I bought this 4TB unit from Amazon (WDBPKJ0040BBK-0A) as an upgrade for the purpose of backing up all my data from three drives PRIOR to rebuilding my Win7 desktop tower into a Linux machine with more memory and a new processor.
There was no “quick installation guide” as specified. When I plugged it in, I got a message that the drive must be formatted. It won’t format.
I already had a 2TB Passport drive for several years. It works fine.
Hi @Codgertator,
Please be informed that WD Passport is not tested in Linux Machine and referred to use only on Windows and Mac.
Be aware there are a lot of Fake WD Hard drives being sold on Amazon and Ebay.
A 4TB WD My Passport is factory pre-formated NTFS and contains software on the hard drive eg. WD Security , WD Backup and WD Drive Utilities.
My Passport User Manual.pdf (1.2 MB)
If the drive you purchased is not formatted and contains no software … then it’s either a Used Hard Drive or a Fake Hard Drive.
Be aware there are a lot of Fake WD Hard drives being sold on Amazon and Ebay.
I did not buy this on ebay and would not buy one that was remanufactured. I bought it on Amazon. How then am I to tell if it is or isn’t fake as opposed to defective?
A 4TB WD My Passport is factory pre-formated NTFS and contains software on the hard drive eg. WD Security , WD Backup and WD Drive Utilities.
So I presumed as this has been my experience. As my post indicated, this is my second My Passport drive.
If the drive you purchased is not formatted and contains no software … then it’s either a Used Hard Drive or a Fake Hard Drive.
A window for the drive displayed briefly when I first plugged in the USB cable. It showed software, but not the quick install guide.
Then up came the window demanding formatting and has returned every time I plug it in. It is when I try to format that another window opens to state that it will not format.
Thanks,
Mark
Please be informed that WD Passport is not tested in Linux Machine and referred to use only on Windows and Mac.
The machine is currently only a 64B Win7 system.
I still don’t have any resolution on this matter. Do I return it, or is there a fix?
** please try the easy solutions first.**
◆Connect it to another computer or another operating system and check if you can open the hard drive successfully.
◆Try another USB port.
◆Restart your computer and connect the drive to the computer again.
◆Run anti-virus software to check and remove the possible viruses on the external hard drive.
Or follow these steps
Method 1. Use CHKDSK to check errors
Method 2. Recover data and format the external hard drive
OK, I plugged it into my wifes brand new HP Win10 machine.
It did not open and I got the same message telling me to format the drive.
As to "another USB port. I’d already done that. Moreover, as I said in the first post, my other Passport drive works fine in that port. So does my Android phone. So does my camera. So does my GoPro. There is nothing wrong with the USB port. Yes, I’d restarted the computer. No, PCMatic did not report blocking it. That’s all kindergarten stuff that had long been done.
As to the two methods, as I had said, THIS IS A BRAND NEW DRIVE I’D NEVER USED BEFORE. There is no data to remove.
Dear Keerti_01,
I still have no resolution in this matter.
What do we do now?
Do I return it?
I can give you the Serial Number to establish if it is genuine, but I don’t know what else to do there.
M
Dearest Keerti_01,
I have now received a replacement drive from Amazon. And what do you know but it had the same problem. I noticed that the connection into the USB was somewhat loose. At that point, I realized that I had forgotten to try the original drive using the cable from my old Passport on the new drive.
Well, what do you know my old cable solved the problem! That makes TWO drives in succession I had purchased from Amazon that had flakey cables.
Maybe you might want to have manufacturing look into that. I may have just saved WD a lot of money.
In the mean time, seeing as you folks at WD have been soooo helpful (not), I think I’m going to write a lengthy review on Amazon. I’m sure your management will appreciate how lame this “customer service experience” has really been.
And by the way, it’s too late for you to kill this thread completely, as I’ve verified that I have saved a draft of it on the Internet Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20220301020453/https://community.wd.com/t/wd-4tb-passport-wont-install/275913
M