Windows 7 and Time Capsule

Glad to hear that it's working for you. My desktop has been doing daily backups for the last few days without a problem, and I am able to use the TC the way it was intended on my PC as well. Good thing that I dont use Windows Search 🙂

This problem has been plaguing me for weeks; intermittent and poor access to both the internet and the time capsule disk through my Time Capsule from Win7. I tried lots of things to no avail including changing the security settings in Win7.

I downgraded the Time Capsule firmware to 7.3.2 and turned off the search function in Win7 and things seem to be OK now.

Both XP and Vista worked fine so it is a Win7 Time Capsule compatibility problem; perhaps Apple and Microsoft could get on the phone and sort this one out...

Chalk another one up for running 7.3.2 and getting it all sorted!

Ok, so I actually use Windows 7 search... Gasp! I don't see how you guys are giving it up that easily. I would much rather downgrade to 7.3.2. The problem is I can't find the download anywhere on the net. Everything keeps pointing to this Apple webpage -> http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1218. Maybe I am mistaken but I can't find a download link anywhere on there.

Can someone post a link to download Time Capsule Firmware 7.3.2?

Not only I dont mind giving up Windows search, but also I am not able to dowgrade my TC's firmware to anything below 7.5. If you have the most recent version of TC, you might be out of luck too. Since everything is working as it should now, I can connect my HFS formatted external to my TC and right to it directly from the Windows 7 machine. I guess it really depends on personal needs and priorities. I guess I am organized enough to finds things, since I rarely use Spotlight on my MBP 😀

nickh0ff - it's on that page if you actually read it:

If I have a computer or device that does not work well with an AWD with the latest update, how can I install previous (earlier) versions of firmware?

1. Open AirPort Utility.
2. From the AirPort Utility menu, hold the Option key (Control key in Windows XP and Vista) and choose Check for Updates....
3. Select the specific firmware version you require.
4. Click Download.
5. Select your base station and choose Manual Setup from the Base Station menu, or double-click on the AWD icon.
6. Choose Base Station > Upload Firmware.
7. Select a firmware version and click OK.

Easy to do.

Rob BW,

Wow! You did it. I am running Win 7 Pro and disabled Windows Search, restarted the computer when prompted, and instantly the drive worked. Note that I am using an Airport Extreme with a hard drive hooked up to it. So this workaround also works with the AE. As others have mentioned, I can now read and write files to the drive just about as fast as I can to my computer's hard drive. I also no longer get a message at bootup that the computer can't conect to all network places. It's connecting!

**Hopefully, the people at Apple and Microsoft catch this thread, because it appears you have stumbled upon a major clue as to how where the problem lies. I wonder if there is a way to forward it to them. sincerely, does anyone know of a way to ensure that Apple and Microsoft will see this thread and the fix. Maybe I will try to contact Apple and Microsoft tech support on this.

Unfortunately, I do use Windows Search quite often, but I guess I can live without it until a more permanent fix comes our way.

Thanks again for your work Rob BW.

Message was edited by: bertwrench31

Thanks to all those who have been given solutions to solve this problem.

I have a Time Capsule (first version) connected to a MacBook Pro and to a PC. The Time Capsule was used as a backup disk for both machines and had the latest firmware. The problem arrived when I upgraded the PC from Windows XP to Windows 7. Since the first day, I was unable to transfer files between the PC and the Time Capsule. I tried disabling Windows Search and it worked, but since I use the Search feature then I enabled Windows Search again.
Then I downloaded the 7.3.2 firmware to perform a downgrade (using the instructions in this topic) to the Time Capsule from 7.4.2. Now its working without problems.

I also hope somebody at Microsoft or Apple takes care of this matter.

As a recap:
Possible solutions:
1. Disable Windows Search in Win 7
2. Downgrade the Time Capsule Firmware to 7.3.2.

Message was edited by: xDriver207

You don't need to disable search. Works fine without doing so.

Hi, I too have been having this problem, watching this forum and waiting for a firmware update that will correct this issue, I've been seeing it since late in the W7 RC period when 7.4.1 was released.

Luckily mine is an older model and I can run 7.3.2 without issue, however I run a wireless extender and in my case throughput on 7.4.x vs 7.3.x is cut from approx 7MB/s to 3MB/s by downgrading.

