Newbie here. How do you set up a new hard drive

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chumbawumbaa

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Hi, I've been reading this site and am not totally clear on how to set up a new WD Elements external hard drive.

My understanding is that before you use it (or any other manufacturer's HDD) on a PC you're supposed to reformat it to get rid of installed software. Then before loading your files on it, you run an Extended Test with WD's Lifeguard Diagnostic Tool. Do you also run the Write Zeros test at this point?

Assuming the drive passes, you can then load up the drive with your files.

Next you want to set up a backup process on this drive if you plan to use it to backup your PC's internal drive as well. Following the instructions for the backup software you decide to use, you want to be sure to (1) "Clone an image of your OS & applications ". I also read that you want (2) "a full image backup of your internal drive’s EFI system partition (hidden but assignable) & the Windows partition". Are items 1 & 2 the same things?

At this point you also set up a Drive Monitor (which I haven't looked into yet but I'm assuming will be straight forward)

Do I have this right? Is there anything else in the setup of a new external hard drive, that needs to be done?

Thanks in advance for your feedback :)
 
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Boogieman_WD
Hey there, chumbawumbaa. Welcome to the community! :)

Basically you've got it all covered. If you don't want any additional software (the WD SmartWare trial version as it should be in your case), you can just reformat the HDD.

As this is a brand new drive I'd say that you shouldn't have anything to worry about, but if you want to check it out for yourself, then download DLG (Data Lifeguard) and run the Quick and Extended tests. Here's how to do that: How to test a drive for problems using Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows. Note that depending on the drive's size, the extended test might take from a few hours, up to several hours (and even more) to complete, as each sector of the HDD is scanned individually.

Basically if...
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

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Hey there, chumbawumbaa. Welcome to the community! :)

Basically you've got it all covered. If you don't want any additional software (the WD SmartWare trial version as it should be in your case), you can just reformat the HDD.

As this is a brand new drive I'd say that you shouldn't have anything to worry about, but if you want to check it out for yourself, then download DLG (Data Lifeguard) and run the Quick and Extended tests. Here's how to do that: How to test a drive for problems using Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows. Note that depending on the drive's size, the extended test might take from a few hours, up to several hours (and even more) to complete, as each sector of the HDD is scanned individually.

Basically if you have an image of your OS and applications, all you're left with to backup, is your personal data (videos, photos, documents, projects, etc.), so I'd say that those are pretty much the same thing.

So the bottom line is this - you do have everything covered, but I should make one thing clear, just to be on the safe side. If you plan on storing data you don't have enough space for on your internal drive - this is not a backup. It should be a copy of the data you already have on your internal drive in order for it to be considered as a backup. I'm just adding this so that there are no misunderstandings, as I've seen a lot of them. :)

Cheers! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Boogieman_WD
 
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chumbawumbaa

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Awesome! Thanks for your help Boogieman_WD. I feel much better now! :wahoo:

You're right... this new drive isn't a true backup in that I'll have data on there that's not on my internal drive. ... Guess setting up a complete backup for all my data is the next step.
 
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chumbawumbaa

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Jan 10, 2016
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Awesome! Thanks for your help Boogieman_WD. I feel much better now! :wahoo:

You're right... this new drive isn't a true backup in that I'll have data on there that's not on my internal drive. ... Guess setting up a complete backup for all my data is the next step.
 
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

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Sure thing mate. Just remember that having a backup of your important and irreplaceable files is vital so that you're on the safe side in case something unexpected happens. It's always better to be safe than sorry. Cloud service, another external drive, a copy of the data on a different computer are all viable options for data backup.

Let me know if anything else comes up. :)
 
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