G-Technology G Drive slim User manual

G DRIVE
slim
®
Ultra-Slim Portable USB Drive
PRODUCT MANUAL
g-technology.com

p.2
Table of Contents
G DRIVE
slim
®
Welcome to G-DRIVE slim
Table of Contents
Safety & General Use
Safety Precautions................................................... 4
Backup Your Data .................................................... 5
About Your G-DRIVE slim
Introduction .............................................................. 7
What’s in the Box .................................................... 8
System Requirements............................................ 8
Overview of the Drive ........................................... 9
Using Your Drive on Mac
Easy Installation for Mac .....................................11
Disconnect the Drive ...........................................11
Use with Time Machine .......................................12
Maintenance for Your Drive
Initialize Drive for Mac ........................................15
Restore the Drive Icon .........................................18
Reformat with Partitions.....................................20
Using Your Drive on Windows
Windows Use...........................................................25
Cross Platform Use................................................26
Support & Warranty
Technical Support .................................................30
Limited Warranty ...................................................31
Copyright..................................................................33

G DRIVE
slim
®
Safety & General Use
• Safety Precautions ......................................... p.4
• Backup Your Data ........................................... p.5

p.4
Safety & General Use
G DRIVE
slim
®
Safety Precautions
The G-DRIVE slim 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.
If the product is returned with damage caused by improper handling, the warranty will
be void and liability will rest with the user. Please read our Limited Warranty.
• Servicing: Your drive contains no user-serviceable parts. If it appears to be malfunctioning,
have it inspected by a qualied 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-operating humid-
ity beyond 10-90%, non-condensing. Avoid placing your drive near a source of heat, or expos-
ing it to sunlight (even through a window), or in an environment that is too cold or humid.
• Power Source: This drive is designed to be powered from a standard USB connector using the
cable provided.
• Physical Damage: Do not place heavy objects on the drive. Never use excessive force
on your drive.

p.5
Safety & General Use
G DRIVE
slim
®
Backup Your Data
The disk drive contained in your G-DRIVE slim 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.
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-Technology drive. Keep a
second copy on your internal hard drive, another G-Technology drive, or a form of removable
storage media.

G DRIVE
slim
®
About Your G-DRIVE slim
• Introduction ..................................................... p.7
• What’s in the Box ........................................... p.8
• System Requirements ................................... p.8
• Overview of the Drive .................................. p.9

p.7
About Your G-DRIVE slim
G DRIVE
slim
®
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing the G-DRIVE® slim from G-Technology®. G-DRIVE slim hard
drives are the ideal storage solutions for people on the go.
G-DRIVE slim is the perfect compliment to any laptop or other portable computer.
The drive oers a stylish look with a heavy duty feel and is perfect to store or backup
your important documents, music, digital videos and digital photo les.
The drive comes formatted for Mac®, making it an easy plug-and-play storage device
and ready for use with Time Machine®. You can also use the drive on a Windows® com-
puter or work cross platform. See how here.
G-DRIVE slim features a silent ‘fan-less’ design with an integrated cooling system to en-
sure 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!

p.8
About Your G-DRIVE slim
G DRIVE
slim
®
What’s in the Box
The following items are included in the box:
• G-DRIVE slim
• (1) USB 3.0 cable (2.0 compatible)
• Quick Install Guide
If any items are missing, please contact G-Technology at g-technology.com/support.
System Requirements
G-DRIVE slim supports the folllowing Operating Systems. The drive is set up at the
factory for use with Mac OS® systems, and formatted as ‘HFS+ with Journaling’.
Mac: Mac OS 10.6 + and an available USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 port.
Windows: Windows® 8, 7, Vista and XP® and an available USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 port.
See how here.

p.9
About Your G-DRIVE slim
G DRIVE
slim
®
Overview of the Drive
This diagram shows the helpful features of your G-DRIVE slim. A USB port and Power &
Activity LED are featured on the front of the unit.
The activity light will glow when power is applied via the USB port. It will ash brighter
as data is transferred to or from the hard drive.

