA93-4B16-B365-4601F2DBAB11

[running] com.adobe.accmac.6544

[running] com.brother.utility.NETserver.87856

[running] com.brother.utility.USBserver.85216

[running] com.getdropbox.dropbox.29600

[running] com.google.Chrome.30656

[running] com.google.android.mtpagent.41744

[running] com.sophos.autoupdate

[running] com.sophos.configuration

[running] com.sophos.intercheck

[running] com.sophos.notification

[running] com.sophos.scan

[running] com.sophos.sxld

[running] com.sophos.webd

[running] com.yourcompany.AirPlayitServerManager.42096

[loaded] 444 Apple tasks

[running] 398 Apple tasks

Internet Plug-ins:ⓘ

WacomNetscape: Unknown (2009-10-13) [Support]

Default Browser: 537 - SDK 10.9 (2014-09-29)

AdobeExManDetect: AdobeExManDetect 1.1.0.0 - SDK 10.7 (2013-08-14) [Support]

WacomSafari: Unknown (2009-10-13) [Support]

AdobeAAMDetect: 3.0.0.0 - SDK 10.9 (2015-11-25) [Support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: 21.0.0.197 - SDK 10.6 (2016-03-29) [Support]

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 11.0.15 - SDK 10.6 (2016-03-15) [Support]

Flash Player: 21.0.0.197 - SDK 10.6 (2016-03-29) [Support]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2015-11-25)

iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 - SDK 10.8 (2013-04-20)

SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.6.2 - SDK 10.6 (2016-03-23) [Support]

AdobePDFViewer: 11.0.15 - SDK 10.6 (2016-03-15) [Support]

JavaAppletPlugin: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 (2014-01-13) Check version

User internet Plug-ins:ⓘ

WebEx64: 1.0 - SDK 10.5 (2012-01-12) [Support]

Google Earth Web Plug-in: 7.1 (2013-10-08) [Support]

Safari Extensions:ⓘ

DivX Plus Web Player HTML5 <video> (2012-08-16)

3rd Party Preference Panes:ⓘ

Flash Player (2016-03-19) [Support]

Growl (2012-09-08) [Support]

WacomTablet (2009-10-13) [Support]

Time Machine:ⓘ

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 999.35 GB Disk used: 542.31 GB

Destinations:

Time Machine 2016 [Local]

Total size: 999.86 GB

Total number of backups: 0

Oldest backup: -

Last backup: -

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 999.86 GB < (Disk used 542.31 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU:ⓘ

4% Dropbox

4% WindowServer

2% Finder

1% kernel_task

1% Creative Cloud

Top Processes by Memory:ⓘ

438 MB Google Chrome Helper(4)

368 MB kernel_task

348 MB Dropbox

184 MB iTunes

139 MB Google Chrome

Virtual Memory Information:ⓘ

13 MB Free RAM

3.22 GB Used RAM (674 MB Cached)

0 B Swap Used

Diagnostics Information:ⓘ

Apr 2, 2016, 08:09:23 PM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Transmission_2016-04-02-200923_[redacted].cras h

org.m0k.transmission - /Applications/Transmission.app/Contents/MacOS/Transmission

Apr 2, 2016, 07:21:17 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/AdobeAcrobat_2016-04-02-192117_[redacted].hang

/Applications/Adobe Acrobat X Pro/Adobe Acrobat Pro.app/Contents/MacOS/AdobeAcrobat

Apr 2, 2016, 06:50:07 PM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Sophos Anti-Virus_2016-04-02-185007_[redacted].crash

com.sophos.macendpoint.Sophos-Anti-Virus - /Applications/Sophos Anti-Virus.app/Contents/MacOS/Sophos Anti-Virus

Apr 2, 2016, 06:47:24 PM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/fontworker_2016-04-02-184724_[redacted].crash

/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/ ATS.framework/Versions/A/Support/fontworker

Apr 2, 2016, 06:45:39 PM Self test - passed

Time Machine slow, bogging down computer.