When a Time Capsule is full, what do you do?

Curious... What is Apple's stated position on what to do once your TC fills up? With upwards of 500GB internal drives these days, it isn't hard to imagine a 1T TC and three Macs.
Would you leave the TC backups alone an hook up a wireless drive?

NewYorkYogi wrote:
Pondini, I was trying to distinguish between what we have, by experimentation, decided we can do, and what Apple says we are supposed to do. Philosophical conjecture, I suppose.
You can have >1 TC? Really? With only one connected to the internet? I didn't think of that. Would they all be accessible from TM? If Apple says that can be so, then hush my mouth.
I've not seen anything "official," but I've seen some threads to that effect, where folks have used either two Time Capsules or a TC and an Airport to "extend" their range (you might want to check out the Time Capsule forum, hiding in the +Digital Life+ section, at: http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1253)
As far as backing the iMac up to an external drive and letting the MacBook have exclusive use of the TC, that just buys time, because eventually the TC fills up.
So... if when a TC fills up you really can get another one and add it to the network, then that is a solution that Apple says it will support.
Perhaps we're missing something here: Time Machine will, eventually, fill up all the space available to it. Then it will begin deleting the oldest backups to make room for new ones. That way, it automatically maintains as many backups as it can in the space it has.
The trick is to provide enough space so it can keep a reasonable "depth" of backups. Whether that's 1.5 times the size of the data it's backing-up or 10 times, depends on how you use your Mac and how long you feel it's necessary to keep backups of things that were changed or deleted long ago.

Similar Messages

Time Capsule is full, now what?

My time capsule is full, what do I do now

open the airport utility to the disk page and erase is an option there.. just use quick erase .. it will take less than a min.. any other erase is a full low level format and will take many hours.

My time capsule is full and when I attempt to back up, I only receive a preparing back up message and the earliest and most recent back up dates remain the same. Why are the oldest backups not being deleted to make room for the newest backups?

My time capsule is full and when I attempt to back up, I only receive a preparing back up message and the earliest and most recent back up dates remain the same. Why are the oldest backups not being deleted to make room for the newest backups?

linda mariefromharper woods wrote:
My time capsule is full and when I attempt to back up, I only receive a preparing back up message and the earliest and most recent back up dates remain the same. Why are the oldest backups not being deleted to make room for the newest backups?
It may be in the process of making room. What version of OSX are you on? (That process can be excruciatingly slow on Leopard or Snow Leopard backups over a network; Lion has improved it greatly.)
A clue may be lurking in your logs. Use the widget in #A1 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting to display the backup messages from your logs. That should help you figure out what's going on. If in doubt, copy and post them here (but if the same ones repeat over and over, drop most of the duplicates).
If you can, connect via Ethernet; it will be 2-3 times faster.

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.

When using time capsule on a PC based network, how does it appeare on the network ? like a normal shared external HDD ??? or what ?

when using time capsule on a PC based network, how does it appeare on the network ? like a normal shared external HDD ??? or what ?

Yes, it will show you the main directory.. so if you link in windows explorer it will be..
\\TCname\data
Or \\TCipaddress\data
Data can be whatever name the main (root) directory of the TC is called.

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

Finder locking up when browsing Time capsule hard drive

Finder locking up when browsing Time capsule hard drive
I am able to browse the hard drive preview some videos or open files for around 5-10 mins then Finder locks up. Internet still works and I can relaunch Finder and then works for a while again. It sounds like the hard drive is just going to sleep. I watch some films directly off of the hard drive through VLC and these just stop wilst viewing them.
I am on 10.6.2 working on the 5GHZ channel on dual band time capsule.
It is really annoying I have tried a few things like resetting the DCHP Lease. But it seems to be specific to the hard drive as the internet still works fine. It is really annoying as it jams up the finder really awkwardly.
Ant ideas most wanted
Thanks

Are you browsing/viewing files in Time Machine backups on your Time Capsule, or files you've put there yourself?
If the files are Time Machine backups, use the Time Machine interface (the "Star Wars" display), via the Time Machine icon in your dock (or in your Applications/Utilities folder) to see what's there. Backups are not meant to be used; they're duplicates that can be restored in case of a problem with the originals on your system.
If the files are things you put there, you'll do better browsing, searching, or re-posting in the +Time Capsule+ forum, hiding in the +Digital Life+ section, at: http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1253

My time capsule is full. How can I delete older info?

My time capsule is full. How can I delete older info?

You can enter the Time Machine restore interface and find files that can be removed from the backup disk itself to conserve space. To do this, select the file(s) and from the Action pop-up menu (gear icon) in the Time Machine Finder window choose "Delete All Backups of...". Be sure to only delete files you are sure you won't need or want to restore later.

