WD My Book 1TB External Hard Drive Storage USB 3.0 File Backup and Storage

Drive very fast w/ USB 3. Comes w/ cable that will connect to USB 2 or 3. Included software for continuous backup works well. Easy to configure. Only downside is that when I tried to make an image backup with Windows 7s backup utility, I got an error. To correct this you have to reformat the drive, which means you have to dump everything off it and put everything back on after reformat. Troubleshooting and doing required moving set me back about 3 hours. Heres the solution if anyone gets error when making image backup, and note then that it wont be usable with Windows XP: Error: 0x8078002A occurs when backing up to a 2.5 or 3.0 TB drive in Windows 7 Backup and Restore Problem: When using Windows 7 Backup and Restore with a 2.5 TB or 3.0 TB drive, the backup fails with an error code of (0x8078002A). Cause: This problem is caused by an issue with the Windows 7 Backup and Restore utility when using drives with 4K Logical sector sizes, which are found on WD 2.5 TB and larger external drives. This is different from an Advanced Format (AFD) drive which use 4K physical sector sizes. AFD drives should not cause this problem. Solution: It is still possible to use a 2.5 TB drive or larger with Windows 7 Backup and Restore, as long as you dont need to use the drive with Windows XP. Using the WD Quick Formatter tool, select the Factory Default configuration to reformat the drive. Warning: This tool will erase all data on your drive, so take the necessary precautions. After formatting the drive to Factory Default mode, the drive will be usable in Windows Vista and Windows 7. However, the drive will not be recognized in Windows XP. This is the only way to get Windows 7 Backup and Restore to work correctly.

This was a good deal on a high-capacity hard drive. I wanted to get a drive that would theoretically be the last external storage I would ever need, and I was pleased that this one at least offered some means of eventually upgrading to USB 3.0. So far its working great with no problems. I converted it to FAT32 for use with my PS3 and had no problems doing so. I use it to backup files and store music, video, etc. that I wont always have room for on my computers hard drive. I dont use it for automatic backup, so I cant comment on that. I rated the bundled software at 1 star because I have no interest in it and wish it had come without. They should just give you a code to download that stuff if you want it. For people worried that it cant be removed or the drive will not work correctly, I have not had any issues after removing it and reformatting to FAT32. I have only had this for about 6 months, so long-term viability is still to be seen, but so far I dont have any complaints and still consider it a good deal.

Well with all the demands for offline backup to store all that stuff you think is worth storing this may be a good choice. I got my unit to throw all my photo files into after the supposedly automatic backup from Norton quitworking. Not being a real techy type I had my doubts as to how to hook it up. No worries. You just plug it in and attach the USB and you are off and running. The software is all preinstalled and my computer recognizes the drivers right off. All I did was pick how often I wanted it to run a backup on my files or amendments to them. Amazons price was really good as I looked a lot of places for this unit. So if you too need s secure place for some of your importasnt data, you can pick which kind, this might be the one. Western Digital Has been around a long time and not because they make bad stuff.

What can I say about HP and their 2TB 2.0 USB at first I loved it and I have many years of experience with their products. So I jumped the gun and well it was good, however I got a WD 3TB and it blew my mind away. I returned the HP drive which cost more than the WD by a lot. I have not had a problem with this WD unit to date. I have read most of the reviews here both good and bad. I have had the WD since Jan. 2012 and to date has not burped, sizzle, smoke, and the worse sound is a metal clicking sound. Now I say this and if it goes southward I will be very angry. Pound for Pound ease of use, set up and depending on your data you are saving for the initial back-up I would say anything over 100gb is going to take several hours, so dont stop it or use the computer while it is doing this. Also, shut down all applications running before you plug this bad boy in to your USB slot. I only have the 2.0 USB slot, and though it is fast, I have read of people jumping to light speed with the 3.0USB. Finally if you are worried about the price, it really is a no-brainer BUY, BUY, BUY!!!

