My timecapsule is full

my timecapsule is full - i am currently backing up 3 different macs to it. should i buy another time capsule or buy an external hard drive and hook it up through the usd on the TC - if i do this will it continue to work seamlessly? also other than the cost what are the benefits to buying an external HD vs having separate tc's for each mac?

Correct.
Have you thought about rotating two Time Capsules?
To do this, you would add a new Time Capsule and have all 3 Macs back up to the new Time Capsule for maybe 6 months. Keep your old Time Capsule on hand, in case you need to go back and pick up a file that was deleted by mistake.
When you have built up maybe 6 months of new backups on the new Time Capsule, erase the old Time Capsule and start all 3 Macs backing up again to the old Time Caspule.....and....at the same time, keep backing up the Macs to the new Time Capsule.
So, each Mac will be backing up to two Capsules.
In a year, you will have 6 months of backups on the old Time Capsule and a year of backups on the new Time Capsule. At that point, erase the new Time Capsule and start over again on that device, while continuing to back up to the old Time Capsule.
You get the idea. You always have at least 6 months of backups at any given time in case you need to go back and pick up a file.
Some users rotate Time Capsule backups on a yearly basis, in order to always have at least a year's worth of backups at any given time.

Similar Messages

How do I extract files from a TimeCapsule?

Here is the background in note form!
-bought an iMac and TimeCapsule in 2007/2008
-two weeks ago, computer started to show signs of age
-upgraded to Mavericks
-computer is extremely slow
-was having serious issues with startup, etc
-reset RAM and started up in target disk mode with no resolve
-computer would take up to an hour to shut off
-computer would load to the gray screen with the apple logo and then shut itself off
-went to store to buy new Mac Mini
-mac mini is working fine
-went to restore files from TimeCapsule, however, the TimeCapsule screen says there are no backups available yet the system says the TimeCapsule is full
-SOOOOOO, how can I go directly into the Time Capsule and take the files from my old user accound that were backed up from my iMac?
Brian

You might be in big trouble if you let the iMac do a backup whilst in Mavericks. It does tend to smash the old backups.
If the normal restore doesn't work, try mounting the sparsebundle manually and check.
Look at Q14-17 here. http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
Particularly Q15 on restoring particular files and folders.
Upgrading an old computer to Mavericks to fix up issues.. I wish you didn't do that.
Or if you wanted to .. take a disk image from the hard disk beforehand.
iMac might still work in target mode to the mini.
See this page for the basic migration instructions.
http://pondini.org/TM/Home.html

Moving a TC sparsebundle to an external Firewire drive on iMac

Hi
My 1 TB TimeCapsule is full. I share the drive with my kids and wife for backups only - wirelessly. I just bought a 2TB external drive to hang off my iMac with the idea of using it as my dedicated Time Machine disk. (letting the others keep using Time Capsule)
How can I move the iMac TC sparsebundle to the Firewire drive and resume using that existing backup via Time Machine on my iMac?
I've read many posts and solutions for going from Firewire to TC, but not the other way.
thanks

A. Heimert wrote:
So this is scenario #2. Is it really as easy as copying the sparsebundle from the TC drive to the external attached to the TC?
How does one tell Time Machine where the sparsebundle has been moved?
By selecting the new location via +Time Machine Preferences > Select Disk.+
Note that if you copied the entire sparse bundle, it should be used only on a network. If you want to connect the drive directly to your Mac and continue backing-up to it, you need to copy the Backups.backupdb folder from inside the sparse bundle to the top level of the HD.

I have had to buy an GRAID 4TB to back up my images as I am a photographer and have huge files. Can I use my old timecapsule 2TB as storage for say 4 years of photography. My imac is getting full.

I am a photographer and have huge files so have had to buy a GRAID 4TB for backup and now have an old 2 TB time capsule not doing anything. Could I use the timecapsule as storage and transfer say a few years of images over to that and free up space on my imac. I do have the images copied onto other hard drives but feel I need more copies in case of external harddrive failure.

Could I use the timecapsule as storage and transfer say a few years of images over to that and free up space on my imac.
Can't give you a definite answer as I don't use a Time capsule, but if it is not being used for anything, why not try it out? My guess is you could use it for miscellaneous storage if you wanted to.

