11-27-2008, 11:59 PM

i just set up my timemachine and was wondering if there is a way to set it so it only backs up at certain times. like once every a week or every 2 weeks. so far i started it up last night and it has already backed every hour. i dont need my computer to back up that much i dont use it for work, so i just need my stuff backed up in case, and everything important is already backed up.

11-28-2008, 12:37 AM

No.. the purpose for Time Machine is to back up your system every hour, so if your computer ever does crash you have all your content ready to restore your system. I don't use my system for work either, but I would love to have my system backed up all the time. If it really bothers you that much, keep TM off, and turn it on then back up your system (you can manually start TM) then turn TM back off once the back up is finished.

There is a Time Machine icon in the menu bar. You can choose to Back Up Now, Enter Time Machine, or Open Time Machine Preferences.

To turn off TM, go to TM Prefs then click the big toggle "switch" to the off position.

Good luck.

11-28-2008, 01:34 AM

Yeah, I don't see what the problem is here either. Time Machine just backs up the changes you made to your computer every hour. Why not have everything -- and I mean everything -- covered in the event of a failure. I've had a few hard drives go out on me over the years, and my attitude is better to be too cautious than not enough.

11-28-2008, 02:02 AM

Checkout this program here:

Download TimeMachineEditor for Mac - Change the one-hour interval of Time Machine backups. MacUpdate Mac Backup Software Downloads

It'll do exactly what you want to do. I agree the every hour option is too much for me also, so I have it setup to backup twice a day. It doesn't do full backups, only what has changed, so that's something to keep in mind.

Anyways check the program out, it's free and will do exactly what you want.