Can my Time Capsule work as an external hard drive?

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I have an iMac running OS X version 10.5.8. I bought a new 1TB Time Capsule thinking that it would be a hard drive. Of course, I was mistaken... but I've heard that it IS possible to turn a TC into a hard drive. Can anyone help me?
 

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If you just bought a "new" 1 TB Time Capsule in the last 2 weeks, the first thing I suggest you do is take it back and exchange it for the new 2TB TM that is the same price.

The TM is a router with a hard drive built in. Don't really understand. What is your real question? Exactly what do you want to do? Have you read the directions for the TM?
 
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Of course, I was mistaken...

No you weren't. The Time Capsule as bobtomay stated is a router with a hard drive built in. It can be used wirelessly or with a ethernet cable to connect to the internet and also backup your Mac's HD and works seamlessly with TimeMachine.

Cheers
 
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You mean you want to use the TC as a NAS-drive? Maybe partition the disk to use half of it for backing up with Time Machine and the other half as a storage for your extensive media library, and get access to these partitions when you're in its network?

In that case, the answer is: YES, you can.
 
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How to partition my Time Capsule?

I had my Time Capsule (model A1355) shipped from Canada to the Czech Republic - where I live now - so I can't return it!

I thought it could be used as an external hard drive - I thought I could partition it. But it doesn't appear as a drive so I'm still stumped! I can only see it in AirPort Utility.

There MUST be a way to do this! I'm running OS x 10.5.8 if that helps... someone mentioned that maybe upgrading my OS could help me, but there are no Apple Geniuses in Czech Republic, so I'm hoping someone out there can help me!!
 

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I have an iMac running OS X version 10.5.8. I bought a new 1TB Time Capsule thinking that it would be a hard drive. Of course, I was mistaken... but I've heard that it IS possible to turn a TC into a hard drive. Can anyone help me?

Just wanted to mention...the Apple Time Capsule is a VERY VERY expensive piece of Apple hardware (dual-band router & internal hard drive for network backups). Here in the US the Apple Time Capsule (before the launch of the newest TC)...cost $300-$400 dollars.

If all you need is an external hard drive...you can get external hard drives for as little as $57.99 for a small HD from these guys:

OWC

Of course being in the Czech Republic prices will be different (you may be able to order from OWC directly to the Czech Republic)...other Mac-Forums members from around the world order from them.

What I'm suggesting is...don't take a very expensive Apple TC...and try to turn it into an external HD. Just buy an external HD.

- Nick
 
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You mean you want to use the TC as a NAS-drive? Maybe partition the disk to use half of it for backing up with Time Machine and the other half as a storage for your extensive media library, and get access to these partitions when you're in its network?

In that case, the answer is: YES, you can.

You can't partition the drive in a Time Capsule without removing it and using an external enclosure. You CAN add a writable DMG file with a fixed size, then just write to that.
 

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Have you gone through the set up? See chapter 2 - link

Once you have it set up, you can connect your Mac to it either via ethernet or wifi and the drive will show up in Finder.
 
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I'd just go and get an external harddrive, hook it up to the TC's USB port, and use that for extra files and allow the TC to work as the backup drive for your Macs.
 
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Time Capsule

Oh Nick et al...

Thank-you so much for your help! As fruitless as it may seem, I will continue on the path of hoping that this expensive accessory might actually be able to do what I want it to! (the fact that I didn't read the description is besides the point! :p)


Christie
 
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My Time Capsule works just fine as an external drive

This worked on all of my Macs:
1. Open Time Machine Preferences
2. Click "Select disk" and choose "Data"
3. Click "Set Up Time Capsule"
4. Click "Manual Setup"
5. If prompted, enter your Time Capsule password and check the box "Remember this in my keychain"
6. Click "Time Capsule" at the top of the window
7. Ensure that the fields for the Time Capsule password and keychain checkbox are filled. If not, re-enter the data.
8. Close the Time Machine Preferences

Now when you click on your Time Capsule in the Finder sidebar you should see the "Data" folder of the Time Capsule. Open it and store your data there.
 
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Solution?

Thanks captainjim .. Just wondering , has anyone implemented this solution and had a TC running as an external HDD?
I just moved on to Mac world, with 2.6Ghz Retina MBP.. a 3TB backup+Storage seems like a solid proposition. It would help me in having all of my data in one place - backed up - and easily accessible all at the same time..

So what am wondering is, if anyone could implement a solution where you can turn the TC into backup+storage ? What would be the exact steps for the same?

Thanks so much!

Ameya
 

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There are no steps to be taken.

If you are talking about storing things on the TC drive that are not included in the Time Machine backup - just open a Finder window and move whatever you want to the TC drive.
 
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There are no steps to be taken.

If you are talking about storing things on the TC drive that are not included in the Time Machine backup - just open a Finder window and move whatever you want to the TC drive.

The TC will show up in Finder in the side bar underneath the usual sidebar items.

Here is where my TC shows up in Finder: Link
 
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use time capsule as a external hard drive not a backup

so in this case i can use TC as a extra hard drive instead of time machine backup, right?
will the TC connect to my imac automatically or i have to set it up?
 
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Here is where my TC shows up in Finder: Link

Off topic, but could you PM me on how Evernote works with skitch please. Have used Skitch for near on 5 yrs now and since its got Evernote im totally confused and where to find the direct image link lol Ive gone back a couple of .v but its still no joy :( lol
Sorry OP for highjacking

so in this case i can use TC as a extra hard drive instead of time machine backup, right?
will the TC connect to my imac automatically or i have to set it up?
But over to you. Yes you can use it as another hd, by just dragging stuff to it or use something like SuperDuper (My Preference) or CarbonCopyCloner to make a Bootable clone of your Mac HD...

As long as you have used Airport Utility to set it up then it will show up under Shared like xdunlapx pointed out. Mine sits under Shared as well.

Cheers
 

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