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I have a very old Time Capsule that I would like to take in for e-recycling, but I want to wipe all the data first. How do I do that? This is one of those older, flat Time Capsules (just 500GB). The amber light is flashing.
Time Capsule
Connect an Ethernet cable from one of the 3 LAN <--> Ethernet ports on the new Time Capsule to one of the 3 LAN <--> ports on the old Time Capsule
Power up the old Time Capsule
Does the old Time Capsule appear along with the new Time Capsule when you open AirPort Utility on your Mac?
If yes, click on the picture of the old Time Capsule
Click Edit in the smaller window that appears
Enter the Time Capsule password if required
Click on the Disks tab at the top of the window
Click on Erase Disk
Select the Zero Out Data erase option (Quick Erase is not secure)
Click Erase
It's going to take some time for the complete erase, maybe 6-8 hours. The Time Capsule will blink amber during this process. You will be notified with an on screen message when the erase is complete
Please try the following:
Connect the old Time Capsule to the new Time Capsule as indicated above and power up the old Time Capsule
Open Airport Utility
Click on the "new" Time Capsule, then click on Edit
Enter the password for the new Time Capsule if required
Now look up at the very top of your Mac's computer to locate the AirPort menus.......up where you see the other menus like File, Window, Help etc
Click on the Base Station menu
Click on Show Passwords to see if the passwords for both Time Capsule's are there
Let's start over again, since nothing is going to work if your "new" Time Capsule is not working correctly at this time on your network.
Power off the old Time Capsule and disconnect the Ethernet cable that goes from the new Time Capsule to the old Time Capsule.
Power off the new Time Capsule, wait 10-20 seconds and then power it back up again.
Open AirPort Utility
Click on the picture of the new Time Capsule and a smaller window will appear
Click on Edit in the lower right hand corner of that smaller window
If you are asked to enter a password, you need to enter the password that you created for the new Time Capsule
Now the main screen for the new Time Capsule will appear with topics for Base Station, Internet, Wireless, Network, and Disks. If the Base Station tab is highlighted, your screen will look similar to this, except that you will see the name of the Time Capsule that you assigned during the setup of the new Time Capsule.
Does your screen look like the example above?
You've been incredibly patient. Thank you. 👍
In AirPort Utility, when I click on either Time Capsule (the old one or the new one), I am immediately asked to enter a password.
I've been trying multiple passwords on both:
these are old ones
I thought they were lost, but now they are found
Unfortunately, none of this is working. When I click on AirPort Utility's Base Station menu, Show Passwords (and all the other options) are grayed out.
I'm so grateful that you're willing to think about and explain this, Bob Timmons.
However, I'm hesitant to power down my new Time Capsule, because as far as I can tell, it's working fine. You know the old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
I am worried that it might be full, though! Does it look that way to you?
But if I remember correctly, if it is full, it will just start overwriting the oldest backup … which would be fine, I suppose.
I am not getting the AirPort Utility screens that you've displayed. Here's the situation as is …
I have no idea how my old Time Capsule got the name displayed here. I don't think I did that. Very strange. Anyway, however that happened, it must have happened quite a long time ago. The plot thickens!
Take the Time Capsule to an Apple Store. They won't use a magnet, but they can erase the data on the Time Capsule.
If you don't plan to keep the Time Capsule, the Apple Store will recycle it for you.
Wow, Bob Timmons, this is so exciting! Thank you. :-D
Your instructions are very clear; there's just one hitch. I don't remember the password for the old Time Capsule, but I do remember the technique I used to create it, so I'm pretty sure I'd recognize it if I saw it.
It's probably on my MacBook Air somewhere, but I don't know where to look for it. I'd be grateful for any suggestions.
Thank you again, Bob Timmons. I've gone through and added 'upvotes' wherever I saw an opportunity to do so. Please let me know if there's anything else I can do. You already come highly recommended! Many many thanks!
Thank you so much, Bob Tiimmons! You've been a tremendous help. Happy MLK Weekend to you and yours! 😊🙏
P.S. (I also have a newer, 2T Time Capsule. So I want to make sure I don't mess up the new one while wiping the old one. The old one is not connected to my current network. Many thanks!)
Could I just take the old Time Capsule to an Apple Store and watch them wave a strong magnet over it … and call it done?
Thanks for the nice words! Good luck!
How to wipe the data from an old Time Capsule?
