So my computer decided to randomly not recognize my drive. When I plug it in it takes forever for the computer to find it and instead of saying mypassport it nwo says local disk. All my files are still there, but when i try to play them (most of them are videos) it is very slow and glitchy
Hello, if possible try using another USB cable or connecting the Passport to another PC, if the problem continues, run a test using DLG. Check the link below for the steps.
I have the same problem, and have searched endlessly for a solution - there isn’t one.
Google “My Book Essential Not Recongized Windows” . . . there’s millions of search results and NO SOLUTION!
WD’s “my book [non]essential” / “passport”, etc., are POSs of the lowest form - the company can’t provide fixes, and you’ll only waste more time and money following the well intended advice to buying new cables, re-installing drivers, patches, blah blah blah.
ALL of my 1Ts eventually stopped being recognized - of course, not until I had saved important files that now are unretrievable.
Save your time, money and patience, and use a cloud service. WD external drives are junk and customer service is ineffective.
One problem with USB powered drives is that many computer makers use barely adequet power supplies and drives are very sensitive to low voltage. Using a longer cable otfa hub adds to the problems. Then there is moving the drives around and storage. Personally I would not rely on a USB powered drive.