Erasing all backups in Time capsule

How do I completely erase the contents of my Time Machine backups in my Time Capsule. I prefer to keep the Airport Utility settings I have made, but would like to have a clean slate. I cannot find any info in Apple Support, nor cannot find it in Discussions. I did it once before, but cannot locate the information.

Here is how to do what you want to do:
Open AirPort Utility - Click Manual Setup
Click the Disks icon
Click the Disks tab just below that
Click Erase
The Quick Erase option should be fine if you plan to keep the Time Capsule. Otherwise the Zero Out option would be the way to go. Quick Erase will only take a moment. Zero Out will probably take 4-5 hours or so.
Message was edited by: Bob Timmons

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Erasing all data from Time Capsule

I bought a 500gb TC from Best Buy less than a month ago. Before purchasing I asked about the capacity. I explained to the salesperson that after a crash a year ago I was able to locate my most important files by connecting to my Powerbook and backed them up onto 6-8 DVDs. He said that was about 30gb. I also said that I had the Powerbook and a Mac Mini with about the same or a little less data that would be backed up. He assured me that 500gb would be plenty of room.
After backing up all three with no new data, 2/3 of the capacity has been used. I am planning on returning the 500gb and getting a 1T. Hopefully I can do so without incurring a restocking fee.
How do I do a clean erase of the Time Capsule before exchanging? I do not want any of my information left on it. Also how much time should I anticipate the process taking? Thanks in advance for all responses.

How do I do a clean erase of the Time Capsule before exchanging?
Go to Airport Utility --> Manual Setup --> Disks --> Highlight "Time Capsule Disk" on the left --> Click "Erase" on the right.
Rename the disk and select the level secure erasure.

Kernel panic with wifi backup to Time Capsule

I have had no problem with wireless backup to Time Capsule until recently when I would consistently get a kernel panic during the backup. Is it a corrupt file? How would I isolate it? Or could it be a directory problem that DiskWarrior would fix? I can mount the backup image on my desktop OK.
I suppose I could erase my backup image on the Time Capsule, but I dont want to lose all that data. And if I did, what is the best way to archive that TIme Capsule backup image?
Thanks for any help.

Arthur Simonsen wrote:
I have had no problem with wireless backup to Time Capsule until recently when I would consistently get a kernel panic during the backup. Is it a corrupt file? How would I isolate it? Or could it be a directory problem that DiskWarrior would fix? I can mount the backup image on my desktop OK.
First, Repair your backups per #A5 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum.
If that doesn't help, here's a bunch of kernel panic info:
Apple Support - About kernel panic messages
Mac OS X Kernel Panic FAQ
The X Lab - Resolving Kernel Panics
Apple Developer - Technical Note TN2063: Understanding and Debugging Kernel Panics
Tutorial: Avoiding and eliminating Kernel panics
I suppose I could erase my backup image on the Time Capsule, but I dont want to lose all that data. And if I did, what is the best way to archive that TIme Capsule backup image?
If your backups are ok, erasing the drive probably won't help. But to "archive" the backups, see this Apple article: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1281

I have used Airport Time Capsule with my iMac for several years. I recently purchased a MacBook Air and when it tried to backup to Time Capsule it couldn't because Time Capsule is full. How can I now use the 3TB Airport Time Capsule to back up both?

I have used Airport Time Capsule with my iMac for a couple years. I recently purchased a MacBook Air and when it tried to backup to Time Capsule it couldn't because Time Capsule is full. How can I now use the 3TB Airport Time Capsule to back up both the iMac and MacBook Air? I don't mind losing earlier backups. I have excluded some items from backing up, but since the Airport Time Capsule is full, I can't even begin to back up the MacBook Air.

On your Mac.......
Open Finder > Applications > Utilities > AirPort Utility
Click on the Time Capsule icon, then click Edit in the smaller window that appears
Click on the Disks tab at the top of the window
Click Erase Disk
On the next window that appears, select the Quick Erase option, then click Erase
The operation will only take a few minutes.
Now you are ready to start new backups of both Macs. Back up one Mac first, then back up the other. Do not try to back up both Macs as the same time.

How to backup from Time Capsule to external HD?

How to set up files backup from Time Capsule to external HD?
Here is configuration: MacBook + MacAir + Time Capsule (which I use as a storage) + 2Tb WD MyPassport (USB connected to TimeCapsule)
I keep files like photos on TimeCapsule to be available by WiFi and I want to set up my Time Machine to backup picture folder from TimeCapsule to MyPassport HD.

