Time machine not working properly?

[macabee]

When I enter time machine all I see is the desktop of the date of installation and the current date, with nothing in between, and yet when I switch on my hard drive, time machine activates.

I do not leave on my external hard drive [iomega] as it tends to get very warm.

What if anything am I doing wrong.

I am using a new imac only a month old running Leopard.

 

[fryke]

Time Machine backs your stuff up to the external drive. When that external drive is not "there", there's nothing to retrieve. Also, if the drive isn't there, Time Machine can't create a backup or add files to it.