TimeCapsule not allowing my full ISP connection speed

Hello everyone,
I pay for a 30mbps internet connection and the only way to have it is to connect my MBP directly to the RJ-45 cable. Right now, I am connected wirelessly with my 500GB TC.
Would Airport Extreme or Airport express be faster? Any other brand I could buy? Or this is a wireless issue and the only way I can get that speed is being wired?
best regards

Welcome to the discussion area, floydstyle!
You are likely encountering some form of Wireless Interference that is preventing you from reaching higher speeds over your network.
If you test at an ethernet connection on the TC and get 25-27 Mbps speeds, it is very likely that you are picking up some wireless interference from cordless phones, other wireless networks, wireless security systems, etc.
Try changing the wireless channel on your TC to see if you can find some clear airspace that will allow quicker speeds.

Can I do a full system restore of a 10.5 system by booting on a 10.6 CD?

Dear all,
I am trying to support my parents whos MacBook just failed (harddisk dead). They have now gotten a new harddisk installed and wants to restore the setup from their TimeCapsule.
I would prefer to do a full system restore, so that it gets back to exatly how they had it before. A 'user only' setup would require them to reinstall all third party apps including MS Office etc., which will be tricky for them.
Few questions:
1. Does a 'full system restore' restore everything, including applications and system files? Will it be going back to an exact clone of what they had?
2. They ran a Mac OS 10.5.x system, but cannot find their installation CD. Can I lend them my Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) CD to boot, while still restoring their 10.5.x system? (I don't want them to have 10.6 as I am not sure about compability with all their 3rd party software/drivers etc.)
3. Any other things I should keep in mind for a successful restore?
Thanks,
Magnus

Magnus Olsson wrote:
2. They ran a Mac OS 10.5.x system, but cannot find their installation CD. Can I lend them my Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) CD to boot, while still restoring their 10.5.x system?
No. Well, you can do the restore, but it won't boot.
You need a Leopard disc. It can be the original that came with their Mac, or a Retail (black) version, and it doesn't matter what version of Leopard it is, since you don't load OSX but only use the Installer utility. Thus borrowing one doesn't violate the license.
They really should have a Leopard disc, not only to do a restore, but also if they need to do a +*Repair Disk+* on the internal HD. And they would need the original disc, for the Apple Hardware Test on it; AppleCare will send them a replacement for a nominal fee.
3. Any other things I should keep in mind for a successful restore?
Yes. See #14 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum, for detailed instructions. Note the caution there, under the green box, about turning TM off immediately after the restore.

Using TimeCapsule with a Comcast modem AND Airport Express. Way slower after updates! What's up?

I've been running this set up for two years now without a hitch. Comcast Modem to TimeCapsule by Ethernet. Then TimeCapsule to Airport Express via WiFi. It used to work great because my TC was far away from my family room and the AE extended my network flawlessly.
After Mavericks and IOS 7.06 installations on my devices (iMac, Macbook Air, iPhone, and iPad) my wifi seems to be moving at half speed. I've rebooted the Comcast Modem and TimeCapsule. I guess I should reboot airport express as well. But I doubt thats the problem. I was thinking of asking Comcast to change out Modems but this is a new problem only since updates. What should I do?
Any ideas?
Thanks
Marylyn

Power off the entire network.....all devices....computers, printers, modem, TC, mobile devices, etc
Wait a few minutes
Start the modem first, and let it run a few minutes by itself
Start the TC next and let it run a full minute
Keep starting devices one a time about a minute apart until the entire network is powered back up
Check the network

Getting messages "startup disk is full" and activity monitor is showing "syslog d" is using a lot of CPU. I'm planning on getting more memory for my late 2008 model Macbook but wondering if there's something that is causing problems that I can also fix.

I had closed out of all of my programs but heard the internal fans running so I checked the activity monitor. It shows syslog d as the top process using the CPU right now. I have no idea what that means.
I read a thread about the startup disk being full and how you can free up memory. I have an airport extreme so TimeCapsule is backing up everything. I do have a bunch of pictures on iPhoto on the laptop; could move those to another location but I'm a little gunshy. I know they are on the TimeCapsule but I would like to save them to a second place before deleting from laptop just to be sure. I went through several things yesterday and emptied trash, etc. I wasn't able to locate the hidden files that the thread about the startup disk being full was referencing --- they were talking about large emails that were causing processes to happen taking up the CPU.... I wasn't able to find out if that was the case for me.
Also I'm going to look into getting another 2MB of memory and installing it on the Macbook, so I can upgrade to the latest OS. Anyone have an idea if that is worth the $$$ over buying a new laptop? Or anyone have ideas as to where to buy memory, etc.
Any ideas - help!