external hard drives have become kind of mundane, but some are better than others.... useful hint: if you are technical, theres a free handy drive copy tool called Fastcopy (first hit on Google)... the guy who wrote it does some low level stuff with drive operation to maximize speed and it really works.... I was able to increase this drives throughput on USB2 by about 15% using fastcopy instead of just drag n drop.... back to this product Pro: - WD brand.... Ive had much better luck with WD than Seagate and others the last few years... they are all fragile devices, so dont spike them, but it seems like WD has been more reliable lately - it doesnt force you to use the onboard software which is awesome because Im a techie and dont want to use wizard BS. - has a monolithic supermodern look with no BS which I like - performance is good to great on USB 2.0 at 23MB / sec write, 35MB/ sec read... max possible is about 45MB/s but Ive never seen a 2.0 drive do even close to that ... Ill post 3.0 speeds when I can - it comes with WD SmartWare for windows and mac which is a wizard type management, encryption and continuous backup software.... looks like it can do the job, but I didnt try it.... search gH9Qj57PPgA on youtube to see a demo - no bright leds etc so it doesnt distract next to a TV or wherever... - 3TB size is nice n big - its a 3.5 Sata drive inside, so if you really need to, you can rip it apart and install in a PC in a pinch Con: - its a 3.5 drive so after you get the casing around it and all that, its large and not very portable, in comparison to smaller laptop hard drive based external drives, but they dont make them in 3TB versions yet - uses a new custom USB cable... so dont lose it and expect to pull one out of your spare parts easy.... overall it does the job, is well priced, and didnt force me to use its software... so I like it.... enjoy!

I have a home media center PC and have purchased several of these over the last couple years to store movies and tv shows. I always purchase them in pairs so I have one for the media center and one for backup. WD has changed the design slightly on this model compared to the 1TB & 2 TB model My Book. Those models had two blue LED lights on the front that would blink back and forth when data was being accessed. When the drive went into sleep mode the front would go dark and the lights off. This model has one micro white LED that is bright. It flashes when data is being accessed and continues to slowly pulse when the drive is asleep. A little disappointing in the asthtetics area that they changed this as I purchase this drive for looks almost as much as capacity. It also seems to take a bit longer to spin up and be ready when powering it on than the older models. I gave the bundled software 2 stars because it only came preloaded on the hard drive and not backed up on a disc. When I purchase a hard drive I dont feel anything at all should be on it. The first thing I did was format the drive but then I have to find a place to store the bundled software if I wanted to keep it. Otherwise, WD is a very solid product and I will continue to purchase. They cost a bit more than other brands but I feel you are paying for higher quality. USB 3.0 speeds were good. I purchased a seperate USB 3 card for my laptop but it also works fine at USB 2 speeds as well.

I have expanded my collection over time of MyBook Essentials from a 1 TB version purchased about 5 years ago to about five total split betwee the 2 TB and 3 TB versions. I like the 3 TB version because of its extra capacity (I use them exclusively with Windows 7 backup and WHS 2011 backup) but the 3 TB version wont work with Windows system imaging because it doesnt have 4K sectors. But after a lot of investigation it turns out that Windows has a LOT of limitations related to the 2 TB limit with Windows backup and system images (for bare metal backup) because it uses Microsoft VHD (virtual hard disk) technology behind the scenes. Microsoft made the same oops mistake in software that standards committees made in hardware when they decided that 2 TB was more disk space than anyone would EVER need. So for now I mostly use the 2 TB versions of the MyBook Essential although I have really outgrown it, because otherwise I cant get a bare metal backup (there are some external 3 TB drives from other manufacturers now that do 4k sector emulation; but I dont trust their drives reliability). Hopefully Microsoft will fix the issue with Windows backup and/or VHDs soon.

