G DRIVE
USB
®
Professional External Hard Drive
PRODUCT MANUAL
g-technology.com
G DRIVE
USB
®
Welcome to G-DRIVE
Table of Contents
Safety & General Use
Safety Precautions ................................................... 4
Backup Your Data .................................................... 5
About Your G-DRIVE
Introduction .............................................................. 7
What’s in the Box .................................................... 8
System Requirements ............................................ 9
Overview of the Drive ........................................... 9
Using Your Drive on Mac
Easy Installation for Mac .....................................11
Table of Contents
Optimize Performance ........................................11
Use with Time Machine .......................................12
Disconnect the Drive ............................................14
Maintenance for Your Drive
Initialize Drive for Mac ........................................16
Restore the Drive Icon .........................................19
Reformat with Partitions .....................................21
Using Your Drive on Windows
Windows Use ...........................................................26
Cross Platform Use ................................................27
Support & Warranty
Technical Support .................................................31
Limited Warranty ...................................................32
Copyright ..................................................................34
p.2
G DRIVE
USB
®
Safety & General Use
• Safety Precautions ........................................ p.4
• Backup Your Data .......................................... p.5
G DRIVE
USB
®
Safety & General Use
Safety Precautions
G-DRIVE warranty may be void as a result of the failure to respect the precautions listed here. If
you detect a problem with your drive, please contact our Technical Support department.
Please read our Limited Warranty.
• Servicing: Your drive contains no user-serviceable parts. If it appears to be malfunctioning,
have it inspected by a qualied G-Technology Technical Support representative.
Moisture: Place the device away from moisture or liquids. To reduce the risk of damage, do
•
not expose this drive to rain or moisture. Do not use it in damp or wet conditions. Never place
objects containing liquids on the drive as they may spill into its openings.
Ventilation: Place the device in a vented area. The drive should never be placed near or over a
•
radiator or heat source.
• Temperature: Do not expose this drive to temperatures outside the range of 5°C to 35°C (41°F
to 95°F); or to operational humidity beyond 5-80%, non-condensing, or non-operating humidity
beyond 10-90%, non-condensing. Avoid placing your drive near a source of heat, or exposing it
to sunlight (even through a window), or in an environment that is too cold or humid.
• Physical Damage: Do not place heavy objects on the drive. Never use excessive force on
your drive.
p.4
G DRIVE
USB
®
Safety & General Use
Backup Your Data
The disk drive contained in your G-DRIVE device is a delicate electronic instrument and
is susceptible to damage due to excessive physical shock. Under no circumstances will
G-Technology be held liable for the recovery or restoration of lost data. Any loss, corruption
or destruction of data while using a G-Technology drive is the sole responsibility of the user.
Make two backups
To help prevent the loss of your data, we highly recommend that you keep TWO copies of
your data in separate storage locations. Keep one copy on your G-Technology drive. Keep a
second copy on your internal hard drive, another G-Technology drive, or a form of removable
storage media.
p.5
G DRIVE
USB
®
About Your G-DRIVE
• Introduction .................................................... p.7
• What’s in the Box .......................................... p.8
• System Requirements ................................. p.9
• Overview of the Drive .............................. p.9
G DRIVE
USB
intro
®
About Your G-DRIVE
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing the G-DRIVE from G-Technology. G-DRIVE hard drives are the
ideal storage solutions for content creation professionals.
G-DRIVE high-speed interface external storage systems oer the ultimate in exibility by providing connectivity for USB 3.0, FireWire® 800 and 400. With a massive storage capacity, G-DRIVE
is the perfect high-performance solution for storage intensive applications including audio/video editing, digital photography, music libraries and high-speed data back up.
You will love how G-DRIVE looks and sounds. It features the latest HGST 7200 RPM drive
with up to 64MB of cache, encased in a rugged, stylish and recyclable enclosure. The drive
is whisper quiet with an integrated fan-less cooling system that ensures reliable operation
and long life.
G-DRIVE is ideal for automatically backing up your Mac® using Time Machine®. You can also
use the drive on a Windows computer or work cross platform.
p.7
G DRIVE
USB
inbox
®
About Your G-DRIVE
What’s in the Box
The following items are included in the box:
• G-DRIVE hard drive
• (1) USB 3.0 cable, (backwards compatible to USB 2.0)
• (2) FireWire cables (800; 800 to 400)
• AC Power adapter
If any items are missing, please contact G-Technology at g-technology.com/support.
p.8
G DRIVE
USB
overview
®
About Your G-DRIVE
System Requirements
G-DRIVE supports the folllowing Operating Systems. The drive is set up at the factory
for use with Mac OS
• Mac OS 10.5 or higher
• Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7
NOTE: G-DRIVE models larger than 2TB are not supported by Windows XP and older
32-bit operating systems. These OS’s are limited to a maximum volume size of 2.2TB.
