Western Digital WDBBLW5000AAL User Manual
External Portable
My Passport® Air
Portable Hard Drive
User Manual
My Passport Air User Manual
™
WD Service and Support
Should you encounter any problem, please give us an opportunity to address it before returning
this product. Most technical support questions can be answered through our knowledge base
or email support service at http://support.wdc.com. If the answer is not available or if you prefer,
please contact WD
Your product includes 30 days of free telephone support during the warranty period. This 30day period starts on the date of your first telephone contact with WD Technical Support. Email
support is free for the entire warranty period and our extensive knowledge base is available 24/
7. To help us keep you informed of new features and services, remember to register your
product online at http://register.wdc.com.
Accessing Online Support
Visit our product support website at http://support.wdc.com and choose from these topics:
• Downloads—Download drivers, software, and updates for your WD product.
• Registration—Register your WD product to get the latest updates and special offers.
• Warranty & RMA Services—Get warranty, product replacement (RMA), RMA status, and
data recovery information.
• Knowledge Base—Search by keyword, phrase, or answer ID.
• Installation—Get online installation help for your WD product or software.
®
at the best telephone number shown below.
• WD Community—Share your thoughts and connect with other WD users.
Contacting WD Technical Support
When contacting WD for support, have your WD product serial number, system hardware, and
system software versions available..
North America
English 800.ASK.4WDC
(800.275.4932) Europe
Spanish 800.832.4778 Middle East
Mexico
South America
Chile 1230 020 5871 Australia 1800 42 9861 / +800 2275 4932
Colombia 009 800 83247788 China 800 820 6682
Venezuela 0800 100 2855 Hong Kong +800 6008 6008
Peru 0800 54003 India 1800 419 5591 / 1800 200 5789
Uruguay 000 413 598 3787 Indonesia +803 852 9439
Argentina 0800 4440839 Japan 00531 65 0442 / 0120 994 120
Brazil 0800 7704932 Korea 02 703 6550
001 8002754932 Russia
0021 800 83247788
Europe (toll free)*
Africa
Asia Pacific
Malaysia 1800 88 1908 / +800 6008 6008 (Telekom Malaysia)
New Zealand 0508 555 639 / +800 2275 4932
Philippines 1 800 1441 0159
Singapore 1800 608 6008 / +800 6008 6008 (Singtel)
Taiwan 0800 666 290 / +800 6008 6008 (Chunghwa)
Thailand 001 800 441 0570
00800 ASK4 WDEU
(00800 27549338)
+31 880062100
+31 880062100
+31 880062100
8 10 8002 335 5011
* Toll free number available in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy,
Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.
ii
MY PASSPORT AIR
USER MANUAL
Table of Contents
WD Service and Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Accessing Online Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Contacting WD Technical Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
1 About Your WD Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Kit Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Optional Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Operating System Compatibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Disk Drive Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Physical Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Power/Activity LED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
USB 3.0 Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Registering the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Handling Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 Connecting the Drive and Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Connecting the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Enhancing Performance with WD +TURBO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Installing the WD Security Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Installing the WD Drive Utilities Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3 Locking and Unlocking the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Password Protecting the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Unlocking the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Unlocking the Drive with the WD Security or WD Drive Utilities Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Unlocking the Drive with the WD Drive Unlock Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Changing Your Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Turning Off the Drive Lock Feature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4 Managing and Customizing the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Checking Drive Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Setting the Drive Sleep Timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Erasing the Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Using the Drive Erase Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Using the WD Drive Unlock Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Registering the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Safely Dismounting the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Restoring the WD Software and Disk Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5 Using the Drive with Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Reformatting the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Restoring the WD Software and Disk Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
6 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Installing, Partitioning, and Formatting the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Frequently Asked Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
TABLE OF CONTENTS – iii
MY PASSPORT AIR
USER MANUAL
A Compliance and Warranty Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Regulatory Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
FCC Class B Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
ICES/NMB-003 Compliance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Safety Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
CE Compliance for Europe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
GS Mark (Germany only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
KC Notice (Republic of Korea only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Environmental Compliance (China). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Warranty Information (All Regions Except Australia/New Zealand) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Obtaining Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Limited Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Warranty Information (Australia/New Zealand) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Obtaining Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
GNU General Public License (“GPL”) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
TABLE OF CONTENTS – iv
1
1
About Your WD Drive
Welcome to your My Passport
their creative life on the road.
