My Book For Mac 1TB / Time Machine

[rgomes]

So finally getting around to setting up my 1TB My Book for MAC and hoping to use Time Machine.

First thing -- am I able to only select certain folders for TM to backup? I really only want to backup my a) photography b) MP3s c) personal word documents. Is there a way to do this? Because when I opened TM for the first time it seemed like it was setup to backup the ENTIRE HDD.

Secondly, if I skip using TIME MACHINE to do my backups, can I just (periodically) do a drag and drop of the selected folders I want to backup?

Thanks!

 

[MacDawg]

Instead of selecting what to back up, you choose what to exclude

And there are 3rd part applications which let you manage your backup schedule

Time Machine Editor

Time Machine Scheduler

For your needs, you might prefer to use a scheduled Carbon Copy Cloner backup instead

I recommend both backup strategies

Think of it this way...

Let's say your HDD crashes

Scenario 1: Time Machine
You cannot use your computer until you purchase a new HDD and install it and then restore your TM backup to the new HDD

Scenario 2: Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper
You can start your computer using the cloned backup on the external HDD and it will be just like your crashed HDD (depending on when you last cloned). Then you can use your computer until you purchase a new HDD and replace the crashed drive and re-clone back to the new internal HDD.

However, Time Machine has other advantages, like being able to go back in time to a machine's prior state, or to find files deleted in the past, etc.

Both strategies have advantages
I use both and recommend people use both
But if you are limited on space, use one or the other
Just use one

 

[rgomes]

Okay, so here what happens to me today. I install the WD My Book 1TB on my system and, after taking MacDawg's advice, backup my entire HDD using Time Machine. After taking about 45 minutes to backup 105gigs, it asks me to update the firmware. I decide to update the firmware, I mean why the heck not? It gets frozen. I decided to cancel/stop the firmware and now I cannot get the system to recognize the drive. I tried rebooting, pulling out the AC plug. Trying different USB ports. Nothing. The power is on, drive is spinning but not recognized!

Any help? Desperate!!!!!!

 

[gnasher729]

Okay, so here what happens to me today. I install the WD My Book 1TB on my system and, after taking MacDawg's advice, backup my entire HDD using Time Machine. After taking about 45 minutes to backup 105gigs, it asks me to update the firmware. I decide to update the firmware, I mean why the heck not? It gets frozen. I decided to cancel/stop the firmware and now I cannot get the system to recognize the drive. I tried rebooting, pulling out the AC plug. Trying different USB ports. Nothing. The power is on, drive is spinning but not recognized!

Any help? Desperate!!!!!!

Is it under warranty?

 

[rgomes]

Is it under warranty?

I bought the darn thing from the Apple store in Etobicoke on March 15th.

Can I return it right to the store and have them swap it for me?

 

[decksnap]

These drives suck. I've had similar happen where it spins up but does not mount. It actually had to do with the order in which I was plugging things in. (Not that it should). I think the final magic was, unplug drive from wall and computer, plug drive into wall, plug drive into computer.

Did I mention I hate WD drives? They seem to just shut off for no reason on their own as well.

 

[rgomes]

These drives suck. I've had similar happen where it spins up but does not mount. It actually had to do with the order in which I was plugging things in. (Not that it should). I think the final magic was, unplug drive from wall and computer, plug drive into wall, plug drive into computer.

Did I mention I hate WD drives? They seem to just shut off for no reason on their own as well.

I'm going to try that..... i'll let you know if it does anything!

 

[rgomes]

Still nothing working... drive spins and spins. blue light is on but is not recognized at all. what a nightmare!

would apple take this back or should i deal with western digital?

this sucks!!!!!

 

[Yamcha]

Western Digital and Seagate make the best drives .. did you try disk utility?

I would also like to know if I can back up certain things using Time Machine instead of the whole drive..

 

[rgomes]

Western Digital and Seagate make the best drives .. did you try disk utility?

Disk Utility will be of no help because the drive won't come up!

I would also like to know if I can back up certain things using Time Machine instead of the whole drive..[/QUOTE]

I think the answer is no. Not sure if you can do it using the WD Smart Ware.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Disk Utility will be of no help because the drive won't come up!

I would also like to know if I can back up certain things using Time Machine instead of the whole drive..

I think the answer is no. Not sure if you can do it using the WD Smart Ware.[/QUOTE]

I know WD SmartWare works for specific backups in Windows but I LOATHE that software in Mac OS X (in Win7 it saved all my files as I decided to switch). I say avoid using that software entirely and specifically fw updates on the drive itself. I actually wish it could be deleted but not even Disk Utility will help.

I saw contact Apple directly - the gardens store in Etobicoke I think is where you purchased it. Don't forget to bring your receipt.

 

[rgomes]

I think the answer is no. Not sure if you can do it using the WD Smart Ware.

I know WD SmartWare works for specific backups in Windows but I LOATHE that software in Mac OS X (in Win7 it saved all my files as I decided to switch). I say avoid using that software entirely and specifically fw updates on the drive itself. I actually wish it could be deleted but not even Disk Utility will help.

I saw contact Apple directly - the gardens store in Etobicoke I think is where you purchased it. Don't forget to bring your receipt.[/QUOTE]

I thought that with the new Firmware Update, that you could disable/hide the Virtual CD option?

http://westerndigital.ca/wdproducts/updates/?family=wdsmartwareutilitiesmac

That's why I updated the firmware to begin with because it's the first step they have you follow. And that's where the problems began!

I think I'll try calling Apple directly today to see if they can help.

 

[pug1]

I think the answer is no. Not sure if you can do it using the WD Smart Ware.

I know WD SmartWare works for specific backups in Windows but I LOATHE that software in Mac OS X (in Win7 it saved all my files as I decided to switch). I say avoid using that software entirely and specifically fw updates on the drive itself. I actually wish it could be deleted but not even Disk Utility will help.

I saw contact Apple directly - the gardens store in Etobicoke I think is where you purchased it. Don't forget to bring your receipt.[/QUOTE]

I had a WD My Passport for Time Machine. Some guy in India for WD helped me remove the WD embedded software from My Passport. It then worked great. I did have a problem with one of my iMacs and I believe My Passport carried it over to the next iMac (returned for HD failure). So, I am awaiting a replacement of my iMac (fingers crossed it works right with no or minimal yellow screen) and will be on the phone with WD to get their software out of My Book.

 

[mysterytramp]

Disk Utility will be of no help because the drive won't come up!

Don't assume that. The drive could just have a problem mounting and Disk Utility will be able to mount it.

Once you get the drive up and running (or replaced) I'd suggest you partition it so you can have a drive with a system on it and a drive for Time Machine backups. (This solves the problem from MacDawg's Scenario 1.) The system partition doesn't need to be particularly large (50-60 GB) and leave enough room for backups.

After you get it running, check your Console. I have a WD Passport drive that the software constantly throws "autorelease" errors. It's WD's lousy drive software and the drive works just fine with the sw uninstalled.

And getting back to your first question ... you might want to explore rsync if all you want is specific folders backed up. With a little work, you should be able to write an AppleScript to handle those kinds of backup needs.

mt