So you CAN or CANNOT use external drive with Time Capsule...

I was posting earlier and was told you CAN'T plug an external HDD into a Time Capsule and have it be recognized (some said you had to plug it into a USB hug first.)
Then I find this - http://www.brighthub.com/computing/mac-platform/articles/48709.aspx
Then before posting this I find others that say you CAN. So what's the deal? Can I or can I not plug in a USB external HDD and have access to it?

The link that you posted is a bit out of date, but the information in the article is correct.
You can connect an external USB drive to a Time Capsule (or AirPort Extreme) if the following conditions are met:
The drive is formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Most store bought drives are pre-formatted for Windows in a format called NTFS which will not work the Time Capsule. You have to use Disk Utility on your Mac to re-format the drive to work correctly with the Time Capsule.
Use a powered USB hub as the USB port on the Time Capsule is a bit under powered and it will not supply enough current for some drives. As a general rule....use a powered USB hub....even if the hard drive has its own power supply.
At times, I have had 3 drives from differerent manufactures all hooked up simultaneously into a powered USB hub which in turns connects to the USB port on the Time Capsule. No problems at all.
There are never any guarantees, but if you follow the guidelines, chances are good that your drive will work just fine.

Similar Messages

Use external drive for Time Capsule backups AND file storage?

I have an external drive formatted by my MBP. I'm using it to store my iTunes music library and iPhoto pics. Can I use the drive for Time Capsule backups as well?

Yes, but that is not recommended. Storage and backup should be kept separate to reduce the chances of a disk failure. This is especially important because you cannot even partition a Time Capsule drive. Go get a separate drive for your storage needs. Get another drive for a second backup and use a different method of backup than Time Machine

Using external drive via Time Capsule to back up Media

I installed a 500 GB Time capsule and connected an Iomega USB 2.0 1TB drive. My goal is to use the ITB drive as my media drive for my MB Pro. I want to use the drive as my library for iTunes and iPhoto. I want to use time machine to backup my MB Pro but since my photos and music are on the attached drive it is not backing up those items. I tried to put an alias of the iphoto library and itunes library but it is only making a back up of the alias's. Is there a better way to set this up so I can back up those items on my 1TB drive as well as the MB Pro? I set this up this way because the Media was taking up 80% of the 160 GB hard drive space and was causing a drastic slow down in performance.

I want to use time machine to backup my MB Pro but since my photos and music are on the attached drive it is not backing up those items.
Sorry ... Time Machine will only backup your Macs internal hard disk or any external hard disks physically attached to the Mac. Time Machine can not backup one remote device (Time Capsule) to another remote device (AirPort Disk) or vice versa.

Can I use a 2tb external drive with Time Machine to backup my Mac Mini (256gbSSD + 2tbHDD)?

Can I use a 2tb external drive with Time Machine to backup what I have on my Mac Mini?
My Mac Mini has one 256 SSD and one 2tb HDD. I want to use Time Machine to do a backup of everything.
Would an external 2tb My Passport Drive by Western Digital work for the backup?
It seems like it would not work because the total storage on the Mac Mini is 2304 gigabytes (SSD + HDD).
And the external Western Digital drive is only 2048 in gigabytes versus 2304 gigabytes the Mac Mini has.

No. A Time Machine backup drive should have at least twice the capacity of the drive it backs up. You would need at least a 4 TB backup drive for Time Machine.
Might I suggest as an alternative that you not use Time Machine but a third-party backup utility that simply overwrites older files with new ones such that the backup drive can be the same capacity as the drive backed up.
Suggested Backup Software
1. Carbon Copy Cloner
2. Get Backup
3. Deja Vu
4. SuperDuper!
5. Synk Pro
6. Tri-Backup
Others may be found at MacUpdate.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.

Can we use external drive with ipad air

can we use external drive with ipad air?

There are some wifi-enabled drives that allow you to stream content (music, films, tv programmes) to an iPad, but you can't directly connect one to an iPad.

Using the same external drive with Time Machine on new mac?

