Time machine vs acronis

I was using a pc before and used a software called acronis that would make a mirrored image of the hard drive for the backup once that was done it would only back up changes made from that date, now that I have a macbook I am looking for a similar software that will work but I am running both mac and windows xp is that what time machine does it makes a mirror of the hard drive complete with apps as well as docs so you dont have to reload everything and if so which side do you run it on the mac or the xp side?

You have several alternatives:
Backup Software Recommendations
My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial - not yet universal binary)
2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
5. Carbon Copy Cloner (Donationware)
6. SuperDuper! (Commercial)
7. Intego Personal Backup (Commercial)
8. Data Backup (Commercial)
9. Restore option of Disk Utility (Utilities folder.)
The following can also be used for backup, but cannot create bootable clones:
1. Apple Backup (requires a .Mac account with Apple both to get the software and to use it.)

Similar Messages

Does Time Machine make complete backups of Virtual Machines?

I am new to the forums, so forgive me if this has been asked before.
I have a MacBook Pro and have VMWare Fusion 3 installed.
I have Windows 7 and XP installed as virtual machines, and use an external hard drive to back up into using Time Machine. I have been given conflicting information regarding the backups being created by Time Machine.
I have been told that I should use a Windows backup program such as Acronis to back up the Windows installations separately from the Mac backups on the separate hard drive.
Someone else has told me that if I use Time Machine, then the Windows installations will be backed up automatically, as the Windows installations are effectively folders and files within the Mac software.
Just to confuse things, I have read somewhere that Time Machine cannot back up Boot partitions of Windows installations, but I can't remember where I read this.
I don't want to lose my Windows installations through not understanding the backup capabilities of Time Machine, so I am hoping that someone here can advise me as to what the best course of action would be please.
Can I trust Time Machine to back everything up and to be able to restore my whole machine, including Windows installations, from a Time Machine backup, or do I need to back up the Windows virtual machines separately by using Acronis.
Thanks
Kevin

1. TM will not backup a Boot Camp Windows volume.
2. TM will backup a VM disc image every time it changes unless you have excluded it via TM's Exclude list.
3. If the VMs change often then TM will backup each change thus consuming large amounts of space on the backup drive which is not recommended. Thus, it's best to backup VMs separately from within Windows using a Windows backup utility.
4. TM will not backup individual files and folders of a VM disc image. It will only backup the entire disc image.

Is Time Machine Apple's worst piece of software EVER?

I am sick of Time Machine not working properly.
I've tried it with an Airport Extreme and an external disk, with Time Capsule, using Leopard, Snow Lepard and now Lion.
I do an erase of whichever disk I'm using and then a full backup - and it works fine until I turn off my MBP. Next day or next week it says:
"The backup disk image “/Volumes/Backup/Ian’s MacBook Pro 2.sparsebundle” could not be accessed (error -1)."
And yet... as soon as I tell Time Machine to 'backup now' the Time Capsule disk shows on my desktop, in finder, in Disk Utilities and in the Time Machine prefs window. But all I get is a message saying "Looking for backup disk..."
As I say, I've tried Extreme/external disk/TimeCapsule/Leopard/Snow Lepard and Lion and it's never worked for more than a week or two before "The backup disk image “/Volumes/Backup/Ian’s MacBook Pro 2.sparsebundle” could not be accessed (error -1)."
It's not just useless, it's worse than useless as I cannot rely on it. And yes, I've read all the support stuff I can find (Pondini etc.), none of it solves the problem.
(I'm backing up (trying to) over wifi, my partner has her own sparsebundle on the Time Capsue, which mostly works though it slows her MBP to a crawl when it's backing up.)
Does anybody have any fresh ideas?
Thanks.
P.S. Thank the Lord for Backblaze and CarbonCopyCloner, if I had to rely on Apple for my backups I'd be a nervous wreck.

