Using time capsule with secondary hard drive

Hello,
I have recently purchased a Mac Pro (early 2009). It has separate 300Gb and 2Tb internal drives.
My plan is to install another internal 3Tb drive to act as a backup for the other two.
Can time capsule be set-up to do this?
Thanks for the feedback.

You mean Time Machine. The answer is yes.
Mac 101: Time Machine

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Can i use time capsule as another hard drive?

Can I use time capsule as another hard drive?

You can, but it was not really designed for that purpose. Access to files will be quite a bit slower than a drive that is directly attached to your computer.
The Time Capsule's main function is as a back up device using the Time Machine application.
If you are using it already for Time Machine, it is generally not a good idea to mix Time Machine backups and regular files on the same drive as there will be struggle for space when the drive starts to fill up.

Using Time Capsule as external hard drive

Hi. I have a Mac Book Pro, and external hard drive, and now, a Time Capsule. Since I don't have a Mac, all photos and music (occasional backups, etc.) have been stored on the one external hard drive. I got the Time Capsule to replace the external hard drive as primary (keeping it as secondary)–in addition to using the Time Machine.
If I'm understanding correctly, I open finder, open Shared>AirPort>Data–and then drag and drop all the files currently on the external hard drive onto this window? Is this correct? Will it COPY, and be accessibe, and not cause problems?
Will it mean, as I hope it means, that my MacBook and iPad will be able to open and use iTunes and iPhoto through this AirPort? (Instead of having to plug-in the external drive.)
I'd love to use the Time Machine as well. But can hold off, continuing to back up only occassionally, since this dual purposing may not to be advised?
Thank you for your guidance.

Will there be a problem running Time Machine in the back ground while using the Time Capsule's internal hard drive manually?
No.
Thus far, instead of using Time Machine in an automated mode, I've turned it on when I want to make a new back-up. Will it be necessary to run Time Machine in manual mode only or can I use its automated feature?
Or–I may be seeing the light–will running the two in tandem allow me to save each new back-up on both devices simultaneously, keeping both drives up to date?
I would suggest that you consider changing your backup strategy. Time Machine was designed to be an automatic "run and forget" operation that performs incremental backups of your Mac's internal hard drive. It will also backup an external hard drive attached directly to your Mac. Running it manually is not very effecient and you stand the chance of not getting a very recent (they run once an hour) backup when you need it.
For Time Machine I would suggest that you continue to use your external hard drive as is and dedicate your new Time Capsule for Time Machine backups. If you still need more external storage, you can always add additional external USB hard drives to the USB port on the Time Capsule.
Even better you will also want to include a second "full-clone" method to your backup strategy. This method will make a full copy of your Mac's internal disk drive that is bootable. Why do this? In case your Mac has a fatal hard disk crash, you can use the clone backup to boot your Mac back up and continue to use it within seconds. Without the clone backup, you would first need to install a new drive, then load a fresh copy of OS X, and then, perform a restore from Time Machine. This can take a while.
To perform these clone backups, I would recommend that you get another external USB hard drive with a capacity at least twice that of your current internal drive. I use Western Digital My Passport drives for this purpose, but any similar drive should do. To create the clone backup I would suggest using either SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner.
I would suggest that you create a new clone backup at least once a month or more often if your data is critical to you. Just connect a dedicated clone drive to any available USB port on your Mac and run the clone software to make the clone backup.

Using Time Capsule as external hard drive on a PC, and beyond...

I need to achieve two separate things with my new 500GB TC. The first is to send it to a friend on the other side of the country for her to use Time Capsule with her PC as an external hard drive.
I then want to take those files (once sent back to me from CA), and put them on my computer. After that I just want to use Time Capsule with Time Machine, but I'm pretty sure I can figure that set-up out.
My question is, is this possible? And if so, what is the easiest process to tell my PC friend in order for her to connect Time Capsule as an external?
The reason I am attempting to do this is because I didn't see a need to buy an external and TC as well. The guy at the Mac store said it would be easy to do this, but I'm rather computer illiterate.
That being said, I apologize for my ignorance in regards to the use of Time Capsule, but any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Brody M. Nasse

Well, you just hook the Time Capsule up (either wirelessly or wired via ethernet) and for the PC you will want to install AirPort Utility, run it, and then she will be able to copy files to it. Then when it gets back to you you can run AirPort Utility (it is located in Applications/Utilities) and then access the files she put on your Time Capsule.