I recently got a new mac because my old one broke. Thankfully, I had a fresh backup on Time Machine ready to restore onto my new computer. But when I try to use Time Machine with my new computer, it keeps wanting to do a whole new backup. It won't recognize the latest backup to only add new or changed files.
Here's a breakdown of my events:
new computer
restore Time Machine on new computer at install
want to continue using the external drive with Time Machine from where I left off (only adding new files since the last backup) on my new computer
Time Machine wants to do a whole new backup
Question: How can I continue to use my existing external hard drive with Time Machine on my new computer, picking up where I left off (not a new, complete backup)?
My old computer was Snow Lepoard, my new one is Lion.

Bergers wrote:
new computer
restore Time Machine on new computer at install
That should have left a "trail" in your SystemMigration log, so Time Machine can figure out what happened and automatically "inherit" the old backups. But sometimes, obviously, that doesn't work.
Since it didn't, there's a chance you can do it manually. See #B6 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

Had to wipe my drive so I could do a clean install of snow leopard Now I look every where on how to move bookmarks, address book and I cal settings. I have them back up on a external drive with Time machine but can not move, copy or restore my old sett d

Had to wipe my drive so I could do a clean install of snow leopard. Now I have look every where on how to move bookmarks, address book and I cal settings. I have them back up on a external drive with Time machine but can not move, copy or restore my old settings. The instructions I have found or no help or needs more clarafication on what to do.

Use migration assistant to move your files. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4889

How do you back up an external hard drive with time capsule?

how do you back up an external hard drive with time capsule?

Will time capsule back up the machine and the hard drive that is plugged into the machine?
Yes, if the hard drive with the video files is formatted correctly for Mac
On the Mac with the hard drive connected....click on the Time Machine "clock" icon at the top of the screen
Click Time Machine Preferences
Click Options
Here you will see a list of items that have been excluded from backups
Click the name of the hard drive to highlight it
Click the - (minus) button at the bottom of the list to remove the hard drive from the list of excluded items
The hard drive will now be backed up with your Mac on the next pass that Time Machine makes

Using network drive with time machine. IS IT POSSIBLE?

There are lots of discussion on using network drives with time machine. I have not been able to make them work. Could somebody tell me if this is possible

Time Machine does not back up to network drives, except Time Capsules or USB drives connected to an Airport Extreme, or a drive on a Mac running Leopard.
Here's the official word: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1733
You may find some "hacks" that might make it work, in some cases, to a degree. But use them at your own risk.
First, since this is *unsupported by Apple,* there's nowhere to go when there's trouble.
Second, you're risking a future update preventing it from working, and perhaps rendering your backups useless.
If you still think this is a good idea, do yourself a favor before you bet your backups on it: be sure it really works, at least for now:
1. Get a copy of CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper! or the like, and make a full bootable clone of your internal HD, on an external disk. Test it by booting from it. Then reboot from your internal HD.
2. Let TM do it's first, full, initial backup.
3. Attempt a full system restore (like you'll need when, not if, your internal HD fails), via the instructions in item 14 of the of the Frequently Asked Questions post at the top of this forum.
Again, even if it works today, tomorrow is another day . . .

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.

Can't use two external drives with time machine

I have 2 external drives. I tell time machine that I have 2 and it asks if I want to use both. I say yes and it says it will alternate between them. However, after backing up to both, it then will invariably say that one doesn't have enough room for backup...as if it is trying a new backup...... rather than just adding changed files. Why is it doing this and how do I remedy?

It then will invariably say that one doesn't have enough room for backup
Unfortunately, these kinds of things are common with Mavericks. All that you can do is erase the drive and start over again with a new backup. Or, if you do not want to erase the drive, set it aside in a safe place and add a new drive....and Mavericks will make a full backup to that one to start things off.

