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

I recently purchased a new Dell laptop with the plan to add an internal hard disk for data and backup for the SSD disk that came in it. To my dismay, the battery in the laptop was the larger 91 Wh version instead of the 61 Wh version, and it took up all of the internal laptop space. I had no choice bu to use and external disk. I had an older model of the WD My Passport that was 1 TB and had a USB 2.0 port. I tried it on my new laptop and quickly remembered why I quit using it soon after I bought it. It was slow and the little USB 2.0 port on the disk end would just fall out of the port. When I received this new Ultra 2TB, I really put it through the ringer. Not only is the USB 3.0 connection solid (you have to pull on the cable to get it to come out), this disk is really fast. It only runs at about 35 MB/s when connected to a USB 2.0 port, but it runs at 110 MB/s when connected to a USB 3.0 port. I would not have gotten much more speed than that with a 5400 RPM internal disk, and I would have been limited to 1 TB because pf the laptop space and heat removal requirements. Another good feature is the small size. This new Ultra 2 TB is only slightly larger than my older 1 TB unit. I also like the red color that I selected. I will never lose this one among my laptop gear. It really stands out.

This is my 3rd WD Passport style external drive over the years and all still perform great. This one is the 2TB unit BTW. As many have indicated the software continues to suck but I never use it anyway except for the security utility. I prefer to drag and drop to create my own back ups as that is much easier to move to another PC anyway. I am running Windows 7 and all appeared to transfer at what I consider to be acceptable transfer speeds (measured in hours not days). I set up about 500GB to transfer overnight and it was done before I got up in the AM. This unit is actually more compact than my older 500GB unit but does not come with a case. If I need a case I will use one from my older 500GB drive. Having the 2TB gives me way more flexibility as my Laptop is only 600GB and about 5 years old but still performing well (HP Pavilion). I take tons of HD Video which is a major space hog as many of you know. Hope this helps give you the basics that I am always looking for in these reviews.

I bought four of these for my kids and I so that I could save all their pictures in their respective hard drives. I use different venues for saving my photos from our family trips and I try to save it in two or more locations so that I won’t lose any of it. When I received the package, I was excited to use it because I’ll have a peace of mind that I may be able to save our family excursion pictures in a much safer place (unlike saving it in the desktop which might get deleted overtime). The product worked out fine at first but then it stopped working all throughout. I was using our Windows computer but the hard drive won’t open. I was so scared that I might lose the files inside! Good thing my husband tried something which let me back up the pictures. I thought it’s our Windows desktop to blame for that but when my Mac came, I tried using the hard drive to retrieve my files but to my surprise it still didn’t work. I called their customer service for help and they told me that I have to reformat the hard drive so that it will be compatible. I felt horrible because it took me a long time to organize all the pictures and the folders inside that hard drive and knowing that all my hard work will be put to waste. I paid not just for one device but for four devices made of crap. This hard drive doesn’t come cheap and it makes me angry that I can’t use it properly. There are malfunctions in the hard drive that I find annoying, when I plug it in, my files don’t open, both for our Mac and for our Windows. I have to repeat it several times up to the extent that I’ll just give up. It gave me more problems than good. I tried calling their hotline several times reporting the difficulty that it’s causing me but all they can say is to offer me for an exchange of product. I tried asking them if they could just refund my money but they told me that it can’t be done because it’s already past the warranty. The only thing that I can do is to warn the future customers that this product is no good and that you should just buy something else. The four devices that I bought are useless and are now just collecting dust in our home. If you want to throw your $56.99 away, be my guess, buy this product.

This is a nicely built and well designed external hard drive. However, the users manual is too complex and the software WD Software is difficult to follow - so be careful to review it carefully. It keeps track of your initial backup and updated file if you use the WD Smartware software in the correct way. I found that I was not scrolling down far enough on the WD Smartware Software screen and so I wasnt using the Backup options correctly. I found that my best bet was to backup only daily at a specific time and to then click on the clock icon at the bottom of the backup tab and choose backup now. You dont have to do this, but I found it best for me to avoid confusion and also because I do casual backups from time-to-time and dont need continuous backups. It can be used on more that one PC/Laptop and keeps the files separately identified - thats another reason for me not doing a continuous backup option. It also only backups files that have been changed after your initial backup. Also to avoid confusion and problems - when plugged into a PC, it will often popup a message asking if you want to backup using MS Windows backup - DONT DO THIS or it will just give you a fragmented backup that is hard to track. Use the WD Smartware only to do your backups and it will track your files and revision just fine.

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.

