Manage Time Machine

Question 1

What can you back up with Time Machine?

Answer 1

Time Machine backs up all your personal files, including apps, music, photos, email, and documents, to an external storage device.

Question 2

What 4 types of backups does Time Machine keep?

Answer 2

1. Hourly backups for the past 24 hours
2. Daily backups for the past month
3. Weekly backups for all previous months
4. Local snapshots as space permits

Question 3

How does Time Machine try to ensure that there is enough space when needed?

Answer 3

Time Machine deletes the oldest backups when space runs out. It also only stores local snapshots on disks that have plenty of space, and when space gets low, Time Machine deletes the oldest snapshots.

Question 4

Which types of files are omitted from Time Machine backups?

Answer 4

Ones that can be recreated after restoration:

1. Temporary files
2. Spotlight indexes
3. Items in the trash
4. Anything that can be considered a cache.

Question 5

Why is Time Machine inefficient at backing up large databases?

Answer 5

Because it must back up the entire database file every time any change, no matter how small, is made to the database.

Question 6

What happens to the user interface, if an external hard drive is formatted with APFS, what happens in regard to Time Machine?

Answer 6

You can still use Time Machine to back up, but the Finder won’t let you copy files directly to that external storage device.

Question 7

What happens if your external storage device for Time Machine isn’t formatted with APFS?

Answer 7

You can keep other files on that external storage device, but Time Machine won’t back up those files, and there will be less space for Time Machine backups.

Question 8

What are the four circumstances in which Time Machine will save local screenshots?

Answer 8

1. When you start a Time Machine backup to an external storage device for the first time.
2. Approximately every hour after you turn on Time Machine
3. Until macOS needs to use the storage space that the local snapshots use.
4. Before you install any macOS update, even if you don’t turn on Time Machine.

Question 9

What does macOS format your external hard drive to when setting up Time Machine?

Answer 9

APFS (Encrypted, Case Sensitive)

Question 10

True/False: A password hint isn’t required when setting up Time Machine with your external hard drive.

Answer 10

False, a password hint is required

Question 11

What happens when you select a blank disk named “Untitled” as a Time Machine backup?

Answer 11

macOS names the volume “Backups of Computer Name” where “Computer Name” is the computer name of your Mac.

Question 12

When does macOS save the encryption password of the Time Machine external storage device?

Answer 12

The second time the external storage device is plugged into the Mac. A prompt will come up asking for the password, with a box to check to “Remember this password in my keychain”

Question 13

What are the 5 steps to manually set up Time Machine after plugging in the external hard drive?

Answer 13

1. Open Time Machine preferences from System Preferences
2. If necessary, authenticate with an administrator user account credentials
3. Click Select Backup Disk or Select Disk, or “Add or Remove Backup Disk”
4. Select an external storage device from the list
5. Click Use Disk

Question 14

When setting up the external storage device, what two reasons might the “Encrypt backups” box be greyed out?

Answer 14

1. The selected disk may need to be reformatted or repartitioned
2. The selected disk doesn’t support encryption

Question 15

True/False: An external hard drive can be used to do Time Machine backups on multiple devices.

Answer 15

True

Question 16

If using an external storage device formatted as APFS with multiple Macs, when you plug that external storage device into the new Mac, Time Machine will mark the old backups from the previous Mac with a red i. What are the three options to choose from to resolve this issue?

Answer 16

1. Claim existing backups
2. Start New Backup
3. Decide Later

Question 17

What happens if you click “Claim Existing Backups” when using an external storage device that has multiple devices backed up to to it?

Answer 17

You can’t use the external device for backups on the previous Mac anymore.

Question 18

What happens if you click “Start New Backup” when using an external storage device that has multiple devices backed up to to it?

Answer 18

You must provide a password and hint to secure the backup, then you can click Encrypt Disk. macOS then creates a new APFS volume dedicated to Time Machine backups and names the volume “Backups of Computer Name” where “Computer Name” is the computer name of your Mac.

Question 19

What does macOS Monterey do if you plug in an external storage device that isn’t blank for formatted for APFS or Mac OS Extended?

Answer 19

macOS Monterey will prompt you to erase the volume and reformat or choose a different volume.

Question 20

What happens if you select a network storage device for Time Machine?

Answer 20

Any existing backups are upgraded. All upgraded backups and new backups that you make with macOS Monterey are only compatible with macOS Monterey.

Question 21

What are the four situations in which macOS Monterey will ask if you want to inherit a backup?

Answer 21

1. If you used Migration Assistant to transfer settings from an old Mac to a new Mac.
2. If you used Migration Assistant to transfer settings from a Time Machine backup on an old Mac to a new Mac.
3. If you cloned your startup volume, or physically moved the disk from one Mac to a new Mac.
4. If you had the main logic board of your Mac replaced.

Question 22

What are the 5 settings that you can adjust in Time Machine preferences.

Answer 22

1. Add or remove a backup disk
2. Verify the backup status
3. Manually configure backup options
4. Configure the option to show Time Machine in the menu bar
5. Configure the option to back up automatically

Question 23

What are the three ways you can restore data from a Time Machine backup?

Answer 23

1. Restore specific items from a Time Machine backup
2. Restore with Migration Assistant
3. Manually restore with the Finder

Question 24

Which feature helps Time Machine restore data when your Time Machine backup disk is unavailable?

Answer 24

Time Machine creates local snapshots on your built-in startup disk to to help when your backup disk is unavailable.