®
X systems, and formatted as ‘HFS+ with Journaling’.
Overview of the Drive
This diagram shows the helpful features of your G-DRIVE. There is a Power & Activity LED
on the front of the unit and a Heat Sink beneath it. The activity LED will glow when the
unit is switched on. It will ash brighter as data is transferred to or from the hard drive.
On the rear of the unit is a Kensington™ security slot, a USB 3.0 port, 2 FireWire 800 ports,
a DC Power In and an On/O Switch.
p.9
G DRIVE
USB
®
Using Your Drive on Mac
• Easy Installation for Mac ....................... p.11
• Optimize Performance ............................ p.11
• Use with Time Machine ........................ p.12
• Disconnect the Drive ............................. p.14
G DRIVE
USB
install
®
Easy Installation for Mac
G-DRIVE attaches to your computer
via the USB 3.0 (backwards compatible
with USB 2.0), or one of two FireWire
800 ports. FireWire 400 connectivity is
handled by a 9 to 6 pin cable (included).
Choose the connection appropriate for
your system and connect G-DRIVE with
the matching supplied cable.
Connect the power cord to the unit and
plug the other end into a surge protector
or wall outlet. Turn on the power switch.
The drive will automatically mount on
the desktop if you are running Mac OS X.
Using Your Drive on Mac
Optimize Performance
G-DRIVE can be connected to any Mac machine equipped with a USB 3.0, FireWire 800 or
FireWire 400 port. For Windows, use the USB port.
For best performance, we recommend connecting your G-DRIVE via USB 3.0.
p.11
G DRIVE
USB
timemach
®
Using Your Drive on Mac
Use with Time Machine
G-DRIVE works perfectly and easily with Time Machine®. Time Machine is an application that ships with your Mac and provides automatic backup for your les. The following steps will quickly set up G-DRIVE with Time Machine.
1. When you attach G-DRIVE for the rst time, the Time Machine dialog box should
automatically appear. Click the Use as Backup Disk button.
2. If the Time Machine dialog box did not launch, go to the Apple Menu> System
Preferences. Click on the Time Machine icon. The Time Machine Preference panel will
open. Click the Select Backup Disk button.
p.12
G DRIVE
USB
®
3. In the dialog box that appears, select the G-DRIVE. Click the Use for Backup button.
4. Make sure the Time Machine switch is set to ON. You can set its options by clicking
the Options button. Do this to choose volumes, folders or les you do NOT want to
backup.
Using Your Drive on Mac
G-DRIVE will now back up your important les automatically with Time Machine.
It’s that easy!
p.13
G DRIVE
USB
disconnect
®
Using Your Drive on Mac
Disconnect the Drive
A great feature of G-DRIVE is its ability to be connected and disconnected while your
computer is running. To prevent failures and/or data loss, it is important to follow the
steps below when disconnecting or ‘unmounting’ the drive from your computer.
1. Before powering down and disconnecting the G-DRIVE, unmount the drive
by simply dragging the G-DRIVE icon to the trash located in the dock.
Keyboard shortcut: Select the drive icon and hit Command+E.
2. It is safe to remove the drive from your system when the drive icon is no longer
present on your desktop.
Helpful links
• To use G-DRIVE on Windows, go to Windows Use.
• To use G-DRIVE on Mac and Windows together, go to Cross Platform Use.
p.14
G DRIVE
USB
®
Maintenance for Your Drive
• Initialize Drive for Mac ........................ p.16
• Restore the Drive Icon ........................ p.19
• Reformat with Partitions ..................... p.21
G DRIVE
USB
initialize
®
Maintenance for Your Drive
Initialize Drive for Mac
G-DRIVE was factory-formatted for use or ‘initialized’ for Mac OS X. You can
reinitialize if you would like to quickly erase the contents of the drive. Here are
the steps.
1. First, open the Disk Utility program. This application is located on your hard drive un-
der Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility. The window below will appear. Your G-DRIVE
will be displayed in the left-hand column.
