It says it can also be used as an external hard drive. I'm wondering if I can and how I can, use it to back up my computer files? Windows 8.1? Laptop?
1779232
Proceed with caution !!!! I'd think that it can logically be done since this is afterall nothing but a SATA HDD with specs that can work w. Tivo...etc Before you begin: 1. Be sure that you will not 'die' if what's in your drive now in terms of content is 'gone'. That's very possible 2. Check w. Western Digital directly As a rule-of-thumb, Tivo(at least) uses striping... which means that Tivo puts only a portion of the video(s) on this while keeping the rest on the native drive... so if you take the content in this drive to another Tivo or a computing device... the content is not complete and not usable Hope this helps ;) wYc
1779233
If you are asking how to use this drive as a backup device for your computer, completely independent of any use for a DVR, then all you would need is an e-sata cable and an e-sata port on your computer. Plug the cables in, turn it on, and Windows should recognize the drive and allow you to format it/use as you see fit.
1779234
Proceed with caution !!!! I'd think that it can logically be done since this is afterall nothing but a SATA HDD with specs that can work w. Tivo...etcBefore you begin:1. Be sure that you will not 'die' if what's in your drive now in terms of content is 'gone'. That's very possible2. Check w. Western Digital directlyAs a rule-of-thumb, Tivo(at least) uses striping... which means that Tivo puts only a portion of the video(s) on this while keeping the rest on the native drive... so if you take the content in this drive to another Tivo or a computing device... the content is not complete and not usableHope this helps ;) wYc Proceed with caution !!!! I'd think that it can logically be done since this is afterall nothing but a SATA HDD with specs that can work w. Tivo...etcBefore you begin:1. Be sure that you will not 'die' if what's in your drive now in terms of content is 'gone'. That's very possible2. Check w. Western Digital directlyAs a rule-of-thumb, Tivo(at least) uses striping... which means that Tivo puts only a portion of the video(s) on this while keeping the rest on the native drive... so if you take the content in this drive to another Tivo or a... » Read More Proceed with caution !!!! I'd think that it can logically be done since this is afterall nothing but a SATA HDD with specs that can work w. Tivo...etcBefore you begin:1. Be sure that you will not 'die' if what's in your drive now in terms of content is 'gone'. That's very possible2. Check w. Western Digital directlyAs a rule-of-thumb, Tivo(at least) uses striping... which means that Tivo puts only a portion of the video(s) on this while keeping the rest on the native drive... so if you take the content in this drive to another Tivo or a computing device... the content is not complete and not usableHope this helps ;) wYc « Show Less
874206
If you want to use it as an external drive, you can get an enclosure for it. Here's an example of what I mean: http://www.amazon.com/ORICO-2588US3-External-Enclosure-Support/dp/B00FYKRI9M/
308963
Frankly I have found NO external drive either desktop or portable that have been particularly easy to work with and customer service of all (WD, Seagate, or Toshiba) either don't reply period or if they do it's gooble-de-gook. Seems as though that the hardware is perfectly capable of storing data but retrieving it is another question. The software is totally, absurdly complex. (Ditto thumb drives with password protected sectors. Impossible!) IT folks decry the fact that no one bothers to back up anything. Guess why?
594130
I bought one and I use it. Windows 7 Backup doesn't work with it, so I use a 3rd party backup. It has a USB 3 interface, but I have only USB 2. The disk works fine.
2170884
Yes they can be used as a single drive for the primary hard drive in a PC system. I have used them in several customers computers used in heavy production in newspaper printing equipment. You can also download a clone utility from WD to copy a failing hard drive over to this new hard drive. They work very well and have one of the best warranties that you can find today. I have installed at least 8 of this series of hard drives and never have I had a problem with them so far.
1718378
You could use it for that. But, you need a hard drive to install into it. You might as well buy a WD Book, and use it for all three. I just bought a 4TB book to do the same thing. But, it was over $150 bucks. I also have a 3 TB 'wireless' external hard drive (book). I use 2 computers to store info, so that I can use either computer, and not have to re-hook up my book. Can get files, for my laptop, or desktop. I filled up 3 TB pretty fast. It was around $150 also. But, I love it. desktop is 7 and laptop is 8. No problems accessing from either. Spend the bucks. If you can.
2045392
I'm able to use this drive as external drive and internal. You need to install the connector based on your application.
