1 macbook, 2 time capsules, how to alternate backups?

Hi
I have a Macbook Pro that I use in 2 locations. I spend a week in one place then a week in the other, alternating. I have a Time Capsule in each but at the moment I am only backing up to one of the Time Capsules.
If I start to backup to the other Time Capsule will the Macbook do a complete backup from scratch and then maintain two separate sets of backup data, recognising each TC as I change disks each time I change location or will switching now mess up everything causing my earlier data to be forgotten?
Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

You can do this, but there are some considerations.
The first time you switch to a new drive it will do a complete backup. It will continue to backing up regularly to that drive.
When you switch back to the previous drive, the next backup there will include everything that changed from the last time you backed on the drive (the previous one).
So what you have in effect is a somewhat discontinuous set of backups. By that I mean that at each location you'll have the hourly backups of changes made at one location each week interspersed with a single weeks worth of changes in a single update from the other location.
It is possible to copy/transport the sparesbundle files that contain the backup between Time Capsules, but that more or less equates to hauling the TC or an equivalent drive back and forth.

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I'm sorry for repeating this, but i have not found a clear answer. i have a macbook wit iTunes library, an iMac, and a time capsule. how can i transfer my itunes library from TC backup to the iMac? thank you -

i'm sorry for repeating this, but i have not found a clear, step-by-step answer in several hours.
i have a macbook with iTunes library, a new iMac, and a new time capsule. how can i transfer my itunes library from TC backup to the iMac?
(sharing the iTunes library between the macbook & iMack requires both machines and seems silly ...)
thank you -

No.

I have a new Macbook pro and can't recall the password I used with my Time capsule - How can I (ideally) retrieve or possibly change the time capsule password?

I have a new Macbook pro and can't recall the password I used with my Time capsule - How can I (ideally) retrieve or possibly change the time capsule password?

Remember security on a TC is an illusion.
Simply press the reset button for 1-2 sec.. you must not do too long .. it will then hard reset.. but soft reset will revert all passwords to default for 5min. ie TC password is now public.
Remember this the next time because anybody at all can change your passwords.
Once into the TC you can then open the view passwords if you wanted any weaker security. Click and open the TC.. and click on edit.. then go to the top menu..
Voila .. all your passwords in plain sight to any Tom Dick and Fred.

HT1218 How do I troubleshoot this: Time Capsule cannot complete the backup. The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/ MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use.

This is the second time I've encountered this issue with Time Capsule using Time Machine automatic backup. I haven't found the following specific error message in the list of troubleshooting issues: "Time Capsule cannot complete the backup. The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data/MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” is already in use."
I'm not certain what causes this issue. I think it may have something to do with having to force shutdown with apps still open when the beachball hangs and the MacBook has to be rebooted.
Has anyone else dealt with this issue?

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
Restart your Mac and the Time Capsule. In most of the cases, this should solve the problem.
If it doesn't work, see > http://pondini.org/TM/C12.html

Connecting Macbook with Time Capsule via Ethernet

Hello!
I have a time capsule and a macbook. I used to backup my data with the time capsule via ethernet. Now there was an update to airport I guess and since then the menue to configure the time capsule looks different and now I have trouble finding out how to set up the connection between macbook and time capsule via ethernet. I dont want the WLAN to be used so I want the ethernet be the connecting part of both esp because i want to backup lots of data now but Im missing the setting that said use use time capsule via ethernet. I just dont know how to set it up now.
I have the ethernet cable in the very left ethernet slot next to the reset button of the time capsule and its also plugged in to the ethernet slot on the macbook. But what are the settings for this connection.
Can someone help please otherwise i think my 23GB backup will take 3 days...
Thanks in advance
Dine

Open the network preferences and make sure the ethernet is getting an IP from the TC.. you do not need to change any settings .. all you need is network connection.. if the ethernet is working just turn off airport for the time the backup is going on. Once you turn off airport in the MBP the connection will be forced to ethernet. You can do it more correctly by rearranging the order of preference for network connection.. but for now.. just turn off airport.

HT201250 How can one Time Capsule be backed up backup to another?

My Macbook pro with 160GB hard drive is almost full, and so is is my 1TB time capsule (on which I backup for 5 macs in my family). I have just bought a 3TB Time Capsule now for all backups. My question: how can I use the old time capsule for my Macbook data to free up space on my hard drive and backup my data to the new Time Capsule?

leejpepper wrote:
how can I use the old time capsule for my Macbook data to free up space on my hard drive
Usually not a good idea. See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #20.
and backup my data to the new Time Capsule?
Just start fresh. You can always view and restore from the old ones via the Browse Other Backup Disks option, per #17 in the FAQ.

I install LION on my mac pro 2008 and it's alway's pop with " there was a problem connecting to the server " Time Capsule" .How can i remove this popup. My Time machine is working fine and also rename it. But the popup keeps on coming with the old name.

I installed LION on my mac pro 2008 and it's alway's pop with " there was a problem connecting to the server " Time Capsule" .How can i remove this popup. My Time machine is working fine and also rename it with less than 7 karakters. But the popup keeps on coming with the old name.

I have a BT Infinity router plugged into the Time Capsule, not sure where the radio settings are?
They are able to use the network settings of the TC i.e. they can connect to the internet via the wifi through the TC but when they try and connect to the AirPort Disk this is where it is not allowing a connection.
I don;t have the drive shared out at all at the moment, is this necessary? How do I do this if so?
I have attached the screen shots of all the settings.
Thanks again for your help.