Tom in London wrote:
ian-apple wrote:
It's not just useless, it's worse than useless
I realised that the very first day TM ever came out. I've never used it. It doesn't do anything I would need. I use Carbon Copy Cloner.
Why drive yourself up the wall trying to make it do what it clearly cannot do? Give yourself some peace, and forget Time Machine.
Truer word have never been spoken.
Tried to use TM once. It copied the backup copy of my system to a folder on my system never overwriting anything. I was left with the same problem I had before starting the TM restore. Only 32GBs of space missing from my HDD. Never again. I now use CCC.
Same goes on the Windows side. I use Acronis True Image on Windows and have images files dating back to when I built the system that can be restored to a fresh install or any point in time after that. Same for my newest Dell Latitude. I imaged the drive as it came from the factory, before I logged on for the first time. And with ATI you can image and restore the Complete drive, not just one partition.
I have never had CCC or Acronis tell me the the volume can't be accessed. Especially when you really need it.

How to Advice/help on setting up Time Machine using 3rd party NAS please

I have a mixed home network with both Macs and PCs. All use a NAS device (Buffalo) to store data. I then back up to another drive which I attach via a USB socket on a PC once a week using Acronis. This is a 24-carat pain. I have another NAS device and would like to use Time Machine to back up (a) The Buffalo (b) The Home Folders on the Macs. Actually I haven't managed anything (a) Time Machine only looks for wireless devices (b) Any documentation I've read suggests Terminal commands which might or might not work, sparse images which I don't understand and the rest... I understood from reading that this can work but I can't see how. Does anyone have a "Painting by numbers" scheme for making this work? TM seems such a clever system it seems a shame to have to resort to a normal back-up program. Thanks for any help!

mouson wrote:
I ... would like to use Time Machine to back up (a) The Buffalo
some NAS(es) can be used as destination for time machine backups, however, time machine will not back up networked drives such as a NAS.
a 3rd party tool like ChronoSync may be able to back up NAS (A) to NAS (B) but i haven't tested this.

Restore Time Machine/Bootcamp

Well...I was going to install a secondary OS on my macbook, but the BootCamp utility told me it couldn't move some files when I tried to partition the drive. If I backup everything using Time Machine, would i be able to partition the drive after I restore everything from the Time Machine backup?

Get a larger backup drive and devote space on it to clone OS X as well that you can boot from.
A larger (3x) partition for TimeMachine backup;
Room for WinClone backup of Windows (runs in OS X as a one time image file) (or make an NTFS partition for using Acronis / Paragon / Ghost etc for backup or cloning Windows natively.

Closest Equivalent to Time Machine for Windows?

Hello,
I was wondering what recommendations the forum users have for backup for windows. I use apple at home with time machine and love it. Unfortunately I have a few family members who use windows (mostly 2000/xp). What is the closest equivalent to time machine that I could set them up with? Something that is free (hopefully) and automatic.
Thanks for any assistance.
-Grey

There is no Windows equivalent of Time Machine as the hard/soft links necessary are only available on HFS+ formatted drives. However, I believe there are backup programs that claim incremental backups or backups to a network drive such as Acronis TrueImage and Norton Ghost v.14. Neither are free. For free, XP has Backup. It's on your install CD. On XP Pro, Backup is preloaded. I not familiar with the Vista equivalent.

How to force a full time machine backup

I have brought a 2nd hand imac and attached a LaCie drive, time machine was set up to back up and started 150gb but stopped after 10gb or so, it will not perform a full back up.
How can I make the machine make a full backup
Thanks

Please see the following
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- 1016B                         /Volumes/Untitled/Backups.backupdb/di machine/2013-09-08-230953/Macintosh HD/private/var/db/BootCaches/B5EDF0A5-E765-4C8B-834F-FDF8CFAE6069/app.com.apple .iCal.playlist
- 920B                          /Volumes/Untitled/Backups.backupdb/di machine/2013-09-08-230953/Macintosh HD/private/var/db/BootCaches/B5EDF0A5-E765-4C8B-834F-FDF8CFAE6069/app.com.apple .keychainaccess.playlist
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! 26.4K   (size, mtime)         /private/var/db/BootCaches/B5EDF0A5-E765-4C8B-834F-FDF8CFAE6069/app.com.apple.m ail.playlist
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Added:         2.7G
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Iomega external hard drive either 'not found' by Time Machine or is now in 'read only' format

