Digital Trends

Western Digital My Book Home Edition (1TB) November 28th, 2007 | by Josh Norem

Use and Testing

Getting the My Book up and running was a walk in the park. We connected the drive to a USB 2.0 port, and the software installation automatically launched. It should be noted that there are no software CDs or anything like that – all the software is on the drive itself.

The opening splash screen lets you choose which software to install, including the backup software, extra Google software, a trial version of Memeo Auto-Sync, and the option to backup the backup software (a smart move, since the software isn’t on a CD).

Being spendthrift, we opted to just install the Memeo software and to have it backed up along with our files. From there you must decide which files to backup. WD tries its best to make it easy for you, and present a list of “Smart items” that includes documents, photos, music, movies, presentations, etc. We wanted to just backup a specific folder, and the software let us navigate to our chosen folder. We then created a folder on the backup drive called “top secret data” and selected it as our backup destination.

The setup routine takes the hassle out of choosing backup files by letting you select “pics, music, etc.”

Once we had created our routine, the software immediately began backing up all our data. Once the initial backup had taken place, the software kept watch of our chosen folder, and whenever we added content to it the software copied it to the backup drive. We have said it before, and we’ll say it again: We love the way the software backs up everything immediately, rather than doing it on a schedule as it is the best way to make sure all your data is always on two drives in case disaster strikes.

Overall, we experienced no issues with the drive or the software throughout testing. The drive was also totally silent at all times and even spins down when not in use to help extend its life. It did exactly what a backup drive should do with no hassles or problems.

Conclusion


A backup drive’s job is pretty simple: make it easy for users to have a backup copy of data they do not want to lose, and the WD My Book does an excellent job. WD has gone to great lengths to make the installation and setup of the drive exceedingly simple and straight-forward, so kudos to them. This is the kind of drive we would easily recommend to our family and friends. The only downside is that there is no eSATA cable included, which seems silly. However, since so few people have an eSATA port on their motherboard, the USB and FireWire cables will certainly get the job done for 99 percent of home users.

Pros:

• Triple interface
• Great software
• Quiet operation

Cons:

• No eSATA cable included