![Where To Plug In My Passport For Mac Where To Plug In My Passport For Mac](/uploads/1/2/5/4/125420930/668360593.jpg)
::::: CONTEXT::::: I'm a photographer that's always on the go. I keep my Lightroom library on an external drive, since it's so massive. I had previously been using a LaCie Rugged drive, which works nicely but I ran out of room. Having recently purchased a MacBook Pro Retina, I now have both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt. The choice was not only what capacity and manufacturer, but which connectivity method as well.::::: USB 3.0 vs THUNDERBOLT::::: Thunderbolt looks like it's going to be a great technology in the future, but it's currently in its infancy. Not only that, you pay a massive premium.
I have a PC at work and a MAC at home, and I would like to be able to use it on both computer. In reading the manual it shows that you can format the drive to either MAC or PC, but doesn’t show a set up to use it on both system.
I first purchased a, only to have it show up DOA (from another big retailer, not Amazon). It was only after that fiasco that I realized something; I need at least 1TB, so that means, within my budget, I'm relegated to HDD, not SDD. Therefore, my speed is actually limited by the hard drive itself, not the connectivity method.
With that new realization, I was between this drive and the. With too many bad reviews out there and costing more than twice the price, I decided it just wasn't worth it. This little WD won.::::: BUILD::::: This appears to be a pretty quality piece. It feels like plastic to me, but its fine finish feels very similar to the MBP's finish, and they LOOK identical. WD wasn't joking around about the whole 'for Mac' thing.
Is it as durable as the LaCie Rugged drives I'm used to? I have no clue, and I don't intend to find out.
I'm very careful with my belongings and I've never dropped or damaged something like this. I guess I'll continue to be careful and see what happens as time goes on. In general, I transport small, valuable items in Pelican cases. They're the best. They're a major reason I've never really damaged any of my belongings.::::: PERFORMANCE::::: I ran a few tests and I averaged a 115 MB/s speed for both reading and writing.
Certainly better than USB 2.0 or even FireWire 800. I'm not sure what else to say; it's fast:)::::: VALUE::::: It's great speed, nice compact build and terrific looks all for a very reasonable price.
Going with USB 3.0 over Thunderbolt was the right choice for me at this time. I'm very happy with my purchase! WD is usually a very good and reliable drive but this model has some issues.
After a few days the unit started to dismount itself randomly at about a rate of every 20 to 30 minutes. After checking the web to see if I was doing something wrong I found out that this is a well known issue but no one knows what is the problem. Thie unit was directly attached to a Macbook pro via the supplied USB cable. Tried it on my iMac and my wife's MacBook the same result. Changing the cable did not help either. I have been using MacBooks and external drives for the last 13 years and never had this problem with any other hard drive.
Avoid this model. It took me 4 days to get my data off of it to return it since I only could do a few folders at a time before it dismounted and stopped the copying process. And I had to figure out where in the process it had failed and start from there to continue. It also would not do secure erase of my data since the MacBook would not have time to securely erase all data before the unit dismounted. What a big mess.
WD is usually a very good and reliable drive but this model has some issues. After a few days the unit started to dismount itself randomly at about a rate of every 20 to 30 minutes.
After checking the web to see if I was doing something wrong I found out that this is a well known issue but no one knows what is the problem. Thie unit was directly attached to a Macbook pro via the supplied USB cable. Tried it on my iMac and my wife's MacBook the same result. Changing the cable did not help either. I have been using MacBooks and external drives for the last 13 years and never had this problem with any other hard drive. Avoid this model.
It took me 4 days to get my data off of it to return it since I only could do a few folders at a time before it dismounted and stopped the copying process. And I had to figure out where in the process it had failed and start from there to continue. It also would not do secure erase of my data since the MacBook would not have time to securely erase all data before the unit dismounted. What a big mess.
::::: CONTEXT::::: I'm a photographer that's always on the go. I keep my Lightroom library on an external drive, since it's so massive. I had previously been using a LaCie Rugged drive, which works nicely but I ran out of room. Having recently purchased a MacBook Pro Retina, I now have both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt. The choice was not only what capacity and manufacturer, but which connectivity method as well.::::: USB 3.0 vs THUNDERBOLT::::: Thunderbolt looks like it's going to be a great technology in the future, but it's currently in its infancy. Not only that, you pay a massive premium. I first purchased a, only to have it show up DOA (from another big retailer, not Amazon).
