Hello Hoof_Hearted,
There is “wd drive utility” software that would launch upon start up
go here to delete it:
FINDER - GO - COMPUTER - LIBRARY - LaunchDaemons - com.wdc.WDPrivilegedHelper.plist
DELETE THAT FILE
Then, go to
SYSTEM PREFERENCES - USERS & GROUPS - LOGIN ITEMS - UNCHECK WD DRIVE UTILITY