How to remove auto unlock drive for this user external drive. Do not add new data do not add any new files to the wd hard disk after data loss from western digital external hard drive. Free western digital disk recovery recover wd hard disk. You can disable so it doesnt show up but thats not the same as deleting the partition and recovering the space. From all the articles i came across, the write protect read only issue appears to be a widespread problem that happens to users. It comes preloaded with wds stupidware smartware software, which is their cross platform answer to apples time machine. The low level format tool formats the drive but does not get rid of the partition.
We only recommend advanced computer users to manually edit registry and remove wd my cloud, because deleting any single registry entry by mistake will lead to severe problem or even system crash. Since then, when i select windows backup, the external drives icon appears with a large red x. It can provide you with the model and serial of wd drives attached to the system. Uninstall wd drive utilities how to fully remove wd. The ses device driver is the software driver for the western digital ses. Uninstall wd my cloud completely howto removal guide. There is a much easier and safer way to uninstall western digital data lifeguard 10.
Wd software upgrader, a software developed by western digital technologies, inc. Wd cant force the school to install the unlocker application on their. It is a computer program used to communicate from the windows pc os to the ses device. Thanks to robert and section8 for posting this in the comments below. I decided to remove the button manager drivers mac for my western digital my book 500gb drive. Instructions to remove wd discovery software with advanced uninstall tool. For some reason, windows thinks the drive is still there. Wd my book button manager removed and some frustrations. If the wd security icon was not chosen to be placed on the desktop, please follow the steps below, to open from the program files list. Network attached storage nas devices are quickly gaining popularity. Our bestselling my book external drive is an elegant, highcapacity storage solution for all the chapters of your digital life.
Click analyze icon to start the first stage of removal. Plugging into a free ethernet port on your router, switch or pc, these devices provide a quick and convenient way to increase storage space available to a single pc or the entire network without the need of a computer to share the attached storage. To safely remove the program, the wrong way is to locate its folder, rightclick it and select delete, while quite a number of people are still doing this. It was password protected from bios some unfortunate guy locked it and forgot. Some of the common troubleshooting are discussed below. The following wd mycloud devices are using vulnerable firmware.
Most experts would say if you forget the original hdd or bios password, there is no way of restoring it by generic system tools. Locate wd my cloud and click change remove to uninstall the program. But its disappointing that many problems could be detected on a wd hard drive. How to recover your lost data from western digital hard drive. Sandisk is an outstanding manufacturer of flash memory storage devices, which provides many storage solutions for different usage such as sandisk flash drive, memory card, microsd card, ssd drive and so on. Western digital my passport studio user manual pdf. I had the western digital external drive installed and had performed a windows backup to it. Uninstall external drive wd passport microsoft community. Resolved how do you delete the virtual cd i have a wd passport external drive and it comes with a writeprotected virtual cd drive that i want to get rid of. When a new piece of program is installed on your system, that program is added to the list in programs and features. Quick starter guide to recover data from western digital hard. Want add or remove the write protection to an disk. Modification of or tampering with the software, including but not limited to any open source software, is solely at your own risk.
Cannot safely remove external drives windows 10 forums. Uninstall wd discovery software how to fully remove wd. This post will cover how to remove wd smartware virtual driver from wds mybook. How to uninstall western digital smartwar apple community.
This means using a computer for over 3 years can be risky and may result in hard drive failure. A workaround for removing western digitals smartware. In recent weeks, it has become impossible for me to safely remove my external drives. I recently purchased a 1tb western digital mybook essential from amazon. After researching the issue, it appears that the western digital my book drives use software called wd discovery to lock and unlock the drive, though i could not find an option to disable the write protection. How to remove hidden virtual cd vcd partitions on your. Our latest edition now features visual, easytouse, automatic, continuous backup software and drive lock security protection. Backdoor account removed from western digital nas hard drives. Best western hdd bad sector repair tools and solutions.
Western digital hard drives are one of the most widely acclaimed hard disk that needs no introduction. Erasing your drive does not erase the wd drive unlock utility password protection software files that are on the drives virtual cd. Add or remove write protection to any type of disks. A progress bar shows you how long it will take to remove wd discovery software. A variety of reasons can result in a western digital external hard drive not recognized. If the school pcs wont allow the unlocker application to run, all you can do is remove the password from the drive.