My time capsule is full, how do i backup to an external drive

My backups cannot be completed to time capsule because there is no longer enough available free space. How can I use my USB external HD to move stuff off of time capsule and start fresh?

You could use attach a larger USB drive to the Time Capsule and use AirPort Utility's "archive" function to copy the contents of the disk. But there are a few more important things to consider. First, under normal conditions Time Machine should delete old backups to make room for newer backups. If that's not happening in your case, it could be that for some reason Time Machine is wanting to back up your entire drive. See items C4, D3, and D4 if this Web page. Second, are you putting anything else on the Time Capsule disk besides Time Machine backups? If so, that's not a good idea.

Error message when using time capsule

I recently installed a time capsule disk on my network. the initial implementation went well however when I went to my macbook pro the day after the initial backup was taking place, there was a message that the backup failed and couldn't be completed with an error message (sorry, didn't write it down).
Every time I've attempted to make a backup since, I receive a message saying the backup failed because a file of device (it shows the path) is already in use. Ive tried removing the device and reconnecting but nothing has worked.
I went to the downloads in the support site and found a time machine update but everytime I attempt to install it, I get a messate that it can't be install because the disk requires OSX 10.5 or later. I'm at 10.8.3 so not sure what's going on there
Any help would be appreciated

Restart the Time Capsule.

I have one week old MBP r with a 500 gig ssd. I looked at my storage and im using 147gig for back up. I've backed up onto a time capsule. So what is this 147gig of backups and how do i delete it?

This is my first Mac, and i was just browsing around when i went into storage and i saw i was using 43.97 gigs for audio, 44.72 gigs for movies, 7.96 gigs for photos, 5.4 gigs for apps, 147.16 gigs for backups and 70.81 gigs for other.
I've backed up onto a time capsule that i also recently bought. So i would like to know what constitues the "Backups" on my hard drive and how do I delete it to free up more space

"Invalid Serial Number" alert when registering Time Capsule

Hi,
Today I tried to register a few Apple products through my Express Lane account. I succeeded in registering an iMac, an iPhone 4 and a MacBook, but when I tried to register my Time Capsule I get the following error:
"We're sorry, but that is not a valid serial number. Please try again."
I checked that the serial number printed in the bottom of the Time Capsule was the same as the one that appears in the Airport Utility, and it is.
I copied and pasted it, as well as typing it myself.
I don't really know what else to do, I tried to get support on the product through Express Lane but I'm required to enter the serial number, and so I get the same error.
Is there any solution besides calling Apple Support? I don't live in the US and there is no official Apple support here, so I'd have to make an international call but they're quite expensive.
Thanks in advance!

Hello gusjc. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
AppleCare provides support for the AirPort or Time Capsule generally only if they are purchased at the same time with an Apple desktop or laptop computer. Thus you should not have to enter a serial number for these devices when doing so. However, if you bought your Time Capsule independently, you still may be covered. I would check with your local Apple Store for their specific support policy on this.
(ref: Apple - Support - AppleCare)

Time Capsule performing full back up at each attempt

My time capsule performed a full back up when I originally set it up. However, it continues to try to back up the full hard drive every time it backs up, rather than just changes made. Tis means that it takes a very long time and does not ever back up properly.
How do I amend the settings to the back up so that it only backs up changes and is more efficient?
thanks

check D3 in Pondini's [_*troubleshooting user guide*|http://web.me.com/pondini/TimeMachine/Troubleshooting.html].
JGG

Time capsule is full

what happens when the TC is full and you still
have more stuff to back up?
I remember reading something about this,
but now I can't remember where I read it.
thanks

