Removing SES Driver Results in "Unknown Device"

WD External Drives WD Portable Drives
1

I own a My Passport Essential USB 3.0 drive (1 TB) which runs successfully on Windows 8.1 x64.

Western Digital writes in its Knowledgebase, in red ink, “The SES driver is not required for your drive to be recognized by your computer.”

Indeed, when I uninstall the SES driver, my drive continues to be recognized by Windows and functions perfectly. However, Windows Device Manager now shows that I have an “Unknown device” which is clearly related to the SES driver from its description in Device Manager:

USBSTOR\OTHER&VEN_ WD&PROD_SES_DEVICE &REV_1003\575848314136314E35373435&1

It seems that my choices are 1) install a driver that I don’t need; or 2) don’t install the driver and live with an “Unknown device” in Device Manager.

My reason for wanting to uninstall the SES driver is that it is the source of an intermittent crash.

How can I remove the SES driver without causing an “Unknown device” in Device Manager?

2

Hello,

Have you tried updating your motherboard USB drivers?

3

For each of my motherboard USB drivers: “The best driver software for your device is already installed.”

In addition, there are no more recent drivers available from Intel or my OEM.