It was only after that fiasco that I realized something; I need at least 1TB, so that means, within my budget, I'm relegated to HDD, not SDD. Therefore, my speed is actually limited by the hard drive itself, not the connectivity method. With that new realization, I was between this drive and the. With too many bad reviews out there and costing more than twice the price, I decided it just wasn't worth it. This little WD won.::::: BUILD::::: This appears to be a pretty quality piece. It feels like plastic to me, but its fine finish feels very similar to the MBP's finish, and they LOOK identical.
WD wasn't joking around about the whole 'for Mac' thing. Is it as durable as the LaCie Rugged drives I'm used to? I have no clue, and I don't intend to find out. I'm very careful with my belongings and I've never dropped or damaged something like this. I guess I'll continue to be careful and see what happens as time goes on. In general, I transport small, valuable items in Pelican cases.
They're the best. They're a major reason I've never really damaged any of my belongings.::::: PERFORMANCE::::: I ran a few tests and I averaged a 115 MB/s speed for both reading and writing. Certainly better than USB 2.0 or even FireWire 800. I'm not sure what else to say; it's fast:)::::: VALUE::::: It's great speed, nice compact build and terrific looks all for a very reasonable price. Going with USB 3.0 over Thunderbolt was the right choice for me at this time. I'm very happy with my purchase! Read all the reviews of this and competing products.
I chose this because it was described as working seamlessly with a MacBook Pro and Time Machine. Have only used it once so far and it worked fine. I just used it as a plug and play with Time Machine and did not install/use the additional WD software based on other somewhat negative reviews on it. Thus far, I'm satisfied.
It is smaller and lighter than I expected. I think the dimensions on the site are incorrect and I could have purchased a case at the same time but didn't because it wasn't clear that it would fit based on the given dimensions of the drive and the recommended cases. Drive is actually slightly less than 4.5 x 3.25 x.5'. Much smaller and lighter than my previous iOmega IGo (with less capacity for an older MacBook). I bought this for my Macbook mid 2010 (not Pro) because of 2 main things. 1) It's always a good thing to have a backup of your Mac handy.
Hard Drive failures DO happen, even on a Mac sadly. 2) I am getting another laptop so I needed the information off my Mac. The first thing you will notice about this External hard Drive was the size, it's TINY. Fits in the palm of my hand easily. It's incredibly fast.
I transferred my entire library about 280GB of data in about 4 hours. That's not too shabby for USB 2.0 Sadly, it doesn't have a metal enclosure. I dropped a star because of that. It's made of a strong plastic/matte, but it still feels decently made. Not too heavy either. It comes with ONE port that connects the USB cable to the drive. Nothing else.
Buy this thing, you'll have no regrets, trust me. PROS: Fast USB 3.0 transfer with backward compatible USB 2.0 Small and Sleek CONS: Not a metal enclosure. I have a lap that only has USB 2 and I needed a large capacity drive for backup and storage for my photos. This drive fits the bill. It is remarkably small and can fit in a jacket or suit pocket. It's solid and well made.
Although it is made for the newer USB 3 ports, it also is compatible with USB 2 ports. On my MacBook Air file transfers are fast and the computer recognizes it as soon as you plug it in. There is no software to install - it comes Mac compatible right out of the box. I've used other drives that were advertised to be plug and play Mac compatible, but weren't. Also, if you back up using Time Machine this drive is compatible and when you plug it in it asks you whether you want to use it for that purpose and set up a backup schedule.
I am very pleased with the price of this drive for the amount of storage it offers and the quality and speed of file transfers on USB 2. I can't speak to USB 3 transfers as I don't have a compatible computer. As for negatives, I can't think of any, which is why I gave this drive a five star rating. My previous external hard drive for my computer was a 1.5 TB 3.5' Seagate.
