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

I needed something quick because my external hard drive was malfunctioning. I checked out Amazon for drives and found this highly rated one. I love my computer and the convenience it affords me, however Im not what you would call computer literate not, by any stretch of the imagination! What I love about this product is, though Im not well versed, their support team is. Initially, I could not understand how to make it function! I contacted support and they were very helpful! The rep I got, Yoryi (pronounced Georgie) was very helpful and above all patient. Because, Im not as adept as Id like to be when it comes to the jargon associated with computers, it took a little longer than I expected to get me caught up on its use.However, Yoryi, took his time with me, without making me feel as though it was an imposition to him, or that I was an idiot.He was personable, with a great sense of humor helping me to feel relaxed when I started to feel a bit frustrated! And best of all, I found out I had downloaded my info, I just didnt know how to get to it! I highly recommend this product, especially if you, as I am, are computer challenged!

I received the WD My Passport Ultra 2TB external HD this evening. I connected it to my 3-month old Dell XPS 850 / Windows 8.1 computer, which immediately recognized the device and displayed a directory for all the files on the HD. Unfortunately, the directory began to flash on and off at random intervals. Undeterred, I installed the WD software provided on the drive, and I waited patiently after being told that more up-to-date software was available on line, and waited longer as replacement software was installed. It was only with great difficulty that I managed to register the new product with WD, because the constant disconnecting and connecting of the drive made it difficult for the registration program to accept my typed name, address, email, etc. I then followed the instructions provided after the installation and product registration was complete and re-booted my PC. Alas, installation of the newest WD software and rebooting made no absolutely no difference. The WD HD continued to connect and disconnect rapidly but randomly, preventing me from backing up any data onto my new WD external HD. I searched WD support pages to find a diagnosis for this problem (which has been reported by at least 7 other WD My Passport Ultra 2TB external HD users. I implemented a couple of the proposed fixes, but none worked. After 45 minutes of experimentation, I gave up, physically disconnected the failing WD external HD and replaced it with my older (but full) WD external HD, which worked flawlessly. I removed the newly installed software, re-installed and then updated the software provided with my older WD external HD, and requested that Amazon accept my return of a defective HD, a request that was promptly granted by Amazon. It is conceivable that the apparently defective device works, but is somehow incompatible with my new Dell PC or the Windows 8.1 OS or some obscure default setting in my PC or Windows 8.1 OS. But I am not an engineer; WD does not provide anywhere on its website a straightforward explanation or fix for the problem, and I do not feel it is the responsibility of the user community to engineer a fix for this or any other problem in connecting an external HD to a standard, plain vanilla PC. I hope I can find another 2TB external HD that will serve as effectively as my older 1TB WD external HD as my main backup device. (By the way, the WD-supplied backup software, even on the older, perfectly functioning WD HD was crap. I used the Windows Vista OS backup software for backup on my old PC, and it was much more intuitive, straightforward, and dependable.) UPDATE: 12-23-2013 - After returning this item, I went to a specialized store and obtained recommendations for an external HD. After discussing the alternatives with a knowledgeable expert, I purchased (at his recommendation) the very same WD My Passport HD model that earlier failed. His comment was: All hard drives will fail someday, and a small percentage will fail immediately. Yours happened to fail immediately. He thought the WD Ultra HD offered the best combination of speed and simplicity; he uses it for his own personal laptop PC. I brought the new HD home, hooked it up speedily and without incident, and it has worked fine for a week. In fact, I restored a defective file onto my home PC with very little effort. Well see how long it lasts. So far so good. UPDATE: 04-03-2015 - The replacement WD external HD still functions well and without serious errors. One small problem is that my PC occasionally loses the external HD. That is, even though the HD remains connected to the PC, the PC no longer recognizes that it is connected. The problem is easily dealt with, however. I physically unplug the connection and then plug the external HD in again, and the device functions without incident.

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.

Posted publicly as Tom in NOVA Just got it yesterday. Hardest part of setup was getting it out of the box. Plugged it into a USB 3.0 port and ran Acronis to back up 320 GB in about 90 minutes. Tested copying large file fro a WD Blue 2TB in my computer, Windows 8 showed transfer rate around 820Mbps or approximately 1GBs. Doesnt equal the up to 5GBs mfr claim but a pretty good clip anyhow. Did not load any of the SW on the drive. Drive will be used as a pretty much permanent attachment to my desktop, Dont need to encrypt, pwd protect or go to the cloud for backups. I bought this drive to replace a returned Seagate desktop expansion drive that kept dropping off line. After 24 hts the WD Passport is still connected, as it should be, Most importantly, it rules out my computer as the cause of the Seagate issue.. I realize not much time has elapsed since I received and installed the drive but wanted to report a good experience, so far its all pros and no cons. I will update this review if I encounter any issues Clear

I wanted an external drive for my Macbook Pro. I was looking for a good looking drive that was small, had USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt connectivity and one that didnt need an external power source. Of the drives that fit my criteria, I was drawn to the Western Digital drive because of the form factor, the price and the brand. This drive looks good. It is fairy small, about the size of an index card and a little large than .5 inch tall. The drive has a small white LED on the front that lets you know when the disk is being accessed. It comes in a variety of colors. I loved the both the red and blue versions because I was simply tired of the blacks and grays. I know it seems odd to be concerned with how the drive looks but I think you should get pleasure from the things you see and use all the time. When you see this drive you should not only see something that is technically competent but also something that is pleasing to the eye. I have experience with Western Digital drives in a number of internal applications over the year and have never been disappointed. This external drive has been in use since January and I am completely satisfied. It is very reasonably priced. It is quiet and stays cool to the touch. It has USB 3.0 connectivity so it is zippy. A thunderbolt 2 connection would have been great since my Macbook supported it, but those drives were hard to find at the time and I didnt think it was worth the extra money for just a thunderbolt connection. As far as throughput spend are concerned, USB 3.0 has max throughput is 5 Gbps, Thunderbolt is 10 Gbps and Thunderbolt 2 is 20 Gbps. USB 3.1 will be also 10 Gbps.

I did not download, nor use, the WD software that came with this drive. WD has a good reputation, and I suspect the SW provided would be worth using. But this drive was purchased for one function. This drive was recognized by the USB3 port on my desktop loaded with Windows 7 64 Bit. I bought this drive primarily to run periodic SYSTEM IMAGEs as a back-up to the software and files loaded on the internal Hard Drive. Unlike my other 1 TB WD external drive (not a My Passport version), it runs off the USB Power and does not require a separate power supply. Yeah! Windows 7 recognized the drive immediately and loaded the drivers. Works like a champ. And the USB 3.0 high speed transfer rate makes System Image backups lightning quick (compared to my other USB 2.0 external drives). I got the RED version because it was priced lower than the silver/black siblings on Amazon. Worth every cent spent. PS: I also used this drive on my HP Laptop as well using an USB 2.0 port for a back-up of my System Image (WIN 7). It ran using the USB 2 power without an issue, although the data transfer rate was considerably slower as expected.

I told in another review, believe it was of the AmazonBasics USB hub, that I live in an area prone to power outages. This is especially true in spring/summer. We seem to have a daily thunderstorm that rolls through right around 5 PM. I primarily work as a construction engineer and keep all of my files, blueprints, receipts, appointments on an external hard drive. I spent most of March of this year, having clients calling me and asking, Could you give me the exact price you charged me? and What time are you supposed to be at my business tomorrow? Well, my external was a Western Digital Elements, it required AC power. So, when the power was out, I had to say either, Dont know, cant access my files or Im not home right now, but will check as soon as Im there. It was becoming very frustrating. Im also a neat freak and my work desk at home was getting cluttered. I had seen these Passports for years, but there were always a lot of reviews that talked about failures. The Elements version hadnt gave me a single problem, so I come from the if it aint broke dont fix it group. Then I saw these Passport Ultras and there were enough positive reviews to make me buy one. With this little hard drive, Ill be able to access anything I need for work as long as my laptop has a charge. Very nice, welcome me to the 21st century now. I will further this by saying I did go in the hard drives software and deselect the auto-backup and security functions. I dont like anything on my computer doing something without me telling it to. Seems those auto programs pick the worst times to start running. If you want to disable that part, its very easy and takes all of maybe 5 seconds. The nice thing is you still leave the software on the hardware. You just disable it from running, so theres no long removal process or startup errors when the drive decides to look for its software. I had that problem with an old HP External I had. I had to remove its (HP) auto backup software, then every time I booted the computer, I would get an error. I can tell you my experience with externals. Ive had over 10, I try to use one per year, then store it. I really dont know how much brand name matters. I had one HP external that worked flawlessly, then had the one that had an error on every boot. Ive had two WD MyBooks without problem. Three WD Elements without any problems, Two Seagate without problems. Two iOmega that died within the first 3 months of use, both of them died. And one Toshiba that worked well. This WD Passport is my first portable, USB powered external and so far it has worked perfectly. Ill try to review all the products Im using to convert my home office into a less cluttered, neat office space with at least, a little less reliance on power supply.