2. Select the G-DRIVE by clicking its drive icon in the left-side column. Information
about the drive willl be displayed at the bottom of the window.
3. Select the Erase tab to view the formatting options. By default, the Format pop-up
menu is set to the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) option.
p.16
G DRIVE
USB
format
®
4. Choose the Format option that you prefer.
• Mac OS Extended (Journaled): Use this format if you intend to use the drive for
Time Machine or to create a separate bootable installation of OS X.
• Mac OS Extended: Use this format for best performance and media storage.
To select, click the Format pop-up and its option to Mac OS Extended.
Maintenance for Your Drive
5. Click the Erase button in the lower right corner of the window. A dialog box will ap-
pear asking if you want to erase the G-DRIVE partition.
p.17
G DRIVE
USB
®
WARNING: THIS NEXT STEP WILL ERASE ALL DATA ON YOUR DRIVE.
6. Click on the Erase button to continue. A progress bar in the lower right corner of the
window will show the progress of the disk’s reformatting.
7. After the drive is reinitialized, you should automatically see the Time Machine dialog
box.
• Click the Use as Backup Disk button if you want to use the drive with
Time Machine. For more info using the drive with Time Machine, go here.
• Click the Don’t Use or Decide Later button if you do not want to use
Time Machine at this point.
Maintenance for Your Drive
8. Quit the Disk Utility program. After reinitializing the drive, the custom icon for
G-DRIVE has been erased. You can optionally restore this icon with the steps on the
next page.
p.18
G DRIVE
USB
restore
®
Maintenance for Your Drive
Restore the Drive Icon
If the G-DRIVE drive icon was erased during the reinitializing process (see the previous
section), you can restore the icon with the following easy steps.
NOTE: This process is not required for the operation of G-DRIVE. However, it will make
your drive’s appearance on the computer desktop look nicer and more accurate.
1. To get the G-Technology icon package, go to www.g-technology.com/support and
navigate to your product. There will be a link to download the icons.
2. Once downloaded, it should automatically open the G-Technology Icons folder as
shown below. If not, double-click the Zip le to open. Then double-click the DMG le to
open the G-Technology Icons package.
3. Click to select the drive icon for G-DRIVE in the package window. Press Command+C to
copy the icon. (below)
p.19
G DRIVE
USB
®
4. Select the G-DRIVE icon on your desktop and press Command+I. This opens
its Get Info window. (below left)
5. Select the default icon in the Get Info window. (below left)
6. Press Command+V to paste the custom G-DRIVE icon into the Get Info window.
(below right)
Maintenance for Your Drive
The icon for your G-DRIVE has been restored and you can close the Get Info window. Your drive is now fully ready for use!
p.20
G DRIVE
USB
multiple
®
Maintenance for Your Drive
Reformat with Partitions
‘Partitioning’ a hard drive is the process of dividing a hard drive into separate,
discrete sections called ‘volumes’. Each volume works like a separate disk. You can
create up to 16 dierent partitions on a hard drive in OS X and each partition can
be a dierent size and format.
With hard drives getting bigger, it is useful to partition your hard drive so sections
of its space can be used for dierent purposes. For instance, segment user data from
backup data, set up a multi-boot environment with dierent Operating Systems or create a dedicated capture scratch disk for programs like Final Cut Pro.
The following steps will guide you through this simple process of partitioning your
drive. In this example, we will partition a 4TB G-DRIVE connected via USB 3.0.The steps will
be identical for your drive, only the name may be dierent.
1. First, open the Disk Utility program. This application is located on your hard drive un-
der Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility. The window below will appear. Your
G-Technology drive will be displayed in the left-hand column.
p.21
G DRIVE
USB
®
2. Select the FireWire or USB icon – not the G-Technology drive
icon – by clicking it in the left-side column.
3. Click on the Partition button in the main window.
4. Select the number of partitions you would like from the Volume Scheme menu.
Below, we have selected ‘2 Partitions’ to create two partitions.
Maintenance for Your Drive
p.22
G DRIVE
USB
®
5. Click on the rst partition in the Volume Scheme area. Your partition will be highlight-
ed by a blue bounding box.
• In the Name eld, type a name for the partition.
• From the Format menu, choose your desired disk format. If you will use your drive
primarily on Mac OSX, it is recommended to use Mac OS Extended or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). For info about formats, go here.
• In the Size eld, type in a size for the partition. Alternately, you can drag the bar in
between each partition to quickly change the size.