I bought this for my desktop PC and it works great so far and thats an important point. The real value of this product is whether it keeps my backups safe and I really wont know the answer to that for a few years. Setup was easy; its default setting is to copy everything under the USERS folder on your C drive thereby copying documents, music, video, downloads, favorites, etc. You can manually adjust the settings if you have some custom folders you want to include. I didnt bother upgrading to the Smartware Pro, the one that comes with the unit works fine. UPDATE 6/25/2015: Works fine, but something I didnt realize originally is that it backs up the data but it is not a mirror image. What I mean is that the Backup Drive does not delete anything it has previously backed up whether youve removed from your C drive or not. For some, that might be a feature you want if youre looking for something you deleted 6 months ago and want to recover it. On the other hand, this backup drive will continue to grow keeping copies of every obsolete document you create. If you ever use it for recovery, youll restore all that junk also. Ive been occasionally scanning my backup drive and manually deleting stuff I know I dont want anymore.

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 was deciding on either a 2TB from WD or Toshiba. I read reviews from reputable websites for both externals, but the WD My Passport Ultra seems to be just a little bit faster and more recent. With this in mind, I went with the Ultra over the Toshiba over Black Friday even though it was about 15 bucks more expensive. I also considered the aesthetics, and I like the design of the top of the drive. Even through research before receiving the product in hand, you cannot predict some aspects. I am rating this product four stars instead of five for three reasons: It may be a bit faster in some instances, but I did not notice it compared to my old 1 TB My Passport from 2010 which also uses USB 3.0. Number two, the build quality could be a lot better. When assessing build quality now for electronics, I always run a finger along the edges of the product where one external shell casing meets the other to look for abrasive edge contact. In this case, the My Passport Ultra uses two plates, and the user can feel the abrasive edge contact when handling the drive. This is not exactly poor construction in that it will fall apart. In fact, it seems to be built quite solidly. I simply feel that it could have been made a lot better. For future drives now, I may look for one entire external shell. My final criticism concerns the thickness of the external drive. It is a lot thicker than my My Passport from 2010. I keep on perceiving this thing as a brick in external drive form. I dont know what went inside to make it more thick from my previous drive from Western Digital, but I hate how it is so much thicker. Perhaps this is a consideration by the manufacturer after consumers reported damage from their previous drives that were not built sturdily enough. In conclusion, this hard drive works like it should, and I bought it at a good value. My complaints may be minor to some, but I would reconsider my decision in retrospect.

The physical drive is a 5 so far using it as a continuous backup drive. Its operating on a HP Pavilion Elite M9340F 64bit, Win7 Pro with a 3.0 PCI card using Acronis True Image 2014 and WD Smartware backup software. The 4 rating goes to the SmartWare and the difficulty in getting Win7 to recognize the WD drivers. Also, Trying to follow directions in the User Guide was worthless, even the updated version. The disk comes with SmartWare version 2.6 PRO but almost as soon as the software is activated a popup indicates a new version. The new version installs as non-pro with an indicator for upgrading to the pro version, for free. The directions to upgrade are simple enough however, when the request is submitted it errors out and doesnt upgrade but it does remove one of three authorized installations. It took over a week of emailing WDs tech support, who did work with me, to get the new pro version activated. All indications are that WD has/had a Win7 structure glitch in its automated upgrade software. It appears the software needs a file that should be located in a particular structure of Win7s Program Data but it isnt. After sending WD my structure they were able to manually upgrade the software. As for the drivers, Im still not sure Windows is using the proper driver but it works so Im not going to fight it any more. I finally got Windows to recognize the drive name in the Device Manager and get the SES driver install however, details of the driver under Disk Drives in Device Manager indicates its a Windows 2006 driver. The instruction indicates using the Extras folder on the Passport to update the driver but Windows return a no drivers that match your device error. All attempts to find an updated driver failed. As said, it works. Im leaving it alone.

I like WD external hard drives but I have to admit I dont use the software for them. I use them like big thumb drives and dump my own files for backing up on them so as to be in better control of the files. I have yet to find a software that satisfies me for this purpose and I need things stored so they can be accessed without the software if I want. Personal preference on my part. I use drives until I fill them and then get a new one since multiple copies and new drives are always a good bet since nothing lasts forever in technology. External drives eventually die, files degrade or corrupt, computers die, I like everything in at least triplicate, cloud saving included. I have used this to backup from my home PC and to travel with to various locations to access files on my laptop. The drive worked for this purpose right out of the box, no formatting or software needed. It has been dependable and very fast for the several weeks I have used it now. I will note that the USB cord port on the drive is for a USB 3 Micro B Male and not interchangeable with many other USB cords I own, so I am more worried and careful about keeping track of it. It is replaceable but its the newer style which I dont own in multiples at this point. However, it is not a proprietary cord as stated in some other reviews, its just a newer design which may not be as common to your own devices yet. The other end of the cord is standard USB design.