Works as advertised, easy to set up. My only concern was that it initially took over an hour to do the original backup, and the software doesnt have a progress indicator to show how its progressing. I was VERY tempted to call customer support, but I left it running for over an hour and when I came back to the computer it was done. Of course, subsequent backups only use recently modified files, so they are almost instantaneous. I have the software set to automatically back up my files daily, which is more than enough for what I am working on. The only other comment Ill make is that the software could be more user-friendly. Most buttons have self-explanatory words on them, but the most useful button has only a clockface icon on it, again making it confusing to use and leading a novice (like me) to be a bit frustrated. Once I understood how it worked I was quite happy with it. Noiseless, never fails and plugs into a USB port in the back of your computer. Also, files may be OPTIONALLY encrypted. Lastly, the software allows you to restore files to your existing computer OR to another one if your original one is down (this is important).

I really like this. I was expecting it to be a little larger, but the small size makes it very easy to carry around. Its about the size of a smart phone. I had a question about the software and emailed customer service, who responded within a few hours, so that was a good experience. I do need to buy some sort of a carrying case for it though, as the little fabric bag they give you with the device wont protect it at all other than from getting dust on it. The speed of the drive is adequate. I schedule mine to backup my files every other day. I make sure the drive is plugged into my laptop during the scheduled time and it takes care of itself. The only problem I have with the software, is that when you allow it to choose which files its going to back up automatically, it doesnt tell you WHICH files they are, it just gives you a general description. I chose this first, since it backed up some system files and then I had to search for them on the new drive to find out what they were. After that, I scheduled a manually selected backup from then on, as I keep all of my photos, music, documents, etc. on a separate partition of my laptop hard drive and thats what I want to make sure I back up. I can back up the system once a week manually. So far, no problems. UPDATE: I had decided to use discs to back up my PC, as I wanted to be able to specifically choose which files on my hard drive to back up (such as photos and important documents) and formatted this external drive to use with my Xbox One. I backed up games from my Xbox One and put the drive inside of the cabinet that my tv sits on and its been sitting there since 2015. I got it out today and tried to access it 3 different Xboxs, but none will see it. I checked it in the Disk Management program of Windows and it says the disk is DEAD. It clicks over and over (the click of death) when I connect it to my Xbox. WHY cant we buy reliable products from large, multi-million dollar corporations any longer?? Its been sitting in one place for the past 3 years, nothing should be wrong with it. What really ticks me off is that I just purchased another WD external hard drive. Thankfully, it has a 3 year warranty and I purchased an additional 2 year data recovery plan with it before I knew this drive was dead as a door nail. Ill never buy another one.

My purpose in buying the drive was to have periodic, scheduled backups of my PC. In spite of the poor reviews regarding the WD Smartware backup software, I went ahead and purchased this drive. The drive itself is great, very nice form factor, responsive with my computer, etc. - no problems. Very easy to drag and drop files as an alternative to using backup software. WD Smartware is a dud unfortunately. I overwhelmingly agree with other reviews regarding the included backup software. It is very poorly designed, cannot recognize which files to backup as they are created/modified and left me very unsure of how safe my backup really was. In spite of the fact that its included free, a very frustrating experience; I should not have wasted the time with it as the prior reviews here have stated. One would think Western Digital, a company focused on data safety/backup would have a leading solution. As an alternative, I purchased the Acronis TrueImage software to use with this drive. This combination has worked great and I feel very comfortable with my current backup arrangement occurring in an automated fashion. In summary, if you are looking for a local backup solution, the drive itself works great, but you should have an alternative software in mind before making this purchase.