Welcome
Portable Dual-Drive Storage System
High-Speed 7200 RPM drive
Safety & General Use
health
afety & General Use
Safety Precautions
G-DRIVE mini’s warranty may be void as a result of the failure to respect the precautions
If the product is returned with damage caused by improper handling, the warranty will
• Servicing: Your drive contains no user-serviceable parts. If it appears to be malfunction-
ing, have it inspected by a qualified Technical Support representative.
• Moisture: Place the device away from moisture or liquids. To reduce the risk of damage,
do not expose this drive to rain or moisture. Do not use it in damp or wet conditions.
Never place objects containing liquids on the drive as they may spill into its openings.
• Ventilation: Place the device in a vented area. The drive should never be placed near
or over a radiator or heat source.
• Temperature: Do not expose this drive to temperatures outside the range of 5°C to 35°C
(41°F to 95°F); or to operational humidity beyond 5-80%, non-condensing, or non-operat-
ing humidity beyond 10-90%, non-condensing. Avoid placing your drive near a source of
heat, or exposing it to sunlight (even through a window), or in an environment that is too
cold or humid.
• Physical Damage: Do not place heavy objects on the drive. Never use excessive force
on your drive.
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backup
afety & General Use
Backup Your Data
The disk drive contained in your G-DRIVE mini device is a delicate electronic instrument
and is susceptible to damage due to excessive physical shock. Under no circumstances
will G-Tech be held liable for the recovery or restoration of lost data. Any loss, corruption
or destruction of data while using a G-Tech drive is the sole responsibility of the user.
Make two backups
To help prevent the loss of your data, we highly recommend that you keep TWO copies
of your data in separate storage locations. Keep one copy on your G-Tech drive. Keep a
second copy on your internal hard drive, another G-Tech drive, or a form of removable
storage media.
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About Your G-DRIVE mini
intro
bout Your G-DRIVE mini
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing the G-DRIVE™ mini from G-Tech. G-DRIVE mini hard drives
are the ideal storage solutions for people on the go.
G-DRIVE mini is a high-performance 7200RPM portable drive offering a stylish look
and a heavy duty feel. The drive has plenty of storage space to backup your impor-
tant documents, MP3’s, digital videos and digital photo files.
The drive comes formatted for your Mac, making it an easy plug-and-play storage
device, and is designed to work on a Windows computer or cross platform. G-DRIVE
mini is perfect to use for Mac-based backup since it ships ready for Time Machine™.
G-DRIVE mini features a silent ‘fan-less’ design with an integrated cooling system to
ensure reliable operation and long life. It is bus powered, eliminating the need for
a bulky external AC power supply. Portability has never been so easy!
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overview
bout Your G-DRIVE mini
System Requirements
G-DRIVE mini 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
Overview of the Drive
This diagram shows the helpful features of your G-DRIVE mini. There is a Power
& Activity LED behind the grill on the front of the unit and a Heat Sink beneath it.
The activity light will glow when power is applied via the USB or FireWire ports.
It will flash brighter as data is transferred to or from the hard drive.
On the rear of the unit there are two FireWire 800 ports, a USB 2.0 port, an
On/Off Switch and a DC Power In.
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disconnect
bout Your G-DRIVE mini
Disconnect the Drive
A great feature of G-DRIVE mini 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
the drive from your computer.
1. Before powering down and disconnecting the drive, unmount the system by
simply dragging the G-DRIVE mini icon to the trash located in the dock.
Keyboard shortcut: Select the drive icon and hit Command+E.
2. It is safe to remove the drive from your system when the drive icon is no longer
present on your desktop.
Helpful links
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Using Your Drive on Mac
install
sing Your Drive on Mac
Easy Installation for Mac
G-DRIVE mini easily attaches to your computer via a USB 2.0 or FireWire 800
cable. FireWire 400 connectivity is handled by a 9 Pin to 6 Pin cable (included).
Simply plug one end of the cable into the G-DRIVE
mini and the other end of the cable into a free USB or
FireWire connector on your computer. The drive will
automatically mount on the desktop if you are running
Mac OS X.
Optional Power Adapter
Typically, no AC power supply is necessary. The G-DRIVE mini is bus powered to
eliminate the need to carry around an external AC power supply to use the drive.
However, some computer systems may not supply adequate power via USB, which
keeps the G-DRIVE mini from properly spinning up.
If this is the case, it may become necessary to use the optional AC power adapter.
Simply plug the optional power adapter into the G-DRIVE mini and attach the other
end to a surge protector or wall outlet.
For more information or to purchase the optional power adapter for G-DRIVE mini,
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timemach
sing Your Drive on Mac
Use with Time Machine
G-DRIVE mini 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 your G-DRIVE mini with Time Machine.
1. When you attach G-DRIVE mini for the first time, the Time Machine dialog box
should automatically appear. Click the Use as Backup Disk button.
