Can I use time capsule as an external HDD to free up memory on my comuter along with the time machine backups?

I currently am considering a WD My Book Live Home Network Drive for 189.00 but would consider a time capule if it will allow me to rid my iMac of all the pictures and videos to free up my memory and store it on the time capsule for easy access on my 2 mac computers and apple TV. The WD also will allow me to access my itunes library via wireless connection without going through my computer. Please help.

The Time Capsule is for your backups.
You always want to keep "original" copies of your media on one drive, and backups on another drive. In case one drive fails....or rather I should say when...not if...a drive fails.....you still have copies on the other hard drive.
While you could move your images and media files to the Time Capsule from your Mac...and then delete the files on your Mac to free up space....you may not have considered that you have no backups if you do this.
If the Time Capsule has a problem....rather I should say....when the Time Capsule has a problem.....you lose all of your images and media. The same would apply if you use the WD drive just for images and media.
Given the investment in images, time and money for your data, only the most foolhardy of users would consider something like this.
Bottom line...you need two drives...the WD drive and a Time Capsule. They you can add the WD drive directly to your Mac and move the images and media there. Then, the Time Capsule will backup the files on your both your Mac and the WD drive.
So, you have "original" files and data on one drive and backups for that data on another drive. That's a bare minimum backup plan. Many of use use a dual backup and plan and keep an extra copy of backups offsite, in case of theft, fire or flood.

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Can I use the old Time Capsule as an external HDD only?

how to make TC to be a new external because i dont need to back up things,just want to be External HDD,if work,can the files through by wifi ?

Hedwig Wang wrote:
i dont need to back up things
when you lose important files for the first time, you will see how wrong that statement is
how to make TC to be a new external
click here for instructions. once set up, time machine may ask you if you want to use the TC for backups but you can decline.
the TC will show up in the finder under the shared header. click on the icon and your computer will connect to the TC, when that's done, you will see a folder called Data, which actually is the TC's drive. click on the folder and the TC's drive will mount on your desktop.
now you can drag & drop files to it like with any ordinary external HD.
can the files through by wifi ?
yes.

Can I use a USB 2.0 external HDD as a bootable clone?

Hi all -
That's the question really, apologies if it's been asked numerous time before, I couldn't find a straight answer when I searched. I currently have 2 Firewire externals. One is for Time Machine, the other is a bootable clone. However the bootable clone is too small for my current iMac's internal HDD. Can I use a USB 2.0 instead or does it have to be Firewire? And would it need its own power supply, or could it be USB powered?
Thanks

No prob, Thanks for the star.
Your better off starting a new thread for a new question as it will have a different title and more people may be able to help.
A quick search in amazon brought up this:
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-500GB-Scorpio-Laptop/dp/B001JSSDGU/ref=sr12?ie=UTF8&qid=1232579874&sr=8-2
you will need to get an external case for it. It may need two usb ports or may not, I'm not to sure. It may work at a slower peed with one and max speed with two. A good google search is an excellent way of finding answers.
Regards

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.

How can I use my Time Capsule as an external Hard Drive for my PC? My PC can't find it.

Hi, I just bought this Time Capsule for my home. I've got the internet access for all my devices (Mac, iPad, PC, iPhone) and I've got the Mac backup working through Time Machine. I'm supposed to be able to use the Time Capsule as an external drive for my PC, but I can't figure it out. My PC doesn't recognize the Time Capsule as a Network Place. I called AppleCare, but they don't have all the answers for "PC issues." They tried to get me to Map a Network Drive, but my PC popped up a window asking for a Username and Password. It looks like something similar to when I VPN into my company network from home.
I'm using Windows XP Professional, Version 2002, Service Pack 3.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!

