Dissapointed

Just bought a My Book 1.5 TB at a fantastic price! $79! Got home and found out what this SmartWare ■■■■ is all about and the real story behind it. What the hell WD? I love your bare HDD’s. I recommend them to everyone, but this is just a BS move. I don’t care if this has been beaten to death already, it needs to be said again. SmartWare is awful and invasive. It’s not labeled anywhere on the **bleep** box that it is PERMANENTLY there and cannot be removed. What the hell WD? Awesome price or not, I’m taking this crappy hard drive back.

Now go ahead and delete my post because you know I’m right.

I’m sorry that you are not happy with the drive, and I am glad that you were able to return it since it doesn’t fulfill your expectations.  But, you are not right.  SmartWare is not permanent.  It is not invasive. You don’t have to install it.  And you can remove it at any time.  Depending on which drive you bought, if it has the VCD, then that is permanent.  That’s only because it is needed for locking and encrypting the drive.  If you chose to do so.