External Hard Drive WD My Book 4 TB USB 3.0 Hard Drive with Backup
External Hard Drive WD My Book 4 TB USB 3.0 Hard Drive with Backup
Based on the drive itself and the backup
software, I would have given this product 5 stars--it is very quiet in
operation, quiet enough to be left running full time on your desk. The
easy-to-use included backup software can continually backup files each
time there is a change or you add a new one (or you can choose to do
periodic backups), and even automatically can keep up to 25 earlier
versions of files that you've modified (you set the number archived).
Why then only 3 stars? Because the drive comes with drive utility
software that has a glitch. After installing the drive, before doing
anything else, I ran the drive diagnostics; it passed the SMART Status
and Quick Drive tests (both very quick to run), but about 30% of the way
through failed the Complete Drive Test, which takes hours to run. I ran
all the tests again, got identical results, then called WD tech
support. Based on my results, they said the drive was defective, and
that I should return it to Amazon, which I did. Amazon quickly sent a
replacement--which again failed the Complete Drive Test at around 30%.
Another call to WD tech support, this time with someone more competent,
and I learned that yes, the diagnostic software that is packaged with
the drive is defective. He then had me download the utility software
they use in-house and use it run a complete test. 16 hours later (I'm
using USB 2.0, which probably runs slower than if using 3.0) the drive
passed, and in actual use since then seems to be working just fine. So
because WD is packaging the drive with glitchy utility software I had to
spend hours running diagnostics, talking twice with tech support, and
returning what was likely a perfectly good drive to Amazon. Ridiculous!
One would think WD would test and de-bug their software before packaging
it with a brand new drive.
External Hard Drive WD My Book 4 TB USB 3.0 Hard Drive with Backup