Go step by step and test.
1. Start up in Safe Mode.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11212
2. Empty Trash.
   http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13806
3. Disk space / Time Machine ?/ Local Snapshots
Local backups
   http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4878
4. Delete old iOS Devices Backup.
    iTunes > Preferences > Devices
    Highlight the old Backups , press “Delete Backup” and then “OK”.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4946?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
5. Re-index Macintosh HD.
    This will take a while. Wait until it is finished.
    System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2409

Problem connecting to the server Timecapsule

I am working with a Motora Surfboard SBG6580 Cable Modem going to my 4th Gen Airport Extreme, then a wireless bridge to my 3rd Gen 2 Gig TimeCapsule to extend the network, then using ethernet cables to TV, DVD and MacMini. When trying to run a backup with Time Machine, or just using it as a hardrive, I keep getting the error message "There was a problem connecting to the server "Timecapsule" - The server may not exist or is unavalable at this time. Check the server name or IP address, check your network connection, and then try again." I have seen a lot of posts on this problem, but I still don't understand what the issue or resolution is.
I have tried resetting the TimeCapsule, connecting the TimeCapuse with an ethernet cable, turning off wireless functions, wiped the drive and zero'd all data, etc., but with the same results. I may be wrong, but this all seems to have started when I ran MATCH while using the TimeCapsule as a storage device for all my iTunes media - it corrupted all my data and showed my disk as full, though pretty much everything on the disk was missing. All was working fine until that point.
Any help would be nice. Help!!
Thanks in advance

If you have backed up to 77GB or something then a backup has indeed been made.. On the TC there will be a sparse bundle and backup which can be mounted.. You cannot check the disk.. you check the sparse bundle.. which can be mounted.
Please do the following.
Disconnect and remove the TC from the network.
Plug it directly into the computer by ethernet. No other connection to the TC.. turn off wireless and every other connection to the computer..
If you still have issues.. press reset and redo the setup of the TC again.
Run Time Machine and see if it works. If it doesn't work now you have serious issues.. I would guess at a faulty disk somewhere.
What OS is on the computer? From the first post you use SL still.
I would also take the firmware of the TC back to 7.5.2 as I mentioned and do full factory reset this time.. ie hold in reset and then power on.. continue holding in reset until led flashes rapidly.

How do I update timecapsule wi-fi settings?

My iMac connects wirelessly to my timecapsule to perform regular backups. However, I now have a new broadband provider and therefore home network and i can no longer connect to the Timecapsule. Airport was previously showing that a Timecapsule was previously connected but can no longer be found., although i've now done a reset and even though i've tried connecting to both the home router (ethernet) and the iMac (USB) i still can;t get Airport to see the Timecapsule? Any suggestions - i've spent hours messing around and not much fun!!!
Thanks

Just a note.. USB cannot be used to connect to a computer.. remember the TC is always a network device.
Plug the TC into the computer by ethernet.. nothing else. No network connection.. turn off wireless in the computer. So you do the setup in full isolation.
Factory reset the TC.
Unplug power.
Hold in reset.
Plug in power with your third arm.. without releasing reset and without applying to much force to break it. A friend can be helpful.
Keep holding in reset until the front led flashes rapidly.. about 10sec.
The TC should now be accessible to airport utility.
Change it to bridge mode.
I recommend setting short names, no spaces and pure alphanumeric for everything.. TC itself, wireless and disk share name.
Update the TC..
Now plug it back into the network.

"No configured AirPort base stations have been found." I can see the content of the TimeCapsule's drive in finder and Time Machine but it no longer is making backups. Ideas?

Bought new TimeCapsule March 2013. Worked fine. Now get "No configured AirPort base stations have been found." I can see the content of the TimeCapsule's drive in finder and Time Machine but it no longer is making backups. Ideas?

