Time machine

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iMac 27" i5 3.1GHz/12GB RAM/1GB 6970
I just got a 1TB verbatim usb3 external hdd and had it formatted in HFS+ journaled.

Now I'm interested in using time machine, however I don't want it to utilize the full 1tb for this, maybe only 150GB for VERY important stuff (what's essential to backup anyway?) just as a last resort in case of an emergency. How would I go about doing this? also what exactly does time machine backup?
 
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Way... way too many specs to list.
The best way to do this, is to repartition the drive with a 150GB (or however large the MAX amount of stuff you want to back up is) partition and use that partition for time machine. Keeping in mind, that if you have 150GB of stuff you want to back up and only create a 150GB partition, the backup will over write every backup (leaving only the last state as backup)
 
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MBP 17" 2011, 2.3GHz Intel Quad-Core i7, 8GB RAM, MacMini 2011, 2.7GHz Intel Dual-Core i7, 8GB RAM
You are really kind of missing the point of the Time Machine if you go about it how you are talking. It creates a full image of the PC in it's current state, then does incremental backups (changes made to the PC) each time. When the TM drive is full, it starts deleting old entries in favor of new ones. It is more recommended that a full drive be allocated to the Time Machine and it just left alone.

First of all, the Time Machine drive needs to be at least as big as your hard drive. There would be no way to even create the initial backup required. Personally, if you have a 256 GB Hard drive, give TM 500 GB. I have a 500GB Hard Drive in my Mac and a 1 TB hard drive plugged into my Airport Extreme for only TM.

All that being said, if you really only want to back up vital data, then back up what is in your home directory only. The machine can always be restored via the install disks and the applications re-downloaded and re-installed. If you use the App store, even easier.

Besides, as inexpensive as external hard drives are anymore, it just makes more sense to use the full one for the TM and just get a 2nd one for other use.
 

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