It was good and reliable, however was large, very loud, and required a usb cable as well as an external wall wort power supply. This EHDD is very quiet and has USB 3.0 speeds comprable to eSATA. Even though it's a slower HDD, it's still faster than my seagate because of the interface. It also doesn't need a power cable, so I plug it into my mac mini and off I go! This is the main reason for choosing this: less cable clutter!
I was looking at other EHDD's, and what I love the most about this product was the fact that it's cheaper than its PC counterpart. I could easily format this for a PC, yet it was $40 cheaper when I purchased it because it says 'for Mac'on it.
I appreciate that, especially when I use it on my PC! I couldn't ask for more!Well that's not true, but for the price it's quite the sweet spot! I bought the 500 GB version. Plugged the included USB cable into my Mac Air and immediately backed it up with Time Machine; no installation or preparation of any kind was needed. This little hard drive gets its power through the data cable, so no power cord is needed. It is also very fast and silent; 100 MB incremental backups seem to take about 5-10 seconds, but most of that is probably taken up by the Time Machine software preparing the data.
Size is roughly that of a pack of cards. It's configured with 4 small rubber tab supports to rest on its large side with the 'WD My Passport for MAC' label facing up (not on its end as shown in the primary photo).
Weight is 5 ounces, so it is easy to carry about. It comes with a 2 year warranty in the USA, but Western Digital is supposed to be very reliable, so I don't expect to use it.
This drive is good enough. Works well with my Mac Air. I like: The USB3 is valuable. First thing I did when I got it was to transfer 40GB of photos and videos from 10 years from my Mac to the My Passport. Took maybe 5? I then made the same file/set transfer to another USB2 drive. I dislike: Many times the My Passport will not 'mount' after the mac has been sleeping with the drive plugged in.
When I check the Finder.and also Finder-improvement 'Pathfinder'.both of which I keep in the dock there is no Passport drive showing. (And I have the Passport plugged into the Mac directly.) I have to unplug and then replug the Passport into the Mac to get it to show in the Finder/Pathfinder. I had hoped that a drive which is specifically oriented to the mac would be 'plug and keep playing' but apparently not so. Thus the 4 stars. I've had this external hard drive for a while (after a few run-ins with defective Macs that kept deleting all my data). I love how it works with Time Machine, you can simply scroll back to a specific date and restore the information (while at the same time seeing what the specific date will change in folders).
It runs quietly and works relatively quickly - I have a lot of files on my computer. No need for external power, it connects right into the laptop. I'm a gizmos and gadgets type of person, and I must say, this product simply couldn't have made backing up information, any more easier. Reliable (so far). Aesthetically pleasing. Quiet (enough). I purchased square trade warranty on it, just in case.
If anything goes wrong, I should be covered. From experience & for good reason, I'm a Belt-and-Suspenders paranoid when it comes to backing up data. I also have low expectations for External Hard Drives & regularly replace them before I can get F.%#ed again.
I've purchased 3 WD My Passport for Mac & 2 for PC over the past 3 years; I've only had 1 drive crash along the way. Because I replace every External Storage device once a year, hit the old ones with a hammer & trash 'em, I'm a repeat buyer of WD My Passport devices.And yes, I've done Cloud backups too & when the Cloud goes sideways, let me tell you, that's a storm you need shelter from. These WD My Passport drives are pre-formatted, plug-in usable & simple. I recommend the WD My Passport for all yous paranoids.
Professional Photographers and videographers have their hands laid upon various digital devices. Usually, their arsenal includes a cutting-edge Windows 10 desktop, the latest and the magnificent MacBook Pro, DSLR & SD-Cards of-course and the trusted & loved external drives such as the WD My Passport. The role of the WD My Passport drive is crucial since the individual will leverage the portable media to safely store their collection of pictures, videos, audio, and docs. But despite the best of the best device specifications; there remains one small glitch to rectify. We know, Macs and Windows have their native file systems such as the new APFS or HFS and the NTFS. A WD My Passport formatted with Mac file system will be a dud on the Windows and vice-versa. Thankfully, MS-DOS FAT32 and ex-FAT formats have survived to date, and these are the file system to make your WD My Passport work with a Mac and a Windows PC simultaneously.
