**Please Help** Time Machine?

[ThunderBow]

Hello! To back up my MacBook Pro, I use a Seagate Freeagent GoFlex external hard drive. I have been using it for a while (and successfully too). For some reason, today my backup disk no longer appears in Time Machine (however when I load up Disk Utility, the external hard drive is there). I ran diagnostic checks on the disk and the results came out saying that nothing was wrong with it. After that, I plugged it into the USB port on my Dad's Windows PC and the disk STILL didn't show up. I thought it was just my Mac, but I guess its not.

How do I make the disk viewable in Time Machine, and more importantly, how do I get the disk to be viewable (Note again: The disk DOES connect to the laptop/computer, but it just doesn't show up)? I really need to backup my laptop :/ Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[justperry]

The HD is not visible on a PC because Windows can't read the partition scheme.

Open Disk Utility while in OS X and the HD is connected, do you see it there, if so something else is going on.

 

[benwiggy]

Does the disk appear in the Finder?
Can you mount it in Disk Utility?
Can you repair it (DISK, not Permissions) in Disk Utility?

If all else fails, remember the whole point of a backup is to have two copies so that if EITHER of them fail, you have another one. You still (should) have all you data on the source drive, so you shouldn't have lost anything.
At worst, you can repartition the disk and start backing up to it again.

 

[Krazy Bill]

Before the group brain trust here directs you to reformat your drive, do a clean install and seek out an exorcist on Craig's List...

Open Time Machine Preferences:

- Make sure Time machine is still "On."
- Click "Select Disk". Does it see the Seagate?
- Click "Options". Is the Seagate in the "Exclude" list?

 

[sjinsjca]

First, congratulations on having a good backup strategy. Disk drives have a finite lifetime. Their failure is a matter of when, not if.

So it might be that your Seagate drive has failed or is beginning to. My first advice would be: go buy another drive (need not be the same make/model) and use that to make a second backup of your Mac. Then fuss with the old drive.

Ultimately it's always wise to have two backup drives and alternate between them, which Time Machine will now do automatically. I learned this when, back in my PC days, my backup drive failed right after my PC's drive failed.

Having said that, try the usual nostrums: reboot, see if drive is mounted in Finder, see if it responds to repair efforts in Disk Utility, try a second cable/USB port/power outlet.

Incidentally, you won't be able to read a Mac-OS-X-Extended-(journaled)-formatted drive (which Time Machine requires) on a Windows machine.

 

[Krazy Bill]

My first advice would be: go buy another drive

Yep. Let's throw money at it first. Seems to be the thing to do around here since it's not our money.

 

[sjinsjca]

Yep. Let's throw money at it first. Seems to be the thing to do around here since it's not our money.

Well now. IMHO a redundant backup strategy is a must. Had OP had one in place, he'd be happier right now.

Cheap insurance. As is remote storage.

Think of the florid headlines every time a rare Trojan makes its way into the OS X community. Yet by far (by far) the greatest risk to anyone's data is the inevitable malfunction of their hard drives. Where are the breathless reports about that?

If you take this threat to your data seriously, you'll regard my advice as plain common sense rather than throwing-money-at-anything.

 

[Krazy Bill]

Well now. IMHO a redundant backup strategy is a must.

How about we just take 3 seconds and make sure his settings are ok first. Time for lectures about redundancy later.

Had OP had one in place, he'd be happier right now.

But he'd still have at least one drive that doesn't work.

Some of you guys crack me up.

 

[sjinsjca]

But he'd still have at least one drive that doesn't work.

He'd still have a valid backup and the redundancy would have served its purpose. Right now he's flying without a net. Since my advice (which you're welcome to ignore) is to have a redundant backup, why not start now and sort out what's wrong with his original backup later?

 

[iSimx]

He'd still have a valid backup and the redundancy would have served its purpose. Right now he's flying without a net. Since my advice (which you're welcome to ignore) is to have a redundant backup, why not start now and sort out what's wrong with his original backup later?

Totally agree. Important to ensure there is another backup in place. Better to be safe than sorry, unless the data isn't that important. HDDs are fickle, if they start showing up problems on your backup device, I would rather be satisfied in knowing there's another copy and then deal with the backup drive that is playing up.

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But he'd still have at least one drive that doesn't work.

Some of you guys crack me up.

That's the point.... You have two identical backup drives. If one is potentially broken you at least have another copy.