Make sure that you have AirPort Utility 6.3.1 installed on your Mac.
AirPort Utility 6.3.1 for Mac - Support - Apple
Then, power off the entire network...all devices...in any order that you want
Wait a minute, then start the modem first and let it run a full minute
Start the next device connected to the modem, which may be your Time Capsule and let it run a minute
Keep starting devices one at a time the same way until the entire network is back up
See if AirPort Utility can "see" the Time Capsule now.
If yes, try another backup. If you encounter an error message, post back with the exact message.

2TB Time Capsule suddenly full after only a few months?

Hello all,
Apologies in advance if this is a question that's already been answered. I've been searching through threads, but didn't seem to see it.
I have a late 2009 iMac (27 inch, 2.8 GHz i7, 4GB Ram) that had a hard drive affected by the Seagate Recall. About the same time I was alerted to this, the Firewire drive I'd been using for timemachine backups reached it's capacity. I figured it was time to get a bigger backup drive and went out and bought a 2TB Time Capsule. This was on November 5th of 2012.
After making a bootabe clone of hard drive (just as a 2nd backup) I set up my time capsule. I did the first backup via ethernet, and then, per posts that I found on the forum,( I set it up so that it was connected to my existing wireless router via ethernet, and let my iMac back up to it wirelessly over the home network. Once or twice, when I've changed large amounts of data, I've reconnected the iMac to the timecapusle via the ethernet cable and let it backup that way. But overall, the backups have happened over the air. My home user folder is aprox 632 GBs.
I also had tried to set up my macbook (Intel, late 2006) to back up to the same timecapsule, but was having issues and ended up just turning time machine off since I haven't had time to trouble shoot them. That macbook (which only has 60 gig harddrive on it) has at least one full backup on it's part of the Time Capsule, but not many more.
So basically my setup looks like this:
Cable Modem connected to Belkin Wireless Router via Ethernet
2TB TC connected to Belkin Router via Ethernet in Bridge mode.
iMac connecting to TC via the wireless network created by router. (with the exception of a few times)
Today, I was surprised that, only a couple months later, that Time Machine told me that the Time Capsule was full, and that it had deleted older backups to make room. My earliest back up is now Dec 6th 2012.
Previously, my 1 TB firewire drive lasted several years before it started having to delete older backups.
Am I right to think this is out of the ordinary? And if it isn't, can anyone point me in the right direction to try and figure out why this is ocurring. I'm not really sure what the first step in trouble shooting the issue would be.
Thanks so much in advance,
avi

Thanks for the quick respons djcastaldo.
I'm not 100% sure what you mean by a "virtual machine"... but I'm guessthing that means I'm not doing it..
I do have about 64 gigs in my dropbox folder... but the day to day changes to the files in there are fairly small (mostly updates to word processing files as I move between computers). I don't think that would be the issue.
Would the best way to try and find the culrprit file be to just scan through my home folder and look for large files with recent "modified" dates?
Thanks so much,
avi

Best way to copy from an External HD to TimeCapsule's internal HD?

Hi, I have a USB 2.0 connectable external drive (powered) that's full of files I'd like to copy over to my TimeCapsule's internal drive. If I connect the USB to my Mac and copy the files by selecting them all and dragging them to the mounted share on the TC it takes forever. Will it make a difference if I connect the external drive directly to the TC and mount both shares on my Mac's desktop and copy from one share to the other?
I was wondering if the data transfer will then be directly from drive to drive or still comes over the WiFi network to the Mac (as cache for the process), since the Mac is running the copy command.
Can someone with insight in these matters clarify ? Thanks!

sjogro wrote:
Hi, I have a USB 2.0 connectable external drive (powered) that's full of files I'd like to copy over to my TimeCapsule's internal drive. If I connect the USB to my Mac and copy the files by selecting them all and dragging them to the mounted share on the TC it takes forever. Will it make a difference if I connect the external drive directly to the TC and mount both shares on my Mac's desktop and copy from one share to the other?
No, that will take even longer. The data must go from the USB drive, through the TC, to your Mac, then back to the TC.
The only way you can transfer directly between the TC and an attached USB drive is to "archive" the TC's entire disk to the USB. The TC doesn't have the software to do anything else directly.
If you can connect your Mac to the TC via Ethernet, that will be 2-3 times faster than even a good WIFI connection.

How do I add a second TimeCapsule to a network?

