Multi partition encryption

WD External and Portable SSD External SSD for Windows
1

Hi All,

I’m thinking of  buying a WD My Book Essential 3.0 2TB.

My goal is to migrate my Mac OSX partition onto the USB drive, and partition it into 2.

This is so that I can boot windows on my Macbook Pro as the main OS, but have Max OSX sitting on the USB drive for when its needed, then make use of the extra storage for backups.

But:   Does the encryption built into the drive need the OS already running (as in its a service/app)?

Can you seperate out encryption across specified partitions? or is it applied to everything ?

Finally, anyone tell me the physical size of the Essential?  Compared say to the Passport ?  I’m looking for something small and portable.

2

The encryption is built-in, whether you set a password or not.

The password will lock the entire drive, regardless of how many partitions it has.

MyBook Essential:

Physical Dimensions    
English

  •     Height    6.50 Inches
  •     Depth    5.3 Inches
  •     Width    1.9 Inches
  •     Weight    2.60 Pounds

Metric

  •     Height    165 mm
  •     Depth    135 mm
  •     Width    48.0 mm
  •     Weight    1.18 kg

MyPassport Essential:

Physical Dimensions    
English

  •     Height    0.60 Inches
  •     Depth    3.2 Inches
  •     Width    4.3 Inches
  •     Weight    0.31 Pounds

Metric

  •     Height    15 mm
  •     Depth    83 mm
  •     Width    110.0 mm
  •     Weight    0.14 kg