#Will a wd my passport for mac work on pc how to#
#Will a wd my passport for mac work on pc movie#
#Will a wd my passport for mac work on pc install#

#Will a wd my passport for mac work on pc how to#

There is no way that an average user is going to know how to do this and I do wish that WD’s messaging around this was clearer. I know that I need to fix its IP, assign privilege levels for accounts, etc. The initial setup process only initialises the unit and sets up a network-connected storage hub that’s invisible to your devices unless you know what you’re doing.Īs a power user, I knew that I needed to set up network shares, create multiple user accounts, one for every person in the house, and a separate guest account. However, it’s considerably more complicated than that. The setup process as advertised by WD on the box is a 3-step one. Hooking the M圜loud unit up to my router was as easy as plugging in the bundled ethernet cable to the device and my router, but this is where the challenge really starts.

If setup correctly, all your data will simply be accessible from anywhere in the world and on any device and you’ll never have to think about it again.

#Will a wd my passport for mac work on pc install#

Install it somewhere in your house, plug it into your router/network switch and then forget that it physically exists. The M圜loud device variants offer up to 8 TB of storage.Īs the name implies, think of the M圜loud as your own little personal cloud storage box. You do not carry this around with you when you go from place to place. This is not a device that you plug into a PC or a laptop and transfer files to. The first thing you need to know about the WD M圜loud is that it’s not a traditional external hard disk. They willingly obliged - being a tech journalist has its perks!Īfter spending a month with the unit, here are my thoughts. I wanted to test it out for myself and called up WD for a review unit. It certainly seems like a great option, and I’ll be trying one out soon enough, but it’s relatively expensive, costing as much as a cheap PC.Īn alternative that I found quite interesting, and more suited to my needs, was the WD M圜loud. This is essentially a tiny little PC that’s attached to your network and handles data. One of the most obvious solutions to this problem is to get a NAS (network attached storage) box.

#Will a wd my passport for mac work on pc movie#

Even something as simple as streaming my iTunes movie library requires setup. While this has been a functional solution, it’s still problematic. Accessing from a Mac and smartphones is possible, but it’s not as straightforward, requiring specific apps and jumping through a few hoops. This isn’t as easy as it sounds because that setup only really works for other Windows PCs. I’ve had to set up network shares that everyone can access and also had to ensure that the PC is running 24/7. So far, my solution has been to use one of the PCs for handling all my storage needs. With so many devices, there’s no way to have everything in one spot for the entire family to enjoy. The WD M圜loud drive is difficult to set up, but extremely useful once done