6. Repeat this process for each partition you have created.
7. Click the Apply button in the lower right corner of the window. A dialog box will ap-
pear asking if you want to erase the G-Technology drive partition.
WARNING: THIS NEXT STEP WILL ERASE ALL DATA ON YOUR DRIVE.
Maintenance for Your Drive
p.23
G DRIVE
USB
®
8. Click on the Partition button to continue. A progress bar in the lower right corner of
the window will show you the progress of the disk’s reformatting.
9. When partitioning is complete, the multiple partitions
will be displayed in the left-hand panel of Disk Utility.
10. Quit the Disk Utility program. After reinitializing the
drive, the custom icon for the G-Technology drive has
been erased. You can optionally restore this icon to each
partition with the steps on this page.
Maintenance for Your Drive
11. The multiple partitions of the G-Technology drive will be
displayed on the desktop. Your drive is now setup
with two or more partitions and ready for use.
p.24
G DRIVE
USB
®
Using Your Drive on Windows
• Windows Use ............................................. p.26
• Cross Platform Use ................................. p.27
G DRIVE
USB
winuse
®
Using Your Drive on Windows
Windows Use
G-DRIVE is set up at the factory for use with Mac OS X systems. A simple initialization will
prepare your drive for use with Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 systems.
For helpful information on conguring and using your drive with Windows, please visit
www.g-technology.com/windows
p.26
G DRIVE
USB
crossplat
®
Using Your Drive on Windows
Cross Platform Use
You can set up G-DRIVE for use on both Windows and Mac system by formatting the
drive as ‘FAT32’. To do this, use the Disk Utility application and format the drive to MSDOS (FAT), also known as FAT32.
1. First, open the Disk Utility program. This application is located on your hard drive
under Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility. The window below will appear. Your
G-DRIVE will be displayed in the left-hand column.
2. Select the G-DRIVE by clicking on its drive icon in the left-side column.
Information about the drive will be displayed at the bottom of the window.
3. Select the Erase tab to view the formatting options. By default, the Format
pop-up menu is set to the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) option.
p.27
G DRIVE
USB
®
4. Select MS-DOS File System from the Format pop-up menu. This will format to FAT32.
NOTE: You may need to rename the drive because FAT32 does not support more
than 11 letters in the drive name.
Using Your Drive on Windows
5. Click the Erase button in the lower right corner of the window. A dialog box will ap-
pear asking if you want to erase the G-DRIVE partition.
WARNING: THIS NEXT STEP WILL ERASE ALL DATA ON YOUR DRIVE.
p.28
G DRIVE
USB
®
5. Click the Erase button. A progress bar in the lower right corner of the window will
show the progress of the disk’s reformatting. Your drive will be formatted to its full
capacity as FAT32.
6. Quit the Disk Utility program. You are nished!
7. After reinitializing, the custom icon for the G-DRIVE will be erased. No icons are
available for FAT32.
With this format, you will be able to read/write on Windows XP, Vista, and
Windows 7 and on Mac OS X machines.
Using Your Drive on Windows
Limitations with FAT32
There are some limitations when using FAT32.
The ‘MS-DOS File System’ cannot write les over 4 GB. If you are working with les over
4 GB, you may want to choose a software option like MacDrive, www.macdrive.com.
MacDrive is Windows software that enables you to mount Mac formatted drives on
your Windows computer.
NOTE: You could format your drive on a Windows machine FAT32. However, Windows
currently limits FAT32 partitions to only 32GB in size.
p.29
G DRIVE
USB
®
Support & Warranty
• Technical Support .................................. p.31
• Limited Warranty ................................... p.32
• Copyright ................................................... p.33
G DRIVE
USB
techsupp
®
Support & Warranty
Technical Support
Thank you for purchasing G-DRIVE. If you have any comments or questions about this
manual or the product, please let us know!
G-Technology appreciates and values its customers, striving to give you the nest
service and support. If you encounter any diculties while installing or using G-DRIVE,
please contact G-Technology Technical Support at g-technology.com/support.
Helpful information for support
When contacting Technical Support, it’s best to be in front of your computer and have
the following information available:
• Your G-DRIVE serial number (on bottom of unit)
• Operating System and version
• Computer brand and model
• List of other devices attached to your computer
p.31
G DRIVE
USB
warranty
®
Support & Warranty
Limited Warranty
HGST, a Western Digital Company (“HGST”)
Including G-Technology for External Hard Disk Drives
What does this limited warranty cover?
