Hi everyone,

I recently bought — relatively cheap, just for experimenting and fun — what was advertised as a brand-new Western Digital Elements 2 TB external hard drive (model WDBUZG0020BBK).

When I connect it to Windows, it appears as:
👉 VendorCo ProductCode USB Device
instead of the expected WD Elements 25A2.

It works and formats normally, but both CrystalDiskInfo and WD Kitfox fail to detect it.
The WD warranty check shows the serial number WXJ1AB8L1L38 — expired in 2022.

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Questions

1. Has anyone else seen this “VendorCo ProductCode” behavior on WD external drives?

2. Is this likely caused by a defective or generic USB bridge?

3. Could the unit be refurbished or counterfeit even though it looks genuine?

4. Can I safely remove the internal drive and reuse it in a new enclosure with a proper SATA-to-USB adapter that supports SMART data?

   • (This is probably the most relevant one — has anyone actually re-cased one successfully?)

5. Lastly, where can I order a reliable, genuine WD external 2 TB drive these days if the market is full of questionable units… or did I just get unlucky?

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Any advice, similar experiences, or links to successful re-casing attempts would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

VendorCo ProductCode USB Device are fake drives according to google.

57 minutes ago, jacnl2000 said:

Lastly, where can I order a reliable, genuine WD external 2 TB drive these days if the market is full of questionable units… or did I just get unlucky?

Western digital official store on Lazada.

Or Banana it on Lazada.

 

A real 2tb drive would cost just under 2,000bht.

All the fakes are 500-800bht.

 

Question 4 has been completely solved. What I did (prying open the case with my fingernails) was exactly the practical way to reveal the fake internals — the small USB stick and the metal weight. That simple step exposed the truth about the drive, which answered the “what’s inside / is it real hardware?” question far more clearly than any software test could:

 

 

The "Do not loose your body" vid shows the exact same content:

 

 

 

Fake “2 TB external HDD” that really is a small USB stick + weight) fits a well-replicated fraud pattern that has been active for 3–6 years or more.

 

When a platform like Shopee (especially an international one) makes it hard to reach either the seller or support, the credit-card chargeback route is the strongest and most legally protected option.

 

Thus far all questions seems to be answered. Thanks!

 

 

 

You will also find that it doesn't store anywhere near 2TB of data, although it might read as a 2TB drive when you plug it in, actual copying data onto that drive will stop somewhere around 32MB, I think.

3 hours ago, CanadaSam said:

You will also find that it doesn't store anywhere near 2TB of data, although it might read as a 2TB drive when you plug it in, actual copying data onto that drive will stop somewhere around 32MB, I think.

 

Yes, here's a video:

 

 

Previously, I wrote that the credit-card chargeback process is the strongest and most legally protected option. Fortunately, I used a Dutch credit card instead of my Thai credit card. Please be aware that Thai credit-card chargeback procedures generally don’t offer the same level of protection as those from many other countries. It’s a classic case of “van een koude kermis thuiskomen”—they may give you some peace of mind for minor issues, but when serious problems arise and large amounts of money are involved, the compensation is often limited to only a few thousand baht per year.

 

And to make matters worse, my Dutch credit card isn’t accepted by every online shop in Thailand. Many Thai websites use different payment and security systems, so foreign cards—especially European ones—are often rejected. It almost feels as if they’re taking away the protection I should have. I suppose I just have to get used to the reality of how things work here.

 

The red flags are waving like at a used-car lot in a hurricane.

 

If CrystalDiskInfo and WD Kitfox fail to detect it the firmware is probably third-party. Also likely that it's modified to report 2TB when it's actually some small amount like 32GB. If so, then data gets overwritten in a loop after you exceed the real size.

 

You could run H2testw, which writes and verifies the entire drive. Fake drives fail spectacularly once they wrap around.