I don't know what's going on with my iomega external hard drive. Sometimes the HD is recognised by the computer; other times it isn't; if it isn't I can restore to an earlier back up via Time Machine app; but it's like the disk isn't writable.
Ten days ago, I had trouble backing up my iMac using Time Machine. After turning it off and restarting my external hard drive, it backed up successfully.
However, today I am trying to back up my files, and TM tells me it can't find the external hard drive. Nothing has changed -- I have been out of town this past week -- but somehow my HD now seems to be in 'read only' format. It does turn on, and I could restore my computer to an earlier back up.
"Mac OS X can't repair the disk. You can still open or copy files on the disk, but you can't save changes to files on the disk. Back up the disk and reformat it as soon as you can."
Annoyingly, despite my HD not showing in Finder or on my Desktop (as it usually does), when I simply turn it off I get that warning message "The disk was not ejected properly".
Have tried verifying and repairing using Disk Utility, to no avail.
Am prompted to reformat but I don't have a good understanding of what this means and how to do it. I'm guessing this would wipe the disk clean and I'd have to create the initial back up image all over again -- I'm reluctant to do this since this HD is my only back up and if it all goes tits up I'll be up that famous creek without a paddle.
Thoughts, suggestions, input all welcome and deeply appreciated -- thank you!

fzgy wrote:
"Mac OS X can't repair the disk. You can still open or copy files on the disk, but you can't save changes to files on the disk. Back up the disk and reformat it as soon as you can."
It's possible a heavy-duty 3rd-party disk repair app can fix it, but they're expensive (DiskWarrior is about $100), and there's no guarantee it can do it.
Am prompted to reformat but I don't have a good understanding of what this means and how to do it.
That will erase it. See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #5.
It sounds very much like the disk is beginning to fail, although it's possible there's a bad port, cable, connection or power supply (if it has its own).
I'd suggest getting a new one, and using it for your Time Machine backups; once you have a good backup there, reformat the old one (and select Security Options to write zeros to the whole drive -- if that fails, you know the drive is toast). Use it for secondary backups, per FAQ #27. If it has failed, get a second new one for secondary backups.

Back up using time machine and external hard drive

Hello,
I am having a difficult time deciding the best way to back up important documents.
I have:
1TB internal hard drive
3 TB external hard drive and
1TB external hard drive
I currently have about 1TB worth of data to be stored, but that will increase to about 1.5TB once I get a bunch of stuff off the HD camera's hard drive. I would like to keep my internal hard drive somewhat free to keep the computer running fast, but also want to make sure I am properly backed up.
Should I put ALL (or nearly all) of the files on the 3 TB external hard drive, and have time machine back that up and not worry about the rest? I'm a little weary about putting all of the files on one device even if it is backed up by TM.
If I do this, do I need to back up the 3 TB external drive in addition to using TM?
Thanks!

iMac11,2
OS X 10.6.8

Can not see historical data in Time Machine backup

Hi folks
First my setup:
   MBP Late2012
   Samsung Evo 840 SSD
   external USB 3.0 1TB as TimeMachine HD
   Mac OS X Mavericks
Now my problem.
After updating to Mavericks I've made a full backup with Time Machine.
Then I swapped the former 500TB HDD to the Samsung Evo 840 500TB.
A clean setup of Mavericks follows.
After that I restored the Backup from Time Machine.
Everything ok. Til now.
Because everthing works fine in the past, I did not control the Time Machine.
Today I wanna restore a File from my "Pictures" folder.
So I opened Time Machine.
Oops.
There I can only see the latest run.
Also in the timeline on the right side the only entries are TODAY and NOW.
I can not scroll into the past.
All windows behind the current window have a black titlebar.
In Mountain lion the titlebars are grey if there is data available
and the title contains the date of the backup.
What is the problem?
Is there a bug?
Did I something wrong?
Thanx in adv.
      Stoiker

Hi masong517
What a treasure trove of hints and solutions.
I didn't know this page.
But you are right with "E2".
This solved my problem.
Thank you very much.

Safe to delete file from Time Machine hard drive?

