Can i use time capsule as a external hard drive

can i use time capsule as a external hard drive

Not plugged in by USB if that is what you were thinking.
You can store files on the TC but you should NOT.
Store files on the TC.
This is asked several times a day.. obviously people are struggling with their latest SSD being too small.
The TC is not suitable for network file server.. but many people having no choice press it into service as such.
Major issues.
1. No backup.. no way Time Machine can backup a network drive. No place to backup to.. So all your files will be at risk. And you will need to buy a third party like CCC to do backup.
2. The TC cannot be partitioned and mixing TM backups and data is not great. It was and is and ever shall be a backup device for Time Machine.
3. The drive is slow to spin up and quick to spin down.. there is no control. In fact the TC is so lacking in controls for even the router side.. that you cannot do more than the most basic of setups.
The following are controls on the hard disk side.
Reformat it. You can name the share. You can do a full archive of the whole disk. This will go at a speed of aprox. 30-50GB/Hr so calculate how long an archive of a full 2TB will take.
4. iPhoto in particular can easily corrupt its entire library with wireless networking causing a disconnection to one photo. Even if you do this;;; do not move your photo library... you have been warned!!
Even apple btw say don’t do it.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5168 Although mostly about FAT32 it adds network drives.
5. iTunes can constantly lose connection to the library. The disk is slow to respond.. itunes on the computer will constantly spit out errors. Even in the midst of streaming the TC can spin down the disk due to caching.
6. Do not use any live files on the TC no matter what else you do.. if you edit files in whatever program the file must be on the local hard disk.
7. The only suitable location for most libraries is a computer. You can plug in an external hard disk.
Read pondini for some work arounds.
Q3 here. http://pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html

Similar Messages

1. Can I use Time Capsule as an external hard drive, remove wifi feature?

Hi there -
My Time Capsule contains my iPhoto library, and I had used it in the past as my wifi router, backup AND external hard drive for the iPhoto library. Now I must use AT&T's wireless router, and would still like to use the TC for the backup and iPhoto library storage. Is there a way to do that?
Also, the Apple deviced prefer to connect to Time Capsule (which is no longer connected to the internet) as their first choice for the wifi internet connection. Is there a way to change that preference?
Thanks in advance for all your help!

Only one setting needs to be checked to make sure that the Time Capsule will connect to your ATT router correctly.
To do that, you need to use AirPort Utility, but we do not know what version that you might have. Please open AirPort Utility, click on the AirPort Utility menu, and then click About AirPort Utility and post back with the version number that you see there.
My Time Capsule contains my iPhoto library, and I had used it in the past as my wifi router, backup AND external hard drive for the iPhoto library.
Sorry, maybe I do not understand this. If you have your "main" iPhoto library on the Time Capsule, you cannot also have the backup of the iPhoto library on the same Time Capsule. What would happen when.....not if.....the Time Capsule fails?
For the record, the experts in the iPhoto support area strongly recommend that you do not locate your main iPhoto library on the Time Capsule.....but that is probably another discussion and post in the iPhoto support community.
Also, the Apple deviced prefer to connect to Time Capsule (which is no longer connected to the internet) as their first choice for the wifi internet connection. Is there a way to change that preference?
The Time Capsule will be connected to the Internet when it is configured correctly to connect your ATT router, so your devices can continue to use the Time Capsule wireless if you want.
Or, are you saying that you want to turn off the wireless function on the Time Capsule and use the ATT wireless?
The Time Capsule will run circles around the ATT router as far as wireless performance, but you may have your reasons for wanting to use the ATT wireless.
Please clarify on what it is that want to do.

Can I use time capsule as and external hard drive ? how ?

I would like to now if I can use my time capsule not juste to back up my mac book pro but also has a external hard drive.
I tried to add a folder in time capsule but it dosen't let me do it ????
Please help

I was just wondering if it was possible to the TC disk seperate in 2. One for backing up my cumputer and one for storing my movie and musique.
If yes, can I watch a movie from my TC ???

Can you use Time Capsule as an external hard drive?

I want to use it as both a back-up drive and an external hardrive for movies etc that I dont want to keep on my Mac so I can have more free space. I was just wondering if this is possible with this device or if I need a separate portable hard drive/external hard drive to do this.

