HT201510: Setting up Time Capsule for the first time

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Kirks75
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Q: Can you backup to same time Capsule with PC and Mac

How do I backup to same Time Capsule with both PC and Mac

Time Capsule 802.11n (4th Gen), Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Apr 22, 2012 8:02 AM

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Kirks75

Q: Can you backup to same time Capsule with PC and Mac

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  • by Bob Timmons,

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Apr 22, 2012 8:46 AM in response to Kirks75
    Level 10 (105,438 points)
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    Apr 22, 2012 8:46 AM in response to Kirks75

    Time Machine on your Mac will backup to the Time Capsule.

     

    Genie Timeline Pro claims to be able to backup a PC to a network drive like the Time Capsule, but I have not tried it myself.  Verify with the support folks first to make sure that it will do what you want.

     

    http://www.genie9.com/business/genie_timeline_pro/overview.aspx

  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Apr 22, 2012 2:51 PM in response to Kirks75
    Level 9 (52,991 points)
    Wireless
    Apr 22, 2012 2:51 PM in response to Kirks75

    Most PC back up software will be ok with the TC. It is simply a network drive.

     

    So make sure you can access the TC on the network from the PC.

     

    A few of the following help.

    1. Install the airport utility on the PC.

    2. In the TC set the workgroup to correct value.. generally WORKGROUP.

    3. Make sure you have permission to write to the drive.. I find it is much easier to simply give the guest account read and write access.

     

    Be careful as mixing TM backup with data from the PC can cause issues as the disk gets to full.. It might be better to setup the TC with a separate disk image for PC backup, since you cannot partition it.

     

    http://pondini.org/TM/TCQ3.html

  • by Kirks75,

    Kirks75 Kirks75 Apr 22, 2012 3:09 PM in response to LaPastenague
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 22, 2012 3:09 PM in response to LaPastenague

    Are either of these alternate options better than trying to backup both pc and iMac to TC?

     

    - backup iMac to TC and hook up HD to USB port on TC to backup PC laptop

     

    - backup iMac directly to HD thru firewire and backup PC to HD hooked up to Airport Extreme

  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Apr 22, 2012 7:47 PM in response to Kirks75
    Level 9 (52,991 points)
    Wireless
    Apr 22, 2012 7:47 PM in response to Kirks75

    - backup iMac to TC and hook up HD to USB port on TC to backup PC laptop

     

    Hmmm not better IMHO.. as long as you disk image the TC.. and the amount of space you have far exceeds total usage on both computers.. For the TM backup on the Mac you want TC area to be at least 3x the used space on the drive.. leaving out VM or bootcamp partitions if you use them.

     

    Plus enough space to back up the PC laptop a couple of times over.

     

    USB hard drive is fairly slow.. but should be ok for backup over wireless.. just be aware you cannot unplug the USB drive and use it direct unless you format it FAT32 which is very poor format. So first backup is going to be slow.

     

     

     

    - backup iMac directly to HD thru firewire and backup PC to HD hooked up to Airport Extreme

    If you don't already have a TC then this is fine. Firewire local disk is much faster than network backup even over gigabit.

     

    Any of your options would work ok.. doing disk image on the TC is most difficult to get working and limits the hard disk space. Balance out what you already own network wise with what you need.. there are plenty of routers now with USB ports that will deal directly with windows using NTFS.. if you end up using firewire local disk to the imac..