(Old Model) WD My Passport Ultra 1 TB Portable External USB 3.0 Hard Drive with Auto Backup, Black

This device is very adaptable, customizeable and easy to use. It has WD software installed on the device available for installation onto your computer should you decide to perform your backups using WD Smartware. I found that without the software you can still use the Passport to backup using windows own backup utility. If using the WD Smartware software you can backup via the Category Method or select the folders and files that YOU prefer to backup. You can also choose to have a continuous backup or set up a schedule for your backup sessions. I like to back up when I want to so really use neither option. Every 2 weeks I simply connect the Passport to a USB port (this also powers the Passport so no power cable is required) then open WD Smartware. From there I click on the Backup tab, then click on the small icon of a watch or clock near the bottom of the window. This brings up a selection to Backup Now. Click that and youre all set. The Passport is only slightly larger than a deck of cards so, after backing up my files, I can store it in a small fireproof safe. This keeps my files reasonably safe and very handy if they ever need to be retrieved.

These are quite quick when running on native USB 3.0. I have several of these and they have proven to be easy to use and mostly reliable in both Windows and Linux. The enclosure is mostly plastic, but it seems sturdy. I said mostly reliable because I did have one that developed a worrisome spindle bearing rumble after about 32 days of use. To be fair, however, it must be noted that the rumbling drive was originally shipped to me in a PADDED ENVELOPE...not the customary box with peanuts or other suitable cushioning. Although it was a new-in-box unit, I dont think WD designed the retail packaging to serve as the drives only shipping protection. Amazon wouldnt do anything about it, as it was 2 days outside the standard 30 day return window. WD, however, shipped me a replacement unit in 2 business days!! No stars off as I see this as a shipper (whom I hazed) and not a hardware issue. Unfortunately, I do deduct one star because there is no external AC/DC power supply option, which leaves only powering through the USB port as the only option. This means no legacy USB support beyond 2.0 and the supplied interface cable is only 18 short. Also, the cable is the rather oddball USB A to micro-B format. Power, cable and legacy issues aside, this is a nice portable 1 or 2 TB storage solution from a top tier maker at a very attractive price.

I love that this is the Old Model. Dont know exactly what that means. Im guessing that the newer version is sleeker and sexier (isnt that why one trades in an old(er) model for a new(er) one??). But this worked for me exactly as is. Its light and easy to set up and use. I desperately needed an external hard drive because I had two work laptops crash and lost all my documents. But more importantly, all my pictures and videos (dont tell my boss... Oh, wait - thats me!). Sure, I knew I needed one before - just to back up my files. And I had had one when I worked in an actual office. I just didnt think about it, until I lost everything. The computer geniuses found a way to get to my data, despite the fact the laptops wouldnt even turn on (might not be a huge feat in the IT world - but it amazed and thrilled me!). Then they offered to sell me a smaller drive - for $100 more! Jumped on Amazon. Found what I needed at a great price. Got my 2 day shipping and spent the last day smiling and laughing and explaining the photos to my kiddos. So while this may be the OLD model - it still worked just as it was supposed to... perfectly!

Update 5-2016: Updated my computer to Win10 and have had no problems with this device. Also managed to buy a longer USB3 Y cable for this at a going-out-of-business Radio Shack for several dollars. ----------------------------------------- Works as advertised. Bought this to backup files and photos from a Dell computer running Win7. This external drive requires no plug-in power supply; it runs off USB power. A nice feature lacking from many external drives. My computer recognized the new drive immediately. Basic setup took less than five minutes. This drive can be encrypted, which I did. This took an addition several minutes. I did not set up multiple partitions, sticking with just one. With multiple, you can encrypt one partition without having to do them all. So far a good performer (3 months so far) and a good price. Only complaints: (a) the USB cord is only 17 inches long, limiting placement in and around the computer, and (2) the USB cord that attaches to the drive is one of the new USB3 mini Y connectors (power and data are split out), so a little more costly to buy a replacement cord if you lose this one. I couldnt find a replacement cord listed on the WD site, but theyre starting to show up on Amazon and other sites.

All I wanted was a rugged, high-capacity outboard hard drive to store certain files on--and I wanted one that was powered from the USB cable. This little Passport Ultra 2TB drive does the job perfectly, in a snappy, rugged, businesslike package that seems to be of very high-quality construction. You get 2TB of storage in a drive that is about the size of a deck of cards. Cant beat that. The drive was ridiculously easy to install; I just plugged mine in and my HP EliteBook notebook computer recognized it within about 20 seconds. A very minor but nice point--this drive has little rubber footpads so it does not just lie flat on ones desk. A nice little touch; some drives in this class do not have the pads. The drive comes with a short but adequate USB 3.0 cable and is all ready to go out of the box. Being USB 3.0, this drive appears to be VERY fast. It is certainly noticeably faster than my older USB 2.0 drive, but I have not run any rigorous benchmark tests. Overall I am very pleased with this purchase. The price/Terabyte was pretty good for what I paid on Amazon -- the prices fluctuate all the time on these drives, but I got a good deal. I got the Titanium colored version and I really like it. RJB.