Is it safe to delete a file from an external hard drive that's being used for Time Machine backups? The file is not a backup -- it's a .dmg from the manufacturer of the hard drive. Other than that one file, I don't use the drive for anything other than Time Machine.
I'm just concerned because I don't want deleting the file to affect Time Machine in any way.
Thank you.

I have done it without issue.

Forgot password to access my Airport Time Capsule, can't restore Time Machine backup

It is stupid, I know, but after the first time I setup Time Machine in my Airport Time Capsule (6 months ago) i never had to use the password because it stayed stored in my Keychain.
Anyway, couple days ago I had to format the hard drive of my MacBook Pro and I did it thinking that I had a complete data backup stored in my Airport Time Capsule (encrypted data). It was late when I realized that I did not have the password written/stored anywhere. Nothing to do about it, just move on and start all over again.
I need to clean up my Airport Time Capsule and set it to factory default. I already accepted that I will lose all my data and it is okay. So far all I found was how to reset the wifi user/password but nothing about deleting stored data or reset to factory default without having the encrypted password. Can you please help me? Thanks in advance!

The encrypted data is not related to the Time Capsule.. that is purely Time Machine.
Very sorry for you.. it is one big danger when you encrypt.
Reset to factory.
Factory reset universal
Power off the TC.. ie pull the power cord or power off at the wall.. wait 10sec.. hold in the reset button.. be gentle.. power on again still holding in reset.. and keep holding it in for another 10sec. You may need some help as it is hard to both hold in reset and apply power. It will show success by rapidly blinking the front led. Release the reset.. and wait a couple of min for the TC to reset and come back with factory settings. If the front LED doesn’t blink rapidly you missed it and simply try again. The reset is fairly fragile in these.. press it so you feel it just click and no more.. I have seen people bend the lever or even break it. I use a toothpick as tool.
N.B. None of your files on the hard disk of the TC are deleted.. this simply clears out the router settings of the TC.
Wipe the hard disk. Open the airport utility go to the disk tab. Click on erase disk.
Select just quick erase.. it just deletes the file table and is not secure but fine for your purposes.

Time machine won't back up since I have restored from time machine following hard drive replacement. I am being told there is not enough space, however the back up is less than the hard drive size

We recently had the hard drive replaced on our Mac as part of Apple's replacement programme. Prior to sending it off for repair we did a final Time Machine back up, which was completed successfully. SInce getting the computer back we restored everything from the backup disk using Time Machine, which all worked fine, however now we are having problems with it completing regular backups. We receive a message each time telling up that the backup disk doesn't have enough space on it. It is telling us that it needs in the region of 370gb and only has around 30gb available. The computer hard drive is in the region of 350gb and the hard drive is a 400gb one. It is almost as if it is not recognising that the data already on the disk is the back up of this computer and is trying to complete a completely separate back up as opposed to just updating the backup already on the disk.
Has anyone else got any experience of this and therefore could give me some hints on what to do. I am reluctant to wipe the backup drive and start again, however I would prefer not to have to buy another hard drive if I can avoid it as this one is technically big enough
I look forward to getting some responses

Hi, I never use TM myself.
Have you looked through Pondini's extensive TM help site?
http://Pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Can't imaging something not being covered there.
PS. It's generally recommended a TM drive be at least twice the size of your main drive.

How can I restore an iPhoto library from Time Machine (ML) - when I TM doesn't see the backup??

Hi,
I recently did a Time Machine backup of my MacBook Pro (Mountain Lion) onto an external HDD. Around the time of the last backup, my system was behaving funny so I decided to rebuild the OS X.
Because the last TM backup was of a system that as mentioned, was somewhat 'unstable', and I only had a few backups available (didn't have TM running too long beforehand) - I decided not to use TM to 'restore' my system. I just did a clean install of ML and planned on pulling files over manually. I'd done this before and it worked a treat.
This time ran into a snag. The backup disk TM used was an external HDD which I wanted to upgrade (suffice to say it works fine). So, I needed to move the backup.backupdb directory to my other HDD. The copy seemed to work fine ... so far so good.
I installed the new ML OS on my MacBook Pro and that was fine too. I was able to pull most of my files over by going into the TM backup and copying what I needed.
BUT, for some reason, this didn't work for the iPhoto library?
Alas, I found that you need to do a 'restore' iPhoto library file from whithin TM. So I fired up TM and noticed that it didn't recognise the old backup file located on the HDD. I.e. when I turned on TM, pointed it to the external HDD (where I copied the previous backup to), it started a fresh backup.
So ... my question is - "How do I restore the iPhoto library if I can't get to it from TM?"
Thanks in advance to anyone that can help! The last 15 years of photos are stored in this library!

