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Time Capsule almost full... how?

So, I have a MBP, 2.66 Core 2 Duo, 15", 4MB ram, 320GB HDD. I also have a 1TB TC. I have been using both for 1-2 years now. My TC says it only has roughly 123GB of available space... I don't understand how it could have only that amount of space available if my laptop's HDD is only 320GB. I have tried deleting the backup folders in the TC Finder menu, but it does not affect the available size... very confused. Please enlighten me. I'll bre glad to include any other info to resolve this issue.

Time Capsule-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on May 14, 2012 1:16 PM

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8 replies

May 14, 2012 2:04 PM in response to TimoTayo

The backup keeps growing as it does incremental backups.. this is the correct way for the TC to work. Read the info..


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


The best idea imho, if there is nothing really in backups you want, wipe the TC by doing an erase and start again.. a fresh TM backup will be far more efficient.


You can also get a 1TB USB drive, plug it into the TC, and archive the current disk.. this takes more than a day but you can then put the disk away for 6months and if you never need it in that time it is unlikely you ever will. Wipe and reuse it.

May 14, 2012 2:12 PM in response to LaPastenague

I understand that the TC does incremental backups, and that each one of those would increase the amount stored on the TC. However, wouldn't deleteing each specific backup date folder theoretically increase the amount of available storage back to the TC? In other words, if there were no buckups on the TC, there should be 1TB of storage on the drive I would assume... I have deleted multiple backup date folders from the TC folder and no additional space has been freed up... ?


So, is there a way to setup say 320GB of storage to do my laptop's backup and say, the rest for storage of pictures and other data?

May 14, 2012 4:10 PM in response to TimoTayo

When you delete a backup you do not shrink the size the sparsebundle.. as I understand it.. more space is available but it is inside the sparsebundle and not released as free space on the TC. Or it simply takes some time for the space and sizes to be worked out.


You can do a disk image in which to store files..


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


Leaving exactly the same size as the laptop hard disk for TM is not enough.. it does take a fair amount of space to work.. I would not allocate less than twice the actual size required .. which is less than the total hard disk space of course.


Please be aware.. TC die rapidly.. like one day it is off and will never turn on again. It is a sealed unit.. although you can get the hard disk out.. storing files on the TC is a receipe to loss your data. I have repaired 60 or more TC .. some I do just so people can get their files back. Remember you need another place to backup files.. and the TC cannot back itself up.. so you will need another tool.. it will be slow as it has to go through the computer, to wherever.. the worst being a USB on the TC itself. TM cannot backup network drives. So be careful.

May 14, 2012 7:40 PM in response to TimoTayo

TimoTayo wrote:

. . .

So, is there a way to setup say 320GB of storage to do my laptop's backup and say, the rest for storage of pictures and other data?

A better option is to limit the maximum size of the sparse bundle, per #A8 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.


But you'll want to shrink it first. See the pink box in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #12 for instructions.

May 15, 2012 5:48 AM in response to LaPastenague

With you previous statement about TCs dying rapidly is very disheartening... So this is a product that has a consistant history of failing and doing so without warning. Not good. I probably should have just bought a regular external HDD... I would have saved a ton of money and been able to store files directly to the HDD. This TC seems completely useless for what I planned its use.You have successfully confirmed my worst fears LaPastenague, and that is, I purchased a glorified wireless router. Douped again... 😟.

May 15, 2012 7:23 AM in response to TimoTayo

TimoTayo wrote:


With you previous statement about TCs dying rapidly is very disheartening... So this is a product that has a consistant history of failing and doing so without warning.

That's exaggerated. Yes, sometimes disk drives (whether in your Mac, an external HD, or a Time Capsule) fail, sometimes without much warning. And sometimes the power supply in a TC will fail, just as the power supply for an external HD (or your Mac) may fail. There's no real evidence that TCs fail more often than other hardware, although it can be more difficult to deal with since it's a sealed unit.


The point is, if your data is important, don't depend on a single backup. See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #27 for some suggestions.

Time Capsule almost full... how?

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