I have this unit since 2011 and its still going strong. It remain invisible, hidden in a corner.. I dont see it, I dont hear it. I just noticed that I havent even removed the plastic film that it came protected in. For most part, external or internal HDDs run forever and one day, just die. There used to be a time when they would go noisy in their last moments but since 1995, most HDDs have outlived the system overall. I dont care about benchmarking the speed. I just need a reliable data storage to hold my 1700 movies and a small redundant backup of my research data. If you need something like that.. I dont see why you shouldnt buy this (price, aesthetics and personal preferences not being a factor). One thing I noticed was that the power adapter it came with, was not branded Western Digital. Its some generic American Power something brand which is weird because Ive had other externally powered HDD from WD and the power adapter clearly had the WD logo on it

I have 4 My Book Essentials (USB-3.0) and one My Book 3.0 (USB-3.0). The Essential all seem to have an improved plug support bracket. It goes completely around the end of the plug. The 3.0 has just a simple side support tab. The latter looks really weak. I have been using a black/white epoxy to reinforce the plug to circuit board on 5 of 6 sides. It is thicker than the clear stuff, which started to wick into the plug of the first one I did, the My Book 3.0 drive (I managed to pick that out with a needle while still soft). Ive glued 4 of the 5 drives so far. 3 of those 4 use different, removable, circuit boards. This holds the plug and some other stuff. They all have a std SATA (serial ata) connection/plug for the hard drive itself. While I have not tried it, Im pretty sure that if you were to damage the plug you could swap the sub panel from a similar drive, perhaps any of them, long enough to recover data stuck in a drive w/a bad plug. The one gripe- the drive(s) are all 7% smaller than advertised.

Ive been working with computers since 1974, back when there were no personal or micro-computers. Back when a 300 baud modem was hot stuff. My first 60MB hard drive cost $600 (back when $600 actually meant something) and measured about a foot long or more, about 8 inches high and six inches wide. So you can imagine my delight when this little 2TB drive showed up. Its no more than a tenth of the size of that first 60MB hard drive. Imagine, two thousand gigabytes. Theres an old saying in computing (or at least those old enough to remember it) that, no matter the size of your hard drive, youd only have about 1MB of free space. Well, not no more. Given the performance of our other Western Digital drives, Im pretty confident that the My Book drive will last until, well, until we dont need to preserve our professional, historical files anymore. Now, before I buy things like terabyte drives or printers or laptops, I always check PC Magazines Editors Choice collection, and this one was highly recommended. Its speed, size, and simplicity make it a real standout. Furthermore, weve been using Western Digitals drives for over ten years and have been very pleased with them. Unfortunately, though, Robins Rule #2 is: all drives fail eventually, as do computers. (Robins Rule #1 is: never pass a law you cant enforce, but well skip that one here.) My sturdy old Pentium 4 Micron computer is finally dying, after putting in several years of hard service, so its time to move on to the laptops, especially now that were retired and Im no longer doing interface or other design work that really does need a large monitor. And moving to the laptops means its time to transfer all our historical, professional data off the old machines, which is why I bought the My Book drive. The real beauty of the Western Digital My Book isnt just its thundering capacity, its the size and portability. Using a simple USB cable, I can move my main development data from one computer to the next in less than five minutes (Gee, just like the old days of moving SCSI drives on the Macs). So now every one of our computers with a USB port can become my main development and writing computer. Just as soon as I transfer that 1.5GB of old emails from clients and contact information for everyone I know (I used to use Outlook Express, but now I just let Yahoo take care of the mail), and things like my book-selling database files. The total data transfers have now taken up barely a fraction of the My Books space. Out of a readable 1.81TB, I still have 1.78TB left. And that represents over fifteen years of developing database applications for clients like California state agencies and medical research projects. Meanwhile, the My Book drive just sits quietly in the background, taking up almost no space and storing our entire professional history of database development. Yes, its a ridiculously huge drive for a small company, but all those historical files are critical and, what with the recent tornado warnings (tornadoes in California? Really? Weird.), its nice to know that all I need to do is unplug this one little drive and our critical data is safe. Or, at least, it will be safe just as soon as I finish transferring the data from the other computers sitting around here. Thats an awful lot of reassurance for about $130.