teresita,
Consider the following...
*_“This Backup is Too Large for the Backup Volume”_*
First, much depends on the size of your Mac’s internal hard disk, the quantity of data it contains, and the size of the hard disk designated for Time Machine backups. It is recommended that any hard disk designated for Time Machine backups be +at least+ twice as large as the hard disk it is backing up from. You see, the more space it has to grow, the greater the history it can preserve.
*Disk Management*
Time Machine is designed to use the space it is given as economically as possible. When backups reach the limit of expansion, Time Machine will begin to delete old backups to make way for newer data. The less space you provide for backups the sooner older data will be discarded.
However, Time Machine will only delete what it considers “expired”. Within the Console Logs this process is referred to as “thinning”. It appears that many of these “expired” backups are deleted when hourly backups are consolidated into daily backups and daily backups are consolidated into weekly backups. This consolidation takes place once hourly backups reach 24 hours old and daily backups reach about 30 days old. Weekly backups will only be deleted, or ‘thinned’, once the backup drive nears full capacity.
One thing seems for sure, though; If a new incremental backup happens to be larger than what Time Machine currently considers “expired” then you will get the message “This backup is too large for the backup volume.” In other words, Time Machine believes it would have to sacrifice to much to accommodate the latest incremental backup. This is probably why Time Machine always overestimates incremental backups by 2 to 10 times the actual size of the data currently being backed up. Within the Console logs this is referred to as “padding”. This is so that backup files never actually reach the backup disks’ physically limits.
*Recovering Backup Space*
If you have discovered that large unwanted files have been backed up, you can use the Time Machine “time travel” interface to recovered some of that space. Do NOT, however, delete files from a Time Machine backup disk by manually mounting the disk and dragging files to the trash. You can damage or destroy your original backups by this means.
Additionally, deleting files you no longer wish to keep on your Mac does not immediately remove such files from Time Machine backups. Once data has been removed from your Macs' hard disk it will remain in backups for some time until Time Machine determines that it has "expired". That's one of its’ benefits - it retains data you may have unintentionally deleted. But eventually that data is expunged. If, however, you need to remove backed up files immediately, do this:
Launch Time Machine from the Dock icon.
Initially, you are presented with a window labeled “Today (Now)”. This window represents the state of your Mac as it exists now. +DO NOT+ delete or make changes to files while you see “Today (Now)” at the bottom of the screen. Otherwise, you will be deleting files that exist "today" - not yesterday or last week.
Click on the window just behind “Today (Now)”. This represents the last successful backup and should display the date and time of this backup at the bottom of the screen.
Now, navigate to where the unwanted file resides. If it has been some time since you deleted the file from your Mac, you may need to go farther back in time to see the unwanted file. In that case, use the time scale on the right to choose a date prior to when you actually deleted the file from your Mac.
Highlight the file and click the Actions menu (Gear icon) from the toolbar.
Select “Delete all backups of <this file>”.
*Full Backup After Restore*
If you are running out of disk space sooner than expected are you sure Time Machine hasn’t lost track of previous backups and isn’t trying to perform another full backup of your system? This will happen if you have reinstalled the System Software (Mac OS), or replaced your computer with a new one. Time Machine will perform a new full backup. This is normal. Keep the old backups for a short time. When Time Machine has completed several incremental backups, delete the old backups to free up space for new data. [http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1338]
*Outgrown Your Backup Disk?*
On the other hand, your computers drive contents may very well have outgrown the capacity of the Time Machine backup disk. It may be time to purchase a larger capacity hard drive for Time Machine backups. Consider as well: Do you really need ALL that data on your primary hard disk? It sounds like you might need to Archive to a different HD anything that's is not of immediate importance.
You see, Time Machine is not designed for archiving purposes, just as a backup of your local drive(s). In the event of disaster, it can get your system back to its' current state without having to reinstall everything. But if you need LONG TERM storage, then you need another drive that is removed from your normal everyday working environment.
This KB article discusses this scenario with some suggestions including Archiving the old backups and starting fresh [http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/15137.html]
Let us know if this clarifies things.
Cheers!

Airport express very slow when extending Time Capsule

I'm trying to help my father solve a networking problem.
For the past several years, I had him using an airport base station and (2) Airport Express units as extenders.
He was using a circa 2004 Powerbook G4 17" and a MacPro Dual Core tower unit.
I finally got him to upgrade the Powerbook to a the new Macbook Pro i7. With the older computer out of the loop, I also upgraded him to Time Capsule.
Everything is installed and running now. However, the network speed in portions of the house where the Express is supplying the signal is very slow. A test on the laptop with DSL Reports gave an average upload speed of about 200.
When I move the laptop right next to the Time Capsule, I got a DSL Report speed of 22,000!
This issue is not laptop specific (it shows up more on the MacPro because it's in a back room), but seems directly related to the speed passing through the Airport Express.
What did I do wrong or do the Express units need to be upgraded (they are on firmware 6.3)?
Thanks!

Bob -
Was wondering if you can elaborate on your response and perhaps help me? I apologize if I have missed this topic covered elsewhere.
I am using a N-capable Time Capsule and an older model G-speed airport express. My biggest issue is that my wireless speeds are 1.5 download and 1.9 upload when in fact my cable modem pumps out 15! In reading your posts I see that my network is likely dropped down to G due to my old express, and in fact my computer may be running of a spliced version of that if using WDS settings?
I think i'll end up calling apple support at some point but was curious if you can go over the facts of using N and G together, and if i can have my macbook pro speak to my N network only and my iphone 3G speak to G airport express only?
Last piece of info is I use the airport express for my music.... not sure if this means they must be WDS or not? I'm just looking to get my N devices as fast as possible while continuing to use my G express. If you tell me i need to upgrade to a N express I can live with it.... but if i can avoid the $100 and work with what i have...all the better!
Thanks in advance,
Joe

When a Time Capsule is full, what do you do?

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