Time Machine can't back up a network volume. You'll have to use third-party software. I don't have a specific recommendation. There is no efficient way at all to back up a Time Capsule, which is why it should only be used as a backup destination, not as a general-purpose file server.

Same disk space after erasing all backup of a folder in TM

I entered the Time Machine and chose to erase all backups of a very large movies folder.
but the disk space is still the same.
how can i claim the disk space back ?

Thanks for your answer. I searched that website before a no answer there.
Also no "sparsebundle" file is involved here.
I am backing up to another partition of my hard drive.
Right now TM is complaining every hour about lack of disk space. so I expects TM to manage the free space wise.
I think maybe there was a problem with deleting the backups of the folder i removed (which I removed through the TM Interface)
any other ideas ?
thanks

Backup of Time Capsule

I have got a Time Capsule for making backups of all my devices. In addition I want to regularly backup the Time Capsule itself, however at another address, for abvious safety reasons. What are my options?

The TC has no built in backup.. as you would normally define it.
It has archive.. You plug a USB disk of equal size or larger than the data on the TC, and press archive in the airport utility. It backs up the entire disk.. for large disks it takes 12-24hours.. during that time no backup is possible to the TC. There is no incremental.. no nice rsync.. no attempt to make TM useful.. since it cannot backup network drives.
You can also buy CCC and backup to another disk plugged into the computer.. or a different network drive. But all packets go through the computer.
If you are making a backup of TM backups .. don't bother..
Use TM to backup to multiple destinations..
Or use a different backup software like CCC which is far better to recover with if you need a whole drive restored.

Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to "Time Capsule. The backup disk image /Volumes/Data/MacBook Pro.sparsebundle could not be created (error 60)"

We are Mountain Lion using Time Machine to backup to Time Capsule. When the backup tries to run, an error appears after a couple of minutes saying "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer." Then an error shows up saying "Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to "Time Capsule.The backup disk image /Volumes/Data/MacBook Pro.sparsebundle could not be created (error 60)"
I low level reformatted the Time Capsule and that didn't fix it. I then tried using Time Machine on another computer to back up to that same Time Capsule and it worked- so I'm doubting it's the Time Capsule.
I've noticed that when Time Machine runs, that a folder called Data at /Volumes/ appears while Time Machine is trying to back up. I think it's making the sparsebundle to transfer to the Time Capsule.
However, after a couple of minutes- it comes back saying that the disk is unreadable.
I think it's something wrong with either creating the sparsebundle or opening the disk image that seems to be a part of the Time Machine backup process on the local drive.
I am able to create a disk image with Disk Utilitiy without any problem on that system. I've repaired the disk and disk permissions with Disk Utility and replaced the directory with Disk Warrior. I've trashed what preference files I could find and restarted. I've completely removed the backup destination from the computer and added it back again.
Help!
Thanks,
Neil

neillhowell wrote:
I've noticed that when Time Machine runs, that a folder called Data at /Volumes/ appears while Time Machine is trying to back up. I think it's making the sparsebundle to transfer to the Time Capsule.
Yes, exactly. It makes one sparse bundle per Mac.
It's possible the TC's disk is too full for a new sparse bundle, or there may be some other problem.
Via the Finder, locate the existing sparse bundle (see the pink box in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #17 if you're not sure how to do that). See how large it is (plus how large anything else that may be there). If the total is very near the size of the TC, that may be the problem.
If not, a clue may be lurking in your logs. Use the widget in #A1 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting to display the backup messages from your logs. Locate the backup in question (probably the first one displayed), then copy and post all the messages here.

After formatting my HD and eventually restore my system from a backup on Time Capsule, will I still have access to my old backups as normally used to do via Time Machine?

I have a Time Capsule (4th Gen) and my backups on it, I need to completely erase my hard drive. My question is: after formatting my MacBook HD and eventually restore my system (OS X 10.6.8) from a backup on Time Capsule, will I still have access to my old* backups as normally used to do via Time Machine?
*(-and to the newer backups- if I had not restored my system from the last backup).
THANKS

That's a good question. Technically, Time Machine should make a new backup but not erase any old backups. But if there isn't sufficient space on the backup drive, then I'm not sure if Time Machine will simply warn you or just go ahead and remove old backups to make room for the new ones.
In any case, the new backup should have a different backup folder on the backup drive. That's my understanding. You can learn more at pondini.org.

