Chalk another user up to being extremely angry about not being able to remove this vcd smartware stuff, i don’t want it disabled, I want it GONE! Also The fact it still looks for the driver is outta control, for real? it slows my install time on new computers, and really is a nuisance as I use this drive for dj tracks, and need this drive to load instantly. Get it fixed. We want the option to remove it, i’m like two days from returning this drive and getting a seagate. Class action lawsuit anyone? I wonder if that is a possibility in this issue? release a fix quick before you lose more customers.
This drive whether it be itself or the stupid vcd/smart ■■■■ prevent my computer booting up with the drive plugged into a usb slot, as soon as I remove the drive the computer boots. This drive is gone. Seagate here I come.
Add me too to the list of unsatisfied buyers! I juts bought my fifth WD Passport but the VCD makes it useless to me. I want to use my Passport as a portable HDD, NOT as a back-up for a stationary HD!
Add me to the ever growing list of dissatisfied customers. I use to be very loyal to Western Digital as I’ve always found their products very reliable and cost effective. I found it very misleading that nothing on the packaging states that a portion of your drive is taken up by a hidden partition that cannot be removed. Nothing says that a virtual CD will be loaded everytime you plug in the drive. Nothing says that you will have to path out to the driver folder on the hard drive to install all the drivers that windows needs to load. Nothing says that this process may take an unecessary amount of time.
I know there is a patch out so you can hide the VCD but, this is unacceptable. Even though you hide the VCD, it shows up again on every new PC that you plug the drive into. This is further compounded by having to install three different drivers. The option should be ours on whether we want to use the software or not. What’s more annoying is that I have yet to see any responses to concerns presented in these forums from Western Digital.
My intentions are to return the drive for a refund but, the store I purchased from only allows unopened returns on hard drives. I haven’t even used the drive yet. So, Western Digital, step up to the plate and either fix this issue or, at the very least, offer a refund for a hindered product.
Another dissapointed WD customer. I bought the drive to run under Linux as a file server and wanted the biggest drive available. Windows/Mac bloatwave is of no use to me. I purchased a 1TB drive and Linux only shows 999.5GB. It’s bad enough that the TB is not a true terrabyte, now we have bloatware to contend with. This must be stopped now as we all know bloatware only gets bigger an bigger with each new release. Will be looking elsewhere for my next HDD purchase.
And yet another disappointed customer here. I just wanted a standard portable drive where I could use ALL of the space without any hassles. Instead I am left feeling betrayed by WD - they have forced this “Smartware” onto people whether they want it or not then make them jump through hoops to ‘hide’ it. You don’t even get the space back. I have no issue with free software being bundled with the product, but make it quick, simple and painless to remove if you don’t want it!
A lot ot companies use hidden partitions to store programs. For example My Acer netbook has XP sp3 stored on a hidden partition, which is there so when you start the computer for the first time, it installs windows XP, This illiminates the need to package a separate cd or dvd. These partitions can’t be accessed by windows, but they can be accesses thru linux . Google > linux disk partitioning, read up on the subject, you can delete these partitions by using a dos based program.
You are correct however, those hidden partitions can be deleted. Use any partitioning program to unhide that partition and it can be removed. The scope of the hard drive installed in the pc/laptop is not functioning as a portable drive. The hidden partition on this drive cannot be removed and, because of the driver requirement, cannot be used on some operating systems. I’d rather have the option of using SmartWare or removing it. Having it forced on you is not good in my book.
Well, I just discovered that I did spend 80 euro for a disk that won’t be of any use for me.
Now I need to know if there is any chance of getting a new firmware for the passport or not. In the second case I can only try to return the disk to the shop. Hoping that they will return me the money.
I wanted to purchase WD Passport Essential SE of 1Tb capacity, but from this topic I see it cannot be used as generic USB HDD on any system?
It’s not joke? Why do that? Any logical or technical explanation?
I would laugh if somebody told me - but my eyes tell me that here are a lot of dissatisfied people on this forum. Thanks God I decided to check forum for another question (related to encryption) about WD Passport and found this terrible news BEFORE I purchased. I wouldn’t even consider an option to buy HDD with proprietary drivers.
Already spent a long time complaining about this to WD. I’m moving on, buying a Seagate tomorrow & returning the WD Passport, I’m done. Just wanted to support the thread.
Oh by God this is annoying… Please WD, an update that will allow us to REMOVE the SmartWare from our drives. If one wants to use it, great! For those of us seeking plain high capacity drives WITHOUT cute software, please allow us the right to remove it if we purchase the product… Better still, SmartWare as an optional download along with the firmware, etc etc… Mind you, I don’t want to disable it… I want it gone! I’ve done everything I know to do to erase it from the drive but still, when I plug the drive in, there it is! I like your products and your drives… they’re solid. I friggin’ HATE the SmartWare prize at the bottom of the box! Please fix this for us that don’t want it.
I was a happy owner of several WD external disks. That was before I bought the 1TB Passport! Can anyone give me ONE reason for not making this bloatware optional!?
If it hadn’t been for the fact that I bought it out of my country I would have returned it first thing.
I don’t care how insignificant the lost space might be, that’s not the point. I will never use any of the pre-installed stuff and now I have to see this annoying pop-up every time I connect the drive! I tried to re-format the drive using Partition Magic, but I got an error message saying the drive cannot be accessed during boot-up.
It doesn’t seem like anyone from WD is paying much attention to the forum, but couldn’t someone just let us know if this will be fixed via firmware updates or if should throw away the drive and look for another brand.
it astounds me that companies can afford this behavior. don’t they realize the cost to their reputation? don’t they know how many people they drive away in droves? i’m sure holding my money a lot tighter because of all this technology deception and even fraud.
I was soo excited to get this sleek compact device… not anymore… i’ve spent the last 6 hours fighting with it… i’ve been loyal to WD after giving up on maxtor… seagate here i come… fix this and ill be happy wd!!! SOOO FRUSTRATED… you’ve wasted my time and money!!!
This Passport Elite model is an absolute POS. I own 10 Seagate external HDD backups and one 2TB WD MYbook, all work fine. This Passport Elite is total ■■■■. Backed up the wife’s PC once six months ago, tried to copy the data over to another computer, it wants to format the drive, doesn’t see the data. What ever you do, don’t use the WD encryption. I will never buy another WD product and I will recommend to all our customers the same. WD (probably China) is dumping these drives on our market. I’m letting Costco know about the terrible quality and product. I tried the y cable, I upgraded the WDStupidware, and last but not least the Passport firmware. Three different computers couldn’t see the data before or after the updates. Total crapware.
Microsoft SBS (Small Business Server) 2008 does not seem to like the 1TB Drive AT ALL. The Backup Wizard uses an image based backup and tries (but fails) to format the entire drive. I disabled the VCD Partition, but to no avail. Likewise, installing (just) the driver does not help.
As things stand, this WD Passport is USELESS for backing up my server. I’m unable to recommend it for such purposes.
Add me to the list of dissatisfied customers! I started to format the disk (XFS) and now I have to re-install NTFS, the WD software, hide VCD and hope the drive is usable! What a waste of time and energy… WD, you’ve lost a customer
