Can Windows see the Time Capsule disk?

Are you running Vista or XP on that Dell? My Windows XP laptop can access the disk without any problems. I couldn't see it in My Network Places at first; I had to go into Entire Network > Microsoft Windows Network > MSHOME (or WORKGROUP or whatever you've named it) and there it was. After I accessed it there once, it showed up as a folder in My Network Places, just like the shared drives I have on the other PCs in my house.

Windows Vista was a pain in the ass. I kept trying to access it through the Network folder, but I guess Vista kept trying to login with my Vista username and password rather than my Time Capsule username and password. I had to set it up through "Map a Network Drive" in the Computer section instead.

Not to hijack this thread, but I am trying to do exactly that...access the TC hard drive using a windows machine....and unable to. I have rebooted and still nothing. How can I see TC using windows?

This all depends on how the drive is formatted. Time machine can run on either HFS or FAT32, so you just have to look at how you formatted it. Chances are if it was set up on a PC, it was formatted as FAT32. But if it was set up on a mac, default would be HFS which means no PC will see it. And you wouldn't need to map it like a normal network drive because the airport utility you installed automatically took care of that.

newappleboy, I'm sure the thread is referring to the internal HD of the Time Capsule, so there is no way of formatting it without taking the TC apart. I'm not entirely sure, but I've read somewhere that there have been people that have taken it apart and it seems to be formatted as HFS+, so it just might be the way Windows is choosing to report the drive.

winty03, assuming you've set up the workgroup name in the AirPort Utility under Disks > File Sharing, try adding your TC's network to any software firewall's trusted networks/zones list. I had to add my TC's IP to my McAfee firewall on my XP and the Norton firewall on my Vista PCs in order for me to see and access the drive. If that fails, there's a CD that came with the TC that has AirPort Utility for Windows. This includes a program called AirPort Base Station Agent, which loads into your taskbar and allows you to mount the drive with the username and password set in TC.

newappleboy said:

This all depends on how the drive is formatted. Time machine can run on either HFS or FAT32, so you just have to look at how you formatted it. Chances are if it was set up on a PC, it was formatted as FAT32. But if it was set up on a mac, default would be HFS which means no PC will see it. And you wouldn't need to map it like a normal network drive because the airport utility you installed automatically took care of that.

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Yeah, but i've got macdrive installed and i cant see it!

How the drive is formatted does not matter for a network drive. For a PC to see it it should be made available via SMB, not just AFP.

With the TC, any drives both internal and external are available through both SMB and AFP. It's just a matter of getting Windows to recognize network attached drives. Install AirPort Utility for Windows and have it mount the disk. And be absolutely sure that the Workgroup is the same in both your Windows network setup as well as within the Time Capsule setup using AirPort Utility. Additionally, you may need to add your TC's IP address to the list of trusted networks in any third party firewalls you have installed.

You will probably need macdrive if it is HFS formatted

When working over the network, the underlying file format is not what matters, but the file sharing protocol. To access accessible devices under Windows, I recommend you install Bonjour. This *should* fix any network devices not showing up.

You need to install Bonjour on your PC - this will enable you to view the drive.

geoffreak said:

When working over the network, the underlying file format is not what matters, but the file sharing protocol. To access accessible devices under Windows, I recommend you install Bonjour. This *should* fix any network devices not showing up.

Click to expand...

Oh ok, thanks for clearing that up

rkdiddy said:

You need to install Bonjour on your PC - this will enable you to view the drive.

Click to expand...

Actually, you don't need anything!
It doesn't matter how the drive is formatted, you dont need to install bonjour, you need to make sure the Workgroup & WINS Server are the same as your PC's work group. Simple as that.

t11chb said:

Actually, you don't need anything!
It doesn't matter how the drive is formatted, you dont need to install bonjour, you need to make sure the Workgroup & WINS Server are the same as your PC's work group. Simple as that.

Click to expand...

Hi there

I've been struggling with this on and off for a while and haven't been able to get it to work.

As it's not been essential, I've just ignored it until I can be bothered to try again, but now I kind of need to be able to access the Time capsule's drive, and an external USB drive I've connected to it.

Could you elaborate on the setup procedure for Workgroup & WINS Server?

Greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance...

/Doug

design-is said:

Hi there

I've been struggling with this on and off for a while and haven't been able to get it to work.

