Apricorn 6TB Aegis Padlock DT 256-Bit Encryption USB 3 Hard Drive (ADT-3PL256-6000)

I don't get it - I have one of these at work, supplied by my company, and I use it several times per week to back up my files securely; I have never had a single problem with it. So I thought I'd buy one for my personal use at home. It was nothing but trouble! One big difference is that at work, I use it manually by copying files to it. At home, I wanted to use it for automatic backups of my Windows system image, documents, etc. TIP - An encrypted hard drive that requires unlocking is NOT a good solution for that because you have to have it unlocked when the automatic backup kicks off - my bad on that one, wrong tool for the job.Another difference is that my work PC runs Windows 10; at home I'm still on Windows 7. POSSIBLY the issue below is due to Windows 7 not being able to recognize an 8 TB Drive...? Not sure.However, the reason I gave this a 1 out of 5 is a deeper issue and has two parts.1) After hooking the drive up and getting it ready, I unlocked it and ran a complete Windows Backup - that took almost ten hours (admittedly I'm running it over USB2, not USB3). It appeared to work fine, and when it was done I was able to see that the backup was indeed on the Aegis drive and was occupying about the right amount of space - about 500GB. So I locked the drive and left it alone for a few hours. Later, when I came back to it, it wouldn't unlock - when I entered my code, the green light just sat there blinking and the drive never showed up in Windows Explorer. I gave it a half hour, then called Aegis Tech "Support." The "Support" piece brings us to point 2.2) Aegis Tech "Support" sucks. Totally useless. The guy was so lazy.... I explained the issue and the most helpful thing he said was "that shouldn't be happening"... DUH!! Then he said the only option I had was to call the vendor and work it out with them - that could be Amazon. He never even mentioned the option I tried next...So I got out the manual and used it to guide me through resetting the drive to factory specs - very easy to do, by the way. I wiped the drive, put in the new code, got it all set up again, and tried another backup. It worked great, but then I couldn't unlock the drive again afterward. Same problem, in other words.I gave up - for $585 it should work more smoothly than that.HUGE KUDOS to Amazon - they issued a prompt refund upon my returning the device in its original packaging and the whole ordeal ended up costing me zero money and a few days of my time.Take-aways:If you want something for automatic backups, this ain't it.If you want competent tech support, Aegis is not the company to deal with.If you want a vendor that sticks by their products, Amazon has a stellar track record, at least with me.

Don't believe the "Compatible with any OS" line in the description. If you have Windows XP, you will need to reformat the drive so that it is only a 2TB partition (you will lose 1TB of storage) and that also means it isn't pre-formatted for you out of the box.Out of the box, it connects nicely to a Windows 7 machine (with full capacity accessible). I didn't realize I couldn't use it as-is on my Windows XP machine until I tried it and it wouldn't get a drive letter. I just received instructions from Apricorn support telling me that, in order to use it on Windows XP, I need to reformat it for 2TB of storage only (losing all the data that I already have on the drive).It appears that this is also a limitation on Linux (RHEL) - we tried mounting it on one of our Linux VMs and had the same issues. So, if you intend to use it on Windows XP or Linux, you may want to save yourself some $$ and headache and go for the 2TB version.One additional note - this unit requires a SEPARATE power supply as it does not run off of the power of the USB port only. This is not that obvious from the description but IS documented in the user manual. This is probably why it is categorized as a "desktop" drive and I wanted to point it out for other people who might have missed that nuance. The user manual also recommends ONLY using the cables that are supplied with the drive. The supplied USB cable is about 4 feet long so that limits placement of the drive as well.Otherwise, the drive works well and the security seems solid. I think that the main issue here is an incomplete or misleading product description. I hope that this review helps someone else!

I do professional court testimony as well as having a private practice. On my iPad I use PDF EXPERT so I can securely with encryption carry around my cases and testimony with me leaving the drive at home. The two complement each other perfectly and there is no need to use paper again or pay for the paper's destruction. Kudos. Given the sensitive nature and non replaceable nature of the material I am buying a second one to back up just in case as well as to keep in another location in case of fire or theft. If it is stolen I have no worries the data could be accessedI would like to see an initial "open code" that would then let you enter a second unlock code. In this way if the person got lucky with the open code they would have up to a max # of attempts like the iPhone before it is permanently locked up and info destroyed or never again be accessible. This would provide a valuable second line of safety that I think is needed but this is the other reason I am buying a second one. Either way I don't think anyone could ever break the encryption. All in all an excellent investment and I let the lawyers know, as well as my patients, how their information is protected. This eases their minds. I also do not connect my work computer to the Internet. My iPad is but once I'm done in court or at the office I erase the info on the iPad.All in all have no problems sleeping at night... I would highly recommend this item.