Operating System Compatibility; Disk Drive Format; Physical Description; Power/Activity Led - Western Digital My Passport Essential User Manual

Operating System Compatibility

Your My Passport Essential or Essential SE drive and the WD SmartWare software are
compatible with the following operating systems:
®
Windows
• Windows XP
®
• Windows Vista
• Windows 7
Compatibility can vary, depending on hardware configuration and operating system.
For highest performance and reliability, always install the latest updates and service
pack (SP). For Windows computers, go to the Start menu and select Windows Update.
For Mac computers, go to the Apple menu and select Software Update.

Disk Drive Format

Your My Passport Essential or Essential SE drive is preformatted as a single NTFS
partition for compatibility with all updated Windows operating systems. If you want to
use the drive with a Mac computer, see "Reformatting the Drive" on page 41 and
"Troubleshooting" on page 54.

Physical Description

As shown in Figure 2, the My Passport Essential and Essential SE drives have:
• A power/activity LED indicator
• A USB 3.0 interface port

Power/Activity LED

Figure 2. My Passport Essential and Essential SE Drive
Power/Activity LED
The power/activity LED shows the drive's power state as follows:
LED Appearance
On steady
Fast flashing, approximately 3 times per second
Slow flashing, approximately every 2.5 seconds
MY PASSPORT ESSENTIAL AND ESSENTIAL SE
® ®
Mac OS X
®
• Leopard
™
• Snow Leopard
USB 3.0 Interface Port
Power State/Activity
Idle
Activity
System standby
USER MANUAL
ABOUT YOUR WD DRIVE – 3