This chapter includes the following topics:
Features
Kit Contents
Quick Install Guide
Operating System Compatibility
Disk Drive Format
Physical Description
Registering the Drive
Handling Precautions
Features
Major features of the My Passport Air drive include:
®
Air™ portable hard drive for Mac users who need to take
MY PASSPORT AIR
USER MANUAL
Ultra-slim, all-metal design—At just 11 mm, this ultra-slim, all-metal portable drive is
thin and fast with plenty of capacity for your important digital content.
Ultra-fast transfer rates—When connected to a USB 3.0 port, My Passport Air lets you
access and save files in blazing speed. Reduce transfer time by up to 3 times when
compared to USB 2.0 transfer rates.*
*Performance may vary based on hardware and system configuration.
USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 compatibility—With this single drive you get compatibility with
the latest USB 3.0 devices and backward compatibility with USB 2.0 devices.
Premium aluminum enclosure—The durable, anodized aluminum enclosure is the
perfect complement for your MacBook Air.
WD Security™ software—WD’s security utility allows you to set password protection
and hardware encryption for your drive to protect your files from unauthorized use or
access.
WD Drive Utilities™ software—Register your drive, set the drive sleep timer, run
diagnostics and more using the WD Drive Utilities software.
Compatible with Apple Time Machine—Works with your Mac right out of the box and
is compatible with Apple Time Machine.
Durable enclosure protects your drive—We know your data is important to you. So we
build the drive inside to our demanding requirements for durability, shock tolerance, and
long-term reliability. Then we protect the drive with a robust, all-metal enclosure
designed for style and
beauty.
Important: For the latest WD product information and news, visit our website at http://
www.westerndigital.com. For the latest software, firmware, and product documentation
and information, go to http://support.wdc.com/downloads.
ABOUT YOUR WD DRIVE – 1
MY PASSPORT AIR
USER MANUAL
Kit Contents
As shown in Figure 1, your My Passport Air portable hard drive kit includes the following:
• My Passport Air portable hard drive, with the WD Security and WD Drive Utilities
software
• USB 3.0 cable
• Quick Install Guide
USB 3.0 Cable
Figure 1. My Passport Air Drive Kit Contents
My Passport Air
Portable Hard Drive
Quick Install Guide
Optional Accessories
For information about optional accessories for WD products, visit:
US http://www.shopwd.com or http://www.wdstore.com
Canada http://www.shopwd.ca or http://www.wdstore.ca
Europe http://www.shopwd.eu or http://www.wdstore.eu
All others Contact WD Technical Support in your region. For a list of Technical Support
contacts, visit http://support.wdc.com and see Knowledge Base answer
ID 1048.
Operating System Compatibility
Your My Passport Air drive and the WD Security and WD Drive Utilities software are
compatible with the following operating systems:
Mac OS X Windows
• Leopard
• Snow Leopard
• Windows XP
• Windows Vista
®
• Lion
• Mountain Lion
• Windows 7
• Windows 8
Compatibility can vary, depending on hardware configuration and operating system.
For highest performance and reliability, always install the latest updates and service
pack (SP). On Mac computers, go to the Apple menu and select Software Update. On
Windows computers, go to the Start menu and select Windows Update.
ABOUT YOUR WD DRIVE – 2
MY PASSPORT AIR
USER MANUAL
Disk Drive Format
Your My Passport Air drive is formatted as a single HFS+J partition for compatibility with
Mac OS X operating systems. If you want to use the drive with a Windows computer, see
“Reformatting the Drive” on page 28 and “Troubleshooting” on page 29.
Physical Description
As shown in Figure 2, the My Passport Air drive has:
• Power/Activity LED
• A USB 3.0 interface port
USB 3.0 Interface Port
Power/Activity LED
Figure 2. My Passport Air Drive
Power/Activity LED
The power/activity LED shows the drive’s power state as follows:
LED Appearance Power State/Activity
On steady Idle
Fast flashing, approximately 3 times per second Activity
Slow flashing, approximately every 2.5 seconds System standby
USB 3.0 Interface
USB 3.0 supports data transfer rates up to 5 Gb/s. USB 3.0 is backward compatible
with USB 2.0. Connection to a USB 2.0 port transfers data at the port speed—up to
480 Mb/s.
Registering the Drive
Always register your My Passport Air drive to get the latest updates and special offers.
