Hi Neil As an aside,….Entourage also isn't supported anymore, so if you upgrade to Mavericks at all, it will "run",..but it does some quite strange things. The other thing that quite worries me with Entourage (having come across it quite a few times and had to "work through" fixing it, is that it sometimes only takes a few corrupt emails to take down the whole Entourage database,..and it's then a real hassle to fix it. (And sometimes even it won't actually restore from the backup database that Time Machine has made.). If you do backup your Entourage, also make sure it's not actually running at the time, as it doesn't always do the proper job. Will see if I can find a good link I had to this "Entourage database" problem that explained it a bit better,..and how to "sort of" check if your database is ok,…. Worth a look - http://www.officeformachelp.com/2009/02/is_corruption_hiding_in_your_database/ (knew I had it filed away somewhere,…)
One of the reasons I moved from Entourage to Apple Mail (there were others) was a) the database size that needs to backup GBs of data even if you get a small kb email! and b) the way this whole database works. Mail handles it a lot better I find. (OK so that wasn't one,..it was two,..lol) Just my 2cents worth ;) Kind regards Daniel Sent from my iPhone 5 --- Daniel Kerr MacWizardry Phone: 0414 795 960 Email: <daniel AT macwizardry.com.au> Web: <http://www.macwizardry.com.au> **For everything Apple** NOTE: Any information provided in this email may be my personal opinion and as such should be taken accordingly, and may not be the views of MacWizardry. Any information provided does not offer or warrant any form of warranty or accept liability. It would be appreciated that if any information in this email is to be disseminated, distributed or copied, that permission by the author be requested. On 23/07/2014, at 7:49 PM, Neil Houghton <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks very much for that Ronni, > > I realise that Entourage database creates massive files on TM and that by > switching off automatic back-up I am not really using Time Machine the way it > has been designed to work. However, with a 4GB plus Entourage file, hourly > automatic back-ups would fill even a 3TB disk in a few months! > > My manual backup approach has allowed the 1TB drive to accommodate my growing > TM back-up over 4 years and it probably has several months before it finally > fills (depending, of course, on how often I run TM). I do realise that this > approach relies on my discipline in running TM whenever I have done an hour > or two of work I would be upset to lose ;o) > > I did save a copy of your Jan 2013 tutorial 'Migrate to a Larger Time Machine > Disk') and I expect that this will be my route when I finally run out of > space. > > Since I am still running Snow Leopard, I will heed your (& Apple’s) warning > and refrain from deleting the individual backups from TM. > >> You have two choices: delete a single entire snapshot (that is, all the >> files from a particular hourly run of Time Machine) or delete all instances >> of a single file from a certain location, regardless of how many times that >> file was backed up. > > Neither of these approaches does what I need – deleting entire snapshots > offers me no advantage over letting Time Machine automatically delete old > backups to make space for new ones whilst deleting all instances of a single > file leaves me with NO versioned back-ups (though I would still have a > back-up on my last HD “clone”). > > I guess that a kludge would be for me to copy a few recent TM backups of the > bloated database to an alternative (non TM) location and then do the “delete > all instances of a single file from a single location” which would free up a > huge amount of space - then have TM continue to back-up the file and then, > once I had a few TM backups under the belt, I could get rid of the > alternative (older) copies. - Would you see any problems with this > (admittedly inelegant) approach? > > I don’t have a copy of your October 2010 document: "How Time Machine Works - > How Time Machine Works Its Magic" - so if you could email me a copy it > definitely might help focus my thinking on this ;o) > > I’m not in immediate danger of filling the disc, but it’s always better to > have thought it out before the event! > > > Thanks again for your very helpful explanations and advice. > > > Cheers > > > > Neil > -- > Neil R. Houghton > Albany, Western Australia > Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 > Email: [email protected] > > > > > on 23/7/14 15:38, Ronni Brown at [email protected] wrote: > >> Hi Neil, >> >> On 23 Jul 2014, at 12:41 pm, Neil Houghton <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> A quick question for the TM gurus. >> >> Might be a quick question for you... but it will be a very long answer for >> anyone to give you advice. >> >> Firstly you are not really using Time Machine the way it has been designed >> to work. Plus I would be using a 3TB External Drive or 3TB Time Capsule to >> store your TM Backups on. >> >> I created a document back in October 2010 explaining and showing "How Time >> Machine Works - How Time Machine Works Its Magic". >> There are two main bits of "Magic" behind Time Machine: >> 1. The File System Event Database -- How changes are found >> 2. Multiple Hard Links -- How backups are stored >> >> It might be beneficial for you to read this document first so you understand >> more about how Time Machine works. >> If you wish I can email my document to you "Offlist". Post back to WAMUG if >> you do. >>> >>> I have my entourage database included in my TM backup - it has masses of >>> emails filed in various folders & sub-folders and I need a back-up of these >>> filed emails. >>> >>> Since the file is very large (my main identity folder is currently 4.32GB) >>> and changes with