Western Digital My Passport Essential SE User Manual - Manual (Page 59)

MY PASSPORT ESSENTIAL AND ESSENTIAL SE
USER MANUAL
TROUBLESHOOTING – 54
Troubleshooting
This chapter includes the following topics:
Installing, Partitioning, and Formatting the Drive
Frequently Asked Questions
If you have problems installing or using this product, refer to this troubleshooting section
or visit our support Web site at
support.wdc.com and search our knowledge base for
more help.
Installing, Partitioning, and Formatting the Drive
*The FAT32 file system has a maximum individual file size of 4 GB and cannot create par-
titions larger than 32 GB in Windows; however, Windows users can overcome these file
size limitations by formatting the drive to NTFS using the Disk Management utility. See
answer ID 1287 at
support.wdc.com and article IDs 314463 and 184006 at sup-
port.microsoft.com for further details. To create partitions larger than 32 GB in FAT32
when reformatting the drive, download the External USB/FireWire FAT32 Formatting Util-
ity from
support.wdc.com/download .
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why does the drive not power up?
A: Be sure the drive is plugged in to a power source. A special cable might be needed
for computers with limited bus power. For more information in the U.S., visit our
website at
store.westerndigital.com . Outside the U.S., contact WD Technical Support
in your region.
Q: Why is the drive not recognized under My Computer or on the computer desktop?
A: If your system has a USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 PCI adapter card, be sure that its drivers
are installed before connecting your WD USB 3.0 external storage product. The drive
is not recognized correctly unless USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 root hub and host controller
drivers are installed. Contact the adapter card manufacturer for installation
procedures.
Q: Why won't my computer boot when I connect my USB drive to the computer before
booting?
A: Depending on your system configuration, your computer may attempt to boot from
your WD portable USB drive. Refer to your system’s motherboard BIOS setting
documentation to disable this feature or visit
support.wdc.com and see Knowledge
Base answer ID 1201. For more information about booting from external drives, refer
to your system documentation or contact your system manufacturer.
Q: Why is the data transfer rate slow?
A: Your system may be operating at USB 1.1 speeds due to an incorrect driver
installation of the USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 adapter card or a system that does not
support USB 3,0 or USB 2.0.
How to Answer ID
„ Install, partition, and format the drive in Windows XP and Vista 207, 3322
„ Install, partition, and format the drive to Mac OS X 10.4.11 and 10.5+ 287, 3323
„ Reformat from Mac GPT to Windows XP NTFS 3645
„ Reformat the drive from Mac GPT to Windows Vista NTFS format 3647
„ Obtain and reinstall the original software included with this product 1425
„ Format the drive to the FAT32 file system* 1364
„ Use the drive on a Mac and a PC simultaneously 291
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