Can i use time capsule as external hard drive for both mac and windows

I have a mac book pro, ipad and iphone and ipod and a windows pc
Can i use time capsule as a external hard disk only for all of the above ( including windows ) without the back up activity for mac ?

You cannot access the TC from iOS devices without a browser. eg filebrowser.
Can i use time capsule as a external hard disk only for all of the above ( including windows ) without the back up activity for mac ?
Yes, with the following proviso.. the TC is not able to back itself up.. so if you store files on the TC without backups one day you will discover all your files are gone because of a hard drive failure of the TC. TM also cannot backup TC.. so you will need to buy a proper backup software.
It is also much slower than a real NAS..
And windows can be a bit painful.. especially windows 8.. other versions should work if you spend the time getting everything set right.

Use Time Capsule as a Hard Drive via Ethernet for Time Machine

Hi Folks
To summarise a very very long story here goes;
- About 12 months ago my father in law buys a Time Capsule without really knowing what it is for and how it works (I know don't ask!!!!!)
- I set it up for him connected to his wireless router so he uses his router to access the internet and uses the Time Capsule to back up his iMac via wireless with Time Machine. (from what I can see he could have saved himself some cash and just bought an external Hard Drive and connect it via USB to the iMac for Time Machine, but never mind. He has 1 iMac and no other Mac's in the household. His printer is connected to his iMac via USB in the same room and he uses a wireless router to access the internet, since the phone point is in another room)
- All is well until Monday when he tells me he cannot access the internet. After much much trial and error I have eventually managed to get his internet back up and running, but he has somehow managed to erase his Time Capsule.
- I set his Time Capsule back up as it was previously and it starts performing the initial backup again. However at the rate its taking I think it will take well in excess of 24hrs to do that initial
backup. Also so far It has failed 3 times during this initial backup and I get an error message stating it's failed. The setup guide makes reference to performing the initial backup via ethernet as it's quicker.
I'm thinking the best way forward would be to just plug the Time Capsule into the iMac via ethernet and use it purely as a Hard Drive for use with Time Machine. I've tried just plugging in the ethernet cable from the Time Capsule to the iMac, but it doesn't recognise it. Bear in mind that it currently works via wireless, do I need to perform some sort of factory reset or how do I go about telling the the iMac to no longer use the Time Capsule wireless, but just connect via ethernet instead.
Of course I could just forget about the Time Capsule all together and tell him to get a 500gb USB External Hard Drive, plug that in and set up Time Machine with that instead.
Am I missing the point here and can the Time Capsule do a lot more for him, given his current setup.
Thanks

That is true but if you mix your files with the Time Machine backups, Time Machine will have trouble contril disk space when it gets low.
If you are going to do that it is recommended that you partition the drive. Since Time Capsule is not able to partition the drive that means you will have to remove it in order to partition it.
A simple solution IMO is to get another external drive and hang it on the USB bus in the Time Capasule.
Allan

Use time capsule as external hard drive

Hi, I'd like to know if can I use my time capsule as an external wi-fi hard drive, I just want to copy selected files to it, and call them when I need it, thanks!

OK.. I am going to do battle on this one.
The OP asked..
I'd like to know if can I use my time capsule as an external wi-fi hard drive, I just want to copy selected files to it, and call them when I need it, thanks!
I took the JUST seriously.. he just wants to use it for external wifi hard drive.. so how does he get internet and how is the TC connected into the mixture..
We cleared that up.. he then asked.
My question is, can I use that "hard drive" to save some info that I use frecuently (I'm a recording studio owner and I have a lot of recording sessions) So, I'd like to save it in my time capsule and call them whenever I want
Now if you were advising somebody for external storage of recording sessions.. as a studio owner.. ie this is a business and recording sessions are pretty valuable I imagine.. and pretty big.. would you in all honest recommend a Time Capsule..
You already stated you would not recommend it in business and then you want to fight me because I did not recommend it.. ???
He also said the files are used frecuently (sic).. and is the TC suitable for frequently used files.. each time you access the file the hard disk has to spin up.. as it is designed to spin down within a min of inactivity.. and that spin down cannot be reset.. because the TC is designed as a backup target for Time Machine not a NAS.. try it yourself.. open a file on a stopped TC and see how long it takes before the TC is ready to even respond.. and open the file. Many applications will toss up errors if they cannot open a file within a few seconds.. this will be a constant problem if directly using the files on the TC.

