A few days ago I bought myself a My Book Essential 1TB.
So far, I don’t seem to have any problems with it, but reading some of the topics on these boards got me a bit worried.
I’ve been searching for some answers, but still not all of my questions have been answered, I hope some of you can help me out, or point me in the right direction for answers.
I read something that it was not possible to create a new map on the HDD and copy something to it. However I just tested that and I don’t seem to have any problems so far… Perhaps I’m missing something? I rather not be caught by nasty surprises.
Also, the WD Smartware seems like a very nice tool for backups, the only thing that bothers me is that I can’t see what exactly is being backed up, nor can I select exactly what I want to be backed up.
For example: this “others” category, I found out what file extensions it covers, but it’s 6.8GB big and I have no clue what it could be on my disk. Is it by any means possible to locate this data?
About this Virtual CD, I understand it simply holds the WS Smartware software?
The “sleep timer” doesn’t seem to work either. I’ve set it to 10 minutes, and even when I exit the program using the icon in my taskbar, it simply won’t shut down. Now there is a note saying that some OS may override this option, does Windows XP override this?
Or does the sleep timer only activate when I shut down my computer, I rather not have My Book running all the time when I’m using my computer.
Now what if I want to copy data from a friend’s computer for myself. Can I just connect My Book to his computer without problems? I have locked My Book with a password, will I be able to enter it from his computer? Or will it install the entire WD Smartware package?
That’s about it for my questions. Sorry if these have been asked before/answered elsewhere, I just couldn’t find them.
I read something that it was not possible to create a new map on the HDD and copy something to it. However I just tested that and I don’t seem to have any problems so far… Perhaps I’m missing something? I rather not be caught by nasty surprises.
I don’t have any issue on this. I would not worry about it.
Also, the WD Smartware seems like a very nice tool for backups, the only thing that bothers me is that I can’t see what exactly is being backed up, nor can I select exactly what I want to be backed up.
For example: this “others” category, I found out what file extensions it covers, but it’s 6.8GB big and I have no clue what it could be on my disk. Is it by any means possible to locate this data?
Go to My Book Essential Drive letter and browse. It will have 5 to 6 folders with long numeric # folders.
You will have to go through each to find out which is your photo, document, video, and other categoris.
About this Virtual CD, I understand it simply holds the WS Smartware software?
Yes, + User’s Manual, Unlock Utility in case you put password (so you always have an utility with drive).
The “sleep timer” doesn’t seem to work either. I’ve set it to 10 minutes, and even when I exit the program using the icon in my taskbar, it simply won’t shut down. Now there is a note saying that some OS may override this option, does Windows XP override this?
Or does the sleep timer only activate when I shut down my computer, I rather not have My Book running all the time when I’m using my computer.
Although set to WD SmartWare sleep timer, OS can always over ride.
For example, if running Anti Virus scan or burning DVD to external drive, etc.
Now what if I want to copy data from a friend’s computer for myself. Can I just connect My Book to his computer without problems?
Yes, just like any external drives.
I have locked My Book with a password, will I be able to enter it from his computer?
Or will it install the entire WD Smartware package?
No need to install WD SmartWare. You can use VCD Unlock utility.
