Switching off the Time Capsule: risk of damage?
Hello everyone. If I switch off my time capsule (1TB, recently bought) when not in use, for example at night (I think to connect it to a power strip), could I damage it? Or maybe only if the TC hard drive is running?
Thanks
Welcome to the discussions!
This topic has been pretty much beat to death on the forums as there has been and will remain different schools of thought on this.
One school maintains that there is a very good reason that Apple chose not to even put a power switch on the device, and that is that it was designed to run 24/7. Powering off the TC causes it to lose its connection with the local network and internet. When the device is powered back up, these connections must be re-established. Also, when any electronic device is powered up from an off state, the components within the device are subjected to a sudden rush of current. The school thinking on this is that the device will last longer if the unit is left on and subjected to less stress.
The other school says power it down when not in use to save a bit of electricity. They don't buy the theory that a sudden rush of current has any long term effect on the device and claim that the device may actually last longer because the electronic components are subjected to less heat this way over time.
Choose your school, or maybe a middle ground that would have the TC powered off for long weekends, vacations or other extended periods when the device is not needed for backups.
Similar Messages
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Do I have to turn off the time capsule?
I just bough a time capsule, but I don´t know if I have to turn it off when I´m not at home, I mean while I´m not using it. I would like to know if it is a better idea to buy a battery backup.
I appreciate your help.
ThanksThe TC can run 24/7 no problems.. but if you are away from home for long periods then there is no issues in turning it off.
Battery backup ??
Just a 2.5" laptop drive in a holder.. sometimes they can be powered directly from USB if the Mac can provide sufficient current. That is better than other methods when you are on the road. -
When shutting down all devices at days end is it advisable to pull the power plug daily on the Time Capsule.
It is up to you to decide.
My opinion would be that if Apple wanted you to power down the Time Capsule on a regular basis, they would have included an "Off" switch, or a means to power off the Time Capsule from your computer. -
There are 4 Mac's in my house and I'd like to back up all of them to a time capsule, i know it is possible to do this. however i would also like to be able to dump files like; music, pictures, and documents onto the time capsule so that the others mac will be able to access these files when they want to. This will stop the need for me leaving my mac on whilst other macs access my hard drive, or passing USB sticks around the house.
With an ordinary disk you can partition it with Disk Utility to reserve space for various things. With the Time Capsule you cannot partition it because Disk Utility doesn't work on networked drives and AirPort Utility can only format an entire Time Capsule, not paritition it.
You can simply store the files you want to share on the Time Capsule and turn on file sharing, and it will do what you want. The only downside is that because you can't reserve space, eventually the Time Machine backup(s) on it will reduce the amount of available space to zero. This would eventually happen anyway whether you store your files on there or not, and then Time Machine starts deleting the oldest backups, but if you store your files on there and space goes to zero people won't be able to add files.
I'm not sure about the "not powered" part. For many months I stored an iTunes library and music on a USB hard drive that was powered off the Time Capsule USB port. Of course, I did this so that the music would be accessible anywhere in the home. I swear that the external drive never used its own power cable. It was a portable bus-powered USB enclosure with a laptop-sized drive in it, though, so it normally does not require a power cable. If the files you need to share aren't too large, you might think about plugging in a USB stick drive which would be very compact, needs little power, inexpensive, and has no moving parts to break or heat up. -
When I switch my time capsule to 5.0ghz mode the range of my wireless network drops significantly. Near the Time Capsule my Macbook Pro works fine, in my bedroom I have almost no signal. In mixed mode it works fine both placed. Any ideas on how to get 5.0 working? I thought 5.0Ghz was supposed to have a wider range. Do I need to change a setting on the Macbook Pro?
Thanks, WI'm not sure if you understand that 5 GHz has some upsides, but also some very significant downsides.
The upside is that the 5 GHz signal will allow faster speeds.
The downside is that you must always give up something in order to gain something else.Unfortunately, the marketing hype about 5 GHz does not go into very many details about this.
In the case of 5 GHz, the 5 GHz signals are much weaker than 2.4 GHz signals, so they do not travel as far or penetrate any obstructions like walls or ceilings nearly as well as 2.4 GHz signals. In many cases, in order to get good 5 Ghz performance, you literally have to have almost a line-of-sight relationship between your computer and the wireless router.
