Western digital wd my passport 2 tb external hard drive. Western digital does advertise a virtual cd utility on their site, which can disable the virtual cd device. Western digitals security software allows a password to be set on the external drive, encrypting it. It installed a pointless virtual cd drive on my system. I recently got a western digital mybook external hard drive to enable time machine.
Click on preferences and there is a checkbox for open wd smartware when drive is. I have killed the my passport partition, which shows as unallocated disk 5, but the extra cd rom is there. Today, western digitals headquarters are located in san jose. How to delete wd unlocker udf partition microsoft community. In the 1980s, the company shifted to the storage market and began producing many successful storage products. The wd unlocker vcd provides the wd drive unlock utility that you can use to unlock the drive. We ended up asking the user to split work data from personal data and provided them with a more mobile work device to facilitate working on the data at home. This post will cover how to remove wd smartware virtual driver from wds mybook. The silly thing is that apart from this, the drive is amazing. How do you remove the wd smartware virtual cd drive from. Thanks for the heads up but your solution is not really new.
Free wd drive unlock software download wd drive unlock. I bought a wd passport essential external hard disk, copied all the stuff into it in windows 7 and got rid of windows 7. Ive contacted western digital and asked if they have plans to publish a firmware update with the ability to remove this software. Wd unlocker is just a virtual cd that is included with your drive. Although it is saved on the drive it will only occupy a very small portion of it. There are various utils one is the hp format virtual cd tool and im using it now but its going to be several hours before the format is finished. On this youll find a tiny utility called wd unlocker, which as.
My passport ultra portable hard drive user manual western digital. Even if i eject this virtual cd disk, it pops back again instantly. Western digital was formed in 1970, originally as a manufacturer of semiconductors. The smartware virtual cd manager is a tool that lets you hide the vcd on your drive. The wd security is a software that need to be installed on windows. Hi, i just bought a my passport and set it up with a password xxxxx using wd unlocker, which works fine, but i have changed my mind and now want use it as part of an automatic backup system. It only carries the software that allows you to password protect your drive. Click disk drives and check if there is a yellow exclamation mark with wd hard drive disk device.
Wd smartware unlock utility admin access windows forum. I cant understand why wd would include such an obviously annoying feature with such a good. Depending on your model of drive the content ddvice the vcd will vary, however it will always contain the wd unlocker application, and it appears on the screen each time you connect your wd drive to the computer. Western digital is a technology company that mainly produces storage products. A lowlevel format into a single partition did not make the vcd go. How to remove wd smartware virtual drive jared heinrichs. After installing the wd my book software to manage the external drive i noticed there was an additional drive letter. There is some way to disable it ont eh wd support site, but it is a nightmare to do, requiring jumping between several windows. Windows users click here a small portion of drive space on your new my passport or my book hard drive has been used to create a virtual cd vcd. The program runs as a virtual cdrom drive on your system. Hopefully wd will release a removal tool in the near future. However the wd unlocker from the drive should be working fine, are you experiencing any issues.
Then, you can restart computer to see whether the wd hard drive is recognized by windows 10. Accessing the digital media stored on your wd external hard drives directly from your windows 8 start screen is now easier than ever. Both pieces of software are windows only, and are available here. I have a wd my book 3tb storage, usb 3, and just like many other enthusiast owners of this external drive, im trying to get rid of their crapware. Using your computers file management utility to open the wd unlocker virtual cd and doubleclicking the wd drive unlock. Hi ive just bought an 1 to my passport essentials hard drive wdbabm0010bbk and although following all steps to disable the virtual cd called wd unlocker with this program. Wd smartware for windows supports the following operating. Download wd smartware virtual cd manager accessible, small and simple software application that was created to act as a virtual cd. The vcd contains the wd smartware installation software, the encryption and password protection application, user manuals, and other resource files. Wd smartware is another great tool for recuperating access to your hard drive.
Wd smartware is a backup and restore software that, boots with your machine. In each case, the wd security software replaces the desktop icon for your my passport drive with the wd unlocker virtual cd vcd icon. Accessible, small and simple software application that was created to act as a virtual cd manager for your western digital external drive wd smartware virtual cd manager is an application developed. Erasing your drive does not erase the wd drive unlock utility password protection software files that are on the drives virtual cd. How do i remove a mybooks wd smartware virtual cd from my. Using your computers file management utility to open the wd unlocker virtual cd and doubleclicking the unlock. It only pops up when you password protect your unit as a way to unlock it.
