Time Machine always backing up large data

Hi,

Recently I've noticed that my Time Machine is backing up large amounts of data, even if I'm just browsing the web. The backup always seems to be 1.9gb in size.

Here's a log from the Time Machine Buddy gadget:

Starting standard backup
Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://[email protected]/WD_Backup
Mounted network destination using URL: afp://[email protected]/WD_Backup
QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
Disk image /Volumes/WD_Backup/Jon's Mac.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
No pre-backup thinning needed: 514.2 MB requested (including padding), 26.69 GB available
Copied 12146 files (1.9 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
No pre-backup thinning needed: 2.69 GB requested (including padding), 26.68 GB available
Copied 11658 files (1.8 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Starting post-backup thinning
No post-back up thinning needed: no expired backups exist
Backup completed successfully.
Ejected Time Machine disk image.
Ejected Time Machine network volume.


My backup drive is quickly filling up. Is there any way to stop these constant large backups?

Thanks
Jon

You are backing up a file/folder from some application that isn't Time Machine compatible. You need to figure out which application is causing the problem and exclude it from your backup. A couple I can think of immediately...

Entourage--Sending or receiving an email makes Time Machine backup your entire Microsoft User Data folder.

Aperture--Adding or changing a photo makes Time Machine backup your entire Aperture Library. (this was an issue a couple years ago. a newer version of Aperture may have corrected this.)

Any virtual machine software (Parallels, VM Fusion)--Since the entire virtual OS is stored in a single folder, simply booting the virtual OS is enough to make Time Machine backup the entire folder.

I'm sure others can chime in with other apps that are not compatible. Let us know if you're using any of these and someone can tell you exactly what needs to be excluded.

Hi Jaygray,

Thanks for the reply.

The only software I have that you have listed is Crossover although I don't think this contains an entire OS. I have added Crossover's folders to the exclusion list but the large backups continue.

Are there any utilities that specify exactly what files were copied in the last backup?

Thanks again
Jon