PRODUCT MANUAL G DRIVE ® Professional External Hard Drive USB g-technology.
G DRIVE® USB Table of Contents 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 ...............
G DRIVE® USB Safety & General Use Safety Precautions ........................................ p.4 • Backup Your Data .......................................... p.
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 qualified G-Technology Technical Support representative.
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.
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.
intro G DRIVE® USB 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 offer the ultimate in flexibility by providing connectivity for USB 3.0, FireWire® 800 and 400.
inbox G DRIVE® USB 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.
overview G DRIVE® USB 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® X systems, and formatted as ‘HFS+ with Journaling’. • 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.
G DRIVE® USB Using Your Drive on Mac Easy Installation for Mac ....................... • Optimize Performance ............................ • Use with Time Machine ........................ • Disconnect the Drive ............................. • p.11 p.11 p.12 p.
install G DRIVE® USB Using Your Drive on Mac 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.
timemach G DRIVE® USB 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 files. The following steps will quickly set up G-DRIVE with Time Machine. 1. When you attach G-DRIVE for the first time, the Time Machine dialog box should automatically appear. Click the Use as Backup Disk button. 2.
G DRIVE® USB Using Your Drive on Mac 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 files you do NOT want to backup. G-DRIVE will now back up your important files automatically with Time Machine. It’s that easy! p.
disconnect G DRIVE® USB 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.
G DRIVE® USB Maintenance for Your Drive • • • Initialize Drive for Mac ........................ p.16 Restore the Drive Icon ........................ p.19 Reformat with Partitions ..................... p.
initialize G DRIVE® USB 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 under Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility. The window below will appear. Your G-DRIVE will be displayed in the left-hand column. 2.
format G DRIVE® USB Maintenance for Your Drive 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. 5. Click the Erase button in the lower right corner of the window.
G DRIVE® USB Maintenance for Your Drive 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.
restore G DRIVE® USB 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.
G DRIVE® USB Maintenance for Your Drive 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) 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.
multiple G DRIVE® USB 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 different partitions on a hard drive in OS X and each partition can be a different 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 different purposes.
G DRIVE® USB Maintenance for Your Drive 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. p.
G DRIVE® USB Maintenance for Your Drive 5. Click on the first partition in the Volume Scheme area. Your partition will be highlighted by a blue bounding box. • In the Name field, 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 field, type in a size for the partition.
G DRIVE® USB Maintenance for Your Drive 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.
G DRIVE® USB Using Your Drive on Windows Windows Use ............................................. p.26 • Cross Platform Use ................................. p.
winuse G DRIVE® USB 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 configuring and using your drive with Windows, please visit www.g-technology.com/windows p.
crossplat G DRIVE® USB 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.
G DRIVE® USB Using Your Drive on Windows 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. 5. Click the Erase button in the lower right corner of the window. A dialog box will appear asking if you want to erase the G-DRIVE partition. WARNING: THIS NEXT STEP WILL ERASE ALL DATA ON YOUR DRIVE. p.
G DRIVE® USB Using Your Drive on Windows 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 finished! 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.
G DRIVE® USB Support & Warranty • • • Technical Support .................................. p.31 Limited Warranty ................................... p.32 Copyright ................................................... p.
techsupp G DRIVE® USB 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 finest service and support. If you encounter any difficulties while installing or using G-DRIVE, please contact G-Technology Technical Support at g-technology.com/support.
warranty G DRIVE® USB 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.
G DRIVE® USB Support & Warranty What must you do? If you are having trouble with a product, before seeking limited warranty service, first follow the troubleshooting procedures that HGST or your reseller provides. To obtain limited warranty service, you must first 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.
copyright G DRIVE® USB 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).