Let me start my review by saying that I am your average reviewer with a solid understanding of technology but I am by no means an expert. The best review of this product has already been written by gravemind At the time that I am typing this review, Graveminds review was second from the top when sorted by most helpful Read that review.... it will answer many questions that I didnt even think to ask when I bought this. Okay, that said, heres my review.... I am giving this 5 stars based SOLELY on the fact that these store my photo files and have done so without incident for a few years now. I am a photographer with an insane number for photo files. I own about ten of these drives in both 1tb and 1tb sizes. I also own drives from other companies. I import my photos using lightroom and have them go to two of these drives. If I was smart I would have a third drive hooked up just to be safe, but alas, the USB ports on my current computer died a couple of years ago so I am somewhat limited. I know, I know, I could plug in a 3.0 hub. I just havent done it yet. So these drives store my photo files and they read and write very fast. I am almost afraid to type that I havent so far gotten any read or write errors because now probably my whole system will go to hell. Still, for now, theyre great. I have never managed to get their backup system to work for me and I suppose I should deduct a star for that but frankly I never really planned on using their backup system. It would be nice, but I cant at all figure it out. BOTTOM LINE: if you need solid feeling and performing backup drives and you dont much care about the bundled software, these drives are a five star experience. If you are looking for the software as well, look elsewhere.

Flawless. Just load this up with all your photos and documents. (Highlight folders, right click, hit send to WD Passport or highlight and drag.) It can take whatever you give it pretty much unless you are decades behind this holds a ton of data. No clumsy CDs or DVDs to store! Delete, add upload download, it works perfect and as easy as working from a folder, file or destination on your pc. Just plug in the USB cord to your pc and get going. I own two of these and a great feeling all my photos/documents are safe and secure as with two I can store them in separate locations in case of fire or disaster. Burning CDs suck, this is the way to go. Oh and just take this palm size device to any WalMart or any photo processor, plug it in and select and print from all your folders. Such a great feeling to have everything stored and not afraid of a glitchy pc dropping everything.

NEWEST UPDATE (11/15/14): Started experiencing the SAME issue! Sent back the HDD; replaced with the WD Elements version. Was going to RMA with Western Digital until I discovered the culprit. One of my front panel ports on my Corsair Carbide 500R case was defective- a common issue it seems (http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=107328). The faulty port was able to register the HDD as connected, USB 2.0 drives worked without issue, but its like the port wasnt delivering the necessary power for the USB 3.0 transfer. Got a free front I/O panel replacement from Corsair; all seems well! UPDATE: When I received my replacement, I did a quick format to get rid of the factory software that I had no need for. Then I began the transfer process between my current 1 TB external to the new one. The same issue occurred. On my current drive, there is a folder labeled AUTORUN with an icon file (that displays the Western Digital logo). As it turns out, this seems to be the cause of the issue. Once I deleted that, everything copied over fine and works great as far. Original Review: Unfortunately, this product arrived DOA. My computer recognized the drive but would just stop copying files over once a certain sector of the drive was reached. I used Western Digitals diagnostic utility and it said it passed, but when I tried to write zeros to the drive (full format), the drive froze up at around 509,000 sectors. I have been using Western Digital drives for a long time and this is the first of which I have had a bad experience. Hopefully my replacement, which is coming rather quickly, will be functional.

I wrote this glowing review below and only hours later I went to do an update of an existing backup and it is not working (or if it is, its going so slowly that it will take days to backup * FIVE GB * - which is ridiculous. It took less than 5 minutes to do the initial backup, and now that Ive connected the passport to my PC to update the files already backed up, its been going for over an hour. Same data (just a couple of edits on some excel files), same USB port, etc. For 5GB of data. You can copy / paste to the drive, but the whole reason I liked it is because I thought it would backup changes for me. Sigh. ******************************************************************** So easy to use! I was dreading picking out a new external hard because I was sure I would experience some awful technical issue and end up buying my brother a plane ticket to Atlanta just to help me backup some music and photos of my kids. But the WD Passort Ultra is really fast and easy to figure out. You plug it into the USB 3.0 port if you have one (it will say SS = Super Speed) or any other USB port if you dont. It does its installing new hardware thing and then the notification pops up that the device is ready to use (I use my Passport using Windows 7 and Windows 8). You go to My Computer, double click on WD Apps Setup, follow the prompts and after a minute the WD Smartware is installed on your PC. You then double click the WD Smartware icon and you can set your preferences. I chose continuous backup, but you can also set a certain day of the week and time to have your files backed up. I dont intend to keep the drive plugged into my PC while I work, this way it updates right away when I plug it in. For the backup scope, I chose the advanced setting. It says this is for experienced users, but all it asks you to do is select the folders you want to back up. I selected my Document, Pictures, Videos & Music folders. If you need your email backed up or anything that is not in a central location, you might want to use the default setting. You click enable backup and it begins backing up the folders youve specified onto the Passport. I use this drive to backup personal documents on my work PC and all doc/photos/videos/music from my personal PC. I can view them by viewing the folders on the drive and opening the WD SmartWare.swstor folder. There I see a folder for each of my PCs and if you drill through into those folders you will see your backed up data. You can do all kinds of other fancy things (versioning, etc.) but Im just trying to keep it simple. I bought the Amazon basics case for it, and its perfect, holds the device and the cords.

I bought this HDD to backup the files on my aging dell laptop (Windows 7). Overall installation of the software went smooth and I found the backup app to be intuitive and simple to use. The software recognized both drives in the laptop and gave me two options on how to back up data: guided or all files. The guided option will find files that fit a category (i.e. music, documents, etc) and back them up whereas the all files option will back up ALL non-system files unless otherwise specified. I ended up using the all files option as it did a better job capturing game files (such as those in the program files folder). The back up files were easy to find on the HDD. This hard drive is about 1.5 - 2 times thicker than the Seagate Backup Plus. I did not use the dropbox backup feature. My laptop has only USB 2.0 so I wasnt able to take advantage of the higher speeds with 3.0 however I have no complaints with the transfer speed or time it took to back up everything.