How to use West Digital Passport as a "dumb" drive

[dave_14]

Hello,
I just got a Westrn Digital 1T Passport external hd. I dont want to use any included software with it- no password protection and no back up. I already have a back up drive. I just want to use this as an additional hard drive for a windows 7 64 bit laptop. Do I just connect by USB and reformat?
(I'm sorry if this question has already been asked, but all my searches lead me to issues of reformatting for Mac.)

Thanks,

 

[nhasian]

i believe the software is built into the firmware of the drive, but you can hide it with the tool here:

http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/wdsmartwareupdate/