If you have a new dual band router, which broadcasts both a 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz signal simutaneously, your Mac will connect to the best signal quality automatically depending on its location in relation to the router. In the same room, without any obstructions, it will connec to 5 GHz. But, take the laptop down the hall a few rooms and around the corner and the Mac will connect to the 2.4 GHz signal because at that location, the 2.4 GHz signal is not only stronger, it is also faster. -
I’ve tried to update my i-Tunes version after the site suggested I should following my i-Pad Air being plugged into it for the first time. The update seemed successful but the program would not open at all despite switching off the PC and re-starting several times. I then tried wiping the original software from the computer and re-downloading from scratch. Each time I tried the download failed with a message saying “Service “Apple Mobile Device” failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to start system services” At this stage, the only way forward was to “abort” the download. This I have done now four times and the same thing happens. When I did finally manage to get an i-Tunes shortcut on my desktop, the program wouldn’t open saying: “i-Tunes was not installed correctly. Please re-install i-Tunes. Error 7 (Windows error 193)” Any ideas to resolve this?
Try the following user tip:
Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates -
Hi
I just went from PC to MAC. Have a MAC Mini and wanted to get a time capsule for backups. I would like to use it as a wired device instead of wireless. Would me connecting it to my router do the trick? Can I then use the LAN ports in the back of the capsule like I would a network switch? Can I just disable the wireless router part of the capsule as I already have an ADSL2+ Wireless Router.
ThanksI wanted to run a cable upstairs from the switch downstairs so the Time capsule becomes my upstairs switch (as I only have Wireless upstairs at the moment. That will work right?
Cheers.
Yes, that is also fine.. ethernet being the cable you run.. !!
You still don't have to use a TC.. which is still a rather expensive box for the job.. an Airport Extreme would offer the same exactly minus hard disk for cheaper price and more than likely better lifespan.. TC with internal power supply run too hot. -
i did follow "From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences. Choose View > Time Machine. Set Time Machine to On if it is off "
. .....but i couldn't find the time capsule from airport utility..... why?Are you using a new 802.11ac Time Capsule - the "tall" one - and are you still using Mac OS X 10.6.8?
You need OS X 10.7.5 "Lion" or later, or an iOS device, to configure an 802.11ac Time Capsule:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1645/en_US/airport_time_capsule_802 11ac_setup.pdf
See page 12. -
My 1st generation Time Capsule/2007 keeps shutting off and disconnecting from internet? What could be the problem? How long do the Time Capsules usually last?
That it is still working is miraclous.. most have died.. lots started flaking out at 18months to 2years..
See deadtimecapsule.org
The few that remained now seem to have reached EOL.. you can repair if you have some skills.. fairly cheaply.
But it is well and truly time to replace.
https://sites.google.com/site/lapastenague/a-deconstruction-of-routers-and-modem s/apple-time-capsule-repair -
Not sure you got my earlier message so I am posing my question again.
Having upgraded my iPad to the more recent OSsomething, my mailbox no longer receives or sends emails.
My wifi is fine, checked with my laptop which works fine. I have switched off the iPad many times but the problem remains. Can anyone help?First thing to try is to reset your device. Press and hold the Home and Sleep buttons simultaneously until the Apple logo appears. Let go of the buttons and let the device restart. See if that fixes your problem.
That's not the same as turning it off or on.
Another things to try is to reset your settings. Use the Settings app for this.
Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings
You will not lose data but you will have to enter all passwords again.
If the problem persists after the reset check your email accounts on the iPad. You could delete them and add them back. This is also done in the Settings app.
Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendar -
I have iPhone 5s. After updating to 8.0.2 , it freezes often when i cut the call... happened 7 times ... had to switch off every time .... what to do?????? help....
Hi there SraZamora,
The troubouleshooting steps in the article below can be helpful when troubleshooting unresponsive devices.
iOS: Not responding or does not turn on
-Griff W. -
My Led flash light switch on all the time,anybody got the solution.i tried 4 things but it couldn't solved the problem. 1.settings-accessibility-LEd flash off 2. Switch off the phone for several times. 3.press the home button n power button until the apple logo appears. 4.reset my all settings.