Wd cant force the school to install the unlocker application on their computers. Oct 06, 2012 how to remove hidden virtual cd vcd partitions on your western digital external disks and here are a couple of threads from the official wd forums that discuss removing the software. The western digital corporation is one of the largest computer hard disk drive manufacturers in the world. How to remove smartware permanently western digital community. Double click on its uninstaller and follow the wizard to uninstall wd discovery software. Launch the uninstaller, find and select wd drive utilities application on the installed program list. Wd my book button manager removed and some frustrations the. System restore is a utility which comes with windows operating systems and helps computer users restore the system to a previous state and remove programs interfering with the operation of.
To download wd drive utilities, select wd drive utilities for windows or wd drive utilities for mac. I have looked but there is no tab or switch on the usb drive to unlock or disable the write protect. Whether you talk about performance or reliability, these highly proclaimed hard drives always stand apart. Dear dennis, i dont know whats going on but all my files on my external western digital my book are marked as read only. Wd drive utilities allows the user to register the drive, set drive timer, run diagnostics, and perform a drive erase. Use the windows add or remove programs function to uninstall the wd software from your computer. Uninstall wd discovery software via system restore.
Should i remove wd discovery software by western digital. Data lifeguard diagnostic will also run diagnostics on hard drives from other manufacturers as long as the primary drive is western digital. I got an email from western digital warning of data loss when upgrading to mavericks and recommending that wd smartware be uninstalled, naturally ive been trying to do it. Remove wd my cloud using its default uninstaller click on windows button at the bottom left corner, and continue to click on the down arrow for win8, or click on all apps for win10 find wd my cloud on the menu, and then you might see an uninstall button under the programs name. Windows add remove programs offers users a way to uninstall the program and every operating system has add remove programs feature. Mar 11, 2020 if your western hdd has bad sectors, follow the methods below. No problem,follow this guide and youll can do it did you use this instructable in your classroom. Aug 20, 2015 giving an example with the new wd my passport ultra, and quoting its user manual p. Download the program here and install it on your computer. System restore is a utility which comes with windows operating systems and helps computer users restore the system to a previous state and remove programs interfering with the operation of the computer. Applied fix for media player and windows media player that showed the same cover art icons.
Western digital hard drive is one of the most popular drives among users due to its performance. A better way to uninstall western digital data lifeguard 10. Companies are gathering as much data as possible to help the. Download the best sandisk write protected removal tool in. Western digital data lifeguard diagnostic is free hard drive testing software designed for western digital branded hard drives. If i already see the software install on my drive, do i need to download anything from the website. When you want to uninstall the program, you can go to the programs and features to uninstall it. This file contains the most uptodate disk manager drivers for windows 95 and windows nt 3. Western digital will not support any product in which you have or have attempted to modify the software supplied by western digital. Western digital offers an expansive portfolio of technologies, storage devices, systems and solutions for businesses and consumers alike. A third party uninstaller can automatically help you uninstall. Western digital is one of the largest hard disk drive manufacturers and has a long history in the electronics industry as an integrated circuit maker and a storage products company.
To get started, choose the western digital brand youd like help with. Western digital sells many hard drives with a one, two, or three year warranty. Remo recover, the most sought out tool for wd data recovery. Wd drive utilities program is created by western digital technologies, inc. If your product is not listed above, please visit the product page. This file fixes numerous issues, especially those with ibm ps1 value point. Download the program here and install it on your computer launch the uninstaller, find and select wd discovery software application on the installed program list. I dont like having preinstalled software on my drive when i didnt ask for it. If you want to keep wd quick view installed to discover networkattached wd storage devices and provide drive status information, clear the uninstall wd quick view check box. Jul 03, 2010 western digital does advertise a virtual cd utility on their site, which can disable the virtual cd device. Wd smartware is a program by the software company western digital. A workaround for removing western digitals smartware virtual. How to remove a wd hdd password with dflsrp youtube. Remove wd software upgrader expert guide to help you.
Uninstall and remove wd discovery software step by step. Western digital is not responsible for any such modification or tampering. The western digital data lifeguard diagnostic software installs on windows. 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 third party uninstaller can automatically help you uninstall any unwanted programs and completely remove all of its files and free up your hard disk space. How to remove smartware permanently western digital community how to remove wd unlocker. A better way to uninstall wd my cloud with added benefits. Quick starter guide to recover data from western digital.
