Back up files and expand your computer's storage with this 12TB Western Digital easystore desktop drive. The USB 3.0 technology quickly reads and writes data, and compatibility with USB 2.0 ports lets you connect to older devices. This Western Digital easystore desktop drive includes preloaded software, so you can easily schedule automatic backups on Windows PCs.
A: The size difference is not caused by formatting but because of the definition of Terabyte that hard drive manufacturers use (1000 gigabytes) vs what most operating systems do (1024 gigabytes). What Windows reports is actually in Tebibyte and not Terabytes. So you haven't actually lost any space at all, the OS is just giving you a different number. It is very confusing for consumers though and I wish OS makers and hard drive manufacturers would both agree to one definition and stick with it.
Q: How many pictures can this hold
A: It can probably hold about 800-1000 blu ray movies on it, which are thousands to millions of times larger than a picture so I wouldn't expect picture storage to even be a concern. The drive would probably go bad before you could ever fill it up to be honest.
A: Yes and Yes, the drive comes with WD software, however you can go into control panel, administrative tools, computer management, Storage and then Disk Management and you will se the 12TB drive there. All you need to do then is delete the volume and then create volumes in whatever sizes you deem appropriate for your needs, then right click on the volume on the right side of the panel and it will present you with formatting options. I am not sure why you would want to do this but if it is what you want to do then go for it. My only recommendation is that you purchase 2 drives when dealing with 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 or now even the 16TB drives as they do have a much higher failure rate then drives did 8-10 years ago, after all you must sacrifice something for all that storage at a cheaper price so to ensure you don't lose your data, buy two and clone the drives every other month or quarterly to keep a rolling back up, that is my recommendation and as someone that has worked in IT and telecom for 32+ years I would say I have a pretty vast array of knowledge to draw from be it the 7 years I worked for a system manufacture, or the 6 years I ran a call center for a major ISP including dealing with the NOC and the Data Center there or to the 7 years I spent as a Network Administrator and Engineer as well as Facilities manager, just to give some insight into my real world experiences, you can never have enough backups. hope that helps
A: As long as your computer has the appropriate USB connection, it’ll work. There’s no such thing as a desktop-only or laptop-only external drive. Maybe you’re confusing with internal drives, which ARE for desktops only (though you could put one in an enclosure and connect to a laptop).
A: Both the EMAZ and EMFZ drives are PMR. Interestingly, there is evidence that the EMFZ is actually a 14TB capacity drive with 12TB firmware - presumably due to binning.
Q: Would it work on my Xbox one
A: Yes, it will work. I have a 12tb for my Xbox One and works great.
Q: Can I daisy chain this drive to another external hard drive using USB 3.0?
A: No, but I use a usb hub to connect multiple drives, works fine
A: I recently purchased 5 of these and shucked them for use in a new NAS. Every drive was a WD White label drive. They are currently installed in my NAS and everything is working properly.