Customizing Time Machine

[ParanoidRobot18]

I want to be able to tell Time Machine backup at certain times in the day because my External drive is louder than my iMac. Is this even possible?

Thanks

 

[r.j.s]

No. It backs up every hour as long as the drive is connected. You can however only connect the drive when you want to back up, but this is dependent on you to keep ejecting and mounting the drive.

 

[unity]

Maybe you can velcro that thing under the desk? Thats what I did. Much quieter hidden away

 

[BobZune]

I want to be able to tell Time Machine backup at certain times in the day because my External drive is louder than my iMac. Is this even possible?

Thanks

It appears possible. See

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=200710291721156&query=time+machine

and specifically the comments on that hint.

 

[THX1139]

No. It backs up every hour as long as the drive is connected. You can however only connect the drive when you want to back up, but this is dependent on you to keep ejecting and mounting the drive.

The default settings are to back up every hour, but those settings can be customized if you know how to use terminal, or have access to the Launchd config files. If you use lingon (link provided in post above), you can do this with a graphic interface. I set mine to backup once per 24 hours. So far, it's not backing up every 24 hours... more like every 12 hours. I might just go with the manual backup option. Turn off TM and then initiate a manual backup from the dock whenever I feel it's needed.