You can easily register your My Passport Air drive using the WD Drive Utilities software,
as described in “Registering the Drive” on page 26. Another way is to register online at
http://register.wdc.com.
ABOUT YOUR WD DRIVE – 3
MY PASSPORT AIR
USER MANUAL
Handling Precautions
WD products are precision instruments and must be handled with care during unpacking
and installation. Rough handling, shock, or vibration can damaged drives. Always
observe the following precautions when unpacking and using your external storage
product:
• Do not drop or jolt the drive.
• Do not move the drive during activity.
ABOUT YOUR WD DRIVE – 4
2
1
MY PASSPORT AIR
USER MANUAL
Connecting the Drive and Getting Started
This chapter provides instructions for connecting the drive to your computer and
installing the WD software. It includes the following topics:
Connecting the Drive
Enhancing Performance with WD +TURBO
Installing the WD Security Software
Installing the WD Drive Utilities Software
Connecting the Drive
1. Turn on your computer.
2. Connect the My Passport drive to your computer as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Connecting the My Passport Drive
CONNECTING THE DRIV E AND GE TTING STARTED – 5
MY PASSPORT AIR
USER MANUAL
3. Verify that the My Passport drive appears under DEVICES in the Sidebar area of your
Finder display:
Note: If the External disks check box is selected on your Finder Preferences dialog, the
My Passport icon displays on your desktop:
4. The first time you connect your My Passport drive to your computer, a message asks
if you want to use the drive to back up with Time Machine:
On Leopard and Snow Leopard
On Lion and Mountain Lion
Note: Currently the Encrypt Backup Disk check box only appears on computers using
the Lion or Mountain Lion operating system.
Depending on your operating system:
• On Leopard or Snow Leopard, proceed to step 5.
• On Lion or Mountain Lion, skip to step 6.
5. On Leopard or Snow Leopard:
IF you . . . want to use the drive with
the Time Machine software,
Do not Cancel and skip to step 8 on page 7.
Do Use as Backup Disk and skip to step 7 on
THEN click . . .
page 7.
CONNECTING THE DRIV E AND GE TTING STARTED – 6
6. On Lion or Mountain Lion:
MY PASSPORT AIR
USER MANUAL
IF you . . . want to use the drive with
the Time Machine software,
Do not Click Don’t Use and skip to step 8 .
Do Proceed to step a.
THEN . . .
a. If you want to create a password to secure your backup files, select the Encrypt
Backup Disk check box.
b. Click
Use as Backup Disk.
c. If you selected the Encrypt Backup Disk check box at step a, complete the
backup password dialog that displays:
d. Click Encrypt Disk.
7. The My Passport icon now displays as:
8. Your My Passport drive is now ready to use as an external storage device. You can
enhance its performance by installing the WD +TURBO utility that is on the drive.
Enhancing Performance with WD +TURBO
WD +TURBO is a utility on the My Passport drive that you can install to improve the
performance of the drive on a Mac computer.
1. Double-click the My Passport icon, and then double-click the .dmg file on the screen
that displays:
CONNECTING THE DRIV E AND GE TTING STARTED – 7
2. Double-click the Extras folder on the screen that displays:
3. Double-click the WD +TURBO Installer application:
MY PASSPORT AIR
USER MANUAL
4. Click Install on the WD +TURBO Driver Installer screen:
5. Read the license agreement and click Accept to continue.
6. A message informs you that installing the drivers requires you to restart your
computer to make them active:
Click Yes to continue.
CONNECTING THE DRIV E AND GE TTING STARTED – 8
MY PASSPORT AIR
USER MANUAL
7. Type the password that you normally use to access the computer in the Password
box and click OK:
8. When the installation completes, click Ye s to restart the computer:
9. After the computer restarts, the My Passport icon on the desktop looks like this
Your My Passport drive is now ready to use as an enhanced-performance external
storage device. You can enhance its capabilities by installing the WD Security and
WD Drive Utilities software that is also on the drive.
Installing the WD Security Software
1. Double-click the My Passport icon, and then double-click the .dmg file on the screen
that displays:
CONNECTING THE DRIV E AND GE TTING STARTED – 9
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