Can I force a full backup in Time Machine?

Question

Can I force a full backup in Time Machine?

I recently set up one of our users with a new iMac that came with OS X 10.9 Mavericks. Instead of getting their info by importing from a Time Machine backup, I set them up manually because they wanted a number of changes made to their account.

Previously, this user had been on a MacPro running OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard. I used the same external drive that they had been using with Time Machine on the MacPro as their Time machine drive on the new iMac, via an Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire adapter, and didn't reformat it. When I turned on Time Machine in 10.9 it made a backup that took several hours, so I assumed it had made an initial full backup.

They had a problem and I booted the iMac from the Recovery partition and selected to restore from a Time Machine backup. I was surprised that only two full backups showed, and both were of their MacPro with 10.6.8. We came up with another way to get the lost data back, but it was very time consuming. We were able to restore individual files from their Time Machine backups, just not able to do a complete restore of the drive.

I double checked and nothing is excluded in the Time Machine System Preferences.

I would like to be able to restore this user if they have a problem in the future, but it appears that unless I can force Time Machine to make a full backup that this may be impossible.

Is there a way to force a full Time machine backup with the OS X 10.9.2 that they are now running?

Thanks in advance for any help with this.

Chuck Hildebrand

Iowa Public Television

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.2), 27" iMac, Quad Core i5, 16GB RAM

Posted on Mar 10, 2014 8:55 AM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Mar 10, 2014 8:58 AM in response to original_macmadman

Only if you erase the backup drive. Then Time Machine will initiate a new backup.

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Answer 2

keg55

Level 6

11,743 points

Mar 10, 2014 9:01 AM in response to original_macmadman

What I do is remove the user's back up in the list from OS X Server's Time Machine Backup; then have the user Run Now (in TM) a new back up which is a full back up.

Also when a client's Mac is upgraded to a new OS X, a full back up is created.

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Answer 3

Mar 10, 2014 9:34 AM in response to Kappy

Kappy,

I would like to not have to get rid of their older backups, so if there is anything that doesn't require reformatting the drive it would be a better option for us.

Thanks,

Chuck

keg55,

We don't use OS X Server, so I can't try that. Yes, normally it would run a full backup, but for some reason this time it didn't. That's the problem.

Thanks,

Chuck

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Answer 4

ssls6

Level 4

2,879 points

Mar 10, 2014 9:40 AM in response to original_macmadman

It sounds like you have more than just a backup on that disc. In the future don't do that. If you need to use the disc for other stuff, create multiple partitions so time machine can have it's own.

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Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Mar 10, 2014 9:41 AM in response to original_macmadman

If you have a spare, emptry hard drive of sufficient capacity, then you can clone the backup drive to the empty drive. Do not attempt to simply copy using Drag and Drop since there are invisible files you may inadvertantly omit.

Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility

1. Open Disk Utility in the Utilities folder.

2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.

3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.

4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag

it to the Destination entry field.

5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to

the Source entry field.

6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.

Destination means the empty drive. Source means the old backup drive.

Alternatively, replace the backup drive with a new drive. This would be simpler than the above.

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Answer 6

Mar 10, 2014 9:52 AM in response to ssls6

ssls6,

I will let the user know not to do that, but I still need to be able to force a full backup.

Thanks.

Chuck

Kappy,

Unfortunately, I do not have another drive I can dedicate to replacing the existing backup drive.

Thanks.

Chuck

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Answer 7

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Mar 10, 2014 9:58 AM in response to original_macmadman

Well, try this: Turn off Time Machine. Open Sharing preferences and change the Computer Name. Open Time Machine preferences again. Remove the backup drive as the target. Then re-Add it as the target. Enable Time Machine.

I don't know what will happen but it may force Time Machine to start a new backup.

Please visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine.

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Answer 8

Mar 10, 2014 10:28 AM in response to Kappy

Kappy,

I'll give that a try.

Thanks.

Chuck

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Answer 9

Mar 11, 2014 8:29 AM in response to Kappy

Kappy,

I went to Pondini's Time Machine FAQ that you referenced in your answer and looked for something that might work. Item A4 "Full Reset of Time Machine" seemed like it could be a solution, so we followed the steps and it seems to have resolved the issue.

Thank you to everyone who replied, it's good to have access to a community that is willing to share with others.

Chuck

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