How to set up Time Capsule as an external hard drive

Hello,
I tried finding the answers in here but wasn't able to. So I apologize if this redundant.
Here's what I have that's important to my Q. I just bought a Time Capsule to replace my wireless router. I want to use the Time Machine for my MacBook and as an external hard drive for my 2 PCs. The wireless setup went smoothly, no concerns there. Same with the TM backup.
I read in here you need to partition the TC so TM doesn't eat up all the hard drive space (and probably other reasons). I used the Disk Utility on my MacBook to partition the TC into 2 partitions, 250 GB for TM and 1.75 TB for the external drive. TM is a cool feature but not the primary reason why I bought the TC. 250 GB will be plenty of backup for that. I formatted the HD partition as MS-DOS (FAT), not sure that was the correct thing to do though but I didn't see a better option.
From the PCs, I can see the TC on the network but it shows no signs of a partition. Is this normal? Should I be concerned? My goal is to put all my media on the TC. Right now I can erase the TC and start over if needed but I want to make sure I'm doing this right so I can set this up as I described. Do I even need to partition the TC? If not, how do I remove the partition now? The TC also only shows up as a network drive and not just another regular drive, I would imagine this is also normal.
Thanks for your help in advance, JC

jcbautista50 wrote:
I used the Disk Utility on my MacBook to partition the TC into 2 partitions
Are you saying that you used Disk Utility to partition the internal drive of the Time Capsule? That's not supposed to be possible without taking the drive out of the Time Capsule.
250 GB for TM
Per normal Time Machine guidelines, this suggests that you never plan to back up more than 80--125 GB.
1.75 TB for the external drive.
So you also have an external drive attached to the Time Capsule?
I formatted the HD partition as MS-DOS (FAT)
The "HD partition" of what?
From the PCs, I can see the TC on the network but it shows no signs of a partition.
Did you configure the Time Capsule for disk sharing in the Disks panel of AirPort Utility?

Similar Messages

How do I use Time Capsule as an external hard drive?

How do I use Time Capsule as an external hard drive? I want to remove photos & music from my laptop and store them in Time Capsule only.

lyperez wrote:
How do I use Time Capsule as an external hard drive? I want to remove photos & music from my laptop and store them in Time Capsule only.
Apple has specific instructions on moving libraries.
eg itunes.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
You simply follow those instructions..
TC is a network drive.. nothing more.
To move individual files, just copy and paste to a new directory.. not inside a TM sparsebundle please.
BUT.. TC only worries me.. deeply.
It is relatively easy to corrupt a library when you copy to it.. library as a whole is then corrupted and will need to be restored from backup.. wops.. no backup. You are putting at risk all your files.. don't do it.. make sure you backup..
And here is the rub.. TC cannot back itself up.. TM cannot backup network drives.
And where are you going to backup.. to... an external drive on the computer.. in that case, that is where the library should be and the TC used as normal.. ie backup target for TM.
Please read Pondini on how to do it properly though.
Q3 http://pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html

How do I transfer time capsul data to external hard drive to free up space?

How do I transfer time capsule data to external hard drive to free up space?

The fastest method is straight copy and paste..
Plug a suitable hard disk into your computer.. format it Mac OS extended journaled (if not already).
Select the folders/files you want to move.. copy and paste them to the external drive..
Double check that the files are copied because the next step will delete the files forever.. there is no trash on the TC.
Delete the files on the TC.
You can also do a full archive of the TC disk to a USB plugged into it by USB.. it must be formatted Mac OS Extended Journaled. It must be big enough to hold all data on the TC disk.. best idea is to buy the same size or bigger.. so if you use 2TB TC buy a 2TB or bigger external drive.
In airport utility select archive.
That will copy everything on the TC disk to the USB drive.. you could then Erase the disk of the TC.. this is super fast if you choose quick erase.. just a few minutes. But the archive will take many hours.. say for 2TB about 12-24hours.. and you cannot use the disk in the TC during that time.

How do you use time capsule with an external hard drive

I would like to use time machine to back up to my external hard drive.
When I tried to set it up it said it would wipe out everthing currently on it to start using it.
I do not want it to wipe our what I have currently have on the hard drive. Any suggestions?
I do have icloud. Can I back up using time machine to that?

Purchase another external drive. Time Machine will only back up to a drive formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
(63322)

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.

How do I use my time capsule as an external hard drive?

I am trying to use my time capsule as an external hard drive but can't figure it out... can anyone help me out?

1. Run AirPort Utility
2. Click on your Time Capsule
3. Click Edit
4. Click on the Disks Tab
5. Click on Enable file sharing
6. Choose the way you want to control file sharing access, whether it is by the Time Capsule password, an independent disk password, or accounts for different users.
7. You should then be able to access your Time Capusle drive from Finder.