874208
If you want to use it as an external drive, you can get an enclosure for it. Here's an example of what I mean:http://www.amazon.com/ORICO-2588US3-External-Enclosure-Support/dp/B00FYKRI9M/
674034
I just got one of these to back up the data on my Win8 laptop. It's as slow as MUD. I connected an external hard drive to the SAME USB port, and it was FAR faster. Avoid at all cost.I'd suggest this as the best alternative (get the 64GB for $50 rather than the 32GB for $45): Mushkin Ventura Pro 64 GB Flash Drive. It is USB3 but works very well on USB2 (and it's fast there too). One Xbox 360 user said it works perfectly (read the comments). Here's the link: Mushkin Ventura Pro 64 GB Flash Drive - MKNUFDVP64GB (Black)
2079488
Yes with this important point - use a backup drive with it's own power source. I have used it with 8.0 and 8.1 on a netbook. However the USB ports on some machines do not have the power required to run the click free software and the attached portable drive when drawing power from from the machine for both. click free also requires a certain amount of free space on the hard drive of the machine you are backing up from or two, to successfully work. I have an older machine running Vista and that one is fairly full with the data. Therefore click free no longer functions on that machine. Works great if you have a situation of good drive space and a back up target with it's own power source (AC adaptor.) Yes with this important point - use a backup drive with it's own power source. I have used it with 8.0 and 8.1 on a netbook. However the USB ports on some machines do not have the power required to run the click free software and the attached portable drive when drawing power from from the machine for both. click free also requires a certain amount of free space on the hard drive of the machine you are backing up from or two, to successfully work. I have an older machine running Vista and that one is fairly full with the data. Therefore click free no longer functions on that machine. Works... » Read More Yes with this important point - use a backup drive with it's own power source. I have used it with 8.0 and 8.1 on a netbook. However the USB ports on some machines do not have the power required to run the click free software and the attached portable drive when drawing power from from the machine for both. click free also requires a certain amount of free space on the hard drive of the machine you are backing up from or two, to successfully work. I have an older machine running Vista and that one is fairly full with the data. Therefore click free no longer functions on that machine. Works great if you have a situation of good drive space and a back up target with it's own power source (AC adaptor.) « Show Less
2010150
I can use it as an E: drive, just cant make it work as a C: drive. The problem is with the Partition style, which u can find under Disk Management and by going to the C: drive Disk Device Properties....if it says it is a Partition style: GUID Partition Table (GPT), then this is NOT the drive for you if u want to make it a bootable C: drive. Kingston will just tell you to go pound sand or they will give you a refund if you want to jump thru ALL of their hoops. I spent DAYS with the Kingston Technical Dept just to find out this little bit of trivia...BTW, if you are running Windows 8 then get the 8.1 upgrade...it is free and fixes several problems. I can use it as an E: drive, just cant make it work as a C: drive. The problem is with the Partition style, which u can find under Disk Management and by going to the C: drive Disk Device Properties....if it says it is a Partition style: GUID Partition Table (GPT), then this is NOT the drive for you if u want to make it a bootable C: drive. Kingston will just tell you to go pound sand or they will give you a refund if you want to jump thru ALL of their hoops. I spent DAYS with the Kingston Technical Dept just to find out this little bit of trivia...BTW, if you are running Windows 8 then get... » Read More I can use it as an E: drive, just cant make it work as a C: drive. The problem is with the Partition style, which u can find under Disk Management and by going to the C: drive Disk Device Properties....if it says it is a Partition style: GUID Partition Table (GPT), then this is NOT the drive for you if u want to make it a bootable C: drive. Kingston will just tell you to go pound sand or they will give you a refund if you want to jump thru ALL of their hoops. I spent DAYS with the Kingston Technical Dept just to find out this little bit of trivia...BTW, if you are running Windows 8 then get the 8.1 upgrade...it is free and fixes several problems. « Show Less
388728
Yes. It works as an external drive. It can use a SATA (not PATA) drive. You can use a 3.5" (desktop drive) or 2.5" (laptop drive) but only SATA. If you have a 3.0 USB in your desktop then it works really fast.
111626
this is just a flash drive, even though a very large one. I would think your current computer needs a more capacity, like a 1 TB external drive...
1631656
I understand that you can, in theory, but have read experts who advise against it. I use mine to back up Macs (which it does perfectly), but have a separate arrangement for PCs.
1887273
You can, as with any other flash drive, set it up to be used as virtual RAM, if that's what you're asking. It may or may not make any noticeable speed increase though. So if you don't need a small portable storage device and you just want a faster computer, you may want to just buy something that's main purpose is that.
1811911
This drive has a SATA interface which is usually an internal interface. It could work as an external drive if you have a drive enclosure that converts USB to SATA but even then it's the wrong drive for the application. This drive is meant to be used for recording and streaming video 24/7 and does not have a lot of the error detection and correction functions normally used on a computer drive.
1867161
you should be able to use it on another computer. especially if you have used it as a backup drive or just downloaded random files you should always be able to load it onto a different computer.