WD Passport 320GB External HDD

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I picked up a Western Digital 320GB Passport External Hard Drive a few months ago and have been using it to much success. There was an annoying attribute however, and that was the prompt to install the WD Backup software on any machine I plugged the drive into. I learned from a friend the backup app removes the drive listings in my computer, so it can do some automagic backup stuff. This was obviously flagged to No on each machine the drive saw, but I didn't want to be bothered with the prompt at all. I just want the drive to work like a big pen drive, with a mapped drive letter when I plug it in.

 

I was able to disable the VCD partition and any prompting via this WD article. I used the non-software installed method, so I just had to grab the app to disable the VCD. Did this, cycled power and GG.

 

Also of note while disabling the VCD, you may want to update the drive firmware. Doing this allowed the drive to be installed without needing to be prompted by the New Device Wizard on XP. I guess the chipset wasn't referenced correctly as it would always say no driver found, but still worked fine. Upgrading the Firmware actually seemed to also push the driver down, as I no longer had the '?' on the WD SES Device in Device Manager. On another PC, I had to have the driver download from Windows Update. This method did not work prior to me flashing to Firmware v1.032.

 

Onto Performance, the transfer speed is good and the drive functions consistently. I use this on Computers and Game Consoles, as I partitioned it with a FAT32 32GB partition for Xbox 360 and PS3 use and the rest of the drive is an NTFS partition. The consoles will see the FAT32 drive and I can also use it for Game Saves and such on my 360. If you want to do this on 360, make the partition, then format it for use on the 360 via the console in the memory section.

 

Once you format the drive on your 360, it will make a hidden Xbox360 folder allocated to whatever size you specified (16GB cap). From there, you can add anything you want to the FAT32 partition, just do not modify the Xbox360 folder, else your 360 will no longer view that drive as a storage device for Game saves and the like. Leaving the Xbox360 Folder alone, write anything else you like onto the drive, and it will also work on your PS3. You'll be able to play movies, music, save games and pictures on your PS3 without issue.

 

I am happy I picked this drive up as it serves all my storage needs nicely. If I want to watch a movie on my PS3, I just copy the flick to the \VIDEO folder on my FAT32 partition and I'm all set. You can also copy stuff back and forth to your PS3 without issue. For 360 Profile and Game Saves, just be sure to not modify the folder on a PC, and it will work great for having a mobile profile and having your game saves ready to go on another console.

 

If you want an external drive, that will serve you well, these guys are handy. The 320GB is about $100 in stores and pretty commonly in stock. I found this much more cost effective than a 32GB / 64GB pen drive. So long as you don't mind having a 2.5" external drive vs a pen drive, this should be your win.