I have an external HDD that I use for backups once in a while, BUT to be honest with you I last backed up my iTunes stuff (around 30K songs) over a year ago. Maybe it is time for another backup.
In all fairness, the whole time I have been using Mac's (since 2001) I have never had a major crash (knock on wood) so it has not been high on my priority list tbh. This said, how Apple have been acting lately I feel they have become a little too big for them selves and I have started to notice errors here and there, something that was unheard of earlier
Anyway, in most cases it is never the HDD that causes problems and extracting data from these are not a major hinder so I'm good...
EDIT: Oh, maybe I misunderstood the question

Can I use time capsule as an external hard drive

I have a MacBook Pro that came loaded with 500Gb storage and I had another 750Gb storage added and the disc drive removed. I have now filled both HD's and want to move the data to an external device. I have a 2TB Time Capsule just sitting here doing nothing at the moment but am wondering if I can just use it as an external HD instead of just backup? Also, I don't want to backup/sore anyone else's info and we are already running a wireless network in the house that I don't want to itnerfear with...

It is possible to use the TC as a file store albeit a very unsafe one..
If you off load files you will not want to use Time Machine. Either just directly copy the files or use another backup utility.
The reason I say the TC is unsafe,, once you copy the files to the TC. and then delete them from your computer.. you have no backup.. the TC is a backup device NOT a file store. It has only the most primitive backup, via USB connected drive, to manually do a full backup of the TC. In terms of reliability.. TC are very prone to failure after 2years.. they are sealed and no parts are made available.. In Apple's understanding it is a consumable.. when it breaks, buy a new one.. it only has backups on it not your only source of files.
Having said all that,, if you are prepared to use a USB drive and setup some sort of backup software on a computer it can be used. It is slow.. it is dumb.. ie it has no servers other than basic network file serving.. and you should not then use it as Time Machine target at all.. as you will have 1.2TB of files sitting on it.

Can i use time capsule as an external hard drive and stream stuff?

hey i am thinking of purchasing a 2TB time capsule because its soo annoying getting stuff from my external putting them onto my mac then putting them into itunes then streaming them from my itunes to my xbox, is their no way i can just put all my films and music onto the time capsule and stream them to my xbox and macbook without all the wires and hassle, i am also wondering if i could do this would i be able to stream music from the time capsule (external harddrive) to my iphone. The main reason why i would like to know this is because my mac is only 150Gb and i have over a 1TB of films would be soo much easier if someone could give me some answers thank you

Here's my set up:
Mac only>TC is my main router>wired with Cat 6 ethernet cable>set up for wireless also.
My other Macs wired or wireless can detect the 500 gig hard drive so I use it as storage and sync it to my Apple TV for movie watching.
You can do this on PC.

Can I use time capsule as an external hard drive as well as a back up?

Hi
I have a Macbook air and a 3TB Time Capsule.
Can I use this as a hard drive (media storage) as well as for back up?
Thanks

People do, but it's not a good idea. There's conflicting needs between Time Machine and other uses for the drive.
The #1 reason why it isn't a good idea is where are your media backups?

Can i use time capsule as an external hard drive in a pc and a mac???

or i can only use it wirelessly?

Here's my set up:
Mac only>TC is my main router>wired with Cat 6 ethernet cable>set up for wireless also.
My other Macs wired or wireless can detect the 500 gig hard drive so I use it as storage and sync it to my Apple TV for movie watching.
You can do this on PC.

Can u use time capsule as a normal hard drive and don't activate the time capsule in my macs?

can u use time capsule as a normal hard drive and don't activate the time capsule in my macs?

Yes, but it will be slow and expensive compared to just buying an external and plugging it in locally.

How do I use Time Capsule as an external hard drive?

