I was looking at external WD harddrives today. Noticed that they have built-in software (SmartWare, I think) which automatically backs-up files as soon as they are created or changed.

Will this back-up software interfere with an imaging back-up software? Do I even need an imaging software with the WD software? Thanks.Never mind. I just read a boatload about Smartware and I am not touching it. Guess I'll look at Seagate products. Thanks anyway.

Edit: Ok, now see that I can get a LOWER end WD Elements model w/o Smartware. Consumer ratings look very good on this basic model.Hope you make a good choice.
Make sure you are buying a CURRENT model of any external hard drive from any maker. Awhile back there were some serious problems with certain models. The problems were later corrected.

Check out the warranty and return policies. Some local stores in your area may have higher prices along with a more liberal return policy. In the USA you want to check Best Buy, Fry's, Stables and Wall mart. Being able to INSTANTLY rerun and item can be worth the higher price.
Best Buy carried only the upper end WD's with Smartware. Walmart didn't have much. Amazon had the 320GB WD Element for $58 plus free shipping. I buy alot of stuff from Amazon and they have a great hassle-free return policy. I only need 30GB. Thanks for your help.

PS I was shocked to see the overwhelming and virtually unanimous negatives on SmartWare. I don't know anything about it, but I WOULD guess that WD is in trouble on this one. This is typical:

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/smartware-c387444.htmlYeah, that is rather negative.
There are many good External and Internal HDD choices.
http://reviews.cnet.com/hard-drives/
In the above link, you have to search o find WD at the bottom of the list. Yet there are some happy WD customers out there.
Quote

Western Digital My Passport Studio (640GB, winter 2010) Reviewed on 03/31/2010
The Bottom Line: Western Digital designed and preformats the My Passport Studio for use with Macs; however, it works well as a portable external storage solution for Windows and OS X, as LONG as USB 2.0 is your connection of choice.
Specs: 640 GB, External hard drive, IEEE 1394b (FireWire 800) / IEEE1394 (FireWire) / Hi-Speed USB