backups

Hi all,

I have almost 57GB of backups in the hard drive of my Mac. I have my backups in an external drive so I was wondering how or why have I this 57GB in my hard drive. I already looked for "backups" in the Finder but the only ones it finds are the ones in my external drive...

Any thoughts are welcomed.

Thank you!

Sounds like you are using Time Machine. Is that the case as it stores backups on the hard drive.

When was the last time you did a Time Machine backup? TM keeps snapshots on your Mac until it does a backup.

harryb2448, thank you for your reply. Yes, I'm using TM but I pointed all the backups to my external drive...or am I missing something?

Is the external drive always attached? If you disconnect it from the external, TM will create snapshots on your main internal drive and as soon as you attach the external, move them to it. Once it does that the ones stored on your main internal drive will be deleted.

I use a Time Capsule and let my MB Air backup wirelessly. If I take the MB Air out of the house and use it I will see TM creating backup snapshots on the internal SSD but they disappear once I get it home and it "sees" the Time Capsule.

Lisa

You did the right thing by pointing TM to an external drive for backups.There is one thing to remember. Time machine runs a backup once per hour. When its time for the backup if your external drive isn't available TM stores the backup on your internal drive until the external drive is re-connected. These local snapshots are gradually removed as space is needed or the external drive is connected.

vansmith, Iclev and Slydude, that was the "problem"...I wasn't aware that TM was keeping snapshots on my Mac and even that my external drive was connected, my Mac was working on battery.
Thank you all for your comments and expertise. Really appreciated!

Good to know things worked out for you. Glad we could help.

That "feature", where TM keeps snapshots when the external drive isn't connected, is something I think Apple should address a little better. Keeping the snapshots isn't a bad idea but many users don't realize this is happening. I'd like to see some kind of alert when this feature triggers.

It is possible to disable this feature but the method isn't exactly obvious to many users.

Slydude said:

Good to know things worked out for you. Glad we could help.

That "feature", where TM keeps snapshots when the external drive isn't connected, is something I think Apple should address a little better. Keeping the snapshots isn't a bad idea but many users don't realize this is happening. I'd like to see some kind of alert when this feature triggers.

It is possible to disable this feature but the method isn't exactly obvious to many users.

Click to expand...

+1!!!

And quit hiding so much stuff, if and when it's even available Apple!! Gheese!!

I think Apple should address a little better.

Click to expand...

Another example of "Nanny" Apple. Hide the user library, hide the local snapshots; what else are they going to protect us from?

There is a terminal command to show all hidden files, I used it once and thought I would just leave it on but after half a day I had to turn it off, it was driving me nuts wading though things I had no need of and no understanding of. You have no idea (or perhapses some of you do) how many hidden files there are. Do I need them? Rarely, so long as I know how to show them when I do.

Err Rod… I dare say there's quite a difference between hiding ALL OS X's files and folders, (and a lot of "features"), and those in the hidden USERS folder containing all that dangerous stuff that actually was created by the user!!

PS chscag: Do I have your permission to use your "Nanny" Apple phrase??? Most fitting.

pm-r said:

Err Rod… I dare say there's quite a difference between hiding ALL OS X's files and folders, (and a lot of "features"), and those in the hidden USERS folder containing all that dangerous stuff that actually was created by the user!!

Click to expand...

Unless I am misunderstanding your post that's not entirely correct. An individual user's library, which has been hidden by default in the last several OS releases, contains user created files but also contains files not directly created by the user. If a user chooses to muck about with the "Application Support folder" for example, unusual thing can happen if the wrong files are deleted. While these problems generally only affect that user account, many folks don't understand that. Especially if they have never had more than one account on their Mac. End result: panicked inquiries about whether the OS needs to be reinstalled.

Let's just chalk it up as a misunderstanding Slydude.


Patrick
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Please don't take what I said as disagreeing with you about hiding user files. I had to retype the path to my User Library several times the other day before I got in and was able to do what I needed/wanted so I'm generally with you there.

I merely wanted some of our new users to be aware that not everything in a user's folder is directly user created. Some of those files are created / installed when an app is added and can present problems if not handled properly.

You can access your Library folder (the one in your Home folder, ie your User Library folder) by holding the option key down when accessing the "Go" menu.

As with the iPhoto Library, Apple had a pretty persuasive argument in hiding the Library folder; users messing with it, then calling Apple and wasting support resources over something they did that they shouldn't have done.

Advanced users who wish to have routine access to the Library folder will also know how to make it permanently visible. This can be done with a Terminal command, or through third-party "customization" utilities such as Deeper.