How To Use Time Capsule As An External Hard Drive?

I backup my computer onto the time capsule using time machine.
After that I want to have more space on my computer (becasue my hard drive is almost full) (I still want to have my local snapshots and daily backups) so I want to delete some of my files but I still want them on my time capsule and I know after I back my computer the files will be deleted so I go to finder/my time capsule (under shared)/data/my macbook pro/ then I go to my destop and see; 1: time machine backups 2: data... I go to data and create a new file that will contain everything that I wanted deleted off my macbook so the when the next backup comes, I will still have (in data on time capsule) my time machine backups and my deleted things... will this work? why or why not? I heard people saying that you have to choose the time capsule between a external hard drive or with time machine... but will this attempt work with both>???

It will work but shouldn't be done, as the Time Capsule's internal drive may fail at any time. Anything you want to keep shouldn't be on only one drive.
(80321)

Hello, how would I go about using my time capsule as an external hard drive for my Mac book pro?

Anybody know if I can use my time capsule as an external hard drive for Mac book pro?

Just recognise the following.
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

Time capsule vs. External hard drive for periodic back-ups

Hope this is the right forum. At home I have the old "Back-Up" program that I use for quarterly back ups of certain files as scheduled. Love it. Was gonna set that up on our new(er) Macs here at work only to discover that program was replaced by Time Machine. Time Machine won't let me even in to see how it works without a Time Capsule or other External Hard Drive to connect to...
What I'm trying to do: Schedule monthly (or quarterly) back-ups for settings, certain important files and possibly certain programs from 4 office computers (3 iMacs and 1 Powerbook). Would love to back up to Mobile Me but can't seem to figure out how (Time Machine certainly won't let me). But then want to store the backups either online (like Mobile Me) or in a fire safe...
What I'm looking at: Possible options I've thought of include DVDs (which is really impractical), a 32 GB flash drive (but only would know how to get certain files on there), an external hard drive or a time capsule. But if I get either of those we'd only want to use it once a month and then keep it in the fire safe. Now I know Time Capsule is designed to do regular (daily, weekly, etc) backups... but can I use it to select what is backed up only at certain times and how hard/easy is it to plug in and out if I'm doing it that way. Or would it simply be better for what I'm looking for to get some other external hard drive?
I'm not very good at backing up info - but have to be responsible to at work (plus my brother just had a fire and he lost all his computers and info)... so simply not sure what is best suited for my needs?

Mongul Sec wrote:
At home I have the old "Back-Up" program that I use for quarterly back ups of certain files as scheduled.
Where has your "Back-Up" program been writing those backups?
What I'm trying to do: Schedule monthly (or quarterly) back-ups for settings, certain important files and possibly certain programs from 4 office computers (3 iMacs and 1 Powerbook).
Can you really afford to lose a month's worth of work on those computers?
What I'm looking at: Possible options I've thought of include DVDs (which is really impractical), a 32 GB flash drive (but only would know how to get certain files on there), an external hard drive or a time capsule. But if I get either of those we'd only want to use it once a month and then keep it in the fire safe.
In that case I'd use an external disk drive. Time Machine isn't really intended for what you want to do.

Windows not recognizing my time capsle - I just purchased a new computer that runs windows 8 and it doesn't want to recognize the time capsule as an external hard drive (ie doesn't show up under my compter). I've downloaded airport utility...

I just purchased a new computer that runs windows 8 and it doesn't want to recognize the time capsule as an external hard drive (ie doesn't show up under my compter). I've downloaded and run airport utility, but it seems to have a hard time finding the time capsule...maybe one out of 10 times it will find it.
What's more, when I look under network infrastructure under the control panel, it shows my Broadcom ADSL centurylink Router...so I'm wondering if my modem/router combo is overriding the router function on my timecapsule and the time capsule is not being used as a router...
Any help much appreciated!

In this case the TC should be in bridge mode.
Win8 is still problematic. Try using ethernet instead of wireless. I think the drivers are poor still and it is well worth having a try via ethernet if you haven't already.
Otherwise you will need to wait for apple to release bonjour for windows 8 and airport utility.. which is not out yet.
Also make sure the windows is set to home, not work or public.. even turn off the firewall.
Open windows explorer and type the TC ip address into the address bar.. (none of which is perhaps the same.. I gave away windows at vista.. shudder)
\\TCIPadderss.

Time Machine stalls when trying to back up to Time Capsule or an external hard drive.

TIme Machine stalls when trying to back up to Time Capsule or an external hard drive. Time Machine shows a message such as "Backing up 4MB of 9.00GB" but nothing happens for hours.

Are you really running 10.6.4 OS?
What model TC and what firmware?
Wireless or wired?
How is the TC setup?
If TM can work to neither a TC or external hard disk it is more likely the computer is faulty hard disk..
Do a verify of the disk.
See A5 here.
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

Accessing Time Capsule and linked external hard drive from other devices and copying to these drives

Hi
Please be gentle. I am not that technically able :-)
I have managed to set up my time capsule. Router working, external hard drive linked, time machine back ups working...
The last thing I am looking to do is to access files on my time capsule and also external hard drive (linked to it), from Mac, Iphones, Ipads, Apple TV, Windows laptops X2. Am I able to do that? Have read so many discussions but dont get the answer. Please be gentle :-)
Regards
Tommy

The last thing I am looking to do is to access files on my time capsule and also external hard drive (linked to it), from Mac
This should be automatic.. find the TC disk under shared in finder.. double click it and see under the data folder.. you can create new folders in there.
Note using the TC for data and TM backups is not the greatest of ideas.. please read pondini.
Q3 here. http://pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html
The external drive is fine though..
Now it can have loads of issues if you run Mavericks.. so if you have trouble.. do not be surprised.. if you run Mavericks.. be surprised if it works without trouble.
Iphones, Ipads
iOS devices are not file based.. they are not intended to be used with a file device like TC and will neither backup to it nor open files from it.. of course what apple wants and what users want are different things so there are plenty of file apps to help you read and write files.
Filebrowser is the major one.
http://www.stratospherix.com/products/filebrowser/
You still cannot backup though.. iOS uses itunes to backup or icloud.
Apple TV
There is nothing you can do with AppleTV.. it is not a file device at all.. it is not even a media player.. it is a streamer. (Early model Gen1 and Gen2 can be jailbreak.. so they do actually have media player ability) Gen3 is tied to its mother's (iTunes) skirts with steel cables.. no JB.. no use really. If you want to play movies from a TC buy a WD Live TV.. it is a player.. !!
Windows laptops X2
You can access the TC from windows..
1. Make sure the TC naming complies with windows networking.. to put that simply.. all names should be short, no spaces and pure alphanumeric. Apple wizard will recommend a name for the TC, like
Fred Blog's Airport Time Capsule.. this is wrong on so many levels.
It will be a total pain on windows.. use FBATC or TC or anything you like.. as long as it follows the rules..
Short 2-20 characters.. less than 10 is better.
No spaces.
Pure alphanumeric.
All names must comply.. TC name and wireless name/s
2. Load the airport utility for windows into the computer.. you can download for up to win7.. apple haven't bothered with windows since then and are pretty out of date. The win7 utility will load on win8 with the usual voodoo and astrological help.
3. Windows must be set to home for location.. if you cannot open a command window and ping the TC by ip and name, then pull down the firewalls.
4. In windows explorer type into the address bar directly.
\\TCname or \\TCIPaddress (using, of course, the real name or real IP).

Backing up Mac HD with Time Capsule AND an external hard drive

I am sure that this question has been asked one way or another but I can't seem to find the exact answer.
I would like to back up my Mac HD with the Time Capsule AND another hard drive essentially to create two backups. Should one fail, I still have another copy as a precaution. The Time Capsule will be my primary back up because my external hard drive is usually switched off and will only be turned on from time to time to perform "less frequent" backups.
With Time Capsule AND the external hard drive on, will Time Machine just update the backup on the external hard drive without becoming confused with the other copy on Time Capsule? In other words, can Time Machine distinguish between two different Time Machine Backup files and bring them up to date accordingly?
I understand there is an archive function on the Time Capsule, which would also serve the purpose. However, I am wondering if there is another way.
Thanks.

Rheopaipo wrote:
I am sure that this question has been asked one way or another but I can't seem to find the exact answer.
I would like to back up my Mac HD with the Time Capsule AND another hard drive essentially to create two backups. Should one fail, I still have another copy as a precaution. The Time Capsule will be my primary back up because my external hard drive is usually switched off and will only be turned on from time to time to perform "less frequent" backups.
With Time Capsule AND the external hard drive on, will Time Machine just update the backup on the external hard drive without becoming confused with the other copy on Time Capsule? In other words, can Time Machine distinguish between two different Time Machine Backup files and bring them up to date accordingly?
I understand there is an archive function on the Time Capsule, which would also serve the purpose. However, I am wondering if there is another way.
I don't think it's possible to configure Time Machine to back up to two locations without modifying its settings frequently.
You might consider using that external drive to hold a bootable backup. You can create such a thing with either of the utilities SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner. If you pay the registration fee for SuperDuper! (~US$28), there's a mode where it will back up only what has changed, which makes the backup operation run quicker. (Carbon Copy Cloner may offer a similar feature.)

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 to set up Time Capsule as an external hard drive

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for