FAQ: Time Capsule / Airport Extreme / Airport Express

[ALERT]

Hope this thread will benefit those who are considering to buy Time Capsule or already a have one.

I’m considering to get Time Capsule for my home network which consist of:
- One MBP (15" Unibody)
- Two Windows XP desptops (connected via Ethernet cable)
- One Windows Vista laptop

Could any Mac users help answer my queries below:

1) Since I’m going to use Time Capsule as backup storage for Time Machine. Can I still manually copy files into its HDD and share those files with other network users?

2) Can all Windows PCs use Time Capsule as a external storage for storing and sharing files even after Time Machine has “marked” it as a backup storage for my MBP?

3) I presume the HDD in Time Capsule is formatted using HFS+. In this situation, do Windows users need to install special software to access the HDD in Time Capsule?

 

[alphaod]

1) Since I’m going to use Time Capsule as backup storage for Time Machine. Can I still manually copy files into its HDD and share those files with other network users?

Yes, it will show up as an networked volume.

2) Can all Windows PCs use Time Capsule as a external storage for storing and sharing files even after Time Machine has “marked” it as a backup storage for my MBP?

Yes, to other machines, it will be any ol' HDD on your network.

3) I presume the HDD in Time Capsule is formatted using HFS+. In this situation, do Windows users need to install special software to access the HDD in Time Capsule?

It doesn't really matter what it's formatted as since it's attached to the Time Capsule, not your Windows machine.

 

[Powerbooky]

You could install Bonjour on the Windoze machines. That will make it easier to connect by the name of the "AirDisk" instead of IP numbers. And make sure though that Windoze firewall software isn't blocking anything on the local network; software like ZoneAlarm does this very often.