As it's not been essential, I've just ignored it until I can be bothered to try again, but now I kind of need to be able to access the Time capsule's drive, and an external USB drive I've connected to it.

Could you elaborate on the setup procedure for Workgroup & WINS Server?

Greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance...

/Doug

Click to expand...

All i done was enter PCDNET, which is my workgroup in the Workgroup & WINS on my TC, also done the same for Workgroup on my PC, thats all, it finds the drives in Network places.

Hmmm OK. Sounds deceptively simple. I think I've tried that, but will give it a go again to see if I got something confused.

Hi there folks,

apparently I can't transfer 8GB files to TC storage as it is FAT32 formatted. Is there a way to format the HDD in TC to NTFS, or shall I give up TC just because I use Vista?

Appreciate any help on this.
Thx.

The hard drive in the TC is actually formatted HFS+, with Windows using SMB to connect to it via the TC. Windows shows the drive as being formatted FAT32 but in fact it is not. I've transferred files over 8GB to my TC from my Windows machine without an issue. It would be pointless for Apple to release a product meant to back up hundreds of gigabytes worth of data that has an inherent flaw of only being able to hold files no larger than 4GB (FAT32 is limited to 4GB file size).

If you have tried and have failed, your issue may be with Vista or Vista's connection to the TC timing out. Try transferring while connected via Ethernet maybe?

TC with windows

Hi I am new to the forum and was reading this thread and wanted to add.

I had the same problem when bought my TC, after reading many forums about getting my Windows 08 server to see the TC. I found that though Bonjour would see it, however, downloading the Airport Utility for Windows was the easiest way. Also, it maybe be helpful to mention that just putting in the ip address assigned to the TC in windows explorer is another way of connecting.

Hope that helps some folks out there!!

geoffreak said:

When working over the network, the underlying file format is not what matters, but the file sharing protocol. To access accessible devices under Windows, I recommend you install Bonjour. This *should* fix any network devices not showing up.

Click to expand...

So based on my understanding from reading this thread, if I plug an external hard drive into the Time capsule (i.e. FAT32 or HFS+ but NOT NTFS), as long as it's in a format supported by Time capsule, it'll work on Windows and Mac machines connected over the network?

jace88 said:

So based on my understanding from reading this thread, if I plug an external hard drive into the Time capsule (i.e. FAT32 or HFS+ but NOT NTFS), as long as it's in a format supported by Time capsule, it'll work on Windows and Mac machines connected over the network?

Click to expand...

Yes. But Apple recommends HFS+, according to this knowledge base article:

"The AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule support USB storage devices that are formatted as Mac OS Extended (HFS-plus), FAT16, or FAT32. Formatting a storage device as Mac OS Extended with journaling is recommended, as it may provide some more resilience if the device is removed or powered down while in use.

Note: ExFAT and NTFS formats aren't supported.

The AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule allow for sharing storage devices based on the format used to initialize the storage device. For example, if HFS-plus formatting was used, AFP and SMB/CIFS protocols are used to share the device on the network. If a FAT format was used, only SMB/CIFS protocols are used."

Click to expand...

Both Windows and Mac machines will be able to access the drive. From what I understand, Windows will use the SMB protocol and Macs use AFP (and maybe SMB sometimes?).

Regards,
Brian33

Brian33 said:

Yes. But Apple recommends HFS+, according to this knowledge base article:



Both Windows and Mac machines will be able to access the drive. From what I understand, Windows will use the SMB protocol and Macs use AFP (and maybe SMB sometimes?).

Regards,
Brian33

Click to expand...

Thanks very much. I'm just thinking from a practical perspective, in the event something goes wrong with my girlfriend's Mac when she's away on exchange, that she can still use the external hard drive with a Windows machine... therefore I'm leaning towards potentially using FAT32.

Just a quick thanks for this thread.

I was having the same issue, and installing Airport Utility for Windows did the job perfectly - now both the internal TC drive and the external drive connected to the TC's USB port are accessible in Windows.

Assimilated said:

Just a quick thanks for this thread.

I was having the same issue, and installing Airport Utility for Windows did the job perfectly - now both the internal TC drive and the external drive connected to the TC's USB port are accessible in Windows.

Click to expand...

So, if I install Airport Utility on my Windows 7 based Dell, I can access my backup files from my iMac within the time capsule's internal drive? Please answer if you know because I need to access these files and don't want to screw up my computer or TC.