Time Machine/Time Capsule with ext hard drive backup probem

I installed Time Capsule with no problems. A 1 TB LaCie hard drive is attached by usb cable to the TC. The LaCie is seen by finder and I can open, edit and save files to it and so can the Macbook Pro on my network.
Time Machine backed up my internal hard drive on my Mac just fine, but Time Machine refuses to see the external Lacie drive so it cannot back it up.
Here is the situation:
1. If I go to Time machine preferences and click Options there are no volumes or folders listed as Do Not Back Up. nothing is there.
2. If I click Change Disk the name I gave my Time Capsule is listed as it should be but the LaCie drive is listed also as if it were possible for me to back up to that also. The LaCie's name is there with the name of the Time Capsule in parenthesis. Isn't that odd?
3. When I select the LaCie icon on my desktop and select Get Info in the Sharing & Permissions section it says, "You have custom access" below it says
Name Privilege
(unknown) Read & Write
everyone No Access
I am new to Mac in general and this permission and sharing thing is still a bit mysterious to me so I don't know if these sharing & permission settings are usual or weird and could be contributing to why the back up of the LaCie drive is not happening.
This is the final hurdle I have in absolutely convincing my small but vocal office that switching to Macs all around was a great idea.
Any help would be appreciated.

External hard drives connected to Time Capsule are not backed up by time machine. I solved this by connecting the hd directly to my mac and sharing it. That's not the solution I was hoping for but it will do for now.

Can you use time capsule as a hard drive

Can i use timecapsule as a external hard drive to store pictures and access them but not as a back up

Yes it can be mounted as an external HDD in finder and you can drag and drop on and off.

Using time capsule as external hard drive with air

About to go full Mac, looking for seemless integration and organization of music and photos. Can a pairing of Airbook with Time Capsule work not just as backup by as an external hard drive to acces all of my things? Adding an external HD to the Time Capsule seems excessive. Hearing that iphoto doesn't really like to be anywhere by on local drive in OS. I'm not very Mac litereate yet so any heavfy kung-fu manipulation might be more than I can bargain for at this time.
Thanks!
Toshiba Satellite
Extreme
iphone 5
ipad original
ipad mini (x2)

Well, you just hook the Time Capsule up (either wirelessly or wired via ethernet) and for the PC you will want to install AirPort Utility, run it, and then she will be able to copy files to it. Then when it gets back to you you can run AirPort Utility (it is located in Applications/Utilities) and then access the files she put on your Time Capsule.

Time capsule with external hard drive

My wife and I just recently became an all Mac family and I am looking into backing up our files. We have approximatly 1 TB of Photos and 1 TB of Music/Movies. We are photographers (well, my wife is, I just take blurry photos) and so we expect the size of our Photos to grow.
We both have Macbook Pros and a mac mini (1 TB of storage). Connected to our mini is a an 8 TB external hard drive currently set up as a Raid 10, so I have effectivly 4 TB storage with 4 TB of back up. My plan was to buy an Air Port Extreme to replace our 4 year old wireless router, and I see some of the Air Port Extreme's have time capsul storage built in.
My question is, our photos, music and movies will be kept on my EHD, which is mirrored and will make its own back up. Is it worth buying an Air Port Extreme with time capsule to back up everything? We will primarly be keeping programs word documents and home school stuff on the Mini and everything on our Macbook Pros will be files we take from the EHD.
Also, should I plug the EHD into the Air Port Extreme or the Mini?
I formated the EHD on the mini, so it is set up as journaled, not FAT32.

