 |
Western Digital My Book Essential 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive by Western Digital
Digital Photo Product DetailsManufacturer: Western Digital Audio: English (Original Language) Format: CD-ROM Platform: Windows Model: WDBAAF0010HBK-NESN Color: Black Product features: - Automatic, continuous backup
- Visual drive control center
- Password protection and 256-bit encryption
- Illuminated capacity gauge
- USB 2.0 interface
Accessories:
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Western Digital My Book Essential 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard DriveCustomer Review: New software does not force an install, drive is great Summary: 5 Stars
The software on my drive (purch Apr 2010) does not force an installation of Smartware. There is now an option to not install the software, which then leads it to only install drivers. It does not prompt for the software install after that and shows as a straight drive that I could drag and drop onto. One nice feature is the drive will power down if the computer is turned off or the usb cord unplugged. Then it turns on automatically when the computer is turned back on, or is plugged into another computer.
See below for a way to enable password protection of the drive without leaving Smartware installed.
The virtual CD can be turned off from within the software, or through a separate download from the WD website. It turned off, then back on just fine. Other people mentioned formatting the drive to get full capacity afterwards, but I didn't try that. Instructions for how to do that are at the WD website.
One thing to clear up is the people saying the virtual CD takes up 70 GB. It takes up less than 500 MB. The 70 GB apparent deficiency relates to the way Windows reports hard drive sizes, not the virtual CD.
A 1 TB drive does not show up as 1,000 GB, but rather as 931 GB in Windows. Right click any drive (or even a file) and go to properties and compare the capacity in bytes to the capacity in MB or GB right next to it. They are not the same. I think you have to divide 1 TB by 1,024 to get how many KB it is, then by 1,024 again to get how many MB, then 1,024 again to get how many GB. So 930 GB for this drive is really 1 TB, minus about 1GB due to the file structure and virtual CD. Again, it does appear you can re-format and claim back the space the virtual CD space back, but I kept it for a specific reason I'll mention later.
After I verified it worked as a straight drive, I tried Smartware. The main problem with Smartware is there's no way to selectively backup certain folders or even just pick a different backup interval besides continuous backup. For many people this will work just fine as it is automatic and you can even set how many old versions of files it keeps. But I need more control since I'm backing up more than one computer and would rather not have yet another program running in the background. And Smartware is really slow. It seems to be cataloging the files. Probably gets faster once it is done the first time, but it seemed like it would have taken a day to back up one of my PCs and that one only had about 40GB of data. But I was just trying it out on a portion of my files, so maybe it's faster if just left alone overnight. However it does run in the background, so you could just plug it in and during regular usage of the PC it would finish the backup over some days.
I installed Smartware on another computer to see what it would do, and it correctly identified it was a separate computer to back up then created new backup folders in the WD folder. The drive also works as a regular drive that you can copy to even if Smartware is storing to it.
Now, the reason I left the virtual CD on the drive. I discovered you can turn on encryption in Smartware, set a password, then uninstall Smartware and the drive stays password protected. There is an unlocker on the virtual CD so you can then unlock the drive from any PC. Obviously, to change the password or turn off encryption, you'd have to install Smartware again but it's still there on the virtual CD. Since I bought this drive over others because of the encryption, I'm glad the password protection works without needing to leave Smartware installed. If the drive were stolen, it'll be encrypted. When plugged into a PC, the password window will pop up automatically. If you start the PC with it already attached, you have to click on the virtual CD, then it'll pop up. Without the password, it'll just start up with the PC and show as a drive.
Speed is pretty good when used as a regular external drive. Although it is limited by being a USB connection. When copying my data overnight it ran around 5 MB/second over an extended period.
Music and video playing from the drive worked fine. I played a DVD content off it and once during playback it froze then picked back up later. But otherwise was fine, which is pretty good for about 1 1/2 hour video.
I'm very satisfied with the drive. My data is secure and the speed is very good. If the backup software were more flexible, it'd be better, but security is more important to me. While I was a little worried about all the negative reviews, they mainly were due to the forced software install which is no longer the case.
Description of Western Digital My Book Essential 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard DriveThe world?s best-selling external hard drive now features a new, smart, visual backup solution that protects your data automatically. Smaller, sleeker, more streamlined design - WD has made these award-winning drives even smaller, sleeker, and more elegant. As always, this book-like shape takes up less space on your desk and allows two or more My Book drives to nestle neatly together like volumes on a shelf. WD SmartWare - A control center for your drive that gives you the power to: Protect your data automatically - Relax. Your data is secure. Automatic, continuous backup will instantly make a second copy whenever you add or change a file. See your backup as it happens - Seeing is believing. Visual backup displays your content categories and shows the progress of your backup. Bring back lost files effortlessly - Retrieve your valuable data to its original location whether you?ve lost all your data or just overwritten an important file. Take control - Customize your backup, set drive security, run diagnostics, manage the power settings, and more from the WD SmartWare control center. Drive lock - Gain peace of mind knowing that your data is protected from unauthorized access or theft with password protection and military-grade 256-bit hardware-based encryption. Illuminated capacity gauge - See at a glance how much space is available on your drive. USB 2.0 interface - A simple connection that offers convenience and compatibility among multiple computers. Power miser - My Book external drives are designed to save energy. WD GreenPower Technology lowers internal drive power consumption by up to 30%, a sleep mode reduces power during idle times, and a power-saving feature turns the drive on and off with your computer. Planet friendly - We designed a small box to minimize waste and used recycled material. We encourage you to recycle it. Ready to plug-and-play with Windows PCs - if you?re a Mac user, check out our Mac version of this product. Our best-selling My Book external drive is an elegant, high-capacity storage solution for all the chapters of your digital life. Our latest edition now features visual, easy-to-use, automatic, continuous backup software and drive lock security protection. At last, beauty, brains, and simplicity together. Elegant design. This book-like shape takes up minimal space on your desk and allows two or more My Book drives to nestle neatly together like volumes on a shelf. | See your life safe in one place. WD SmartWare software - A visual control center with a single screen view of all your data. From it you can back up, retrieve, and secure your files. | Password protection. An extra level of security with password protection and 256-bit hardware-based encryption. | 
| 
| 
| Features at a glance - Automatic, continous backup
- Illuminated capacity gauge
- Password protection and hardware encryption
- WD SmartWare software
- 2-years limited warranty
|
| Smaller, sleeker, more streamlined design - We've made these award-winning drives even smaller, sleeker, and more elegant. As always, this book-like shape takes up minimal space on your desk and allows two or more My Book drives to nestle neatly together like volumes on a shelf. WD SmartWare? - A control center for your drive that gives you the power to: -- Protect your data automatically - Relax, your data is secure. Automatic, continuous backup will instantly make a second copy whenever you add or change a file. -- See your backup as it happens - Seeing is believing. Visual backup displays your content in categories and shows the progress of your backup. -- Bring back lost files effortlessly - Retrieve your valuable data to its original location whether you?ve lost all your data or just overwritten an important file. -- Take control - Customize your backup, set drive security, run diagnostics, manage the power settings, and more from the WD SmartWare control center. Find out more about WD SmartWare? Drive lock - Gain peace of mind knowing that your data is protected from unauthorized access or theft with password protection and 256-bit hardware-based encryption. Illuminated capacity gauge - See at a glance how much space is available on your drive. USB 2.0 interface - Powered directly from the USB port on your PC. No separate power supply is needed*. * An optional cable is available for the few computers that limit power from the USB port. Power miser - My Book external drives are designed to save energy. WD GreenPower Technology? lowers internal drive power consumption by up to 30%, a sleep mode reduces power during idle times, and a power-saving feature turns the drive on and off with your computer. Planet friendly - We designed a small box from recycled materials to minimize waste. We encourage you to recycle it. Ready to plug-and-play with Windows PCs - If you're a Mac user, check out our Mac version of this product. Ideal For - Protecting your data with automatic, continous backup
- Retrieving lost data effortlessly
- Adding extra storage space for photos, videos and music
- Securing private or sensitive data
Compatibility Formatted NTFS Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, Windows 7 Mac OS® X Tiger®, Leopard®, Snow Leopard? (requires reformatting)
Note: Compatibility may vary depending on user's hardware configuration and operating system. What's in the box
External hard drive, WD SmartWare software, USB cable, AC adapter, Quick Install Guide. Backup software you'll really use ? WD SmartWare Five great reasons to love it: | 1. It's easy - Data backup can be a chore, but it's your family photos, your movies, your music - your life - and it's important to protect it. So we made this software extra easy because we really want you to use it. | | | 2. You can see your life safe in one place - See your content displayed in easy to understand categories like movies and photos. Watch the progress of your backup as it happens with the instant-feedback color bars. Now you can truly be sure that all your stuff is backed up. - A unique visual interface lets you see the drives connected to your computer.
- WD SmartWare will automatically scan your computer and find all of your personal files, including e-mail.
- Content category gauges show how much information you have to be backed up in each category. You can even mouse over a category to see a file count.
- Simply click Run Backup and WD SmartWare will automatically start backing up your files.
- As your backup is running the category gauges will change color showing you the backup as it happens.
- When finished, you?ll see a status screen and information about your backup. You only have to do this once. After the first backup your files will be backed up automatically every time you change or add a file.
| | | 3. It's always on the job - WD SmartWare is always watching your computer, so when you change a file and save it, create new files, add new pictures, movies, or songs, WD SmartWare will instantly back them up. | 4. You can bring back lost files effortlessly - If you ever accidentally delete an important file, or need to get an earlier version of a file, you can find and retrieve it in seconds with this easy-to-use interface. - Restore files and folders by categories ? photos, music, video, for example.
- Find a lost file with the search function.
- Go back in time to retrieve an older version of a file.
| | 5. You're in control - WD SmartWare software is also a control center for your external drives. From it you can: - Customize your backup
- Set drive security
- Run diagnostics
- Manage the power settings, and more...
| |
|
 |