One of the earier posts was quite correct in saying that the difference in access logs on the TC on these two firmware revisions is massive, 7.4.x seems to authenticate every, single time a directory or folder is accessed rather than being session based and caching credentials. Try playing music off it whilst switching folders in explorer, you'll see a very long challenge log and disconnections in explorer / iTunes.

I would think that some of these requests are file access and some are W7 indexing volumes on the fly. Quite simply it appears that without session based credential caching the TC gets nailed by too many access requests and drops the connection when it cannot handle the quantity, this may possibly be to prevent a DoS attack. This does not occur in 7.3.x, remember that 7.4 was a major security update.

Although I'm happy that 7.5.x users have found a workaround, it's hardly a solution to disable one of the most important features of 7 in order to fix SMB access to what is essentially a NAS, for me, it's a little like destroying an anthill with a rocket launcher.

I too hope to find a real solution soon.

I have a brand new 1Tb Time Capsule which shipped with 7.5 which can not be downgraded to 7.3.2

So how fantastic to discover that simply stopping Windows Search and rebooting has solved the problem for me, until apple release a fix. Im not happy having to do this, but the Time Capsule is such a cool piece of kit and works with the MacBook seamlessly theres no way I would send it back just because of this.

Many thanks to all Rob BW and the other contributors who have suggested this solution.

If you manage a lot of files and email messages, Windows Search is an incredibly useful and essential time saver once you get into the habit. Since I use it all day, I'd rather give up Time Capsule than the ability to search.

It's been months since this problem was first identified. I hope there will be a firmware update soon, or I'll have to return TC. The packaging and apple.com says that you can use TC with XP and Vista. When I bought this at the Apple Store and when following up with tech support, they both said the omission of "7" was probably because the tech specs hadn't been updated. I wish it had been more explicit that "7" was excluded.

My experience is similar in that sometimes I couldn't get to the TimeCapsule at all (error message) and sometimes I got the PW challenge and then it failed on authentication. Someplace else I saw a suggestion to map the TimeCapsule drive in Windows 7 using the IP address. I clicked on Map Drive in the explorer and input \\10.0.1.1 and then clicked Browse. I saw both the internal TC drive as well as the 1 TB drive connected to the TC. I mapped a Windows drive letter to the internal TC drive and have had no problems since.

Hello All,

Just to share my noying experience too with 2GO TC with 7.5.

Now it works flawlessly with W7.

If you want this to really work follow windows search and indexing disabling instructions provided by AphidNZ.

OK - so this is my first post on these forums.

I have troubleshooted my way through this and have seemingly managed to get it working using the solution provided a few posts ago. I figured his explanation was a little vague for the average user, and so I wanted to provide a good solid reference for the thousands of people who will no doubt stumble across this annoyance in the coming months as Windows 7 becomes mainstream.

Quote:

PT 1. SWITCHING OFF WINDOWS SEARCH
Start > Control Panel > Programs > Programs & Features
Then on the right-hand side, click "Turn Windows features on/off"
Scroll down, and de-select "Windows Search".
Press OK, close all windows and restart.

This may help you save time and efforts compared to running the services.msc method which is not satisfactory.

This was a great post, thank you all!

From http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1331
Windows XP and Vista
Note: With AirPort Base Station Update 2007-002 or later, AirPort Disk Agent has been renamed to AirPort Base Station Agent. If you have not installed this update yet, substitute AirPort Disk Agent for AirPort Base Station Agent in the steps below.
Mounting using AirPort Base Station Agent
1. Launch the AirPort Base Station Agent from C:\\Program Files\AirPort\
2. Ensure that the task bar menu is enabled from AirPort Disks
3. Click the AirPort Base Station Agent icon in the Taskbar
4. Enter the user name and password
Mounting by mapping a Network Drive
1. Go to My Computer (Start > My Computer)
2. From the menu, pull down Tools and select "Map Network Drive"
3. Enter a drive letter that is not in use (for example, "Z")
4. Enter the path to the drive. This is formatted as: \\IPaddress\drivename (for example, \\10.0.1.1\mydrive)
Mounting using Server Connection
1. Select Start > Run and enter the IP address of the AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11n). (by default \\10.0.1.1)
2. When prompted, enter a username and password
3. A window will open containing folders for each hard drive connected to the AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11n)