Has WD stopped making proprietary external hard disks?

[mikeymikec]

To explain the topic a bit better, I've seen a few WD external hard drives that don't just install as standard USB mass storage devices, but require WD software installation before they will work. Are they still doing this, and if so, is there a product name I can avoid to ensure I don't get (what I consider to be) one of these lemon drives?

 

[Cerb]

I have not encountered those. I have encountered Passport SEs--Essential, maybe?--though, which are not SATA HDDs, and which automatically also bring up a virtual CD drive type thing with a software installer, for which you must install the software to disable. The included backup software also sucks.

I also got some absolutely abysmal quality cables with larger WD externals.

I'd just get somebody else's, TBH. Toshiba, maybe, if you want a compact black box (IE, not separate enclosure then drive).

 

[imagoon]

On mine I click cancel / do not install and the drive pops up as a standard mass storage device.

The driver is for the control software (on mine it can change the raid type etc) but if not installed the drives work normally.

 

[Anteaus]

The driver is not for the hard drive itself but for the USB<->SATA controller that comes with the drives. Most current WD hard drives use the same SES driver (SCSI Enclosure Services) so you only need to install it the one time per system unless they actually update the driver. It's usually a good idea to install the driver since there is no real reason not to unless your just trying to buck the system. The driver usually comes in a directory on the hard drive so its easily accessable.

I personally wouldn't use any of the large advanced format externals (2TB+) without the drivers.

 

[Dessert Tears]

I got a My Passport 1TB a few weeks ago. It didn't bug me to install the software (I have Auto Run disabled), and I could browse the drive, but I installed it for the diagnostics. The drive is for someone else, so I'm going to uninstall the software eventually.