Time capsule problem ?

Hi,

I have been storing loads of photographs on my time capsule. I now need to free up some disc space on it. How do I cut and paste my photographs folder. From the TC on to an external hard drive.

I have tried everything I can think of...........but none of it works. My MBP just won't let me cut/remove the file to another external hard drive.

I love my Mac.............but am finding this particular issue. V frustrating. On my Windows laptop. If I had two external hard drives connected. I would just simply right click on the folder in one of the drives.........and then paste it over onto the new one.

With my Mac........I don't seem to be able to do this. I have tried dragging the file. From the time capsule into the new drive......that doesn't work either.

Any help greatly appreciated

How is the external drive formatted - NTFS?

You'll need to either reformat the drive or install software to enable writing to NTFS drives.

If the problem is the hard drive isn't working - follow Bob's advice.

If the problem is you want to cut and paste not copy - paste - delete then...

This is a problem for switchers as there is no "cut and paste" right click only copy and paste. You can use drag and drop you just need to hold cmd. Read this short article
OS X: Move Files Instead of Copying | Apple Mac | Tech-Recipes

I actually bought pathfinder as it has the cut command - among a myriad of other improvements over the default finder. After using OSX for a while - you realize that Mac emphasizes using the program to manipulate data - not the finder.
Path Finder 5 by Cocoatech

Also you could use the terminal command mv
mv(1) Mac OS X Manual Page

The reasons Mac OS X doesn't have real "cut and paste" with data is because its risky. Copy/Paste/Delete = much more sensible.

How is it risky?

Cut and paste - copy's the file, then delete the file - if something goes wrong - don't delete the file. Anyway - the move command in Mac does it this way - so does cut and paste from windows.

Copy/Paste/Delete - there is a better chance of messing up as a human is doing each command. That is 3 commands where the human has to do something vs 2 with cut/paste.

IvanLasston said:

How is it risky?

Click to expand...

Well, just as an example, on a desktop Mac -- let's say you "cut" but before you "paste" the power goes out. Where'd the folder go?

Oh let's say that like a lot of people you might be easily distracted. "Cut" and then -- oh wait where's the target folder? Oh I got an email! Is that my cell phone? Hello -- oh hi!

[an hour later]

Right, I was doing something ... can't remember ... well, I'll shut down and come back to it next time ...

Cut and paste - copy's the file, then delete the file

Click to expand...

Cut and paste doesn't work like that, at least in my understanding. Cut removes the file from Drive A and places it on the clipboard, which is temporary storage. If you fail to deliver it to Destination B, that's the file gone.

Hopefully I'm wrong about this, and I'm happy to stand corrected if I am. But after hearing the sob story of lost files from PC owners for the last 20 years, I think "copy the folder, then once you're SURE it's where you want it, delete the original" is a more prudent approach.

I have seen folders and files go away - 20 years ago - and I agree back then cut and paste was risky. In any modern system that is how cut and paste works. If you watch - the file doesn't get removed from the source until the copy is finished.

On windows - what happens is you hit cut - and it only grays the file. If you never paste, or the power goes out while cutting, the file is still there. The copy is probably corrupt but your original is still there.

Also by your example - you could get multiple files with your copy/paste/delete - because I did a copy - I did a paste - I went to delete and the power went out. Boom multiple files - and if you have a lot it may take some time to figure out what got moved.

I also did just test the move with Mac - and I encountered an error on copy from my HD to my time capsule. It gave me a choice on what to do - I chose to cancel - the original file is still there. Feel free to test it yourself - What I did was move a large file and while it was moving - moved it again - because of the cancel - the original file stayed. No harm no foul.

plug external drive into macbook. mount airdisk aka time capsule. open twp finder windows. drag and drop desired contents to desired location. its that easy.

I have just done a cut and paste with large video files on Windows 7 and the behavior is exactly how I described. The file shows up in the new location - it does some kind of checking - then the file is removed from the source.