G DRIVE
slim
®
Using Your Drive on Mac
• Easy Installation for Mac ............................ p.11
• Disconnect the Drive .................................. p.11
• Use with Time Machine ............................. p.12

p.11
Using Your Drive on Mac
G DRIVE
slim
®
Easy Installation for Mac
G-DRIVE slim easily attaches to your computer via a USB cable. Simply plug the small
end of the cable into the G-DRIVE slim and the large end of the cable into a free USB
port on your computer. The drive will automatically mount on the desktop if you are
running Mac OS. (For Mac OS 10.7 and above, you must have the‘external drive’ box
selected within the Finder Preferences window in order for external hard drives to
appear on your desktop)
The drive is bus powered, eliminating the need to carry around an external AC power
supply.
Disconnect the Drive
A great feature of G-DRIVE slim 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 drive, unmount the system
by simply dragging the G-DRIVE slim 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
• To use G-DRIVE slim on Windows, go to Windows Use.
• To use G-DRIVE slim on Mac and Windows together, go to Cross Platform Use.

p.12
Using Your Drive on Mac
G DRIVE
slim
®
Use with Time Machine
G-DRIVE slim works perfectly and easily with Time Machine. Time Machine is an
application that ships with your Mac and provides automatic backup for your les.
The following steps will quickly set up G-DRIVE slim with Time Machine.
1. When you attach G-DRIVE slim for the rst time, the Time Machine dialog box should
automatically appear. Click the Use as Backup Disk button.
*If you have already congured Apple Time Machine, go to step 2.
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.

p.13
Using Your Drive on Mac
G DRIVE
slim
®
3. In the dialog box that appears, select the G-DRIVE slim. 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 les you do NOT
want to backup.
G-DRIVE slim will now back up your important les automatically with Time Machine.
It’s that easy!

G DRIVE
slim
®
Maintenance for Your Drive
• Initialize Drive for Mac ................................ p.15
• Restore the Drive Icon ............................... p.18
• Reformat with Partitions ........................... p.20

p.15
Maintenance for Your Drive
G DRIVE
slim
®
Initialize Drive for Mac
G-DRIVE slim was factory-formatted for use or ‘initialized’ for Mac OS. 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 slim will be displayed in the left-hand column.
2. Select G-DRIVE slim by clicking its drive icon in the left-side column. Information
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.

p.16
Maintenance for Your Drive
G DRIVE
slim
®
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 the OS.
• 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. A dialog box will
appear asking if you want to erase the G-DRIVE slim partition.

p.17
Maintenance for Your Drive
G DRIVE
slim
®
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.
• 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 slim has been erased. You can optionally restore this icon with the steps on
the next page.

p.18
Maintenance for Your Drive
G DRIVE
slim
®
Restore the Drive Icon
If the G-DRIVE slim 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 the G-DRIVE slim.
However, it will make your drive’s appearance on the computer desktop look nicer
and more accurate.
1. To get the G-Technology Icons package, go to www.g-technology.com/support
and navigate to your product. There will be a link to download the icons.
2. Once downloaded, it should automatically open the G-Technology Icons folder as
shown below. If not, double-click the Zip le to open. Then double-click the DMG
le to open the G-Technology Icons package.
3. Click to select the drive icon for the G-DRIVE slim in the package window.
Press Command+C to copy the icon. (below)

p.19
Maintenance for Your Drive
G DRIVE
slim
®
4. Select the G-DRIVE slim 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 slim icon into the Get Info window.
(below right)
The icon for your G-DRIVE slim has been restored and you can close the Get Info
window. Your drive is now fully ready for use!

p.20
Maintenance for Your Drive
G DRIVE
slim
®
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 dierent partitions on a hard drive in the OS and each partition can
be a dierent 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 dierent purposes. For instance, segment user data from
backup data, set up a multi-boot environment with dierent Operating Systems or create
a dedicated capture scratch disk for programs like Final Cut Pro® and Adobe Premiere®.
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.The steps will
be identical for your drive, only the name may be dierent.
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-Technology
drive will be displayed in the left-hand column.