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    How far back does my Time Machine go?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by M@lew, Nov 21, 2007.

  1. M@lew

    M@lew Notebook Evangelist

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    I currently got rid of my SuperDuper 120GB partition to use as a Time Machine partition and I already had to exclude a number of files as Time Machine needed more than that to even start backing up. (The size of my Mac HD is 118GB btw) How far back would Time Machine back up then?
     
    M@lew, Nov 21, 2007
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  2. arikol

    arikol Notebook Geek

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    errrr.....
    to the first opint you backed up at?? then depending on how many files get changed.

    Your question is a bit like "how much gas can I put in my car and hoe far will I get on it?" We don't see the data amount you are going to back up, how much you change your files etc.
    160GB HD, but your Mac HD is 118GB and the SuperDuper partition was 120GB? hopefully not all one and the same disk.... confusion ensues..)

    With a 118GB HD, the best solution would be an external HD with 200+GB (probably 320-500GB) space, then it becomes a non issue.
     
    arikol, Nov 21, 2007
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  3. M@lew

    M@lew Notebook Evangelist

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    What I mean is, since Time Machine deletes "older" backups as it keeps moving, this would mean that Time Machine could only go back so far right? I was wondering how far back it would go before it starts to delete older backups.

    Btw, the reason I have lost 42GB is because I have Boot Camp.
     
    M@lew, Nov 21, 2007
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  4. CitizenPanda

    CitizenPanda Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    It's hard to say, If you have a drastic change in a day or two in your files or settings, your drive may become full much more quickly. But you shouldn't worry because it will alert you before it starts deleting backups when the disk is full.
     
    CitizenPanda, Nov 21, 2007
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  5. M@lew

    M@lew Notebook Evangelist

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    Ah I see. This is pretty much just to tie me over for a month or two until I manage to get a larger Firewire HD for backups only.
     
    M@lew, Nov 21, 2007
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  6. arikol

    arikol Notebook Geek

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    should be no problem for a month, unless you back up all mp3s and video files as well....
     
    arikol, Nov 21, 2007
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  7. cashmonee

    cashmonee Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    This is another major limitation of Time Machine. For it to really be worthwhile for heavy users, you need a HUGE drive. Obviously, it will not delete things until you run out of room. If all you do is some word docs and mp3s, that could take a while. If you play around with a lot large files, a Time MAchine drive could conceivable fill very quickly, negating Time Machine's main feature, multiple versions of each file.
     
    cashmonee, Nov 21, 2007
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  8. ericlala

    ericlala Notebook Consultant

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    question: so does time machine basicly take a copy of all your files and then do so again the next time it backs up? or does it copy everything initially and then only save the changes from there on?
     
    ericlala, Nov 21, 2007
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  9. queshy

    queshy Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    After the initial back up only changes/new files are backed up.
     
    queshy, Nov 21, 2007
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  10. taelrak

    taelrak Lost

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    Of course, if your files are huge, and you make one tiny change...

    Also, I don't think Time Machine keeps hourly backups beyond 24 hours.

    It's only hourly per day, and then once every day. Not sure what the backups that it makes when you replug in the drive count as, but probably the same as the hourly ones.
     
    taelrak, Nov 21, 2007
    #10