In the next 5 minutes read, you will master yourself in formatting a WD My Passport safely and in a manner best suited for sharing your digital files between a macOS and Windows OS. To format a Western Digital My Passport external hard drive in ex-FAT or FAT32 format, you can bank on built-in applications of Mac & PC.
However, while doing this, there are things you have to keep in mind and follow the correct steps. Here you will get to know about the process to format your “My passport” portable drive in FAT32 and ex-FAT file system in both Windows and Mac platforms. In Windows Platform: 1. Connect your Western Digital My Passport hard drive to your Windows PC through the USB cable. Wait till the Windows detects the external hard drive and configure it as an expansion drive automatically.
Now, click the Start button and select ‘This PC’. A new Windows Explorer window opens, on the left side of the screen; you will see a list of installed drives and their drive letters. Locate the icon assigned to Western Digital My Passport drive and Right-click the connected drive icon and click ‘Format’ in the pop-up menu. Select the ‘File System’ from the drop-down list, which is available in the format expansion and choose either ‘ex-FAT’ or ‘FAT32’. Enter a relevant name in the ‘Volume Label’ field. This name will represent your drive when you connect it with Windows Explorer or Mac and will be mentioned above the drive letter for the My Passport drive. Therefore, enter a descriptive name.
Now, again select a ‘Quick Format’ option, then click ‘Start’ option, wait for a few minutes to get your drive reformatted with the FAT32 file system, so that you can use it. After successful formatting, you can directly save or move files to it like any other external hard drive. In macOS / OS X Platform.
Connect your Western Digital My Passport drive to Mac computer, and let the OS detect and mount the drive for use. Now, a new hard drive icon will appear on the desktop. On macOS Dock, select Finder. When the Finder window opens, on the menu bar, select ‘Go’ and then ‘Utilities.’ After that, you will be able to see /Applications/Utilities folder in Finder. From the Utilities folder window, select ‘Disk Utility’ application.
![Passport Passport](http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/o487/jhei02/1_zps72cafa48.jpg)
When the Disk Utility opens, choose the Western Digital hard drive icon from the sidebar. Click ‘Erase’ on the Disk Utility file menu. Now, the Erase dialogue window appears, here select the ‘Volume Format’ drop-down list and choose ‘MS-DOS (FAT)’ or ex-FAT File System.’ Note: ex-FAT is a better choice for formatting WD My Passport on Mac.
Now, click the ‘Erase,’ button and wait a few minutes and let the macOS erase data on the drive and reformat it by FAT32 or ex-FAT format. Once formatting is done, you can use the drive in macOS or OS X as a regular hard drive. Window’s Disk Management and Mac’s Disk Utility applications are secure platforms to erase your WD My Passport easily. You don’t require any third-party software to format your WD My Passport with FAT or ex-FAT. Caution: Avoid Formatting your WD My Passport without Backup We can’t rule out the possibilities of human errors resulting in the accidental formatting of the WD My Passport external drive.
A silly man-made mistake will permanently remove all of the contained pictures, videos, audio files, and docs instantly from the WD My Passport. Hence, fasten your seat-belts and backup your WD My Passport before erasing. If you have already joined the data loss club unwillingly, then try running D-I-Y applications to recover data from. Tips for Effective Formatting.
Format your Western Digital My Passport external hard drive to FAT32 or ex-FAT format so to transfer the data between a Mac and Windows system conveniently. There are specific third-party systems, like Digital Camcorders, and Sony PlayStation 3, which need the drives to be formatted in either FAT32 or ex-FAT format to perform read from and write operation. Check it before selecting a file format.
Due to some limitations FAT32 format is not useful for every type of user, and also affects both Mac’s and PC’s performances. Therefore, it is better to choose ex-FAT instead.
Ex-FAT supports maximum volume size up to 128 PiB, and its supported maximum file size is 128 PiB. Like FAT32, ex-FAT is not a very commonly used file system, due to which its support may vary among third-party devices. The corruption chances of the external drive increases, if it is used on both Mac and PC systems regularly. Therefore, it is better to take backup of your important photos and videos before sharing them between both the computers.