WD Hard Drive

[Kate]

I picked up a WD My Book Hard Drive (3tb) at Costco today.

They have a bunch of sw they suggest I use, (WD Smartware, WD+turbo).

Does anybody use their software? Is it any good, or should I just reformat the drive and use it like all my others?

Kate

[Ken Sp.]

If you are using 10.5 or newer use Time machine.

If you are using and intel Mac--partition it as GUID--and make only 1 partition

[Kate]

Thanks, I always use GUID. I was just wondering of anybody had tried their software.

Kate

[Jack D.]

I haven't used their software but I do have a 1Tb MyBook. There's some embedded stuff - WD SmartWare Virtual CD - and it keeps mounting on the desktop as another drive icon. You can't get rid of it even by reformatting because it's a "feature"...more like a huge PITA if you ask me. If the 3Tb has this "feature" there are work arounds to keep the extra partition from mounting if you Google it.

[silvarios]

I have not used the Western Digital software. I usually stick with Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper, or Carbon Copy Cloner.

[Black]

silvarios wrote:
I have not used the Western Digital software. I usually stick with Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper, or Carbon Copy Cloner.

I'll third Carbon Copy Cloner.

I say do your best to wipe that drive clean of all that horrid stuff that came on it.

I don't understand why people always post the recommendation of partitioning with GUID, one partition. Isn't that the default?

[Jimmypoo]

I have my boot drive in the MacBook partitioned with 2 partitions.

IF there were a negative about partitioning (especially considering BootCamp is a partition) I'd
have expected to have heard about it as an Apple Support page warning.

[Black]

Jimmypoo wrote:
I have my boot drive in the MacBook partitioned with 2 partitions.

IF there were a negative about partitioning (especially considering BootCamp is a partition) I'd
have expected to have heard about it as an Apple Support page warning.

Well, if there's a specific and compelling reason to have more than one partition, sure. But speaking as someone who used to create multiple partitions when setting up a drive, and then came to regret it down the road, it's not something I would recommend to a more casual user. I've also seen it create quite a bit of confusion in users with more rudimentary skills (A friend got some loser to set her up with an external hard drive and they partitioned it into 5-- she never figured out why 4 of them were there.)

[silvarios]

Black wrote: I don't understand why people always post the recommendation of partitioning with GUID, one partition. Isn't that the default?

No. Many drives come partitioned with MBR as FAT. You have to select partition, even if you only want one partition, to format as GUID HFS Extended Journaled.

[silvarios]

Black wrote: I'll third Carbon Copy Cloner.

I liked it so much I listed it twice. On a serious note, one of the Carbon Copy Cloner mentions should have been Time Machine.