Connected to our mini is a an 8 TB external hard drive currently set up as a Raid 10, so I have effectivly 4 TB storage with 4 TB of back up.
I would quibble with you on the use of the word backup.. Mirror yes.. you have a mirror.. but that does not represent a backup. But you also suggest later that you have a separate backup as well .. if so you have not listed what exactly this is.
The issue is if you delete a file.. it is deleted from the array.. if you manage to corrupt a file.. it is corrupted in the array.. worse yet.. if you corrupt a library.. very real possibility with the way apple stores files.. and I do hope your are storing original RAW versions.. so the library will then be corrupted in both sections of the array.
How is this connected to the mini? I hope it is a recent mini and using thunderbolt??
The best backup imho is a 4TB drive plugged into the array by usb or whatever is the fastest port it has.. esata would be great.. expensive but thunderbolt even better. Does the software with the array have some inbuilt backup?? They are usually the best way to do it. I would even consider a second cheap USB stored offsite.. friends house. Thieves love those big disk arrays.. they are worth a lot of money.. and they collect your TC/AE along with the rest.
Now all this might be already part of what you are doing so please take it simply that you didn't list it.
My question is, our photos, music and movies will be kept on my EHD, which is mirrored and will make its own back up. Is it worth buying an Air Port Extreme with time capsule to back up everything? We will primarly be keeping programs word documents and home school stuff on the Mini and everything on our Macbook Pros will be files we take from the EHD.
Also, should I plug the EHD into the Air Port Extreme or the Mini?
I formated the EHD on the mini, so it is set up as journaled, not FAT32.
You can use Time Machine in the notebooks to do a backup of the current configuration of them. Without needing to do the backup of the EHD which is really too big to do effectively. TM is very good at keeping incremental backups.
A Time Capsule is good value considering the price of the hard disk now.. so you can buy an Extreme and run it with USB drive.. but the TC with inbuilt drive is a better option in that the drive speed of the internal far superior to the usb2 drive.
The new AC models are still somewhat buggy.. I think I would wait a bit for Apple to get their act together.. a few months probably. Of course I only see the people with issues here.. but the firmware is still immature.
I read a review recently by a guy I respect on our local forum.
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2125865
Compared to the Asus N66U model.. the AE wasn't even in the same class. And that is not AC but just 900mbps (so called) N wireless. That the AE was totally outclassed is somewhat of a surprise.. they are basically identical.. the chipset both use is standard broadcom. That means Apple has tried to do funny stuff instead of sticking with the broadcom OEM linux firmware.. they have to rewrite it in NetBSD.. and this is going to take some time to debug.
For now you can use TM to network drive,, just as easily as to a TC.
See http://code.stephenmorley.org/articles/time-machine-on-a-network-drive/
This is plainly opinionated.. and others might be in better position to post.. so go ahead and tear me to shreds.. but I would take great care.. before leaping at new edge technology.. unless you like the bleeding edge.

HT3728 Is it possible to use Time Capsule as external hard drive instead of back-up?

I wonder if it's possible.

Possible, but if you place the only copy of the data that you have on the Time Capsule, you then have to figure out how to back up that data to another drive.
Things may be simpler...with faster performance....if you add a USB or FireWire to your Mac, and then use the Time Machine to back up both the Mac and the hard drive to the Time Capsule.

Want to use Time Capsule as external hard drive / Time Capsule als externe Festplatte

Can somebody tell me what steps I have to take to use my TC as an external hard drive? Thanks! / Kann mir jemand einmal genau erklären, wie ich meine Time Capsule als externe Festplatte für meine Fotos etc. nutzen kann? Mein 128 GB Mac Book Air kommt nämlich an seine Grenzen:) Brauche ich dafür eine weitere externe Festplatte oder kann ich den Speicherplatz nutzen, den die TC hat und auf dem im Moment immer die automatischen Bachups über Time Machine gespeichert werden? Danke!