How do i remove this smartware software from my drive. And i remember that ive tried to do it before, because the software is a useless pos, but never successfully. Mostly, i use western digital passports, passport ultras, etc. Quickly recover wd hard drive data with remo recover software. Check the bad sectors, replace the western digital hard drive with the help of easeus disk copy, and then fix bad sectors using western digital data lifeguard. Thats the way it works for me the hidden smartware vcd doesnt show up on this pc. Bercegay says western digital released firmware version 2. And now, this flash memory corporation has been acquired by hard drive manufacturer western digital. Then when western digital warned mavericks users that they could potentially lose the data on their drives, mac users went into overdrive trying to figure out how to get rid of the infernal wd.
Scroll down universal serial bus controllersclick on the plus signuninstall the driver for the external hard driveright click to uninstalla dialog box will ask, are sure you want to remove. Unlock western digital hdd using master password techno krat. Western digital, also known as wd, distributes the software utilities for use with its hard drives including data lifeguard tools and data lifeguard diagnostics. Applied fix for registration fields that retained information when screen is refreshed. Completely uninstall and remove wdmycloudbywestern. How to remove wd smartware virtual drive jared heinrichs. Both pieces of software are windows only, and are available here. Remo recover can help you be prepared for any data loss related issue in wd and other hard drives. Western digital hard drives are one of the popular hard drives in the world. Erasing the drive permanently deletes all of the data on the drive. Recovering data from nas devices data recovery software. How to remove hidden virtual cd vcd partitions on your western digital external disks and here are a couple of threads from the official wd forums that discuss removing the software. Uninstall wd drive utilities how to fully remove wd drive. Wd external hard drive not working, wd passport not recognized windows 10, etc.
A scheduled task is added to windows task scheduler in order to launch the program at various scheduled times the schedule varies depending on the version. But this would take, as mentioned in the wd kb link you provided, about only 20mb. Wd discovery software is a software program developed by western digital technologies. Simply open the file and you will see instructions along with the software install. Jan 01, 2020 all software tested and works on seagate, hitachi, toshiba and western digital hard drive hdd and ssd.
I have tried formatting the my book drive using file explorer, but it tells me the drive is write protected. Completely uninstall and remove westerndigitaldata. If you have encountered such a situation on your western digital hard drive, you are in the right place. If you asking to completely remove the vcd, that not possible since it built into the firmware. Double click on its uninstaller and follow the wizard to uninstall wd smartware. Jun 21, 20 today i spent nearly half day in trying to unlock western digital hdd. They remain, even after erasing or reformatting the drive. Add a teacher note to share how you incorporated it into your lesson. Our datacentric solutions are comprised of the western digital, gtechnology, sandisk, upthere and wd brands. It would be nice if i can remove this smartware from my drive.
Apr 29, 2020 a variety of reasons can result in a western digital external hard drive not recognized. Applied fix for webui syslog showing user login time. When it is completed, click scan leftover button, and remove all of remanent files. If your western hdd has bad sectors, follow the methods below. 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. Western digital empowering the worlds data infrastructures. The automotive industry is undergoing significant transformation with electrification and the development of autonomous vehicles. There is a much easier and safer way to uninstall wd my cloud completely.
If its a smartware vcd, then if you install the firmware patch to hide the vcd, it should stay hidden for all devices the drive is attached to. Click the remove or change remove tab to the right of the program. Wd discovery software program is created by western digital technologies, inc. With a new, stylish design that fits in the palm of your hand, theres space to store, organize, and share your photos, videos, music, and documents. Wd external hard drive data recovery is easy enough. The smartware virtual cd manager is a tool that lets you hide the vcd on your drive. Updated upnpdlna router icons to match rally driver icons.
Giving an example with the new wd my passport ultra, and quoting its user manual p. The my passport drive is trusted, portable storage that gives you the confidence and freedom to drive forward in life. Western digital disk manager drivers free download and. The unlocker vcd remains hidden unless you set a password, and hides itself again when you remove a password, but it cannot be removed from the drive. Its unlocked by using master password available for western digital hdd. Select the uninstall check box on the wd smartware installer for mac screen to display the uninstall wd smartware dialog. Western digital provides data storage solutions, including systems, hdd, flash ssd, memory and personal data solutions to help customers capture and preserve their most valued data.