Backup transfer

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I use Time Machine to backup my iMAC system to a "WD My passport for Mac" device, but that device increasingly fails to eject properly so I fear I might need to replace it.
If I do replace this drive, is there any way I could protect all the backup versions stored there on to any new device, "WD" or not, or would all the past backups be lost?
 
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If you really want to keep all of your old TM backups you could copy them from your old WD drive to whatever new drive you decide on before setting it up with TM. However, you must copy everything and it can take, literally, days to do it!

but that device increasingly fails to eject properly so I fear I might need to replace it
I accept that the drive may well be failing but I have to ask why you appear to be regularly ejecting it when it is normal practice to keep it connected?
 

IWT


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A good question, with variable replies:)

In real terms, if the External Hard Drive (EHD) with Time Machine backups is failing, then that data would be tricky to access never mind copy to another EHD.

And my view would be to start afresh with a new EHD. After all, TM is not meant as a BU storage facility and if all is well with your Mac now, then starting afresh is the way to go.

My practice is to have 2 TM BUs running alternatively (all modern Mac allow this) so that if one fails, I replace it whilst keeping the other in case of need.

Another answer to you question could be that if you Cloned the EHD with the TM to a new EHD, that might work. I've never tried this and I'm not sure that the exact integrity of the TM backup would be maintained, although technically a Clone is an "exact" copy. You would need to use an app such as Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) or SuperDuper! (SD!).

Bottom line: In my view, start afresh. Don't trust the failing Drive. Use 2 TM BUs in the future if you have concerns. (or one TM BU and one of the Cloners, as above)

Ian
 
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Thank you both for such thorough responses.

First, Pine Man, the whole problem is that I DONT keep ejecting the device. It is my MAC which keeps highlighting a message to say that it has not been ejected properly. This happens also when the iMAC might have been idle for several hours. I do habitually shut down the MAC over night which of course ejects the EHD as part of tha process. Where we live we are prone to flash power outages for a few seconds so maybe if one of those hits, the iMAC blips but the EHD cannot cope.

IWT, I agree the simple way would be to start afresh, but my concern is whether there is something which has been deleted which I later want to access so would search a back image. Maybe I have misunderstood the purpose of TM, noting your comment that TM is not supposed to be a backup storage system. My theory is that TM snapshots my system regularly so that in a sad event of iMAC failure I can reestablish my system (even on a fresh machine) with minimum concern, or maybe use TM to search for a back version of a file. I would be most interested to hear whether I have got that all wrong, and perhaps what I should be doing to protect my data.
 

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Thank you both for such thorough responses.

First, Pine Man, the whole problem is that I DONT keep ejecting the device. It is my MAC which keeps highlighting a message to say that it has not been ejected properly. This happens also when the iMAC might have been idle for several hours. I do habitually shut down the MAC over night which of course ejects the EHD as part of tha process. Where we live we are prone to flash power outages for a few seconds so maybe if one of those hits, the iMAC blips but the EHD cannot cope.
When I see the "Not ejected properly" message it's always the USB connection that causes the problem,especially if one moves the USB cable and/or drive.
I have made it a point not to touch them and no more eject messages.
And if your location has outages for a few seconds, I would invest in a UPS - I have.
A UPS with the shortest holdover time will do.

PS: When you write in your first post: "but that device increasingly fails to eject properly", what do you mean?
That the drive does not eject when it should?
Or that it ejects when it should not.
 

IWT


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@bigscreen

You have not misunderstood anything as such.

Time Machine has two major functions:

1. Deleted a file, folder, PPT presentation - no problem. Enter TM, go back to date when said data was still there, select file and hit "Restore".

2. When you get a new Mac, power it up and sign in to Apple ID etc, etc, then restore all your data and Settings from your TM backup.

If you ever need detailed instructions on how to do these things, just ask.

What TM is not there for is a substitute for a BU storage facility. For that, one would use another EHD or any of the many commercial BU storage options. Using them, one would backup all or crucial data, Photos Library, Music Library; that sort of thing. And there are many online BU options as well.

I've just scratched the surface of a complex series of systems. Need advice on detail; just ask.

Ian
 
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When I see the "Not ejected properly" message it's always the USB connection that causes the problem,especially if one moves the USB cable and/or drive.
+1!!! Standard USB connectors are re-known for their lousy connection capabilities unless they are of the locking type. And poor quality or broken cables sure have to be up there at the top of culprits.



- Patrick
=======
 
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I do habitually shut down the MAC over night which of course ejects the EHD as part of tha process.
Shutting down your Mac shouldn't be ejecting the EHD as part of that process - surely?
 

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@pine man

I think that shutting down a Mac does indeed eject all attached EHDs in the sense that the connection is closed. On startup, the connections to the EHDs have to be re-established.

This is why some restarts can take quite some time if there are EHDs for general BU, TM, CCC and perhaps a Hub.

Ian
 
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a Mac does indeed eject all attached EHDs
Well I never realised that but I suppose it makes sense, thanks Ian.

Learning all the time!
 
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Thank you all so much for all your comments. As a complete amateur who does not understand these things please can I ask one final question.......... when I replace my EHD do I need to select a device which is prestructured for MAC format files or will any device adapt itself?
 
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What version of the OS are you running? If it's an older version, you will need to reformat the drive to HFS+, which in Disk Utility is called "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)." If it's after High Sierra, it may need APFS, but if it does, it tell you it needs to format the drive before it can make a backup, as I recall. Been a while since I added a new device for backup...
 
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That would be Mac OS Extended (Journaled) also known as HFS+
 

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That would be Mac OS Extended (Journaled) also known as HFS+
Sorry, but that is incorrect.

If the OP is running macOS 10.14.6 as stated in post 13, that Mac is automatically on APFS not on HFS+
 
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There was a while when APFS was just rolling out that the boot drive HAD to be APFS and the TM drive HAD to be HFS+. Strange, but true!
 

krs


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Seems I got confused about the question since there were no quotes in the last few posts.

I was answering which format was used with 10.14.6 which is always APFS
For the external drive and TM (which seems to be the REAL question), I think you would want to format that external drive as HFS+ if it's a spinner and APFS if it's an SSD
 
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I think you would want to format that external drive as HFS+ if it's a spinner and APFS if it's an SSD
There may not be a choice. As I said, at one point the boot drive HAD TO BE formatted APFS, and TM drive HAD TO BE formatted HFS+. Now, I think both have to be APFS. No options.
 

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