My Led flash light switch on all the time,anybody got the solution.i tried 4 things but it couldn't solved the problem. 1.settings-accessibility-LEd flash off 2. Switch off the phone for several times. 3.press the home button n power button until the apple logo appears. 4.reset my all settings.
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I have been using the time capsule to back up both my iMac and recently added MacAir, it has been working fine but recentlky I had turned the time machine off on the Macair and now when I try to turn it back on it keeps looking for a disk even if I select the time capsule. Do I have to start the backup for the Macair as a new backup?
That happened to my brother earlier. He went into Facebooand then into another app and the same thing happened. he ended up having to restore it. Mine stayed with the Apple logo for a bit but its back to normal after pressing the buttons a million times. I hope you get your problem sorted. Goodluck!
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i'm using a macbook pro 2011 15",while i was charging it,i accidentally switched off the power supply while it is half way charging,will the battery get damaged if charging got interupted and switched on and off?
you are welcome
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I purchased a 2TB time capsule yesterday. I set it up as a router and did the backup no problem. I then navigated the backup folder and found that all my photos/video that I am nervous about losing are on there. So far so good.
Taking a step back, the reason I bought the time capsule was 1.) I needed a router 2.) I have a mac and 3.) I am running out of disk space on that mac (I shoot and cut a lot of video and have years of high quality pictures on my mac hard drive)
Can I now delete them from my mac computer to free space? I have used standard external disk drives in the past, but the whole "Back Up" piece of things has me confused. I love the idea of backing up my computer so I want to keep that functionality, but will the drive still function as a static external hard drive? Or do I need to move that material in seperately as a folder outside of the backup folder?
I am nervous that if the backup overwrites information as the disk space becomes limited that in 10 years when I fill this drive up, that I will lose all of my photos that are part of the backups that I am running now.....
Or worse, I am nervous that if I remove things from my mac right now, that the next time that a back up is performed that it will lose this data as it is not currently on the device I am backing up? How does this work?
I apologize, the back up is a very new concept to me and I want to make sure I do not goof anything up.applefool wrote:
Taking a step back, the reason I bought the time capsule was . . . 3.) I am running out of disk space on that mac
That's an entirely different thing from backups. A backup is an extra copy, in case the original is lost or damaged. Additional space is just that -- more space for originals.
While it's possible to use the same disk (such as the TC's internal HD) for both things, it's dangerous -- when (not if) something happens to the TC, you risk losing the originals that are on it. To be safe, you need (at least) two copies of everything important, in (at least) two different places.
Many (including me) recommend at least three copies (originals plus 2 backups). While it's not common for the Mac's hard drive to fail about the same time as the backup drive, it does happen. There are several threads here where it did, and very expensive data recovery was needed, but in some cases everything was lost.
So as the others recommend, getting an external HD for the stuff there isn't room for on your Mac is one solution for not having enough space. But you might explore getting a larger internal HD. If possible, that might be bettter.
Then, also get another external, for "secondary" backups, so you're doubly protected. If you get a portable model, you can take it offsite for even better protection. See #27 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions for details and some suggestions.
Can I now delete them from my mac computer to free space? I have used standard external disk drives in the past, but the whole "Back Up" piece of things has me confused.
You're not the first or only one.
There are different types of backup apps, so there are different answers for the different types.
As the others have posted, Time Machine will, sooner or later, delete it's backup copies of things that are no longer on your system. Depending on how long the original was there and when backups were run, that can be in as little as 24 hours, or as long as there's room. So no, don't take the chance with data that's important!
Is there helpful information on how to add an external drive to your backup set up?
See the green box in #2 of the FAQ article. All you have to do is format it for a Mac and remove it from the exclusion list.
Once I set it up, will I need to leave the hard drive plugged into my mac in order for the data to be backed up?
It can only be backed-up while it's connected.
If I do, and a back up is performed without the hard drive attached to my computer, will it remove the backup of what was on the hard drive
No (unless you leave it disconnected until Time Machine starts deleting old backups).
It will back up the external when it's connected, and not complain if it isn't.
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