Hi ...
I've found a solution to my problem.
Time Machine locates extenal HDD backups differently depending if they were done via a network or via a USB/FireWire/Thunderbolt connection.
My initial backup was done via a direct Thunderbolt connection. I ran into the above issue b/c the second time when I tried looking for the backup file the HDD was conencted to my iMac and I was accessing it via a network conenction.
I simply connected the drive directly to my MacBook pro and ... voila. I was able to see the backup, select the iPhoto library and begin the restore.
Hope this helps.
BTW - I found this out by reading the 'blue box' selection on this page: http://pondini.org/TM/E2.html
(Thanks goes to Pondini!)

I want a new and more powerful (non-Apple) wireless router but I still want to use my existing Time Capsule to continue with my Time Machine backups and I still need the Time Capsule's Network Attached Storage (NAS) features and capabilities

THE SHORTER STORY
My goal is to successfully use my existing Time Capsule (TC) with a new and more powerful wireless router. I need a new and more powerful wireless router in order to reach a distant Denon a/v receiver that is physically located in a master bedroom some 50 feet away from my modem. I need to provide this Denon a/v receiver with an Internet connection so that it can obtain its firmware updates and I need to connect this Denon a/v receiver to my network in order to use its AirPlay feature. I believe l still need the TC's Network Attached Storage (NAS) features because I am not sure if the new wireless router will provide me with the NAS like features / capabilities I need to share files between my two Apple laptops with OS X 10.8.2. And I know that I absolutely need my TC's seamless integration with Apple's Time Machine (TM) application in order to continue to make effortless backups of my two Apple laptops. To my knowledge nothing works with TM like Apple's TC. I also need the hard disk storage space built into the TC.
I cannot use a long wired Ethernet cable connection in this apartment and I cannot use power-line adapters. I have read that wireless range extenders and repeaters are difficult to successfully set-up and that they will reduce data speeds, especially so when incorrectly set-up. I cannot relocate my modem and/or primary base station wireless router.
In short, I want to use my TC with my new and more powerful wireless router. I need to stop using the TC to connect to the modem. However, I still need the TC for seamless TM backups. I also need to use the TC's built in hard drive for storage. And I may still need the TC's NAS capabilities to share files wirelessly between laptops because I am assuming the new wireless router will not provide NAS capabilities for OS X 10.8.2 (products like this/non-Apple products rarely seem to work with OS X 10.8.2/Macs to provide NAS features and capabilities). Finally, I want to continue to use my Apple laptop and AirPlay to wirelessly access and play my iTunes music collection stored on the TC's hard drive. I also want to continue to use my Apple laptop, AirPlay and Apple TV to wirelessly watch movies and TV shows stored on the additional external hard drive connected to the TC via USB. Can someone please advise on how to set-up my new Asus wireless router with my existing TC in such a way to accomplish all of this?
What is the best configuration or set-up to accomplish my above goals?
Thank you in advance for your assistance!!!
THE FULL STORY
I live in an apartment building where my existing Time Capsule (TC) is located in my living room and serves many purposes. Specially, my TC is at least all of the following:
(1) Wi-Fi router connected to Comcast Internet service via Motorola SB6121 cable modem - currently the TC is the Wi-Fi base station that connects to the modem and has the gateway address to the Internet. The TC now provides the DHCP service for the Wi-Fi network.