A friend has a TimeCapsule in his business which is a few hundred feet away from his home. He has an old 500gb TimeCapsule that he would like to use as a WiFi router at home, so he ran cat-5 cable over there thinking he could just plug in the old TC and it would boot up. The other end of the cat-5 cable is plugged into one of the three ethernet ports on the back of the main TC, which is a dual band 1tb version that has been running just fine. Only when we try to get the new TC to boot up, nothing happens. The blinking light on the front stays yellow, and it doesn't appear in AirPort Utility so I can configure it.
Now I've brought the old TC home and hooked it up to my home network which is a similar 1tb TC. I have a printer plugged into one of the ethernet ports and the old TC plugged into the last one. The green lights on the back of my 1tb TC do not blink, which makes me think the old TC isn't recognized. All I get is a blinking amber light.
Anyone have any thoughts about how to get this second TC working? And once it is working, will I have to repeat things to get it working again at the other location? Does the first TC need to be reconfigured to support a second TC?

Please plug the old TC directly into the computer by ethernet.. do not add it to the network.. before configuration. You are just making it hard for yourself.
Plug LAN port of TC to the computer.. no other connection on the TC.. no other connection like airport on the computer..
Press and hold the reset whilst restarting the TC.. you need all of your 3arms to do this.. or get a friend to power on at the wall. Keep holding for about 10sec and release the reset once the front led flashes rapidly. This is the full factory reset.
Then simply choose bridge mode in the airport utility.
If you run lion,, then download 5.6 utility.
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1482
Bridge in on the internet tab connection sharing.
(On v6 utility it is under DHCP and NAT).
With the TC in bridge place it back onto the network. It will pick up an IP from the main router (your TC or the work TC) and simply act as a switch and WAP. Plus of course the network drive.
A Gen1 or Gen2 TC has very little time left.. the power supply will blow.. it is just a matter of when.
There is no setup needed for the main TC.
An ethernet several hundred feet long.. is a magnet for lightning.. stray earth issues.. esp if it is not buried properly in conduit.
If it was me.. I would put a cheap switch at each end.. as a first step protection of the much more expensive TC.. an item you can afford to lose if the untoward should happen. Even so bad things can still happen. Wireless or fibre are the right way.. Long range ethernet is possible.
Nothing wrong with just using switches.. and 100M or less of good quality ethernet.. but be warned.

UPGRADED MY TIMECAPSULE

Hi, Ive recently sold my 500GB TimeCapsule to a 1TB TimeCapsule & i obviously have to wipe my 500GB TC for the person who has bought it but I am really confused if I wipe it,where or how can i save all my 500GB Backups too? as i am giving my TC away tomorrow but wont have my 1TB TC delivered until wednesday.
A friend said ,all I have to do is "go to my Finder" then click on my TC ,then drag the file (the little white piece of paper with a hardrive icon inside it,called my TCsparsebudle in the backups folder to my desktop but I only have a 120GB internal hardrive on my Macbook & my backups on my TC are 298GB used out of 500GB, so I cant think how to do this? Ive googled & searched this forum but cannot find any information how i can sort this out.
If anyone can help me out I will be so grateful as I am really stuck as what to do as I do not wanna lose my backups,I had a problem with the 1st 500GB TC I bought,Apple replaced it for me as for some strange reason it only had 145gigs backedup & I had a msg saying my TC was full???? then it completely deleted my entire backups & I lost over a years worth of really important data & photos ,the lot, I was gutted,so Apple replaced it for a new 500GB which has been fine for 18 months BUT I don't ever wanna lose my backups again.
Please help,many thanks

spiritlevel wrote:
Thankyou for your reply , my friend is going to lend me his portable 500GB portable hardrive,which has not been used yet & mac compatible ,BUT, can you guide me as to how i copy?
Do i copy the folder with the sparseBundle file in it OR do i copy just the white little piece of paper with the hardrive icon on it &
I would just copy the "sparsebundle" file.
Do i drag & drop it onto the portable hardrive or do I open it & right click to copy it
Just drag the "sparsebundle" file from the Time Capsule's volume to the volume icon of the external drive.
THEN .How do I get it back onto the new 1TB TimeCapsule
Mount the "Data" volume of the new Time Capsule and the external drive. Open the external drive. You should see the "sparsebundle" file in the external drive window. Drag the "sparsebundle" file from the external drive window onto the icon for the "Data" volume.

My timecapsule is full

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