I have a new time capsule how do you turn up the transmitting power for wifi

I have a new time capsule how do you turn up the transmitting power?

Transmit Power is set by default at 100%, the maximum allowed by law.
There are no settings to allow higher output.

My M-Air start up disk if full; I have the a new time capsule, how do I transfer and use the TC as my main storage drive?

The start-up disk on my MAC AIR is full - I just added a new Time Capsule - how do you transfer your files from the AIR to the TC and set it up to be used as my primary storage disk - not my Mac Air

Get a second external drive, drag both the iTunes library and the pictures to it, launch iTunes with the Option key held down, and point it to that instance of the library. This also works with iPhoto, but see below.
A drive or partition needs to be formatted as Mac OS Extended in order to hold an iPhoto library or for Time Machine to back it up.
(83755)

After resetting Time Capsule, how do I access my previous backups?

After re-setting Time Capsule, how do I access my previous backups?

Access it to do what??
You can migrate the data.. see Pondini instructions for migrate. (or from apple).
His instructions are a little out of date.. but still more useful than the over generalised stuff Apple give you.
http://pondini.org/OSX/MigrateLion.html
OS X: How to migrate data from another Mac using Mavericks
If you wanted to continue using the backup with TM.. no you cannot inherit a backup from a different machine.
To simply access the backup .. then open the sparsebundle from finder or TM..
See the instructions in Pondini.. Q15-17 here.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
If you want to do something else you need to tell us what it is??

First timer. Just installed Time Capsule. The first backup looks like it will take two days at the pressent speed. Can I close MacBook Pro and have first back up continue, and can I unplug and plug in at work without affecting the backup?

I'm a first timer on this (or any) help site. I just installed Time Capsule. The first backup looks like it will take two days at the present speed. Can I close MacBook Pro and have first back up continue, and can I unplug tomorrow and plug in at work without affecting the backup?

Hi Oneinspirit,
Time Machine backups can be paused by choosing "Stop Backing Up" from the Time Machine icon on the right hand side of your menu bar ( ). Once you're ready to resume the backup, you can choose "Back Up Now" from the same icon.
Start a backup: Click the Time Machine icon in the menu bar, then choose Back Up Now.
Pause a backup: Click the Time Machine icon in the menu bar, then choose Stop Backing Up.
OS X Yosemite: Start, pause, and resume a Time Machine backup
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH18851
All my best,
Allen

Lost my Popular Folder from my Favorites Bar in Safari; have a full backup on time capsule; How do I restore those needed web addresses?

Lost my Popular Folder from my Favorites Bar in Safari; have a full backup on time capsule; How do I restore those needed web addresses?

Daniel ..
Try this discussion > Restoring bookmarks from time machine

New MacBook Pro Time Capsule Backup Restore Some Folders Only

Hi
I am getting a new MacBook Pro. I have the latest Time Capsule and have fully backup my old MBP.
I am doing a fresh install of all my apps.
MY ?: Can I just restore some specific folders after I get my new MPB, or is the backup from the older MPB specific to that MPB
Can I just restore ONLY MY DOCUMENTS from the older back up to my new MBP.
Somewhere down the line, someone told me it cannot. Backups are only restorable to the machine that made it.
Thank you

Lady Engineer wrote:
MY ?: Can I just restore some specific folders after I get my new MPB, or is the backup from the older MPB specific to that MPB
Can I just restore ONLY MY DOCUMENTS from the older back up to my new MBP.
You can use that backup with the computer you want, always that the other Mac uses the same or a newer OS X than the other Mac.
During the first start of the new Mac, it will ask you to restore a backup, so select that option and follow the steps. It will ask you for what you want to restore from the backup, so you can select the folders, settings... you want to restore to the new Mac

How can I configure a second time Capsule just as a backup disc?

I bought the new 2nd Generation Time Capsule and want to backup the datas to my old Time Capsule. I connected it via USB cable A/A and got problems to configure it right. Can`t see it in the finder, to chosse it in my Intego Backup Manager Pro as the goal destiniation for the back ups. Does anybody have experience on this? Before I connected the Capsule as a net device and was able to backup the files from the new one, but not the backup Time machine file, from the Mac on which Intego Backup is running. The others did well.

You cannot use USB like this.. the TC is now and always a network drive.
So you bridge one TC and plug it by ethernet into the other one.
To copy backups you can follow these instructions for TM.
Transfer TM backups..
Apple doco. http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5097
Pondini doco http://pondini.org/TM/18.html
As for your other backups that is dependent on its format.. but should be simple copy and paste.

Time Machine/Time Capsule : Dual Computer Use/Backup deletion

I currently use Time Machine and a 1Tb Time Capsule to backup my iMac.
My Time capsule was 'partitioned' as follows by creating .dmg image files -
350Gb - My Music
250Gb - Other Stuff
leaving 400Gb free for Time Machine backups.
Only 50Gb of backup space now remains, after which I presume Time Machine should automatically begin to delete older backups.
I am about to acquire a new Macbook Pro which I would like to also backup wirlessly to the same Time Capsule.
Questions -
- Do I have to manually free up enough space to enable Macbook Pro to create at least an initial backup?
- How will Time capsule then 'share' the backup space available between the two computers?
- Would it be wise to delete (if so, how?) all incremental backups of my iMac so that I'm at least starting both computers from initial backup status.(could delete everything,but initial backup did take a long time).
Any advice much appreciated - thanks in advance

Please ignore this post - I was unable to login as my normal user at the time.
Same question now posted under my correct account

1 macbook, 2 time capsules, how to alternate backups?

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