I’ve got an old Dell laptop running Windows Vista and I want to buy a WD 1TB hdd to back up my files.
Are all WD hdds compatible with Vista?
Help please.
Any modern external hard drive up to 2 TB should be compatible with Vista. However, if you find that you can’t access the drive, you may have to re-format and re-initialize* it with with the master boot record (MBR) layout instead of the factory shipped GPT layout. I’m not 100% sure if Vista supports GPT, which I believe was supported starting with Windows 7. Other than that, with a system that old, you’ll be looking at USB 2.0 transfer speeds instead of the advertised USB 3.1, capping the transfer rate to about 30 MB/s.
*All data on the target drive will be deleted after re-initialization and/or re-formatting. Connect the drive to a newer system (if possible) and copy the preinstalled software if you wish to preserve it.
Vista does support GPT
Windows GPT support started 4 Years before Windows 7
Windows XP 64-Bit and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 support GPT
The HDD should work … and the backup software does support Vista as the minimum required OS
Backup your software and get a new computer with current supported OS would be my advice … 14 Years is getting pretty old for a PC running Vista. I wouldn’t expect the Dell to last too many more years.
OK, I wasn’t sure. I do have an old Vista system, though I’ve never verified compatibility with the GPT layout. I know GPT doesn’t work with Windows XP 32-bit, and that it has to be used with UEFI/Secure Boot and drives over 2 TB in size.
Thanks everyone.
Bernie
Thanks everyone.
Bought a 1 TB hard drive and it installed okay in Vista.
Didn’t need to select a disk and didn’t need to format it.
Doesn’t state on the box that it’s compatible with Vista but it is!
Thanks for your help.
Bernie