(2) Wireless router providing Internet and Wi-Fi network access to several Wi-Fi clients - two Apple laptop computers, an iPod touch, an iPad and an iPhone all connect wirelessly to the Internet via the TC.
(3) Wired Ethernet router providing Internet and Wi-Fi network access to three different devices - a Panasonic TV, LG Blu-Ray player and an Apple TV each use one of the three LAN ports on the back of the TC to gain access to the Internet.
(4) Primary base station in my attempt to extend my wireless network to a distant (located far away) Denon a/v receiver requiring a wired Ethernet connection - In addition to the TC, which is my primary base station, I am also using a second extended Wi-Fi base station (a Netgear branded product) to wirelessly extend my WiFi network to a Denon receiver located in the master bedroom and requiring a wired Ethernet connection. I cannot use a wired Ethernet connection to continuously travel from the living room to the master bedroom. The distance is too great as I cannot effectively hide the Ethernet cable in this apartment.
(5) Time Machine (TM) backup facilitator - I use my TC to wirelessly back-up two Apple laptops using Apple's Time Machine (TM) application. However, I ran out of storage space on my TC and therefore added external storage to it. Specifically, I added an external hard drive to my TC via the USB port on the back of the TC. I now use this added external hard drive connected to the TC via USB as the destination storage drive for my TM back-ups. I have partitioned the added external hard drive, and each of the several partitions all have enough storage space (e.g., each of the two partitions used by TM are sized at three times the hard drive space of each laptop, etc.). Everything works flawlessly.
(6) Network Attached Storage (NAS) - In addition to using the TC's Network Attached Storage (NAS) capabilities to wirelessly back-up two Apple laptops via TM, I also store other additional files on both (A) the hard drive built into the TC and (B) the additional external hard drive connected to the TC via USB (there are additional separate partitions on this drive for these other additional and non-TM backup files).
I use the TC's NAS feature with my Apple laptop and AirPlay to wirelessly access and play my iTunes music collection stored on the TC's hard drive. I also use my Apple laptop, AirPlay and Apple TV to wirelessly watch movies and TV shows stored on the additional external hard drive connected to the TC via USB. Again, everything works wirelessly and flawlessly. (Note: the Apple TV is connected to the network via Ethernet and a LAN port on the back of the TC).
The issue I am having is when I try to listen to music via Apple's AirPlay in the master bedroom. This master bedroom is located at a distance of two rooms away from the TC's current location in the living room, which is a distance of about 50 feet. This apartment has a long rectangular floor plan where each room is connected to the next in a straight line. In order to use AirPlay in the master bedroom I am using a second extended Wi-Fi base station (a Netgear branded product) to wirelessly extend my WiFi network to a Denon receiver located in the master bedroom and requiring a wired Ethernet connection. This additional base station connects wirelessly to the WiFi network provided by my TC and then gives my Denon receiver the wired Ethernet connection it needs to use AirPlay. I have tried moving my iTunes music directly onto my laptop's hard drive, and then I used AirPlay on this same laptop to connect to the Denon receiver. I always get a successful connection and the song plays, but the problem is that the connection inevitably drops.