Doubleclick the wd unlocker virtual cd icon on your desktop. Download vmware unlocker, extract it somewhere and install it. On your new my passport or my book hard drive is a small portion of drive space which has been used to create a virtual cd. Unlock western digital hdd using master password techno krat. They remain, even after erasing or reformatting the drive. When the drive is connected to a pc, a virtual cd vcd partition runs via autorun an unlocker utility wd drive unlock. The system interprets unlocker as a virtual cd rom which doesnt make sense to me. Using your computers file management utility and doubleclicking the wd unlocker virtual cd drive listing clicking start my computer and doubleclicking the wd unlocker virtual cd icon under devices with removable storage 2. How to delete wd unlocker udf partition so far i have not been successful or am i able to find any information showing how to remove a western digital wd unlocker partition.
June 21, 20 june 14, 2016 posted in nerdy tagged boot cd, hdd master password, hdd test, hiren boot cd 15. It comes installed on western digital external hard drives. How to unlock a wd external drive without a password ccm. If it is, right click wd hard drive, choose properties and click update driver under driver tab or click on uninstall. It appears that western digital has released a firmware update and a utility called vcd manager, which will prevent the virtual cd from mounting. To unlock the drive without the wd smartware software installed. If your drive has the wd unlocker and not the wd smartware vcd, then just dont lock your drive and you should never see the wd unlocker. Giving an example with the new wd my passport ultra, and quoting its user manual p. Here, you will find more information on how to erase the drive and unlock it. I searched around the internet and couldnt find a solution.
Clicking start computer and doubleclicking the wd unlocker virtual cd icon under. A workaround for removing western digitals smartware. Accessible, small and simple software application that was created to act as a virtual cd manager for your western digital external drive. A small portion of drive space on your new my passport or my book hard drive has been used to create a virtual cd vcd. A workaround for removing western digitals smartware virtual cd. If your product is not listed above, please visit the product page. This video covers how to disable the virtual cd on the wd passportelements drive on windows 7vista. It will patch vmware workstation so it will load mac os x. Downloads download software and updates for your wd product at. How to unlock wd smart unlock of wd passport external. Or, you can use either the wd security or the wd drive utilities software to unlock the drive. Start the wd smartware drive unlock utility by either.
It is all documented in the wd smartware software user manual as 1 of 3 options under using the drive unlock utility shown on page 44. How to remove disable hide wd smartware virtual cd vcd for. Western digital my passport user manual pdf download. Western digital 40mb shareware wd smartware is a backup and restore software that, boots with your machine. Whenever i plug this device into a computer, there is a virtual cd unit that pops up called wd unlocker, and im trying to remove it physically, instead of just hiding it i found many guides on. Unable to disable virtual cd wd unlocker on 1to hd my.
How to disable the western digital vcd smartware on. I just bought a my passport and set it up with a password. The vcd contains the wd smartware installation software, drive lock application, user manuals, and other resources, and it appears on the screen each time. Wd passport smartdrive unlock software free download wd. At that time, im expecting to see the bulk of the disk reformatted but the virtual cd unchanged. Open vmware workstation and select open a virtual machine. But this would take, as mentioned in the wd kb link you provided, about. I never was able to find another software that did not require admin credentials at each unlock, and the smartware software is baked into the drives firmware, so it isnt easy to disable. A small portion of drive space on your new my passport or my book hard drive. The hard disk has a software called wd smart unlock. Solved how to unlock forgotten wd hdd smartware password. The wd passport drives have 2 drive letters because there is a partition that acts like a read only cd. This is not a dell hardware issue nor a dell issue. If the my passport ssd is locked, it will show up on different host pcs as a readonly virtual cd.
Wd passport or elements usb hdd disable virtual cd vcd. How to run mac os x in windows 10 with vmware unlocker. Western digital drivers download for windows 10, 8, 7, xp. Select the mac os x vmx file you downloaded and open it. It is needed in order to unlock the drive if you have it locked. Check off i understand that reformatting my drive will delete all of my data, that should ungrey format 7. Wd smartware virtual cd manager for windows web releasev1. How to solve my wd hard drive not recognized in windows 10. How to remove hidden virtual cd vcd partitions on your. With just one click of our new wd app, all your content is instantly displayed and organized so you can easily browse your photos, watch your videos, play your music and share it all with friends and family. It has its software installed on a virtual cd called wd smartware which. Hi, ok i see, now you might want to try to perform a firmware update with the universal firmware updater for your drive.
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