NOTE: You haven't told us which version of the OS you're using. You want to click the 'topmost' line (for the WD) that represents the PHYSICAL DRIVE itself. IMPORTANT - go to the view menu and choose 'show all devices'.Ħ. If the finder gives you an error, won't mount the drive, and asks if you wish to eject or initialize it, I'd choose initialize (same as erase).Ĥ. Connect backup, let the drive mount on the desktop.Ģ. You just erase it and create another backup.ġ. 'it's a backup' of data that already exists (on your primary drive). It doesn't hurt to erase a backup, because, well.

What I would do at this point is ERASE the WD drive, and start over with a 'fresh backup'. 'But I am old, it is late, and I am confused!!' Personally this is what I would recommend if you are not technical, and a new HD is not a cost issue.īefore you add the new HD in Time Machine, remove the old disk (WD) in Time Machine first. You are correct you can just replace the hard disk and start a new Time Machine backup. To be honest if the WD HD is more than 3 years old, I would just replace it with a new one. Someone technical can make an assessment of what the HD problem is by running diagnostic tests.

While it can also make any bad sector (physical) errors not addressable, it may be a sign that the hard disk is starting to die, and you run the risk that more bad sectors to develop in the future. Reformatting the disk would fix any non physical errors. The current errors on the disk could be as a result of unplugging the disk while it was still writing data or other software errors, or it could be that the disk is starting to fail. I would recommend that reformatting a disk is done by someone that understands the process. Be careful, if you are not sure what you are doing you could inadvertently reformat your internal HD rather than your external backup WD drive.

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