I live in an apartment building and all of the many wireless routers in this building create a great deal of WiFi interference on both the 2.4 GHz and 5GHz bands. I have tried connecting the Netgear product to each the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, but neither band can successfully maintain a wireless connection between the TC and the Netgear product. I also attempted to maintain a wireless connection to an iPod touch using the 2.4 GHz band and AirPlay on this iPod touch to play music on the Denon receiver. Again, I was able to establish a connection and successfully play music, but after a few minutes the connection dropped and the music stopped playing. I therefore have concluded that I have a poor wireless connection in the master bedroom. I can establish a connection, but it is intermittent with frequent drops. I have verified this with both laptops by working in the master bedroom for an entire day on both laptops. The Internet connection in this master bedroom proved to drop out frequently - about once an hour with the laptops. The wireless connection and the frequency of its dropout are far worse with the iPod touch and an iPhone.
I cannot relocate the TC. Also, this is an apartment and I therefore cannot extend the range of my network with Ethernet cable (I cannot drill through walls/ceilings, etc.). It is an old building with antiquated wiring and power-line adapters are not likely to function properly, nor can I spare the direct power outlet required with a power-line adapter. I simply need every outlet I can get and cannot afford to block any direct outlet.
My solution is to use a more powerful wireless router. I found the ASUS RT-AC66U Dual-Band Wireless-AC1750 Gigabit Router which will likely provide a better connection to my wireless Internet in the master bedroom than the TC. The 802.11ac band of this Asus wireless router is totally useless to me, but based on what I have read I believe this router will provide a stronger connection at greater distances then my TC. And I will be ready for 802.11ac when it becomes more widely available.
However, I still need to maintain the TC's ability to work seamlessly with TM to backup my two laptops. Also, I doubt the new Asus router will provide OS X 10.8.2 with NAS like features and capabilities. Therefore, I still would like to use the TC's NAS capabilities to share files on my network wirelessly assuming the Asus wireless router fails to provide this feature. I need a new and more powerful wireless router, but I need to maintain the TC's NAS features and seamless integration with TM. Finally, I want to continue to use my Apple laptop and AirPlay to wirelessly access and play my iTunes music collection stored on the TC's hard drive. I also want to continue to use my Apple laptop, AirPlay and Apple TV to wirelessly watch movies and TV shows stored on the additional external hard drive connected to the TC via USB. Can someone advise on how to set-up my existing TC with this new Asus wireless router in such a way to accomplish all of this?
Modem
Motorola SB6121 SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem
Existing Wireless Router and Primary Wi-Fi Base Station - Apple Time Capsule
Apple Time Capsule MC343LL/A 1TB Sim DualBand (purchased June 2010, likely the Winter 2009 Model)
Desired New Wireless Router and Primary Wi-Fi Base Station - Non-Apple Asus
ASUS RT-AC66U Dual-Band Wireless-AC1750 Gigabit Router
Extended Wi-Fi Base Station - Provides an Ethernet Connection to a Denon A/V Receiver Two Rooms Away from the Modem
Netgear Universal Dual Band Wireless Internet Adapter for TV & Blu-Ray (WNCE3001)
Addition External Hard Drive Attached to the Existing Apple Time Capsule via USB
WD My Book Studio 4TB Mac External Hard Drive Storage USB 3.0
Existing Laptops on the Wireless Network Requiring Time Machine Backups
MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2012) OS X 10.8.2
MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2010) OS X 10.8.2
Other Existing Apple Products (Clients) on the Wireless Network
iPod Touch (second generation) is model A1288.
iPad (1st generation)
Apple TV (3rd generation) - Quantity two (2)

