04-23-2009, 09:10 AM

I take my MPB around a lot.

It's rarely plugged in, and it's always on the move.

I'd like to back my data up, but I can't always have a disk plugged into it.

Will time machine work if I plug in my USB External Drive, and can I click "Backup" or something?

OR

does it only make backups while it is plugged in?

Is it possible for me to keep my system backed up without it always plugged in?

Thanks alot!

~wubrgamer

04-23-2009, 09:12 AM

also: I don't need to have hourly point-in-time backups..

I'm a former linux user (for around four years) and I understand how to do good backups manually, I'm looking for similar functionality with time machine.

(and without resorting to rsync ick)

04-23-2009, 10:24 AM

With a USB external drive, yes, it can only make backups while the drive is plugged in.

Turn Time Machine on - leave it on - it will make backups when you connect the drive and will not when it's not. As long as you plug it in once every day or two, you'll have backups for those periods.

You may get a pop-up telling you that Time Machine could not find the drive while it's not connected. If that bothers you, then just turn Time Machine off while not connected and turn it back on when connected. Voila, manual backup.

04-23-2009, 11:45 AM

Originally Posted by bobtomay

You may get a pop-up telling you that Time Machine could not find the drive while it's not connected. If that bothers you, then just turn Time Machine off while not connected and turn it back on when connected. Voila, manual backup.

I can't say that I have ever had that happen to me in the 7 months I've been using TM but it may happen.

As bobtomay stated, just plug it in when you want it to backup. If you have the TM icon in your menubar, you can click it and select "Back Up Now" when you want to backup as opposed to always having to wait for TM to determine when you should backup.

04-23-2009, 12:22 PM

I get that popup related to my Time Capsule on occasion, so wanted to mention it in case.

04-23-2009, 02:47 PM

thanks!

so I can just do manual backups with it!

thanks so much!

04-24-2009, 12:35 AM

I use my laptop on the go a lot too, so here's my experience:

- When you plug it on, you can manually launch the backup via the menu bar icon
- It will only complain about no disk being available if you haven't done a backup in longer than 10 days or so, the menu bar icon will display an exclamation mark though.

04-24-2009, 05:32 PM

Yeah, you'll need to plug the drive in each time. If you had another Mac (even just something cheap, doesn't need Leopard), and just file share the drive via your network (you'll need to enable unsupported drives in terminal, Mac Forums - View Single Post - No Airdisk (Airport) Time Machine Backups!, or get yourself a Time Capsule, or Airport base station (with hard drive plugged in)

- Jordan