First time machine backup 20 hours - is this normal

[aroopc82]

Hi All
Thanks in advance for your patience with this newbie.

I have Macbook running macOS High Sierra v.10.13.6, with 8GB memory
I'm backing up my book for the first time - using a Seagate 2TB.

Its stating a backup of 293.54GB, whcih will take 21 hours. This seems huge, especially given its the first time this macbook is being backed up.

Please could some one advise if this is normal, or there's something I've missed, and direct me to what I should be doing?


Thanks

 

[junkw]

what is the size of your data? 293 or much less?

 

[Longkeg]

You need to supply some more information. Please answer the following:
Are you backing up using Time Machine or some other third party software?
What is the total size of the MacBook’s drive? How much of that total space is actually being used?

if you’re using Time Machine then 21 hours to backup almost 300gb is not unusual. It’s designed to run in the background using minimal system resources. You will rarely detect a performance hit while TM is quietly doing it’s thing.

You would do well to research the various backup options for the Mac. TM is one of the easiest to use but lacks features many users find important.

 

[aroopc82]

Thanks

1) Using Time Machine
2) size of macbook drive is 500GB - I have 232GB available. If 21 hours for 300gb is not unusual, then that's reassuring!

many thanks for your quick replies!

 

[KALLT]

Also keep in mind that the duration is just a prediction. More often than not it is not accurate.

Relevant xkcd: https://www.xkcd.com/612/

 

[Velin]

Not a concern. Sounds normal. Especially with slow-as-crap external HDDs.