Where do I begin? Maybe with a request to WD: “STOP SELLING POORLY DEVELOPED PRODUCTS TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC - JUST STOP IT”
Here is my list of grievances concerning what I consider to be the worst computer accessory purchase I have ever made:
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NOWHERE on the actual drive does it state whether it is an Essential, Essential SE or Elite. This is important because when the user goes to update the software on WD’s site they have to select which drive they have & unless they are still toting around the original carboard box there is no way of knowing. To add insult to injury, in WD’s infinite lack of wisdom they failed to place a slash through the zeros on the P/N designation which means since this is an alpha-numeric # I had to experiment with Os & 0s to see which was correct. Why is this important? If the user doesn’t know which version (of Passport) they own alternatively they can input the P/N on WD’s site. Instead of all this headache, WD, why not include an autodetect function which can recognize the exact model that your poor hapless customer owns, well???
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WD, have you ever heard of a PROGRESS INDICATOR??? Obviously not, however Microsoft, Apple, Mozilla, iTunes, Sun Microsystems (basically everyone else) has. As a result of this mind boggling oversight whenever I go to update the software there is NO INDICATION OF PROGRESS BEING MADE, NOTHING. The only thing is a measly pop-up window which states the software is being updated, no % or time indicator to tell me how things are progressing. Therefore I am forced to have Windows Task Manager running on the side so that I will at least know whether or not the software install has crashed (which it does, frequently).
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The back-up utility is also an exercise in pure concentrated pain, nothing is intuitive. From this screen on the top left corner there is noted the following message: “Ready to Perform Back-up” with NO PROMPT WHATSOEVER as to what the user is supposed to do next. Furthermore after clicking on anything/everything in this window that might lead me to the next step, finally the following message appeared: “Select Content to Back-up” and again, there is NO NEXT STEP NOTED.
NOTE TO WD: INCLUDE CLEARLY IDENTIFIED NEXT STEPS IN YOUR SOFTWARE SO THAT YOUR CUSTOMERS WILL NOT BE FRANTICALLY FLIPPING THROUGH MANUALS / PULLING THEIR HAIR OUT.
Signed,
One Disgusted X WD Customer