HT202807: AirPort base stations: About USB disks

Learn about AirPort base stations: About USB disks
RobertLeth

Q: Can I backup a Windows 7 computer to a FAT32 USB drive attached to AirPort Extreme?

With my current, older, Time Capsule, I can only back-up to a drive formatted as FAT16, that is attached to my the Time Capsule. Does the new Airport Extreme allow backing up to at least a FAT32 drive?

Time Capsule 802.11n (4th Gen), Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Feb 25, 2016 12:45 PM

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Q: Can I backup a Windows 7 computer to a FAT32 USB drive attached to AirPort Extreme?

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  • by Tesserax,

    Tesserax Tesserax Feb 25, 2016 2:20 PM in response to RobertLeth
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    Feb 25, 2016 2:20 PM in response to RobertLeth

    A USB hard drive, formatted with FAT32 & attached to the Time Capsule's USB port, can be accessed from a Windows 7 computer for file services. Also one formatted in HFS+. However, it will be the backup software that you use that will determine if it can access this drive for backups.

  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Feb 25, 2016 4:04 PM in response to RobertLeth
    Level 9 (52,476 points)
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    Feb 25, 2016 4:04 PM in response to RobertLeth
    Time Capsule 802.11n (4th Gen)

    You do not need FAT16.. or even FAT32 which are now well outdated formats.. however useful for small disks.

     

    The windows will see a HFS+ formatted disk as FAT32 over the network.. as per Tesserax you are using the wrong backup software.

     

    I have run free version Macrium Reflect for many years (only recently bought in incremental for the free version) and it works very well to the TC.

     

    Genie time line also have a free version which should work ok.

     

    Internal backup software in windows has long been terrible. Use 3rd party and it should work fine on your old TC.