There might be a big improvement in the new photo app.
The OS X Yosemite v10.10.3 update includes the new Photos app and improves the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac.
With Photos you can:
Browse your photos by time and location in Moments, Collections, and Years views
Navigate your library using convenient Photos, Shared, Albums, and Projects tabs
Store all of your photos and videos in iCloud Photo Library in their original format and in full resolution
Access your photos and videos stored in iCloud Photo Library from your Mac, iPhone, iPad, or iCloud.com with your web browser
Perfect your photos with powerful and easy-to-use editing tools that optimize with a single click or slider, or allow precise adjustments with detailed controls
Create professional-quality photo books with simplified bookmaking tools, new Apple-designed themes, and new square book formats
Purchase prints in new square and panoramic sizes
It’s easy to upgrade your iPhoto library to Photos – just open the app to get started. To learn more about Photos, visit: https://www.apple.com/osx/photos/

Can I use Time Capsule as a Hard Drive too?

My 500gb computer hard drive is full. However my Time Capsule has a 2 TB hard drive. Is their a way I can delete files off my hard drive and store them on the Time Capsule in a location other than the Backup folder? I need help because if I delete files from my hard drive, when my computer backs it up they will be gone. I guess what I need to know is if I can create a folder on Time Capsule to manually store files. Thanks. Jim

jsmnkcmo wrote:
LaPastenague (and AIO)
I am running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 (because last time I checked -- and it has been a while -- a software application I am using does not support Lion) and the TC is 4th generation, 2TB, Firmware Version 7.6.1.
Change the TC back to 7.5.2 it has far less issues than later firmware.
My original thought was to eliminate some clutter on my physical desktop and my home office by reducing the amount of media I have lying around and number of attachments to my iMac (without having to install a new HDD --internal or external-- on the iMac). Your post and the one below it concerns me about the reliability of the TC. Are TC’s really that unreliable? If the HDD in the TC fails, can the HDD be replaced? Do I need to ghost the HDD on the TC incase it crashes?
TC is designed as a wireless network backup for laptops.. more than anything that was the principle concern as people do not connect hard disk to a laptop and back them up.. so including it in the router was to help wireless users.. more than anyone or anything else. All devices die at some point.. if that is the only place your data is stored one day you will lose it.. bank on it.. now it is not likely to be tomorrow.. and it might not fail for 3years.. but you can easily corrupt it.. itunes and iphoto libraries should not be on network disks.. they can be on a media centre as a shared disk but really the TC is a device that is without backup.. if you corrupted it today .. when was the last time you backed it up.
The TC is a sealed unit.. You can open it and replace the disk.. Apple will deny warranty. If it breaks and you lose all your data in warranty.. apple will say or data or the TC .. take your pick. They will not help recover data.. they will offer a replacement at the cost of your original one. Thus ending its usefulness as a backup.. but you note if it was a backup then all the data is on disks elsewhere.
That is what Apple intends.. it is a backup not a file store.
Which would you recommend: upgrading the HDD on the iMac or just get an external HDD and hide it the best I can?
Whatever works for you. I think you can replace the DVD with a drive holder.. ?? I am not sure.. disk are hard to replace and expensive in iMac.. so hanging an external makes better sense. It can be a few feet/meters away.. Neatness.. is overrated.
I cannot see your screenshot and I don't know why it is greyed out.. Reset the TC and please don't use names with spaces or apostrophe in them..

Help using Time Capsule as external hard drive.

Hello.
I am a long time mac user however I just purchased a new MacBook Pro with a Time Capsule. I was able to get it set up for automatic backup for Time Machine. It works great. However, I'm looking to give away my old PowerMac G5 but wanted to save my 30 GB of Music Files, but I didn't want to transfer it directly to my laptop. I tried moving files directly to the TimeCapsule icon but it gives an error message, not allowing it to transfer over. How can I enable this to happen so I can use the Time Capsule hard drive easier? Thank you!
Andrew Trippi
[email protected]

Bob --
Thank you so much. That explains why it will not transfer because, yes, I was transferring it into the shared icon. However, you wrote about click the icon -- I'm not sure which icon you are referring to. I'm trying to click the icon under the shared menu and nothing happens. Is this icon representing the time capsule somewhere else?
Thanks so much!!
Andy

Using time capsule with secondary hard drive

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