Downloads
Advanced Format Software

There are two options for aligning WD Advanced Format drives for optimal performance and one option for cloning drives to WD Advanced Format drives:

Alignment Option 1 - Fast GUI-based alignment solution that can be performed out of Windows. This option also provides a feature called Media Builder to create a Bootable WD Align CD.

Alignment Option 2 - Secondary Windows GUI-based alignment solution. Separate downloads are provided for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows OS software versions. This software provides measures for securing data in addition to those employed by the other option, but backing up the data before using this software is still advised.

Cloning Option - If you are cloning a hard drive, WD provides a separate Windows utility for cloning hard drives that supports WD Advanced Format Hard Drives. Acronis True Image WD Edition creates drive images with aligned partitions. Many cloning software tools have not been updated to support Advanced Format hard drives, so using True Image WD Edition for cloning or creating drive images is advised.

NOTE: If you have already cloned a hard drive onto a WD Advanced Format Hard Drive using another cloning utility, you should use one of the WD Align software programs to optimally align the drive.

WD advises that you back up the files on the source drive to another drive before using any of these utilities. The utilities employ techniques to keep data safe, but certain events, including power failure to the Windows machine or to an external drive can cause irretrievable data loss.

Please refer to the table below for a comparison of the important features of the options.