This Limited Warranty applies to new HGST products purchased from an authorized HGST
dealer by the original purchaser for normal use and not for resale. HGST warrants that a covered
product is free from defects in materials and workmanship, with the exceptions stated below.
How long does limited warranty coverage last?
This limited warranty lasts for 1 year, 2 years, 3 years or 5 years, or a xed period from date of
purchase, depending on when and where it was originally purchased. To determine the warranty specically for your product, visit www.g-technology.com. A valid proof of purchase may be
required to prove eligibility. If you do not have a valid proof of purchase, the limited warranty
period will be measured from the date of sale from HGST to the authorized distributor.
What does this limited warranty not cover?
The limited warranty does not cover damage resulting from commercial use, misuse, accident,
modication or alteration to hardware or software, tampering, unsuitable physical or operating environment beyond product specications, improper maintenance, or failure caused by a
product for which HGST is not responsible.
There is no warranty of uninterrupted or error-free operation. There is no warranty for loss of
data—you must regularly back up the data stored on your product to a separate storage product. There is no warranty for product with removed or altered identication labels.
HGST DOES NOT PROVIDE ANY OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OF IMPLIED
WARRANTIES, SO THIS LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. HGST is not responsible for returning to you product which is not covered by this limited warranty.
p.32
G DRIVE
USB
®
Support & Warranty
What must you do?
If you are having trouble with a product, before seeking limited warranty service, rst follow the
troubleshooting procedures that HGST or your reseller provides.
To obtain limited warranty service, you must rst obtain a Return Materials Authorization (RMA) and
ship-to address by contacting G-Technology at http://www.g-technology.com/support. Please follow
the instructions found on the website. You must return the covered hard disk drive using approved
packaging to our logistics center. You must pay any associated transportation charges, duties and insurance in shipping the drive to our logistics center. You should remove all personal information from
the product prior to its return.
What will HGST do?
HGST will replace the drive with a functionally equivalent replacement product, transportation prepaid. HGST may replace your product with a product that was previously used, repaired and tested
to meet HGST specications. You receive tile to the replaced product at delivery to carrier at HGST
shipping point. You are responsible for importation of the replaced product, if applicable. HGST will
not return the original drive to consumers; therefore, the consumer is responsible for moving data to
another media before returning. Data Recovery is not covered under this warranty and is not part of
the warranty returns process. HGST warrants that the replaced products are covered for the remainder
of the original product warranty or 90 days, whichever is greater.
How is our liability limited?
HGST AND ITS AFFILIATES, SUPPLIERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AND RESELLERS ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY OF
THE FOLLOWING: 1) THIRD-PARTY CLAIMS AGAINST YOU FOR DAMAGES (OTHER THAN BODILY INJURY
INCLUDING DEATH AND TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY; 2) LOSS OF, OR DAMAGE TO, YOUR DATA; OR
3) SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR INDIRECT DAMAGES OR FOR ANY ECONOMIC CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
(INCLUDING LOST PROFITS OR SAVINGS), EVEN IF INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATION OF LIABILITY, INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
How do local laws apply?
THIS LIMITED WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS, AND YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER
RIGHTS WHICH VARY FROM JURISDICTION TO JURISDICTION.
p.33
G DRIVE
USB
copyright
®
Support & Warranty
CAPACITY DEFINITION AND DISCLAIMER
For G-Technology products 1TB or greater: “One gigabyte (GB) is equal to one billion bytes
and one terabyte (TB) equals 1,000 GB (one trillion bytes). Accessible capacity will vary from
the stated capacity due to formatting and partitioning of the hard drive, the computer’s operating system, and other factors”
For G-Technology products less than 1TB: “One gigabyte (GB) is equal to one billion bytes
when referring to hard drive capacity. Accessible capacity will vary depending on the operating environment and formatting.”
Copyright
One gigabyte (GB) is equal to one billion bytes when referring to hard drive capacity.
Accessible capacity will vary depending on the operating environment and formatting.
Design by G-Technology in California. G-DRIVE and G-Technology are trademarks of HGST, a
Western Digital company. Apple, Mac, MacBook Pro, FireWire, Time Machine and the Mac logo
are trademarks of Apple, Inc. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and Windows XP are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the US and/or other countries.
Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
©2012 G-Technology. All rights reserved. R0 10/12
p.34
Loading...