External Hard Drive News

Since I do a lot of work with audio, I use external hard drives as storage solutions. I have a 500GB My Passport drive from Western Digital that has served me well for about 18 months. I don't use the back-up and sync software on it--I'm not certain that it is accessible, and if I'm going to use such software, I would like to choose my own solution.

I am not alone in my preference. When Western Digital released its new 500GB and larger drives, they began including automatic back-up software which could not be removed. Users complained; so they next release a removal tool. This still did not satisfy users (and the tool was not accessible to users with disabilities).

WD has finally released drives without any software included. If you use large external hard drives, the release of the Western Digital Elements SE 1TB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive will be a piece of great news to you. It contains no bloatware, which means you pick your own back-up solution or use it as a storage solution without back-up software. There is a 500GB option drive, also without bloatware.

Elements drives appear to be similar in size to the Passport drives; and they are getting great reviews. Passport reviews, sadly, have dropped tremendously since the addition of the automatic back-up software which requires removal using WD's proprietary tool. I shall post soon, when I have the new drive in my hands--I have been in desperate need, and this news has been what I have been waiting for.