Can the time capsule be used as an external hard drive

Can the time capsule be used as an external hard drive

If you mean by usb to a computer no.. it is a network device only and has to be used via ethernet or wireless.
It can be used standalone,, ie not plugged into an existing network.. but there are some steps required to make it work if you want internet connection at the same time. It is generally much easier to have the TC bridged into the network.

Similar Messages

  • Can an Apple Time capsule be used as a external hard drive?

    Hello I have a 4th Generation time capsule and I've had it for some time now and never used it and I was wondering if it could be used as a external hard drive instead of just a back up disk. Also I am planning to install a copy of Windows 7 on my Mid 2011 21.5" iMac and I was wondering if Windows would recognize the TC as a external hard drive and would alow me to use it as such.

    It is not an external hard disk.. you cannot use it via USB if that is what you mean.
    It is now and forever more a Network drive. You can store files on it as a network drive.. with the following provisos.
    Store files on the TC.
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/24380694#24380694
    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.
    It cannot be partitioned. It was and is and ever shall be a backup device for Time Machine.
    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.
    3. The drive is slow to spin up and quick to spin down.. there is no controls.
    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!!
    5. iTunes will constantly lose connection to the library. The disk is too 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
    Windows can also use the TC for files. Much the same warnings apply.

  • Can the 2013 airport time capsule be used as an external hard drive

    or do you have to purchase a separate external hard drive and connect it to the time capsule??

    Under the same network, I do use it as a music server (iTunes library) and files to share.
    If you have an apple ID, you can get access to this drive any where via Back to My Mac

  • Can time capsule be used as an external hard drive for storing media

    Can you use it in such a way that you put movies and music and home vidoes on there to be accessed on when on the network along with using it for backing up data.  Could it be used in such a way that you  can access your files when on wifi from anywhere?

    TC is not designed to be a NAS.. principally it is lacking any means to back itself up. And TM cannot backup a network drive.
    If you put data on it like your movies and music in raw format that is fine.. if you put your itunes or iphoto etc library on it.. you will find it is slow to start, quick to stop, stutters and has issues. Also wireless frankly is just not that good.
    I am not sure how far away is anywhere?? Do you mean remote access? That is possible via btmm using icloud.
    The problem is, TC is not a media player.. it is a dumb as a board hard disk in a router.
    How are you going to play your videos or music unless you move itunes library onto the TC??

  • HT1178 Can the time capsule be used with a pc running Windows Vista , 7 or 8 as a backup drive

    Can the time capsule be used with a pc running Windows Vista , 7 or 8 as a backup drive. If so what software do I need to buy?

    Can the time capsule be used with a pc running Windows Vista , 7 or 8 as a backup drive.
    Yes, on XP, Vista and 7. Have not tried 8.
    If so what software do I need to buy?
    Genie Timeline Pro does a very nice job...and it is similar to Apple's Time Machine.  It's not cheap though.  Check with the Genie folks for more info and compatibility with Windows 8.
    Genie Timeline Pro | Overview | Time Machine Backup Software for ...
    Other users may have some other suggestions.

  • Can the time capsule be used as both a time machine backup and NAS storage

    Can the time capsule be used as both a time machine backup and NAS storage?   I want to use the drive as external, wireless storage for all of my files so all my PCs, MACs and iOS devices can access the files.  Plus, I want to use the drive for backing up my iMac via time machine.  Can the time capsule device be used for both these purposes simultaneously?  If not, are the other suggestions on how I can do this?

    Can the time capsule device be used for both these purposes simultaneously? 
    It can, but is really not recommended. Sooner or later there will be a fight for space on the drive between Time Machine and the other files.
    If you have plenty of free space on the drive, you can do this......but.....have you thought about how you will back up the "other" files that are stored on the Time Capsule?

  • Can the Time Capsule be used just to back up on an existing wi-fi network?

    Can the Time Capsule be used just to back up on an existing wi-fi network?    We just set-up a new Xfinity wireless modem which is supposed to be very fast, but Time Capsule set-up instructions indicate we need to use the Time capsule as the primary internet connection.   True?

    My mistake. Meant to reply to snorris3. Text is repeated below:
    Can I still use it as a back up device?   My new modem is also the router.
    Yes you can.
    The best way (and really the only way) to set up the Time Capsule would be to connect an Ethernet cable from your modem/router to the Time Capsule.
    The Time Capsule will produce a wireless network by default, but if you don't want to use that network, it is a simple matter to turn off the wireless on the Time Capsule and use it only as a  hard drive for backups.
    I would be very surprised if the Xfinity modem/router would even come close to the wireless performance of the Time Capsule, but that may be another discussion.
    If you elect not to use the wireless on the Time Capsule, then you will be backing up over the existing wireless network that you already have.
    That would be a shame, since a third to half of the total cost of the Time Capsule is tied up in the wireless router portion of the Time Capsule. If you want to use the existing Xfinity wireless network, you could save yourself quite a bit of money by simply connecting a USB or Firewire hard drive to your Mac for backups. But, it's your call.