2. If the Time Machine dialog box did not launch, go to the Apple Menu> System
Preferences. Click on the Time Machine icon. The Time Machine Preference
panel will open. Click the Select Backup Disk button.
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sing Your Drive on Mac
3. In the dialog box that appears, select the G-DRIVE mini. 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 mini will now back up your important files automatically with Time
Machine. It’s that easy!
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Maintenance for Your Drive
initialize
Maintenance for Your Drive
Initialize Drive for Mac
G-DRIVE mini 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 mini will be displayed in the left-hand column.
2. Select the G-DRIVE mini by clicking its drive icon in the left-side column. Informa-
tion about the drive willl be displayed at the bottom of the window.
3. Select the Erase tab to view the formatting options. By default, the Format pop-
up menu is set to the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) option.
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format
Maintenance for Your Drive
4. Click the Format pop-up and 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.
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 mini partition.
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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
• Click the Don’t Use or Decide Later button if you do not want to use
Time Machine at this point.
8. Quit the Disk Utility program. After reinitializing the drive, the custom icon for
G-DRIVE mini has been erased. You can optionally restore this icon with the
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restore
Maintenance for Your Drive
Restore the Drive Icon
If the G-DRIVE mini drive icon was erased during the reinitializing process (see
previous section), you can restore the icon with the following easy steps.
NOTE: This process is not required for the operation of G-DRIVE mini. However,
it will make your drive’s appearance on the computer desktop look nicer and
more accurate.
navigate to your product. There will be a link to download the icons.
2. Once downloaded, it should automatically open the G-Tech Icons folder as
shown below. If not, double-click the Zip file to open. Then double-click the
DMG file to open the G-Tech Icons package.
3. Click to select the drive icon for G-DRIVE mini in the package window. Press
Command+C to copy the icon. (below)
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Maintenance for Your Drive
4. Select the G-DRIVE mini 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 mini icon into the Get Info
window. (below right)
The icon for your G-DRIVE mini has been restored and you can close the Get
Info window. Your drive is now fully ready for use!
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multiple
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. For instance, segment user data
from backup data, set up a multi-boot environment with different Operating Systems
or create a dedicated capture scratch disk for programs like Final Cut Pro.
The following steps will guide you through this simple process of partitioning your
drive. In this example, we will partition a 500 GB G-DRIVE mini connected via
FireWire.
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-Tech drive will be displayed in the left-hand column.
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Maintenance for Your Drive
2. Select the FireWire or USB icon – not the G-Tech 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.
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Maintenance for Your Drive
5. Click on the first partition in the Volume Scheme area. Your partition will be high-
lighted 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
• In the Size field, type in a size for the partition. Alternately, you can drag the
bar in between each partition to quickly change the size.
6. Repeat this process for each partition you have created.
7. Click the Apply button in the lower right corner of the window. A dialog box will
appear asking if you want to erase the G-Tech drive partition.
WARNING: THIS NEXT STEP WILL ERASE ALL DATA ON YOUR DRIVE.
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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-Tech drive has been
erased. You can optionally restore this icon to each
11. The multiple partitions of the G-Tech drive will be
displayed on the desktop. Your drive is now setup
with two or more partitions and ready for use.
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Using Your Drive on Windows
winuse
sing Your Drive on Windows
Windows Use
G--DRIVE mini 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
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crossplat
sing Your Drive on Windows
Cross Platform Use
You can set up G-DRIVE mini 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 MS-DOS (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 mini will be displayed in the left-hand column.
2. Select the G-DRIVE mini by clicking its drive icon in the left-side column.
Information about the drive will be displayed at the bottom of the window.
3. Select the Erase tab to view the formatting options. By default, the Format
pop-up menu is set to the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) option.
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sing 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 mini partition.
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sing Your Drive on Windows
WARNING: THIS NEXT STEP WILL ERASE ALL DATA ON YOUR DRIVE.
6. 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.
7. Quit the Disk Utility program. You are finished!
8. After reinitializing, the custom icon for the G-DRIVE mini 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.
Limitations with FAT32
There are some limitations when using FAT32.
The ‘MS-DOS File System’ cannot write files over 4 GB. If you are working with
files over 4 GB, you may want to choose a software option like MacDrive, www.
macdrive.com. MacDrive is Windows software that enables you to mount Mac
formatted drives on your Windows computer.
NOTE: You could format your drive on a Windows machine FAT32. However,
Windows currently limits FAT32 partitions to only 32GB in size.
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Support & Warranty
techsupp
upport & Warranty
Technical Support
Thank you for purchasing G-DRIVE mini. If you have any comments or questions
about this manual or the product, please let us know!
