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Author Topic: Western Digital Passport External Hard Drive Question Regarding to Laptops...  (Read 3823 times)

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Chilly

    Topic Starter


    Beginner

    Hi, I would like to know if the Western Digital Passport External Hard Drive would work with my Toshiba laptop (A100-SK900E), I have seen reviews of the hard drive itself saying that it will not work with SOME laptops, will this work with mine?

    Dusty



      Egghead

    • I could if she would, but she won't so I don't.
    • Thanked: 75
    • Experience: Beginner
    • OS: Windows XP
    Seems most likely any problem is associated with driver availability in the operating system being used.  Drivers are available in XP but not in SOME versions of Vista.  Here's a link to comments by other owners.  Below is an extract dated Jan 25 this year..
    Quote
    Like Coolreem, I have spent hours trying to research this drive. WD Support is useless. They kept insisting that something is wrong with my USB port, the drive itself, etc. After 2 hours with Dell Support and upgrading a USB port just for the heck of it, the drive still does not work. Works great on my XP! Some have suggested reformatting the drive itself but I haven't found a way to do this yet. Upgrading to Ultimate is not an option for me - I'm not putting out the money for the upgrade just so I can get this Passport to work.

    As much as I hate to admit defeat, I think I am throwing in the towel on this one and looking for something else. I'll just consider this poor decision making on my part and a lesson learned. I will NEVER buy another Western Digital just because of the name value. After the utter nonsense from their support department, I may never buy another Western Digital product period!

    Sorry - cannot answer your question, it looks like a suck-it-and-see problem and hope it's not a lemon!

    Good luck


    One good deed is worth more than a year of good intentions.

    patio

    • Moderator


    • Genius
    • Maud' Dib
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    • OS: Windows 7
    Have you installed the WD software for the drive ? ?
    Unfortunately this makes the drive propietary and hard to work with as a normal drive would.
    Inability to format is just one of the side effects.
    I don't think WD really thought this one through.
    I can dig up the article if you like but if it's still under warranty i'd return it and demand a replacement.
    " Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

    Chilly

      Topic Starter


      Beginner

      lol no I didn't buy it YET thats why I am asking if it will work with my computer :) oh and my OS is XP, and what I mean if it will work with my computer or not is the power supply problem with it, it works fine with desktops from that reviews that I read but not with some laptops...

      patio

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      So it is not a powered external ? ?
      You can buy a powered USB hub to run it off of...
      " Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

      Chilly

        Topic Starter


        Beginner

        The Drive itself is powered through USB, however this mainly works for Desktop, my problem is that through out the reviews I have read, the USB Buses on some laptops are not powerful enough to power up the Drive itself so thats why people sometimes need to buy a power supply, so I am wondering if this Drive can run off of my laptop without any problems meaning without me buying a power supply for it.

        dahlarbear



          Specialist

          Thanked: 101
          Western Digital addresses low power concerns with its WD Passport Drive(s) here.  Read it carefully.  (I have not tried either option.)

          patio

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          Quote
          You can buy a powered USB hub to run it off of...
          " Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "