How to use time capsule as an external wireless hard drive?

I have the latest version of time capsule and would like to use it not only for backups but also to save some files that I don't want to keep in my Macbook Air, which is very limited in terms of storage. Is it possible?

Here is my general list.
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

Similar Messages

  • Use Time Capsule as a external wireless hard drive

    i want to use TC as external hard drive but wireless and without extra router or internet i mean just plug it to the power and setup it on ios 5 wifi and thenuse it just like hot spot, i connect to the TC and use it as a external wireless hard drive, is it possible ?
    1. i dont have router
    2. i dont have internet
    3. i dont want to have router and internet

    I too purchased TC today and it came out to be very easy to setup.
    I am using windows pc so just downloaded Airport utility from following link:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1391
    Once the installation is complete, it automatically detects TC and ask for password. That's it.
    Good luck!!

  • Can you use the apple time capsule as just a wireless hard drive without using it as a router

    Can i use the apple time capsule as just a wireless hard drive without using  a router

    You can, but this type of configuration is not recommended or supported by Apple.
    Two cautions if you want to try this:
    1)  The Time Capsule has to be configured to "Join" your existing wireless network in this type of setup...and to do that, you must know the exact type of wireless security that your network is using.
    2)  Backups are going to take twice as long. The wireless signal must travel from your computer to the wireless router and then from the wireless router back to the Time Capsule.  Two "hops"......even if the computer is located close to the Time Capsule.
    If you want to try this, we can tell you how....but with no guarantees on your results....since this is not officially supported.

  • Can apple time capsule act as a wireless hard drive storage by Samsung smart tv?

    Can apple time capsule act as a wireless hard drive storage by Samsung smart tv? Samsung smart tv is connected to apple time capsule through wireless  as a modem at the moment

    If you look on the right side there pops up similar questions.. which works better than search btw..
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/16432256#16432256
    The Samsung.. may not be able to see the Time Capsule hard disk..
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    because it is not conformed to standard SMB file system.. the TC name is often illegal.. remove all spaces and special characters and keep it short.
    Same for wireless name and all passwords.
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  • How To Use Time Capsule As An External Hard Drive?

    I backup my computer onto the time capsule using time machine.
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  • Using Airport Time Capsule with an external usb hard drive - how to connect

    I have 2TB Airport Time capsule which is connected to my iMac by an ethernet cable and which I use for T.Machine backups - No problems here.
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    Alan

    I still can't use it the way I was hoping because it then becomes a T/M back-up disk and not a normal usb/firewire disc.
    You are first mounting the drive on the desktop, correct?
    Not sure what you mean here.
    You can drag/drop files normally or copy/paste files to the drive icon on the desktop, just as you would a normal drive that is displayed on the desktop.
    Or, double click the drive icon on the desktop and drag/drop files into the open window there.
    Tell us the steps that you are using to mount the drive on the desktop. What happens after each step?

  • How to configure Time Capsule for Automatic Backup AND HARD DRIVE USE

    I tried to configure Time Capsule for back up and as a hard drive. I record music and need to copy the music myself onto an external hard drive for speed, so I want the TC to double as an external hard drive, and do the back up. I want to be able to open the TC as a hard drive, to open my songs from it. Can it do both?

    I finally figured it out. I am able to access my TC from the "shared folder." When I click on it, I get the "connection failed message." I failed to notice the login button in the upper right -- user error due to my Windows based education. The button is very subtle. Once I login, I can create folders and add content.
    I didn't see a partition option. Where is that? Just curious.
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  • Can I use Time Capsule as a Home Media Hard Drive?

    I have been trying to export my itunes library to time capsule without sucess...

    You can use your Time Capsule ... either its internal or an attached USB HDD as the iTunes Media folder host. You can also place the iTunes Library on the Time Capsule as well.
    Please check out the following TUAW article on "How To: Use your iTunes Library over AirPort Disk." Althought it is not exactly the same, it is similar and should get you started.

  • 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

  • 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 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 a time capsule be used as an external  wireless hard drive?

    can a time capsule be used as an external wireless hard drive?

    You can do this, but file transfers / copies will be very slow over wireless.

  • How to use time capsule for wireless back-up but not internet?

    Hello,
    I have a tower and recently a laptop at work. The tower is connected to our local network with an ethernet cable and the laptop with wireless. So, the internet connection is fine for both.
    I was hoping to use my time capsule to do time machine backups on my laptop. Do you have any advice on how to configure this? I do not want to use the time capsule to extend my Internet, as I believe my work I.T. would prefer to handle all access to their  network.
    Perhaps there is some documentation about doing this that you could point me to? I have not been able to find it.
    Thank you for your help.

    Your original question was How to use Time Capsule for wireless back-up but not Internet?
    There is no reason for you to connect the tower....or anything else...using Ethernet if your goal remains that same as you stated.
    If you are asking if you can backup the Tower using Ethernet, and not wireless, then you can connect the tower to one of the LAN <-> ports on the Time Capsule....not the WAN port.
    Yes, it appears to work without plugging into my tower.
    Correct, it will work.
    I just have to select the network that it created. Of course, I have no access to the Internet while this is happening and it can not auto backup, unless I am on that wireless signal.
    As I stated, that is the downside to trying to back up without an Internet connection.  You have to establish another network...and backup over that network.
    If you are asking if you can stay connected to the work network while also backing up to your non-Internet "private" network, that is not possible.

  • How to use Time Capsule via INTERNET WITH WINDOWS 7 SMB Cloud

    how to use Time Capsule via INTERNET WITH WINDOWS 7 SMB Cloud

    Get a vpn router.. I have no idea where you are in the world but you can find reasonable stuff for not too much money or even a general router that takes third party firmware like dd-wrt can run openvpn. 
    Set up the vpn router in place of the TC, as the main router in the network. Simply bridge the TC and place it behind the router. It will be accessible as part of the network via the vpn.
    This is the only safe way to do it via windows.
    http://www.dyncommunity.com/questions/18132/accessing-time-capsule-from-windows- 7-over-the-int.html
    If you google around I have seen posts about how to access TC by port forwarding SMB on the TC.. using a different port.. To me this is going to slow down the hackers by a day or two.. then they will discover the open port and access your network.. not just the TC.. they now have SMB access to everything. Don't do it. There is very little security on SMB.

  • 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.

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