  • Can a time capsule be used as an external  wireless hard drive?

    can a time capsule be used as an external wireless hard drive?

    You can do this, but file transfers / copies will be very slow over wireless.

  • How do I get Time Capsule to back up an external hard drive?

    I need Time Capsule/Time Machine to back up my external hard drive. How do I do this?

    The external drive is plugged into the Mac??
    Just open the Time Machine preferences, Options, and include the external drive.. done!! (The menu is exclude.. so just ensure it is not excluded.. don't use no double negatives.. is grammar rule apple could learn).
    You cannot backup the external drive if plugged into the TC directly.

  • Can the Time Capsule be used for scanner sharing?

    I have successfully replaced my Linksys router with the Time Capsule and also hooked it to my USB HP 2200 all-in-1 printer. Works great except I can't get my wireless iMac or MacBook to see the HP all-in-1 as a scanner. The "network" printing works great via the TC.
    Has anyone successfully integrated with a USB scanner yet?

    I have this exact same problem, but only with a different printer/scanner (I even switched from a Linksys router). My printer is the Epson RX595, and as you stated, I can also print wirelessly to it from both my MacBook Pro and PC (connected wirelessly and via ethernet to the TC respectively). Now everywhere I've read is pretty much pointing to the "USB scanning not fully supported with TC", but I was wondering if Apple or Epson would have a solution for this in the future as I bought my printer not too long ago and don't want to have to upgrade just yet. I really want to keep it connected to my TC, since my PC doesn't have to stay on to act as a print server (previous setup).

  • Can the Time Capsule be used as iTunes library?

    I want to buy one, but only if I can put all my music files on it and play them on iTunes wirelessly through my computer and add them to my iPhone and iPod from it?
    Is this possible or do i still have to plug in an external hard drive?
    I'm a new yorker and trying to eliminate having so many wires in my apartment...
    Thanks in adavance

    Richard Austin Garlic wrote:
    Just bought a 1TB TC and have tried to copy movie files (50+GB) to TC and then redirect where these movies are in iTunes, Preferences, Advanced. Went to ATV and tried to stream to my HDTV. Unable to do so. Also, does TC have to be active as a logged in Network in Finder? (I have not deleted these files on iTunes yet.) Also, what method should one use to move movies to TC?
    You have to move the library from within iTunes, not just simply move the files in finder.
    Yes, of course the TC must be connected and running. It will show under "shared" in finder.

  • Can Time Capsule Be Used Only as a Hard Drive, Not as a Router?

    I have been using a Time Capsule as a router and as a wireless backup system for a year, but had endless trouble with the dual use, since my personal Macbook is on the second floor of my house and the router must reside in the basement, where we have other computers. Wireless backups are much too slow. So I replaced the Time Capsule with an Airport Extreme Base Station, which works fine. I'd like to continue using the Time Capsule, but solely for backups and not as a router, and connect the TC by ethernet or usb directly to the MacBook. Can this be done, and if so, how? Thanks!

    Hello JohnFrancis. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
    I'd like to continue using the Time Capsule, but solely for backups and not as a router, and connect the TC by ethernet or usb directly to the MacBook. Can this be done, and if so, how?
    Yes it can. You would just need to disable its wireless radio. You will also need to connect it by Ethernet as the TC's USB port is only for connecting it to USB hard drives, printers, and/or hubs.
    To disable the radio: AirPort Utility > Manual Setup > Time Capsule > Wireless tab > Wireless Mode = Off

  • How can I use Time Capsule for backups and an external hard drive?

    I have a large file/program on my iMacs hard drive that is 62GB and I would like to keep only things I need on my iMac. I have a 2tb time capsule currently used for backing up. It has roughly 1.66 TB free. How can I move the 62GB program onto my Time Capsule and still use it for backups? Also, is this stable? And don't worry about backing the program up because it came on 8DVD discs.
    Thanks.

    1. Mount the Time Capsule as a drive and drag the application over to it. If the application requires system components, those won't be transferred; if those are only data files, you may be able to drag them over as well and then create a symlink or alias to a folder enclosing their current location.
    2. The application may work slowly if this is done. Note that Time Machine will eventually use up all the free space on the Time Capsule that isn't reserved by being allocated to a disk image.
    (66649)

  • How do I get time machine/time capsule to back up my external hard drive?

    I have been trying to find a way to back up my external hard drive (a Hitachi G-Drive from the Apple store) with time machine and my time capsule. I left it plugged in so it was visible on my MacBook Pro when I did the initial backup yesterday, but it's not showing when I enter time machine. Anyone have any ideas?

    A few things to check.....
    The external drive attached to your Mac must be formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
    Check Time Machine Options to make sure that the drive is not excluded from Time Machine backups

  • What is the best format to use on an external hard drive so I can both back up my Macbook Pro and also put movies on it from another hard drive (PC)?

