New in OS X: Get MacRumors Push Notifications on your Mac

Western Digital Warns External Hard Drive Customers Over Mavericks Data Loss

Thursday October 31, 2013 11:35 am PDT by Jordan Golson

Western Digital has emailed customers warning them about possible data loss when connecting external hard drives to Macs with OS X Mavericks installed.

The MacRumors Forums, Western Digital's forums, and Apple's Support Communities all have threads about lost data after connecting Western Digital external hard drives to computers after updating to Mavericks.

In an email to customers, Western Digital warned about using its WD Drive Manager, WD Raid Manager, and WD SmartWare software products with Mavericks and suggests customers uninstall those applications before upgrading to Mavericks, or, if they already have upgraded, to uninstall those applications immediately.

Dear WD Registered Customer,

As a valued WD customer we want to make you aware of new reports of Western Digital and other external HDD products experiencing data loss when updating to Apple's OS X Mavericks (10.9). WD is urgently investigating these reports and the possible connection to the WD Drive Manager, WD Raid Manager and WD SmartWare software applications. Until the issue is understood and the cause identified, WD strongly urges our customers to uninstall these software applications before updating to OS X Mavericks (10.9), or delay upgrading. If you have already upgraded to Mavericks, WD recommends that you remove these applications and restart your computer.

The WD Drive Manager, WD Raid Manager, and WD SmartWare software applications are not new and have been available from WD for many years, however solely as a precaution WD has removed these applications from our website as we investigate this issue.

Sincerely,
Western Digital

Most of the complaints seem to center around Western Digital drives, but the company does say other drives could have issues as well.

Thanks Jackie!

Top Rated Comments

(View all)

SandboxGeneral

61 months ago

I guess I'm glad that I've never, ever, used HDD manufacturer software before. I've always let the OS (OS X and Windows) manage the drives.

Rating: 105 Votes

iB24

61 months ago

i'm glad i don't ever use the garbage software that comes with these hard drives anyway.

Rating: 60 Votes

troop231

61 months ago

Looks like WD didn't even bother to test their software before Mavericks shipped.

The WD Drive Manager, WD Raid Manager, and WD SmartWare software applications are not new and have been available from WD for many years..."

:rolleyes:

Rating: 28 Votes

anubis

61 months ago

Wait, people actually install and use the crapware that comes with their hard drives?

Rating: 28 Votes

kolax

61 months ago

So this is only happens if you use their software on Mavericks to access the hard drives?

So not a Mavericks flaw but WD's? Or maybe both, but because WD writes software for the Mac, they should've been accessing developer builds of Mavericks and would've found this out long ago.

Rating: 27 Votes

Primejimbo

61 months ago

Best solution is to get with the times and stop using spinning hard drives.

because a solid state is so cheap to buy :rolleyes:

Rating: 26 Votes

winston1236

61 months ago

And thats why I'll never be the first to upgrade to any OS.

Rating: 24 Votes