Ab Work Outs: Western Digital My Book Essential 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAF0010HBK-NESN Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)If you are just looking to add an additional drive for storage, don't buy this new version of My Book Essential. Especially if you plan to buy more than one (which you of course should unless it's purely a backup drive). You will regret it unless you are a newbie who only wants a drive that will back up your system (and even then you should get a Seagate now instead).

Western Digital is now installing a "virtual drive" software that CANNOT be disabled, ejected (unmounted) or deleted. You will have an extra drive entry for each one of these you install. If you use up to 8 drives, as I have, that would mean 16 separate drive entries. WD has flat out said you cannot remove this functionality. Even reformating won't do it, because the included software is in firmware. If you do use the backup and security functions, they are part of this software, and your drive capacity will ONLY be about 770GB, not the full 930GB that is normal (you can still access the drive directly via another drive letter for full capacity). The software that comes on these drives is not professional level backup software. Neither is the security software. If you are serious about protecting your data, you will buy pro-level software anyway. But you are apparently forever stuck with this software on these drives.

Western Digital's drives have about the same reliability as the Seagates. Both make external drives that aren't fan-cooled, so weaker components from the manufacturing process fail, requiring these types of units to be replaced frequently (that's why you never buy only one, or never keep your only copy of data on it). That's just part of owning these drives for most people. Seagate will replace your drive for free for 5 YEARS. WD will do the same for 1 YEAR. It is virtually guaranteed that 1 or 2 drives out of 10 of these will require replacement. I prefer to have 5 years to do so rather than 1.

I've bought 12 external USB drives, both brands. More of the Seagates than the WD's. I just returned two of these I bought yesterday, and from this point on, there will be no more WD's coming home with me, having discovered that I cannot remove WD Smartware. With the Seagates, I plug it in, the computer sees it as a DRIVE, not software. I delete the software that Seagate puts on the drive, and I start using it. That's how I want it to be.

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Product Description:

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 - Avisual control center with a single screen view of all your data. From it youcan back up, retrieve, and secure your files.

Password protection.

An extra level of securitywith passwordprotection 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 youthe 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.