G-Tech 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
mini, please contact G-Tech Technical Support in one of the following ways:
Telephone: (888) 426-5214
Fax: (408) 717-9007
E-mail: [email protected]
Helpful information for support
When contacting Technical Support, it’s best to be in front of your computer and
have the following information available:
• Your G-DRIVE mini serial number (on bottom of unit)
• Operating System and version
• Computer brand and model
• List of other devices attached to your computer
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warranty
upport & Warranty
Limited Warranty
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (“Hitachi GST”) including G-Technology by Hitachi
Limited Warranty for External Hard Disk Drives
What does this limited warranty cover?
This Limited Warranty applies to new Hitachi GST external storage products purchased
from an authorized Hitachi GST dealer by the original purchase for normal use and not
for resale. Hitachi GST warrants that a covered product is free from defects in materials
and workmanship, with the exceptions stated below.
How long does limited warranty coverage last?
This limited warranty lasts for 3 years or a fixed period from date of purchase, depending
on when and where it was originally purchased. To determine the warranty specifically for
prove eligibility. If you do not have a valid proof of purchase, the limited warranty period
will be measured from the date of sale from Hitachi GST to the authorized distributor.
What does this limited warranty not cover?
The limited warranty does not cover damage resulting from commercial use, misuse, ac-
cident, modification or alteration to hardware or software, tampering, unsuitable physical
or operating environment beyond product specifications, improper maintenance, or failure
caused by a product for which Hitachi GST is not responsible.
There is no warranty of uninterrupted or error-free operation. There is no warranty for
loss of data—you must regularly back up the data stored on your product to a separate
storage product. There is no warranty for product with removed or altered identification
labels.
HITACHI GST DOES NOT PROVIDE ANY OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, INCLUD-
ING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MER-
CHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO
NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THIS LIMITATION MAY
NOT APPLY TO YOU. Hitachi GST is not responsible for returning to you product which is
not covered by this limited warranty.
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upport & Warranty
What must you do?
If you are having trouble with a product, before seeking limited warranty service, first follow the
troubleshooting procedures that Hitachi GST or your reseller provides.
To obtain limited warranty service, you must first obtain a Return Materials Authorization (RMA)
support. Please follow the instructions found on the website. You must return the covered hard disk
drive using approved packaging to our logistics center. You must pay any associated transporta-
tion charges, duties and insurance in shipping the drive to our logistics center. You should remove
all personal information from the product prior to its return.
What will Hitachi GST do?
Hitachi GST will repair or replace covered defective product and ship you repaired or replaced
product, transportation prepaid. You receive title to the repaired or replaced product at delivery
to carrier at Hitachi GST shipping point. You are responsible for importation of the repaired or
replaced product, if applicable. These limited warranty terms apply to the repaired or replaced
product, except the limited warranty period is for the greater of the remainder of the original
limited warranty period for the returned product or 90 days.
How is our liability limited?
HITACHI GST AND ITS AFFILIATES, SUPPLIERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AND RESELLERS ARE NOT LIABLE
FOR ANY OF THE FOLLOWING: 1) THIRD-PARTY CLAIMS AGAINST YOU FOR DAMAGES
(OTHER THAN BODILY INJURY INCLUDING DEATH AND TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY; 2)
LOSS OF, OR DAMAGE TO, YOUR DATA; OR 3) SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR INDIRECT DAMAG-
ES OR FOR ANY ECONOMIC CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING LOST PROFITS OR
SAVINGS), EVEN IF INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY, INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE
ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
How do local laws apply?
THIS LIMITED WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS, AND YOU MAY ALSO HAVE
OTHER RIGHTS WHICH VARY FROM JURISDICTION TO JURISDICTION.
G-Technology, a division of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies
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copyright
upport & Warranty
Copyright
G-Technology by Hitachi Global Storage Technologies © 2011. All rights reserved.
G-DRIVE, G-RAID, G-SAFE, and G-SPEED are registered trademarks of G-Technology by
Hitachi GST. Apple, Mac, Macbook, Macbook Pro and the Mac logo are trademarks of
Apple, Inc. Hitachi Global Storage Technologies and Hitachi Inspire the Next are trade-
marks of Hitachi Ltd. G-Technology is a trademark of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Hitachi Global Storage
Technologies trademarks are authorized for use in countries and jurisdictions in which
Hitachi has the right to use, market and advertise the brands. The Travelstar trademark
is authorized for use in the Americas, EMEA and the following Asia-Pacific countries and
jurisdictions: Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South
Korea and Taiwan. Contact Hitachi for further information. Hitachi shall not be liable to
third parties for unauthorized use of Hitachi trademarks.
One gigabyte (GB) is equal to one billion bytes and one terabyte (TB) equals 1,000 GB
(one trillion bytes). Accessible capacity will vary from the stated capacity due to formatting
and partitioning of the hard drive, the computer’s operating system, and other factors” For
G-Technology by Hitachi products less than 1TB: “One gigabyte (GB) is equal to one bil-
lion bytes when referring to hard drive capacity. Accessible capacity will vary depending
on the operating environment and formatting.
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