Mavericks don't see my backup in Time Capsule

Good morning guys .
My Mac was too slow because of many updates coming , and decided to do a " clean" installation of Mavericks .
Before , I did as the usual backup on Time Capsule .
After installation , I try to restore the backup and migration wizard by surprise: the Mavericks don't see the backed up .
Note : I can access the Time Machine , in Finder , it mounts , I see that everything is there , but the backup is not read by the migration wizard .
I did several things I saw on the forum and the closest I came was to create a new backup , and then try to restore again the migration wizard or the system restore, this reads like the Mavericks backup but surprise, only backup that I created or backups made in 2012 ( before the system can be upgraded to the Mavericks ) . All backups made in 2013 he did not read , it is as if there were .
Has anyone experienced this and can help me ?
My mac : Macbook Pro 13 Late 2011 2.8 Ghz Intel Core i7 , 8GB Ram
Regards and thank you .
Daves

ruderudy,
If you don't see any Movies underneath the "Sync Movies" portion, a good step to try is resetting sync history.
Mac OS X 10.5: Resetting the SyncServices folder
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1627
Hope this helps,
Raleigh

Error: Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to Time Capsule - Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while creating the backup folder.

error: Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to Time Capsule - Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while creating the backup folder.

If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.
Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar.
Enter the word "Starting" (without the quotes) in the String Matching text field. You should now see log messages with the words "Starting * backup," where * represents any of the words "automatic," "manual," or "standard." Note the timestamp of the last such message. Clear the text field and scroll back in the log to that time. Select the messages timestamped from then until the end of the backup, or the end of the log if that's not clear. Copy them (command-C) to the Clipboard. Paste (command-V) into a reply to this message.
If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don't post many repetitions of the same message.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Some personal information, such as the names of your files, may be included — anonymize before posting.

How do I remove a backup from Time Capsule?

How do I remove a backup from Time Capsule? It is taking up 250 GB on the capsule and I wish to remove it.
I do not wish to erase the Time capsule since I have another backup on there I wish to keep.

Then you use the TM application to manage the backups. See:
A whole lot about Time Machine for help with TM problems. Also you can select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "time machine" to locate articles on how to use TM. See also Mac 101- Time Machine.

I am using a 2TB Time Capsule to backup four Mac computers. Can I also backup the Time Capsule itself to an external 4TB Seagate HD?

I have four Mac computers that are being backed up to a 2TB Time Capsule. I want to know if I can now backup the Time Capsule to an external hard drive. I would like to purchase a Seatgate Backup Plus 4TB Desktop Drive, STCA4000100, to do the job. In simple terms, I want to backup my backup. Does any of this make sense?

Just to add to Bob's comments it would be extremely slow. If you backup the TC 3TB to another drive.. there is no need for a drive bigger than 3TB..btw..
Because the TC cannot back itself up.. at least not incrementals, you need to run the application from a computer.. Bob listed suitable ones,, if you plug the drive into the TC, the files will be copied from TC to the computer then back to the TC and to the extremely slow USB interface. It is better to have the USB disk connected to the fastest interface hopefully USB3 on some computer.
IMHO if you are backing up the TM backups.. any corruption in the backup is then copied straight to the backup of the backups.. you are much better doing a backup fresh and use CCC or superduper to do it so you are using two different softwares. You can also store a couple of disk images of various dates..
One nasty habit of TM is to delete a backup if it discovers it is corrupted in some way.. so all that hard effort in having dated backups is lost in a moment.

I am trying to update my time machine backup on time capsule, but time machine keeps trying to create an entirely new backup (evidenced by the 200GB backup size). How can I get time machine to modify my old backup rather than create a new one?

I am trying to update my time machine backup on time capsule, but time machine keeps trying to create an entirely new backup (evidenced by the 200GB backup size). How can I get time machine to modify my old backup rather than create a new one?

It must have found the old backup corrupt.. so you will more than likely have little choice. You can archive off the old backup if it is still useful.
You can also verify it. See A5 http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
He also has some info on this problem. eg C13.

Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to time capsule-the backup disk is not available

Time Machine couldn’t complete the backup to time capsule-the backup disk is not available

Reboot the network in correct order.. modem.. router/TC.. clients.. 2min gap.
This is just standard windows.. woops, Mac OS networking now.

Erasing all backups in Time capsule

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