    I am looking for a solution to whether if it is best to get two hard drives or one that can do two things that I want.
    I am looking for a hard drive format that can both back up my 500GB Macbook Pro but I was also wondering if I could also put movies on it from another hard drive that is PC based. Would partitioning the hard drive work for this? I don't know what are the best formats to use.
    If this is too hard it might just be easier having a separate 500GB hard drive for back up of my Mac and another bigger hard drive for the movies etc (the files are probably bigger than 4GB). Any help would be greatly appreciated as I need to make a decision soon!

    Csound1 wrote:
    Microsoft has not released the official exFAT file system specification, and a restrictive license from Microsoft is required in order to make and distribute exFAT implementations. Microsoft also asserts patents on exFAT which make it impossible to re-implement its functionality in a compatible way without violating a large percentage of them.[13] This renders the implementation, distribution, and use of exFAT as a part of free or open-source operating systems or of commercial software, for which the vendors could not obtain a license from Microsoft, not only technically difficult, but legally impossible in countries that recognize United States software patents.
    Can't help with that, if one is using a Windows machine then they are subjected to their rules and control.
    Limited support outside Windows and Mac OS X operating systems as of 2012, when most consumer electronic devices could only handleFAT12/FAT16/FAT32, rendering exFAT (and flash memory formats using it) impractical as a universal exchange format.
    The OP said they plan to store movies on the external drive.
    Many movies today are well over 4GB in size, thus exFAT has to be used and formatted on the PC, which the Mac can then read.
    Older Windows NT versions up to Windows Vista without Service Pack 1 do not support exFAT.
    Irrelevant, Microsoft provides a free download of exFAT for Windows XP, and Vista shouldn't be running on pre SP1 anyway.
    Some distributions of Linux have begun to include support for exFAT. It is however, only available as a file system in user space, as it's not supported by the kernel.
    Irrelevant, OP is using Windows and OS X, not Linux and if they did Linux can read the files at least and transfer, which is all they care about really.
    Windows Vista is unable to use exFAT drives for ReadyBoost. Windows 7 removes this limitation, enabling ReadyBoost caches larger than 4 GiB.[14]
    Irrelevant, the OP's is intending to use it as transfer drive between Mac's and Windows for movies.
    The standard exFAT implementation only uses a single file allocation table and free space map. FAT file systems instead used alternating tables, as this allowed recovery of the file system if the media was ejected during a write (which occurs frequently in practice with removable media). The optional TexFAT component adds support for additional backup tables and maps, but may not be supported.
    Some relevancy, but only exFAT can handle 4GB+ files between Mac's and PC's, so the need outweighs the possible problem.
    The OP needs to follow the standard Windows practice of "safely removing hardware" before physically disconnecting the external drive. If a write is occurring, it won't allow disconnecting until the write is finished.
    Support for up to 2,796,202 files per subdirectory only.[1][nb 3] Microsoft documents a limit of 65,534 files per sub-directory for their FAT32 implementation, but other operating systems have no special limit for the number of files in a FAT32 directory. FAT32 implementations in other operating systems allow an unlimited number of files up to the number of available clusters (that is, up to 268,304,373 files on volumes without long filenames).[nb 4]
    Not a issue, only in extreme cases of a lot of small files. The OP plans to use it for movies which are usually large and take up a lot of space on the drive.
    IMMO It looks like you just ran off and copied something to argue your point when all the points are basically irrelevant.
    There is only one format that can easily share 4GB sized files between Mac's and PC's without further complications.
    It's ALSO possible to install MacDrive on the PC and format the drive on the Mac HFS+, but I didn't recommend that because I know it's a hassle just like third party NTFS writing software is a hassle on Mac's.
    If you so anti-Microsoft format, then you must know Paragon has to pay a license fee to Microsoft for using the NTFS format.
    At least with exFAT there is no fee to Redmond, at least not yet.

Maybe you are looking for

  • Purchased iTunes songs don't sort correctly with imported CD...

    Specifically, the last three songs of Bonnie Raitt's Nick of Time album had skips after I imported them into my iTunes library. So, I deleted them and downloaded the same songs from iTunes, and the 9th song, "I Will Not Be Denied", will not sort corr

  • Special Field in FBL1n

    Dear Experts How can i add table in special field of FBL1n,  can i add GL table in special field to get offseting account in FBL1n? please suggest. how can i add entry in this table? Thanks

  • What is single_percent_format, what is single_percent_format

    I reinstalled MountainLion because my MacBookPro was slow, and now there is a new menu at the top of my menu bar, it says single_percent_format. When I click on it, it gives me these choices.... icon_only_status_format power_source_adapter show_perce

  • Simple Question - Need URGENT Answer! II

    What is the cheapest hard drive from this search that's 10GB or higher and would work in a Powerbook 145 or 160? Link

  • Alienware Gaming Computers with incomplete specs

    The new Alienware gaming computers (AA-2343CSB & A51-2443CSB) show dual graphics cards on the back image but make no mention of that on the specs.  They also make no mention of the power supply wattage which is entremely important if you ever plan to