I purchased this hard drive expecting it to behave like a typical external hard drive. I wanted to plug it in and see a single drive letter in My Computer.
However, this drive has more "advanced" features that require WD software. The drive presents itself as a CD-ROM drive as well as a hard drive. This virtual CD drive is supposed to contain the drivers to use the advanced features. The hard drive is inaccessible without the WD software. However, Windows 7 x64 is unable to locate the drivers for the virtual CD drive. Therefore the advanced drivers cannot be installed. The drive is unusable on Windows 7 x64. WD does not provide any downloads on the website allowing you to manually install the proprietary software. I contacted support, they told me to wait for an update. They recommended an RMA, even though we both agreed that this was a software, not hardware issue. Even so, if this had worked properly it adds extra bloatware to your computer that is not necessary. I replaced this with an equivalent Seagate. The Seagate behaved exactly as expected, plugin -> drive letter, done.
In summary, this drive requires proprietary software to function. This software does not work on Windows 7 x64 at this date. Get a drive without these requirements and save yourself a headache. Western Digital My Book Essential 3 TB USB 3.0/2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive
The 2TB WD External Hard Drive (EHD) arrived a couple of weeks ago and it was a snap to attach to my computer. It is USB 3.0-enabled, but it is USB 2.0 compatible, so it attached quickly and easily to an available USB 2.0 port. It is REALLY DIFFICULT to find the "best" EHD (or anything else, for that matter), since one tends to see lots of "pro" and lots of "con" reviews. This particular EHD seemed to have a reasonably good ratio of "pro" to "con," so I ordered it. So far, it has performed well -- i.e., it has not failed (as did my Seagate -- which the WD replaced -- very early in its career). However, the WD-provided backup software is a major drawback.
Pros:
* Attaches easily to an available USB 2.0 or 3.0 port
* Starts up when the computer is started up
* Operates silently and transparently
* Good capacity for the $$
Cons:
* The included backup software is very, very poor -- in fact, it is worse than useless. It does not allow one to choose specific files or folders to backup; instead, one is forced to choose the "type" of files one wants backed up to the EHD. This is sort of like picking up pennies wearing boxing gloves, i.e., awkward and frustrating. But it is actually worse than that -- the WD-provided software does NOT actually back up all of the files of the selected file types. Consequently, utilizing this backup software is a really bad idea if one is serious about reliable backups. The software included with my defunct Seagate drive ("Seagate Manager") was significantly better. In any event, I have acquired third-party backup software as a work-around.
* When the computer powers off, the WD EHD sits and flashes its light. It SEEMS as if it has spun down, but it would be nice if it completely powered down -- as, once again, my defunct Seagate used to do. (To be fair, I suppose I should give it 10 or 15 minutes to see if it eventually completely powers down......)
MyBook Essential 2tb sets up okay. Software and driver is installed on the drive so when you connect the software and driver is installed. You will probably have to check WD website for driver update and firmware update, etc. Beware, if your PC does not have already installed and turned on the Microsoft. Net Framework Client Profile, you will either have to locate it and turn it on or you will have to download it and turn it on. In my case I have a new PC with Windows 7 64-bit OS. The Microsoft. Net Framework Client Profile (version 3.5.1) was installed on my PC (probabley came with Win 7) but it was not turned on (for whatever reason). So, WD Tech Support had me check this item and turn on the two available options for the Framework and reboot the PC. Problems that I was having was either the PC did not recognize this WD MyBook Essential HD on Startup or the external HD would disconnect from the OS on its own. The other problem that occured after I did my first / initial Backup of data from the PC to this drive, is that the WD SmartWare menue would no longer open. If you want to do automatic backups, per WD product description, you will need this WD SmartWare application. The WD SmartWare application needs the Microsoft. Net Framework Client Profile turned on in order for WD SmartWare to operate. Right now I am not real pleased with this new USB 3.0 external drive. Yes, it is connected to the PC via USB 3.0 cabel and USB 3.0 PCI port on the motherboard. USB 3.0 is not 10 times faster than USB 2.0, but it is faster as long as the drive works properly, which remains to be seen.
Update:
All the things WD had me do to make the 2tb HD work properly have not worked. My PC refusses to recognize this HD. So, both the 2tb & 1tb (which I did not set up) are being returned to Amazon.com for a refund. Great service from Amazon.com.
Exactly what the problem is I do not know and I do not think WD is able to resolve the situation. WD will replace the 2tb HD however, at this point I can not trust the unit to function properly with Win 7 64-bit. - Backup Drive - External Hard Drive - My Book - Hard Drive'
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