Mebster Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 I'm about to format my whole pc and allocate OS X 300GB. I then want to create a Time Machine partition on another drives of 50-100 GB and use the rest of that drive for my other backup. Is this ok to do and exactly how does Time Machine work when I don't create a 300GB partition for it to copy all the OS X partition data? If I'm not using TM for serious backup purpose, can I have the TM partition on the same drive as OS X? Can you backup from the partition using TM in a Hackintosh? (This I know is an OSx86 question). Can TM corrupt the drive, especially in a Hackintosh? If it can then I need to think carefully as to what else I have on that drive. I've never used TM so forgive me if these are basic questions but I need to make sure I don't put my other data at risk by using it so need to ask these stupid questions. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/107402-time-machine-partition-smaller-than-os-x-partition/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
erbic Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Time Machine doesn't need its own partition per se. It creates a new folder named "Backups.backupdb" on whatever partition you select, and keeps all its files in there. As such, you can use the partition for whatever else you might want outside of that folder. I've got all kinds of other stuff on my TM partition. But as for the questions: 1. Not sure. 2. Yes, the partition can be on any drive, connected however. Only requirement is that it's an HFS+ formatted volume. 3. Not exactly sure what you're asking here. Time Machine works on Hackintoshes, yes; I'd assume you could restore from it but don't take my word for it. 4. I highly doubt it could actually corrupt a drive, or at least it's no more likely than anything else you'd do with the drive. All Time Machine does is copy files over to the drive; it's essentially just a bunch of automated cp operations. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/107402-time-machine-partition-smaller-than-os-x-partition/#findComment-762084 Share on other sites More sharing options...
The iMan Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Well it doesn't matter what size your time machine partition is, it will only backup the space that you have used on your main hd. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/107402-time-machine-partition-smaller-than-os-x-partition/#findComment-763540 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mebster Posted May 30, 2008 Author Share Posted May 30, 2008 erbic, thanks a lot for answering my questions. I know remember reading somewhere that if you create a folder on the OS X partition and name a folder something something then you can have TM directed to it. But had no idea it normally does this on other partitions too, create a folder to use on another partition that is. Also I had because of this I had no idea you can actually use the space outside the folder for other things. This means I can keep non-essential data stored there (divxs I've yet to watch for for example) and make further use of the partition. That really is great news. With question 3. yes I did mean can you restore from TM on a hack. But I think I've now read it is possible but a lot of people seem to have problems with it and so it doesn't seem like something you can fully rely on. The iMan, thanks a lot for your help mate. Yeah I've read it only mirrors the space you've actually used. But what I was asking is if say I have a 300GB OS X partition of which say 200GB is used up. Then I want to create a TM partition of only 100GB. That means there's atm 100GB less space it needs to do a complete backup and possible 200GB less if the entire 300GB OS X partition was used up. My question is how does TM respond when it doesn't have enough space to back up all the data it needs to? Does it prioritise in some way or just do what it wants? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/107402-time-machine-partition-smaller-than-os-x-partition/#findComment-764824 Share on other sites More sharing options...
The iMan Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 It will say backup failed , and when I had 10.5.1 it just deleted the old backups Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/107402-time-machine-partition-smaller-than-os-x-partition/#findComment-764934 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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