every email send/receive - it takes up a significant chunk >>> of space!! >> >> Entourage database creates massive files on TM - database programs do: Any >> change, no matter how tiny, means the whole file or database is marked as >> changed, and will be backed-up the next time. >>> >>> I don't have TM set to automatically back up - I prefer to do it manually as >>> any valuable work is done - which keeps it manageable - but I am approaching >>> the point where my 1TB TM disk will become full and TM will start deleting >>> the oldest backups. >> >> When your backup volume gets close to being full, Time Machine automatically >> deletes old backups to make space for new ones. >> It doesn’t warn you about this, by the way, but the first time it happens— >> and optionally thereafter—Time Machine does inform you that it has just >> deleted some backups, suggesting that you select a different disk to avoid >> having more files deleted. (If, instead, you’d like to migrate your Time >> Machine backups to a larger volume you can 'Migrate to a Larger Time Machine >> Disk'). >> I have done this when I upgrading from a 2TB Time Capsule to a 3TB Time >> Capsule. >> >>> >>> My problem is that I would prefer not to delete most of these oldest backups >>> across the board. I know that I could slash the space currently used by TM >>> if I could selectively just delete the oldest backups of my Microsoft User >>> Data main identity folder (whilst still keeping more recent back-ups of >>> this). If I could do this manually I could soon free-up a few hundred GB >>> whilst still retaining maximum backups of the other files. >>> >>> What I am not sure of is the safest way to do this. >>> >>> Whilst I could easily go into the TM volume using finder and manually select >>> the earliest instances of the files/folders I wish to cull, I seem to >>> remember dire warnings about messing with the innards of the TM volume >>> structure - is it OK to manually delete individual back-ups that I know I no >>> longer need - or is this likely to give problems. >> >> In Snow Leopard Apple warning was: never, ever, move, change, or delete >> anything in your backups via the Finder or Terminal. That can corrupt them >> beyond repair. >> >> While deleting backups via the Finder is, technically, supported on Lion, >> Mountain Lion & Mavericks, you may have some of the same problems. >> >> I can give you instructions - How to delete individual backups from Time >> Machine - but I take absolutely NO Responsibility if any corruption or >> problems occur after deletion. >> That out of the way: >> If you decide to exclude a file from Time Machine after Time Machine has >> already backed it up. Contrary to what the user interface implies, Time >> Machine doesn’t let you purge just one instance of a particular file from >> your backups. >> You have two choices: delete a single entire snapshot (that is, all the >> files from a particular hourly run of Time Machine) or delete all instances >> of a single file from a certain location, regardless of how many times that >> file was backed up. >> >> Delete an Entire Snapshot >> >> To delete all the files Time Machine backed up during a particular hourly >> run, follow these steps: >> >> 1. Click the Time Machine Dock icon or choose Enter Time Machine from the >> Time Machine <image.png>menu to show the “time warp” display. >> >> 2. Using the arrow buttons or the timeline control on the side of the >> screen, navigate to the snapshot you want to delete. Note that if it >> occurred within the last day, you’ll delete just that hourly run; if it >> occurred earlier, you will delete the only remaining backup for a particular >> day or week. You can verify which backup you’ll be deleting by looking at >> the large bar at the bottom of the window. >> >> 3. From the pop-up Action <image.png>menu, choose Delete Backup. (It >> doesn’t matter whether you have any file or folder selected.) >> >> Time Machine removes that entire snapshot from its backup. (You may be >> prompted to enter an administrator password first.) >> >> Delete All Instances of a Single File >> >> To delete every backed up copy of a given file from your Time Machine >> backup, follow these steps: >> >> 1. In the Finder, navigate to the folder that contains (or once contained) >> any version of the file you want to delete; if you’re unsure where it is (or >> was), do a Spotlight search. >> >> 2. Click the Time Machine Dock icon or choose Enter Time Machine from the >> Time Machine <image.png>menu to show the “time warp” display. >> >> 3. Using the arrow buttons or the timeline control on the side of the >> screen, navigate to any previous version of the folder that contains the >> file you want to delete. Click the file once to select it. >> >> 4. From the pop-up Action <image.png>menu, choose Delete All Backups of >> “File Name”. (You can also right-click or Control-click the item and choose >> Delete All Backups of “File Name” from the contextual menu.) >> >> Time Machine removes from its backup every copy of that file, in that >> location, that it ever backed up. (For some files, you may be prompted to >> enter an administrator password first.) >> >>> >>> Is there a "right way" to selectively delete, say, the first 2 years worth >>> of backups of one specific large item - whilst not compromising later >>> backups of the same item - and definitely not compromising any (old or new) >>> backups of any other items. >>> >>> >>> I hope the above makes sense ;o) >>> >>> >>> Any thoughts/advise? >> >> Cheers, >> Ronni >>> >>> >>> Cheers >>> >>> Neil > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- > Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> > Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> > Settings & Unsubscribe - > <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug>
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