External Drive with Time Machine, booting from external drive with utilitie

I'm using Time Machine now with
a LaCie 1TB external hard drive.
Everything works fine.
But, I've been wondering:
Can I place a program like TechTool
on the external drive (that Time Machine uses)
and boot from that external drive.
I would like to be able to do that,
because diagnostics and repair programs
only works properly and fully when they run from
external drives. Anything on the internal drive can be repaired
and examine. Impossible to do if Techtool is on the same
drive that's been examined.
Any thoughts as to what I should do?
Thanks
iMac, Leopard, Time Machine, Lacie Quadra 1TB drive.
P.S. Stupid question: If my computer crashes, and I reboot from Time Machine
(from the external drive) how does the computer know which backup to take ?!?
Isn't there many versions of the OS on the Time Machine backup taken at different times?

pitou wrote:
P.S. Stupid question: If my computer crashes, and I reboot from Time Machine
(from the external drive) how does the computer know which backup to take ?!?
Isn't there many versions of the OS on the Time Machine backup taken at different times?
As V.K. says, you can't boot from TM backups.
But you can restore your entire system from any one of them, per the procedure in #14 of the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
You can also selectively restore from them, while running normally. See #15 in the FAQ Tip.
You might want to review these:
Time Machine Tutorial
Time Machine 101
How to back up and restore your files
Time Machine Features
Apple - Support - Mac OSX v10.5 Leopard Time Machine
and perhaps browse the rest of the FAQ Tip.

Can i use existing airport with Time Capsule

i have already bought an airport, but can i use it with Time Capsule OR do I need to buy the $299 Time Capsule wireless hard drive?

If you are telling us that you have already bought an AirPort Extreme, and that you want to connect a USB hard drive to the AirPort and use that for Time Machine backups, this is not officially supported by Apple.
Some users seem to be able to make this work, while others.....like me....who try this have nothing but problems.
To be officially supported, you need to connect a hard drive directly to your Mac for Time Machine backups or use a Time Capsule.

Can I recover photos I deleted with time capsule?

Hi,
I am trying to recover 1 year full of photos (aprox 10,000) from my macbook pro. the memory is almost running out of my hard drive and when this happened around last year I did a backup of my entire computer with an WD external HS, and thought I had saved them. Now I cannot find my old photos on the external HD. I do not know the path to the photos and it is not easy to find them by looking at backups through path names. They were on the original path of the default iPhoto library. From the library, I can only see a few photos, which are not the originals I loaded.
Questions:
1. Since I cannot find them on the HD (which is 3/4 full now) I wonder if I could recover them by using time capsute?
2. I would also like to know if I use time capusule, and recover those files, do I loose the new ones?
3. What is the path to identify where photos are in iPhoto?
4. How do I only retrieve photos from the HD, I find it impossible to do this the way the data has been saved. I am trying to group all photos into anther HD.
Thanks,
Helene

How was the backup to Time Capsule done?
If done with Time Machine, you do realize that files backed up by Time Machine are not kept forever.
How full is the drive on Time Capsule?
1, The iPhoto library is usually kept in ~/Piucture/iPhoto Library which is a database. It is usually recommeded that you don't access this directly but use iPhoto.
2, I would copy iPhoto Library to another place just in case.
3, ~/Pictures/iPhoto Library unless you moved it some place else instead.
4, The directions to move the iPhoto library are in this article
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1229
Allan

External hardrive with Time capsule

hi,
I recently purchaced a 3 T Time capsule allong with a Seagate wireless plus. The Seagate HD allows me to keep movies etc on it and make them portable to use with my ipads, iphones etc and not eat up all the space on my devieces.
Heres the questions. Can I hook the Segate HD to time capsule. i.e.is there a way to get TC to back up what is on the EHD via time machine?
For instance, if I want to store 5 years worh of picture on the EHD, and delete them form my macbook pro in order to free up space, how could I back up those pictures to Time machine?
Any help would be apreciated.

Can I hook the Segate HD to time capsule
Yes, if the Seagate is formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled). It is probably not unless you did this previously.
there a way to get TC to back up what is on the EHD via time machine?
Yes, but the drive must be formatted as above.....AND....the drive must be connected directly to your Mac.....not to the Time Capsule.
if I want to store 5 years worh of picture on the EHD, and delete them form my macbook pro in order to free up space, how could I back up those pictures to Time machine?
See previous response. I assume that you will be transferring the images from your Mac to the Seagate drive here.

So you CAN or CANNOT use external drive with Time Capsule...

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