Thanks Bob Timmons.
In regards to a Plan B, I hear ya brother. I am already on what feels like Plan Z. Getting WiFi to a far off room in an apartment building crowded with WiFi routers is a major pain.
I am basing my thoughts on the potential of a new and more powerful router reaching the far off master bedroom based on positive reviews on cnet.com, pcmag.com and pcworld.com. All 3 of these web sites have reviewed the Asus RT-AC66U 802.11AC wireless router as well as its virtual twin cousin 802.11n router. What impressed me is that all 3 sites rated this router #1 overall in terms of both range and speed (in both the 802.11n and 802.11AC flavors). They tested the router in real world scenarios where the router needed to compete with a lot of other wireless routers. One of the sites even buried this Asus router in a media room with thick walls and inside a media cabinet. This Asus router should be able to serve my 2.4 GHz band wireless clients (iPod Touch and iPhone 4) with a 2.4GHz Wireless-N band offering some 50 feet of dependable range and a 60 Mbps throughput at that range. I am hoping that works, but it's borderline for my master bedroom. My 5 GHz wireless clients (laptops) will enjoy a 5GHz Wireless-N band offering 150 feet of range and a 200 Mbps throughput at that range. I have no idea what most of that stuff means, but I did also read that Asus could reach 300 feet and I got really excited. My mileage may vary of course and I'm sure I'm making some mistakes in my interpretation of their data. However, my Winter 2009 Time Capsule was rated by cnet.com to deliver real world performance of less than that, and 802.11AC may or may not be useful to me someday. But when this Asus arrives and provides anything other than an excellent and consistent wireless signal without drops in the master bedroom it's going right back!
Your solution sounds great, but I have some questions. I'm using OS X 10.8.2 and Airport Utility (version 6.1 610.31) and on its third tab labeled "Wireless" the top option enables you to set "Network Mode" to either:
Create a wireless network
Extend a wireless network
Off
Given your advice to "Turn off the wireless on the TC," should I set Network Mode to Off? Sorry, I'm clueless in regards to how to turn off the wireless on the TC any other way. Can you provide specific steps on how to turn off the wireless on the TC? If what I wrote is correct then what should the rest of this Wireless tab look like, or perhaps it is irrelevant when wireless is off?
Next, what do you mean by "Configure the TC in Bridge Mode?" Under Airports Utility's fourth tab labeled "Network" the top option "Router Mode" allows for either:
DHCP and Nat
DHCP Only
Off (Bridge Mode)
Is your advice to Configure the TC in Bridge Mode as simple as setting Router Mode to Off (Bridge Mode)? If yes, then what should the rest of this "Network" tab look like? Anything else involved in configuring the TC in Bridge Mode or is it really as simple as setting the Router Mode to "Off (Bridge Mode)"?
How about the other tabs in Airport Utility, can they all stay as is assuming I use the same network name and password for the new Asus wireless router? Or do I need to make any other changes to the TC via Airport Utility?
Finally, in regards to your Plan B suggestion. I agree. But do you have a Plan B for me? I would greatly appreciate any alternative you could provide. Specifically, if you needed a TC's Internet connection to reach a far off corner of your home how would you do it? In the master bedroom I need both a wired Ethernet connection for the Denon a/v receiver and wireless Internet connection for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Power-Line Adapters - High Cost, Blocks at Least One Wall Outlet and Does Not Solve the Wireless Need
I actually like exactly one power-line adapter, which is the D-Link DHP-540 PowerLine AV 500 4-Port Gigabit Switch. This D-Link power-line adapter plugs into your wall outlet with a normal sized plug (regular standard power cord much like any other electronic device) instead of all of the other recommended power-line adapters that not only use at least one wall outlet but also often block the second outlet. You cannot use a power strip with a power-line adapter which is very impractical for me. And everything about my home is strange and upside down. The wiring here is a disaster and I don't have faith in its ability to carry Internet access from the living room to the master bedroom. And this D-Link power-line adapter costs $90 each and I need at least two to make the connection to the Denon A/V receiver. So, $180 on this solution and I still don't have a dependable drop free wireless connection in the master bedroom. The Denon might get its Ethernet Internet connection from the power-line adapter, but if I want to use an iPhone 4 or iPod Touch to stream AirPlay music to the Denon wirelessly (Pandora/iTunes, etc.) from the master bedroom the wireless connection will not be stable in there and I've already spent $190 on just the two power-line adapters needed.
Extenders / Repeaters / Wirelessly Extending the Wireless Network
I have also read great things about the Amped Wireless High Power Wireless-N 600mW Gigabit Dual Band Range Extender (Repeater) SR20000G and the My Net Wi-Fi Range Extender. The former is very powerful and the latter is easier to install. Both cost about $150 ish so similar to a new Asus router. However, everything I read about Range Extenders points to them not being very effective for a far off corner of your house wherein it's apparently hard to place the range extender in the sweet spot where it both gets a strong enough signal to actually effectively extend the wireless signal and otherwise does not reduce network throughput speeds to unacceptable speeds.
Creating a Roaming Network By Hard Wiring with Ethernet Cable - Wife Would Say, "**** No!"
Even Apple seems to warn against wirelessly extending your network (see: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4145#) and otherwise strongly recommends a roaming network where Ethernet cable is used to connect two wireless base stations. However, I am in an apartment where stringing together two wireless base stations with Ethernet cable would have an extremely low wife acceptance factor (WAF). I cannot (both contractually and from a skill prospective) hide Ethernet wire in the walls or ceiling. And having visible Ethernet cable running from room-to-room would be unacceptable, especially to the wife.
So what is left? Do you have a Plan B for me? Thanks in advance for your help!

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