MAC TREAT #107 – Time Your Time Machine Backups

I love me some Time Machine. It’s the easiest way for the average Mac user to reliably back up their computer. Since it’s the easiest backup method, it’s also the most likely method to be used, which is a good thing. Apple writes:

“Time Machine automatically makes incremental backups every hour, every day, copying just the files that have changed since your last backup. And it does this all in the background, so you can continue working while Time Machine is busy copying your files.”

As much as I adore and use Time Machine, there are times when it gets in my way. I frequently import and edit audio and video, which results in large files that take a long time to backup. The standard hourly Time Machine backup is often too frequent.

Fortunately, there is a free app for Mac OS 10.5 and Mac OS 10.6 called TimeMachineEditor, which lets you change the default one-hour backup interval of Time Machine. You can change the interval or create more sophisticated scheduling based on a calendar. I prefer my Mac to simply backup to Time Machine once at the end of the day.

You can click here to download TimeMachineEditor. It’s easy to install and uninstall. If you decide you prefer the standard one-hour Time Machine backup, simply use TimeMachineEditor one last time to turn it off, then drag the application to the trash to uninstall.