While I was on a recent trip, my laptop started making some funny sounds when booting up and I began to worry about the data I had created while I had been traveling. Of course, I had made a File History backup before I left, so I knew most of my data was safe. To protect the work I had done while traveling, I simply made copies on OneDrive.
MY PASSPORT FOR MAC USER MANUAL ABOUT YOUR WD DRIVE – 1 About Your WD Drive Welcome to your My Passport™ for Mac portable hard drive. This drive offers high capacity in a sleek portable device.
However, I had recently seen an advertisement for a Western Digital My Passport Ultra. I was intrigued by the idea of having a large capacity, yet portable hard drive at my disposal while I was traveling. So I tracked down a 2TB version of the drive for about $90 at a computer store near where I was staying.
More about Windows
Now, as you know from reading my articles, I'm a Windows guy through and through, and I use the native Windows programs for the majority of my software needs. So my original plan was to use File History to back up onto the My Passport Ultra drive. But when I connected the drive and began to look around, I remembered reading that last year; Western Digital replaced the WD Smartware backup package with a new package called WD Backup.
I decided to investigate further, installed the software, and really liked what I found. Let's take a closer look.
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The drive
The My Passport Ultra is a compact drive that fits in the palm of your hand and comes in a variety of colors (Classic Black, Brilliant White, Noble Blue, and Wild Berry). You can accessorize the drive with a colored rubber grip, which surrounds it to give you a more solid hold on the unit and to protect it if dropped. (The grip is an extra cost). The drive is powered by a USB 3.0 connection and offers a satisfactory data transfer rate of up to 5 GB/s.
Installation
Installing WD Backup was easy, and of course, all the software and user manuals are on the drive itself. After I connected the drive to my laptop with the included USB 3.0 cable I was off and running. I just accessed the drive in File Explorer and double-clicked the WD Apps Setup file. After a moment, the WD Apps Setup wizard, shown in Figure A, appeared on the screen.
Figure A
The opening screen of the WD Apps Setup wizard shows all the tools that come with the My Passport Ultra.
In addition to WD Backup, the package includes a security tool for password protecting your drive, as well as drive management and status tools. However, to keep myself from getting sidetracked by other bells and whistles, I ran a Custom install and just selected WD Backup, as shown in Figure B. After all, I just wanted to back up my data files. (I will tell you that I later installed the rest of the tools and found them just as impressive as WD Backup.)
Figure B
From the WD Apps Setup wizard, you can easily install the WD Backup program.
Making a backup
Once the installation was complete, I accepted the default backup settings, which configured the backup of my entire user directory on an hourly basis, as shown in Figure C. I then clicked the Start Backup button and the backup began immediately in the background. In addition to the hourly schedule, you can use the Edit Schedule button and choose either daily or monthly. Clicking the Edit Files button allows you choose Windows 10's Libraries or any folders under My Computer.
Figure C
The default backup settings are perfect if all you want to do is back up your data.
While the backup operation was underway, I opened the WD Backup application to monitor the process, as shown in Figure D. It took a bit of time to complete the initial backup, but really no longer than File History. Subsequent backup operations went much quicker since the software backs up only any new files and those that have been changed since the last backup operation.
Figure D
The WD Backup UI is straightforward.
Restoring
Restoring files is also an easy operation. You can choose to restore files to the original location or to any location of your choice, as shown in Figure E. Then, click the Select Files To Restore button.
Figure E
You can restore files to the original location or to whatever location you choose.
From the Restore Files screen, shown in Figure F, you can navigate to and select the files you want to restore. The View Files From panel on the right lists the dates that the file or files were backed up. The most recent backup version is selected by default.
Wd Backup Software For Mac
Figure F
The Restore Files screen makes it easy to find and select the files you want to restore.
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What's your take?
I continue to use File History as my main backup tool, but I've found that I really like the simplicity of the WD Backup program and the portability of the My Passport Ultra drive. I now use them as part of my standard backup program.
Do you use a portable hard disk to back up your laptop while you are on the go? If not, are you likely to get a Western Digital My Passport Ultra drive and use WD Backup program? Share your thoughts and experiences with fellow TechRepublic members.
As a Western Digital hard drive user, you may have the habit to store most of your digital media in the hard drive. The big capacity make it convenient to store your file and take it to anywhere. But it has a fatal defect that if you mistakenly deleted some important files from the hard drive, you possibly can not recover them from trash. Does it mean that you will lost the files forever? No, we have a solution to recover files from Western Digital external hard drive easily. Also with this method, you do not need to worry about the data loss led by virus attack, power loss, accidental formatting or any other factors.
Part 1. Western Digital External Hard Drive Recovery Software
Data loss may occur in everyone's life. Most people do not know what they have to do in order to save their files or documents in their external hard drives. Luckily, there is a powerful program called iSkysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
It is considered as the best Western Digital data recovery mac software (macOS 10.12 Sierra supported), which is able to pull back any documents, audio, videos, pictures, and any other deleted files from any Western Digital hard drives. This Western Digital hard drive recovery software can go back to the previous state before the hard drive is broken. Then, it can restore all files to Mac computers, especially when the hard drives cannot be used anymore. Another benefit of using this western digital recovery software is its ability to work with any storage devices like memory cards, USB drive, external hard drives and more.
Part 2. How to Recover Western Digital Lost Data on Mac (El Capitan, macOS Sierra and macOS High Sierra)
Step 1. Select File Types
Connect your Western Digital hard drive with computer and launch iSkysoft Data Recovery for Mac. Choose the target file types you want to scan and recover. Then click 'Next' button on the bottom of the window.
Step 2. Scan Western Digital Lost Data
Select your Western Digital hard drive from the list displayed and click the 'Start' button on the bottom of the window to start scanning the lost data on your portable disk.
Step 3. Retrieve Lost File from WD Hard Drive
You can check the scanning status on main window and in a few minutes, all the recoverable files will be shown to you. Choose the one you want to restore and click the 'Recover' button on top. Then designate a folder to save the file to be recovered. Please don't save these files to the original Western hard disk, or they will be overwritten permanently.
Part 3. Recovering Western Digital External Hard Drive on Windows
If you are using Western Digital external hard disk, you can follow the steps laid out in this post to retrieve lost or accidentally deleted content. In order to get back the data, you will need iSkysoft Data Recovery for Windows. The data recovery tool from iSkysoft excels in its field and helps you in recovering files such as pictures, videos, documents, and any other data from your Western Digital hard drive.
Why Choose This Windows Western Digital External Hard Drive Data Recovery Software:
- Raw data recovery, partition and resume recovery
- A three-step operation for quick retrieval of content
- Flexible recovery settings and preview ability
Step-by-Step Guide to Recover Files from Western Digital External Hard Drive on Windows
Step 1. Download and Install the Software
Visit the website of iSkysoft Data Recovery to download Windows operating system version. Continue with the installation procedure like a regular program or Windows PC. After finishing, launch the software. As the main interface appears on the screen, you will notice 6 different file type options. Click on the file types you want to recover, and then click 'Next' button.
Step 2. Scan the Drive
A new screen appears where you will see the partitions of the local hard disk. You have to browse to the connected Western Digital external hard drive from the Explorer window. Press the 'Start' button at the bottom to begin the scan.
Step 3. Recover Files from Western Digital External Hard Drive on Windows
Upon completion of scanning, iSkysoft Data Recovery for Windows will display all the recoverable content categorized according to files format. You can select the necessary files from the left pane of the screen and have a peek at the content in the preview screen to the right. You can have the necessary files and press the 'Recover' button. A small pop-up appears asking you to select the destination path. Choose a folder on your computer and wait for the program to complete the process.