I apologize if there are similar threads out there. I’m writing this inquiry for specific instruction from knowledgeable users like you.
I purchased a 2TB WD Blue mobile internal HDD (WD20SPZX) to be used as external storage with a SATA to USB cable for use on both Windows 10 and macOS High Sierra 10.13. I do not have much experience with storage and backups (please explain like I am five years old).
I read that in order to use the drive (without partitions) on both Mac and Windows to use exFAT (so there is no 4GB file limit with FAT32. I heard that you can format the drive on either Windows or Mac, but some users have claimed disk format on Mac weren’t able to be read on Windows, so I will go ahead and follow the Windows 10 exFAT format instructions here: How to Format a Drive for Use on Both Windows and macOS Using exFat or FAT32
If the steps above are inadvisable, please let me know. My next question involves WD software. WD sells external drives with 256-bit AES Hardware Encryption with WD Security software which I would have had to reinstall if I purchased an external drive due to reformatting the drive to exFAT (Windows version has NTFS and Mac has HFS; my macOS High Sierra uses APFS). If WD doesn’t allow customers to utilize this software on internal drives (requiring external drive purchase), my quest ends here. Otherwise, I need help installing the software for both Windows and Mac.
There are so many downloads and I’m not sure if downloading both the mac and windows version would cause problems for the drive. I don’t need the software that backs up automatically or from social media. I just need the basic encryption/password software and allowing me to read and write files to both operating systems.
Do you recommend I install:
Windows
- WD Backup
- WD Drive Utilities for Windows
- WD Security for Windows
- WD Universal Firmware Updater for Windows
Mac - WD Drive Utilities for Mac
- WD Security for Mac
- WD Universal Firmware Updater for Mac
A few additional questions:
- Why is there no “WD Backup” installer under the Mac section?
- The description for WD Drive Utilities for Windows, WD Security for Windows, and WD Security for Mac is the same. Shouldn’t Utilities install utilities and Security install security? Are the descriptions typo or are the same software package distributed multiple times under different names?
“This installer - WD Drive Utilities and WD Security, are contained within the WD Drive Utilities and the WD Security zip files and installs custom Western Digital software for WD USB and FireWire enabled external hard drives under Macintosh computers.”
tl;dr Thank you for reading through my situation. I need to know which software to install to have encryption/password prompt on both Mac and Windows after formatting the drive to exFAT.
