Western Digital 4TB Black My Passport Portable External Hard Drive - USB 3.0 - WDBYFT0040BBK-WESN

Update … after researching on the web, I found an article that indicated one possible option was that the drive security permissions needed to be changed. I went in & found (after 2 tries), that was in fact the problem. So I've changed my rating from a 1 star to 5. I've used WD quite a bit in the past, so to lose a drive that fast was very discouraging.I would suggest that WD should have been more proactive in sending tips with the drive … as it turns out, I had the same problem a few days later with another WD drive. It would have saved me some time & aggravation. However, to be fair with the vendor, once I got the permissions issue corrected, both drives seem to now work. And while I didn't realize it until I came back online to update this review, the vendor did respond to my "blast" with some helpful suggestions & an invitation to call support. Wish that had been in the box with the drive.So I'm now changing my rating to a 5 star partially because I feel I blasted WD pretty hard for a fixable problem & partly because I've had several of their drives in the past that were stable.Less than a week after loading all my files on the drive, I started getting an error message that states "there is a problem with this drive" immediately upon plugging the drive into the USB port. When I tried to access the drive directly via file explorer, I get a message that "Location not available" "drive is not accessible" "access is denied". I also tried plugging it in while the PC was shut down & then powering up … same error message. Finally, I tried to utilize the WD utilities to trouble shoot & got a message that "smart status passed" … also scanned drive & got a message "Passed at Thursday June 14, 2018 8:07:31 PM". Then went back & tried to access the drive, I again get a message that "Location not available" "drive is not accessible" "access is denied".Now all my personal data is on the drive & I can't delete it, so there's no way I can't safely return the drive to get a refund or replacement. What a waste of time & money. It's too bad because I've used Western Digital drives over the years & only switched because I needed more space. But this experience is so frustrating, that this will be the last WD drive I purchase. I can't afford to throw money away like that after less than a week of use. Looks like my only option is to pursue online back-ups vs. what I hoped was a less expensive option.

Like many people, I have a lot of photos, music files, and other content on my computer's hard drive that would be a nuisance to replace (or in some cases would be lost forever) if my hard drive failed. But also like many people, I haven't been very good about backing up my data. So, I wanted a single, high-capacity, portable hard drive that I could connect to my computer and in a few keystrokes back up everything I didn't want to lose. This was the answer.This hard drive couldn't be easier to use. You simply connect it to your computer with the USB 3.0 cable and the drive prompts you to install several small programs which allow you to control the drive's settings. It took me less than three minutes to run through the self-checks for drive faults and create a password to protect the drive's contents. Once you have done that you run the "backup" program, select which folders from your computer you want to back up, and set the schedule/frequency for the backups to occur, and... voila, that's it!What do I like about this hard drive?1) Easy to use. It comes with several USEFUL programs pre-installed but no extra junk programs or apps, and scheduling backups is ridiculously simple.2) Speed. With the USB 3.0 cable backing up several terabytes of data took far less time than I expected.What do I NOT like about this hard drive?1) I don't know that I would call this "super portable," but that depends on what you consider portable. It's not going to fit in your pants pocket, but it would easily fit into a purse or briefcase. It's a little on the heavy side, but not prohibitively so.2) I do wish the USB 3.0 cable was longer. It's only about a foot long, so unless you find another cable to use the drive will need to be very close to your computer!I would absolutely purchase this again.

I have two Samsung 850 Evo 500GB SSD's and I was looking to backup my important information to an external hard drive in the 4TB-5TB range. I spent a long time debating if I should get the WD 4TB Black USB 3.0 My Passport External Hard Drive (WDBYFT0040BBK-WESN) or the Seagate Expansion 5TB Desktop External Hard Drive USB 3.0 (STEB5000100). I looked at all the Seagate reviews stating the hard drive failing, so I decided to stick with Western Digital. I've owned many Western Digital hard drives over the years and they have always performed quite nicely.PROS:Very small and compact!Fast with decent speedsI love the black sleek case on one half with the other half featuring a rugged designEven the little white LED is pleasant to the eyesWorks great on Windows 10 and Linux Mint 18.3 Cinnamon!ConsNo cons really. The cable is a little short. I also noticed on Amazon the prices for the WD 4TB Black USB 3.0 My Passport Portable External Hard Drive (WDBYFT0040BBK-WESN) are quite sporadic in nature. I purchased this drive at a price point of $113 and after a few hours I saw the price drop to $111. The following day the price fluctuates all the way to $119 for the black version and then drops down to $116. It's not much of a difference in price, but I found it quite odd to have prices fluctuate like you are buying stocks on the stock market.Other Thoughts:I'm very glad I went with Western Digital. I've always had great experiences with Western Digital products. If you are on the fence about which external hard drive to buy, I would highly recommend this drive. The performance is solid and so far I have not had any issues on Windows 10 and Linux Mint 18.3 Cinnamon. Buy this WD 4TB Black USB 3.0 My Passport External Hard Drive (WDBYFT0040BBK-WESN) and you won't regret it!Update: Still working!