Download and install the airport utility for windows.. it isn't strictly necessary but the bonjour service makes life easier.
The request for username and password is correct. Username is whatever you like.. but windows needs it.. so admin.. being the common router one.. password by default is public unless you changed it.
Now to get the TC to work properly..
1. The names should be SMB compliant.. by default they are wrong.. use short names, no spaces no special characters.. pure alphanumeric. That is for TC name and wireless names.
2. Wireless passwords should also be same use WPA2 private.
3. In the disk sharing page.. manual setup.. put in the windows workgroup name.. ie WORKGROUP.. this helps the discovery process.
4. In the same area, turn on the guest account to read and write.. not necessary but helps with later versions of windows particularly.
5. Access the drive by using the direct IP address. ie in Windows Explorer address bar, \\10.0.1.1 (or whatever IP the TC is at).

I use My Time Capsule as a external hard drive, can I transfer files other than wirelessly?

I use My Time Capsule as a external hard drive, can I transfer files other than wirelessly?

will TC appear on My desk top?
It will, if you do the following:
Open Macintosh HD and locate the Time Capsule icon under the SHARED heading on the left side of he window.
Click on the Time Capsule icon and a folder representing the drive will appear to the right
Double click the folder and the drive icon will appear on the desktop

Can I use my time capsule as a external hard drive as well

I want to use my time capsule as a external hard drive as well as a back up disk. Is that possible?

You Can!! But Should you??
Can and Should are different.
Here are the issues.
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

How can i use the airport time capsule as a external hard drive?

how can i use the airport time capsule as a external hard drive?

Why do you recommend not place things like iTunes libraries or photo libraries on the drive? It was what I am looking for...
I suggest that you ask the experts over in the iPhoto Support Community about their opinions on placing an iPhoto or Aperture library on the Time Capsule....even if you plan to use a wired connection for your Mac and the Time Capsule.
But, if Terrence Devlin answers, be prepared for a lecture about why you should not ever do this.
If you place the iTunes library on the Time Capsule, be prepared for iTunes to give you messages about not being able to find the library.
In addtion, LaPastenague has the answer for you in a nutshell......corruption problems.
Bottom line....the Time Capsule is for your backups.....not "everyday" files and especially not libraries.

Can I use my 1TB Time Capsule as my external HD AND have it do backups with Time Machine?

I want to be able to utilize my Time Capsule as my external HD because I have 150GB of photos and music to offload but it's unclear to me how to do this - it seems that some say that it can only either do Time Machine backups (that eventually would delete what I want to keep forever) or strictly as an EHD. I currently use it as a router and for my backups.

Not a good idea to use it for both. See #Q3 in Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule.

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 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

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.

Can I use time capsule as an external disk only (not as a wireless router)

how can I use my time capsule as an external disk only. I have had problems with time capsule as a wifi router.

Sure.. but it is still a network drive and must use wireless or ethernet.. the best way is plugged into the main router in bridge mode.. but you can use it in secondary network.. although the setup is more complicated.
It is also less good than a simple external drive.. which is cheaper, faster and more reliable. Consider if the TC doesn't suit your needs get rid of it and opt for simple external drive.

Can I use Time Capsule as an external HD? In this case to edit movies in FinalCut.

Can I use Time Capsule as an external HD? In this case to edit movies in FinalCut.

Yes, but it depends on the setup if you should or not.. not everything you can do you should do.
Are you connected by ethernet?
If you use wireless this can be super slow.. and also subject to corruption of the file.
You cannot use USB to connect.
If you are using a desktop computer, then an external drive is cheap, fast and reliable.
TM can also backup your work.
Using the TC as external drive.. Time Machine (TM) no longer has the ability to backup your work.. it can use TC as a target only.
How is the TC now setup? Did you want to setup in complete isolation to existing networking? If so how are you going to get network connection to internet etc. ??

Can I use time capsule as an external harddisk?

Can I use time capsule as an external harddisk? I mean does my mac see it as an wireless harddisk unit that I can put photos, documents, etc without using back up function?

of course! that's what it is and what it's for!

Can I use time capsule as an external HDD to free up memory on my comuter along with the time machine backups?

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