Why is "Verify Backups" in the Time Machine icon menu disabled?

Solution 1:

Okay, so I did a bit of digging, and perhaps found a clue as to why the option is not accessible (to some at least). Read this MacWorld Hint, specifically, look down at the comment from joekewe (on Feb 08, '11 06:08:14PM):

From a web search, it looks like "Verify Time Machine Backup" should be called "Verify Time Capsule" backup. My system log shows that I attempted to verify my Time Machine backup:

com.apple.backupd[70595]: Backup verification requested by user.

but (I believe) because it is a locally mounted volume, it didn't do anything and didn't leave any more entries in the log. From this older knowledgeable article, it looks like Verify Time Machine was added when Time Capsule was having trouble.

It might be the case that he's onto something. The option is also grayed out for me, but I have a local TM disk connected via USB. Can anyone confirm they can use the feature with their Time Capsules?

It may have been that they actually fixed the menu option, in that, it should have been grayed out for Snow Leopard users connected through USB (read the comments as many people talk about having the service do nothing), but it wasn't. So in Lion, it behaves correctly.

Solution 2:

"Verify Backups" is applicable only to backups on network drives. It will be greyed out if you are backing up to a local drive.

Apple should have been clearer in indicating this.

From Finder > Help > Verify your backup disk

Verify your backup disk

If you back up to a network disk, Time Machine periodically verifies that your backups are in good condition. If you like, you can perform a verification at any time.

• Open the Time Machine menu in the menu bar, press the Option key on your keyboard, and then choose Verify Backups.

Solution 3:

I have one of the new Time Capsules - 2TB, 4th generation. I used to be able to use "Verify Backups" in Snow Leopard when I had a connected USB drive and used that for Time Machine. But since switching to the Time Capsule (and the first time I've tried it in Lion), "Verify Backups" is greyed out :(

Update: Strange! Now it's working. I just tried it with my Time Capsule and its verifying. It got further than it did last time. It's at 11% (and much slower I will say vs. when in Snow Leopard) currently. But its working. So it appears that the greyed out menubar was a bug? Not sure when it decided to not be greyed out anymore.