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

My 5 star rating is for the Western Digital hardware. It seems that previous reviewers had problems with USB 3.0 and with the WD Smartware Pro software. But there is no good reason to use either of these. I have my drive plugged into a USB 2.0 port and I dont have a performance problem. There are many free backup software applications. I am using Microsofts Sync Toy. Works great. Right now I am doing backups when I feel they are needed. But the Sync Toy directions tell you how to automate this using Windows timers. My OS is Windows 7. I just plugged the WD hard drive into an unused USB 2.0 port and it was recognized right away with no messing around. Then I started up Sync Toy and set it up to backup the contents of My Documents to the WD and then kicked off the first backup. (I have 45 GB worth of pictures in My Documents so this took about half an hour). I find it amazing that you can purchase 1 TB of storage for $65. My association with the computer industry goes back to the early 1960s when 25 MB cost my company several hundred thousand dollars. Hats off to all those smart American engineers who made this happen over the last 50 years!

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.

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.

Well Ive had this external drive for about six months and so far I love it! Ive backed up all of our music, pictures and documents from our computer and my cell phone & mp3 player, as well as my husbands music & videos from his iPod. Together we probably have over 10K songs. Having added all of that, we have only used about 8 GB of the 1 TB available! Lol Ive not had any issues with losing information. It was easy to set up. There were no issues with it being compatible with my computer, which is an older Dell Dimension 2300 running Windows XP. I like that you can set it to constantly back up your documents so that I dont have to remember to do it! Have not use any of the software that came on the passport. The only qualms I have with it is with the program, which is a bit sluggish when you try to open it and also the GUI of the program is not easy to understand. Also the USB cord is extremely short. Otherwise Im pleased with this device.

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.

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.

Well, I was really excited to have all my file & system image backups on a single drive, without a wall wart and in a portable small form factor (I never move it as it is connected to a desktop system). Unfortunately, after 3 months, it started whining, then grinding and clicking and now it comes on only 5% of the time, regardless of the computer it is hooked up to - I thought it was the antique of a PATA drive I had connected to the motherboard making the noise but it wasnt. WD Drive Utilities says the SMART status passed, CrystalDisk Info says it failed and the Quick Drive test in the WD Utility says it failed. This just reinforces the need for a complementary Cloud backup solution or a second backup drive. This drive was Made in Thailand so who knows if it was made with the equipment that got affected by the flooding in the past. Usually, I only go with WD Black hard disk drives due to their well known, industry reliability and warranty coverage. I would just buy that with an external hd case but Im already invested in this drive now. Hopefully the replacement is new and works like expected. UPDATE: Since I had files on there that I wanted but wasnt willing to pay $500-$1000+ for data recovery services, I tried doing a PCB swap with a donor board and firmware transfer since that seemed like an inexpensive possible fix (pros did the firmware transfer). When that didnt resolve the situation, I had another 2TB WD My Passport Ultra around and I opened up that case to see what is involved with a potential platter swap (that didnt go well either). While doing so, when I opened up the new Passport Ultra, I noticed it specifically said on the drive Recertified!!!! I cant believe it. Seeing this only reaffirms my thoughts on just buying an external hard drive case and OEM HDD together and using that instead because otherwise, you dont know what you are getting. I still will use the WD Blacks as they have never failed me and I am very impressed with their performance and warranty. Also, for backup, I will stick with the 3.5 size as now I know, with everything so miniaturized on the the 2.5, recovery seems a little more challenging (which I will do what I can to even prevent that from being needed again).

4.5/5 PROS: - Great Price - No plugs! - Small (Can fit in your pocket) - USB 3.0 support - 1.81TB of storage CONS: - Not really plug-and-play as the quick set-up guide suggests (Used on Windows 7) - Not easy to eject in Windows I really love how portable this device is, its very small and easy to carry around. I have a WD 1TB mybook, and its a lot less convenient in comparison. My Passport Ultra is just much more enjoyable to use as I dont have to plug it into another wall socket. The 1.81TB of storage is excellent and provides enough space for most people, however, many may question where the other 200GBs of storage went. In case you were wondering, the difference lies within how hard drive manufacturers calculate bytes vs how companies such as Windows calculate bytes. This isnt unique to this hard drive as every storage device is calculated this way. I really enjoy using this device, my only real gripe was that it wasnt really as easy to set up as the instruction manual suggested. According to the quick-set-up guide, the device is supposed to open with a setup window as soon as you plug it in, unfortunately this didnt happen for me (using Windows 7). Instead, the device requires you to assign it a letter before you can format it, luckily theres Google to help figure out this process, but I think you shouldnt have to search (beyond an instruction manual) to figure out how to properly set up a device. One other annoying thing is that this hard drive isnt read as an external storage device on Windows 7, so it cant be ejected simply. Im sure there is a way to eject it, Its just not as simple as right-clicking it and selecting eject. Those are minor issues that youll only have to figure out once, so after that the hard drive is excellent! Im constantly using this device to transfer storage from several computers and also as a second backup. Its very convenient, I dont regret this purchase at all~

This drive had all the selling points good price, good capacity, looked good, nice transfer speeds all in one 2.5 inch package. Sounds to good to be true... and it is. The story begins when I ordered it from amazon and opted for the UPSsmartPost. This is shipped by UPS, but the most important part was handled by the USPS! It said it was delivered right on time to my house, but it was never there. So I called Amazon told me USPS sometimes does this gave me a $20 promo code for my next purchase. Cool! So I get the drive transfer about 100gbs of data over (important data may I say). The drive was very fast (USB 3.0 is amazing) worked like a dream. I put it away and didnt use it until the next day. Next day it wasnt regonized by Windows. Finally windows regonized it then it wanted me to format. I waited a little while and I finally could see my folders I made on the drive. I thought I could get my data off and be on my marry way. Nope wouldnt let me access the data. I tried every data recovery software I could find and it would do the same thing cause it to not respond because it took forever to detect that the drive was there. I lost 100 gbs of data I needed off a faulty drive. I called amazon anf they said they couldnt replace the drive but could refund it. So I took that money and ordered another one ( I keep reading great reviews on this and I want that experiance) this one costed more money than the last one. The lady at Amazon gave me free expedited shipping which I was very grateful for. I truly did enjoy the drive when I could use it, it just crapped out on me the next day. Hope whoever reads this has a better overall experiance than I had.

Great Drive and Great Backup Software --- I couldnt be happier with this thing. Its small, light and durable. I bought red just because I wanted to see it better. I dont have great vision. I do a lot of video editing and I end up filling up my 500MB latptop drive fast. I wanted something that I could move all my finished media files to, and this does a great job of it. But what surprised me - and in a good way - is how nice the backup software is! Once you figure it out, its a piece of cake, and way better than the software my other backup drive uses. However, the instructions for the software stink. So do a YouTube search on how to backup with WD SmartWare. Theres an especially good video that walks you right through it. UPDATE: 9.28.15 I now have two of these drives for storing my video work. I have them hooked up to a Thinkpad W520 laptop/ workstation. I labeled the drives based on the colors (red and gray) to make it easy to know which is which. My whole system is backed up onto the red one, and Im using the gray one for storing my tons and tons of video files. Probably wont be long before I get another one. The key thing to know about these drives is they just work. Theyre like a Toyota truck (and thats as high a compliment as I can give anything!). I had problems with a couple Seagate drives in the past, so I dont trust them anymore (theyre like a Ford) :-) Anyway, if youre looking for a great drive that wont give you any problems, get these. And get different colors so you can tell them apart!