How long does your Time Machine "prepare?"

[millerrh]

So I noticed that time machine was running and wanted to check how quick the process goes once you do your initial backup.

I went to Time Machine in Sys Prefs and checked out the progress bar. It's been on "Preparing" for at least a half hour now...doesn't sound right to me.

Is that normal?

[pilotError]

It happens...

I noticed the first few times that it had a long prepare time. Now that I've got it working smoothly, I don't even notice it running.

Try removing the Browser cache directory and any other cache type directory (firefox, camino, etc. ) so your not backing up garbage. It helps when you don't have so many new files that TM has to index and backup.

[kflook]

My initial backup took 20 hours. Now that that is (finally) over with, it only takes a minute or two.