Questions & Answers
G-Technology 2TB G-DRIVE High-Performance Hard Drive
24 Questions + 24 Answers
24 Questions from the Community
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Does the hd need a power cable? Like does it need to be plugged into the wall for it to operate?
Just wondering if it needs a power lead or of it can run off just the USB cable??
- Asked by Vlad S from Dublin
- Jan 30, 2012
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Can this drive be partitioned so that half could be used for time machine backups & the other half be used for external storage (moves/music etc)?
Want to know if this drive (or any drive) is capable of performing the below:
1. Time Machine Backups
2. General Storage
Is this even possible for an external hard drive to do?- Asked by Ryan L
- Mar 13, 2011
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Best Answer
Yes you can use this for Time Machine backups and general storage together. Go to applications/utilities/disk utility and you can partition your G-Drive. I have my partition at 500GB for Time Machine and 1.5TB for general storage.
- Answered by Ernest B from High Point
- May 21, 2011
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Can you connect two macs to this drive at the same time?
I want this for a family setup, so that both our macs have permanent access to one iPhoto library, one iTunes library, as well as time capsuling each mac separately. Can this be done? Also could each mac run the iTunes Library at the same time (I imagine not)?
- Asked by Leon C
- Mar 22, 2012
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Answer
yes it can be chained if u look close on the pics u can see the chain...
- Answered by Lewis H
- Feb 22, 2012
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Support OSX Lion Disk Utility Encryption?
Can anyone confirm if this drive supports the OSX Lion built-in encryption for an external drive that is now available via Disk Utility?
Other drives that I have looked at do not yet support this feature (eg. WD) and some that have hardware encryption are not compatible with TimeMachine when that feature is enabled.
Thanks!- Asked by Marc S from Eden Prairie
- Jan 24, 2012
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Answer
Answering my own question. It would appear that there was a problem in OSX Lion having to do with large sector sizes on large external hard drives, resulting in an incompatibility with the new Lion encryption for external drives. This is available via Disk Utility when formatting.
This issue appears to be resolved with the 10.7.3 OSX Lion update, as I can now encrypt an external large WD drive, which I could not do previously. I was misled by the WD tech support folks who had indicated that it was a firmware issue in the drive itself, requiring an update, which had yet to happen. I was informed of the 10.7.3 update resolution from another WD user.
Hope this might help others.
Thanks.- Answered by Marc S from Eden Prairie
- Mar 9, 2012
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does this hard drive work with pro tools and logic
- Asked by Jonathan D
- May 29, 2011
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Answer
Under most conditions, this drive is relatively quiet. Not as quit as the WD drive it replaces, but the quality more than makes up for that (just had another WD device fail). But when I backed up another 2TB drive to it, after a while a cooling fan came on and it was rather annoying. I am fortunate to have a media/internet cabinet adjacent to my iMac workstation so I stuffed the G-Drive in there.
If you aren't having extended read/write sessions, you might not have to deal withthe fan problem. If you do, think about finding someplace to stash the drive.- Answered by Ed S from San Jose
- Jul 31, 2011
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Does this drive come with a protective case, or carrying case?
- Asked by Christopher L from Los Angeles
- May 30, 2011
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Answer
No. The description states it's a "desktop unit."
- Answered by Andrew H from Carmel
- Sep 3, 2011
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Can this external hard drive download directly from iTunes?
So the question is, if something is on the hard drive, does it have to be uploaded to the computer to watch it on iTunes, or can it be read right off of the drive hooked up to the network. Also can you watch items on the hard drive from Apple TV?
- Asked by Trevor A from Okotoks
- Feb 25, 2011
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Answer
Short answer:
Yes.
Long answer:
As long as iTunes knows where it is, you can watch it on iTunes. So if you have media on your external hard drive, you just have to add it to iTunes either by dragging the folder/files to iTunes or "iTunes > add to library."
Under iTunes preferences, check to see if iTunes is automatically copying stuff into your iTunes folder when you add it to your library. You can tell it not to and it will just read from the hard drive. Theoretically anything in your iTunes library can be streamed to Apple TV as long as its a format that iTunes can play.
Alternatively you can just make your iTunes media folder stay on your external hard drive.
The choice is yours.- Answered by A. R. M from Ascot
- Mar 9, 2011
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Are these hard drives stackable? What I mean is will they over heat if they are in to close a proximity to one another.
- Asked by Bradley A from Calgary
- Jul 7, 2011
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Answer
Not a problem stacking these drives. If you look at the bottom there is some space, a good 1/2" between the drives when stacked. I have had two stacked for a year now. No problems.
- Answered by Chuck M from Austin
- Jul 13, 2011
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Can this drive be used to back up more than one Mac? I have an iMac and Mac Book Pro that I would like to back-up.
Use for multiple Macs
- Asked by Cindy H from San Antonio
- Jul 15, 2011
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Answer
Yes...I would think so. Just the same way you use a TimeCapsule to backup two or more Macs. It does have enough space to hold up I'd say 6 months of TimeMachine backups for at least 3 devices.
- Answered by Juan A from Guatemala
- Jul 16, 2011
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How do you use an external hard drive for movie (or slide show) editing?
Do I just move the movies to the external drive and then edit as I would on my Mac? I'm not familiar with using the external hard drive for anything except storage.
- Asked by Richard R from Lubbock
- Dec 2, 2011
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Do I need eSATA to connect this item to my Mac Book
Mac Book 13", Mac OSX ver. 10.6.7, Firewire 400, iTunes,
- Asked by Muhammad H from Toronto
- Apr 20, 2011
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Answer
No. In addition to eSATA (which, BTW, is the highest/best speed connection option for this drive), the G-Tech G-Drives have Firewire and USB 2.0 connections. They even come with the appropriate cables, so they're ready to use with your MacBook right out of the box.
- Answered by Rich T from Kelowna
- May 7, 2011
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Because the G-Technology 500GB G-Drive High Performance Hard Drive is "Time Capsule Ready" does that mean it can be connected wirelessly?
- Asked by Brooks F from Chagrin Falls
- May 15, 2011
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Answer
The G-Drive itself is not wireless. Time capsule ready means you can hook it up to the USB port to make it wireless.
- Answered by Ernest B from High Point
- May 21, 2011
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is the 2tb version multiple disk or single disk?
- Asked by Christopher L from San Diego
- Mar 17, 2011
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Answer
It contains a single 2 TB disk, which spins at 7200 RPM.
- Answered by Rich T from Kelowna
- May 7, 2011
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I wish to connect this drive using a pcmia esata card. Which card is the best for this drive?
Firewire 800 is not fast enough to support my current logic projects. I record at 96K with up to 48 tracks. I continue to get the "drive can't keep up error" using firewire 800. My current session external HD is a Glyph porta gig, 7200 RPM.
- Asked by Todd J from Atlanta
- Jul 13, 2011
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how can you back up this drive if you use this as your main hard drive?
I want to use this as my main hard drive but im unsure how i would back this up
- Asked by Stefanie L from Corpus Christi
- Mar 5, 2012
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Can the G-Drive be used to backup documents, photos, and other content from the latest iPad?
- Asked by David O from Hudson
- Apr 21, 2012
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