How do I use Time Capsule as an external hard drive? I want to remove photos & music from my laptop and store them in Time Capsule only.

lyperez wrote:
How do I use Time Capsule as an external hard drive? I want to remove photos & music from my laptop and store them in Time Capsule only.
Apple has specific instructions on moving libraries.
eg itunes.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
You simply follow those instructions..
TC is a network drive.. nothing more.
To move individual files, just copy and paste to a new directory.. not inside a TM sparsebundle please.
BUT.. TC only worries me.. deeply.
It is relatively easy to corrupt a library when you copy to it.. library as a whole is then corrupted and will need to be restored from backup.. wops.. no backup. You are putting at risk all your files.. don't do it.. make sure you backup..
And here is the rub.. TC cannot back itself up.. TM cannot backup network drives.
And where are you going to backup.. to... an external drive on the computer.. in that case, that is where the library should be and the TC used as normal.. ie backup target for TM.
Please read Pondini on how to do it properly though.
Q3 http://pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html

Can i use time capsule as a external hard

can i use time capsule as a external hard

Yes, if you intend to use it to store back up files that you will leave alone.
But, you should not try to place "active" files on the Time Capsule.....things like an iPhoto Library, iTunes Library, Movies, Music or other files that you will be using actively on a regular basis.
Apple designed the Time Capsule for your backups. If you use it that way, things will be OK.

Is possible to use Time Capsule as a external hard drive for my MA ?

Hi,
I wondering to know if i can use the time capsule as a external hard drive for my MACBOOK AIR i mean i dont want a backup i just want to be connected when i'm at home and transfer the data to the time capsule or simply uses data from there.
Thanks!

Yes, you can.
(60321)

How To Use Time Capsule As An External Hard Drive?

I backup my computer onto the time capsule using time machine.
After that I want to have more space on my computer (becasue my hard drive is almost full) (I still want to have my local snapshots and daily backups) so I want to delete some of my files but I still want them on my time capsule and I know after I back my computer the files will be deleted so I go to finder/my time capsule (under shared)/data/my macbook pro/ then I go to my destop and see; 1: time machine backups 2: data... I go to data and create a new file that will contain everything that I wanted deleted off my macbook so the when the next backup comes, I will still have (in data on time capsule) my time machine backups and my deleted things... will this work? why or why not? I heard people saying that you have to choose the time capsule between a external hard drive or with time machine... but will this attempt work with both>???

It will work but shouldn't be done, as the Time Capsule's internal drive may fail at any time. Anything you want to keep shouldn't be on only one drive.
(80321)

Using Time Capsule as an external hard drive with ethernet cable, disabling airport, using wifi from laptop

Okay, first of all, I admit right off the bat that I should have bought an external hard drive. Now I am stuck with a 3TB Time Capsule that I want to tie to my laptop via ethernet cable, without having the Time Capsule disable my laptop's current wifi. So, I want to be able to back up my laptop (using the ethernet cable and Time Machine) to my Time Capsule drive and still be able to be surfing the internet as if I didn't have Time Capsule at all.
My MacBook Pro is OS 10.7.5.
Any thoughts are much appreciated.

This is not difficult.
You need to work out one issue beforehand..
What IP address range does the computer get from the wifi router.. ?
If you get 10.0.x.x then you will need to adjust the settings on the TC to a different IP range.. eg 192.168.1.1 for the TC.
Tell me what IP you get on wireless. I will assume for now you are getting 192.168.x.x
In the ethernet setup on the laptop, choose configure IPv4 Manually.
Give the computer an IP address say 10.0.1.10 with 255.255.255.0 subnet. Do not fill in router or dns values.
You can now find the ethernet linked TC and get internet via the airport.
On the TC itself, just leave it in router mode.. and ignore all the errors.. turn off the wireless.

Using Time Capsule as an external hard drive?

A bought a 500GB TC back in May. It worked OK until September and then failed without warning. Unfortunately it took Apple a long time to get a replacement unit sent to me, by which time I'd already purchased a Netgear wireless router and external hard drive so I could at least check my emails and back up some important files!
I've finally had the replacement TC unit sent back to me after 4 weeks, but it's now surplus to requirements. Other than trying to sell it on eBay, I was wondering if it's possible to disable the wireless functionality and just hook it up to my iMac via a ethernet CAT6 patch cable to double up as a 500GB external hard drive?
I know I can run it as a wireless 'client' using the Netgear as my main router, but after trying a similar setup once before using a spare AEBS as a print server, I found that switching one of the wireless clients off when not in use would crash the wireless network.
Any ones thoughts?

use ethernet to connect to netgear, set up TC in bridge mode with wireless off. use airport utility to configure the TC hard drive and now you have a hard drive for your network.

Can i use time capsule as a external hard drive

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