About the wd smartware software offered by the manufacturer, i hesitated before going for it, because in the past wd back up software didnt work well for me. Remove wd backup expert guide to help you uninstall wd. Wd is the abbreviation of western digital and wd smart software is a program to manage data backups from a computer to an external hard drive. How do i stop wd smartware from automatically starting on. Wd smartware by western digital technologies should i. I could not disable it as its part of the wd drives firmware. 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. Specially, if you choose to install the wd smartware software. The process known as wd drive service belongs to software wd drive utilities or wd quick view or wd smartware or wd security or western digital techologies or wd drive agent by western digital technologies. It comes installed on western digital external hard drives.
The vcd can be reenabled by running the vcd manager. Wd smartware virtual cd manager for windows web releasev1. Click install wd smartware to begin the installation. Assign drive letter to the new partition with disk management or with the change letter feature of minitool partition wizard. How do i stop wd smartware from automatically starting on my. The partition was created during the software installation process, but now i am unable to delete the partition. Unlocking the drive with the wd smartware software. The size would depend on the model wd my passport that youd choose, but for now the wd portable my passport drives for windows are up to 3tb, this being the new my passport ultra. The data on the drives with hardware encryption is always encrypted by a chip and cannot be turned off. I noticed that the smartware software has an update software button, but that just said it was up to date. Storage capacity a hard drive that has smartware on it no longer has full storage capacity. Apr 23, 2019 best wd smartware backup alternative software for windows 1087 is available for download.
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. Click continue to install and the installer utility detects that the wd smartware software is not installed. Or, you can uninstall wd smartware from your computer by using the. When i buy storage, i expect to be free to decide how to use the whole darn drive. How do i remove a mybooks wd smartware virtual cd from my. Wd smartware is a software program developed by western digital technologies. Restoring the wd smartware software and disk image. Best wd smartware backup alternative software for windows 1087 is available for download. Feb 27, 2014 how to remove western digital smartware. System utilities downloads wd smartware by western digital and many more programs are available for instant and free download. Dec 08, 2016 wd is the abbreviation of western digital and wd smart software is a program to manage data backups from a computer to an external hard drive. Thanks to robert and section8 for posting this in the comments below. Wd smartware software for windows 10 not compatible.
Click apply button to execute the pending operations. However, when one is dealing with such a big amount of data, doing it manually is a pain, and the alternative of using the backup and restore features included in microsoft windows 7, is. 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 haste makes waste. Protect your data automaticallycontinuous backup instantly makes a second copy whenever you add or change a file. How to disable the western digital vcd smartware on. If your product is not listed above, please visit the product page. Wd smartware software user manual about the wd smartware software 1 about the wd smartware software wd smartware software is an easytouse backup application that gives you the power to. My passport ultra portable hard drive user manual western digital. You can set it to run a backup on a continuous basis, allowing realtime updating of files. Try it to back up the system, files, applications when wd smartware backup failed, stuck, not work or compatible with windows 10. How to remove hidden virtual cd vcd partitions on your.
Included on the vcd is the software required to enable and disable it. Apart from system auto backup to wd external hard drive, you can use it to sync files. Displays the set preferences dialog for enablingdisabling the option that. As for the wd smartware, this seems to be just another case of a vendor thinking it knows better than the consumer, so it goes and protects its software on a hidden partition. How do you remove the wd smartware virtual cd drive from.
Wd external hard drive automatic backup is a good choice to protect your data well, and free aomei backupper as a professional wd auto backup software is a big help. Wd smartware by western digital technologies should i remove it. The process known as wd smartware belongs to software wd smartware by western digital. Wd smartware software is an easytouse backup application that gives you the. How to unlock a wd external drive without a password ccm. 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. Wd external hard drive automatic backup in windows7810. Wd smartware drive manager by western digital technologies. The smartware virtual cd manager is a tool that lets you hide the vcd on your drive. A workaround for removing western digitals smartware virtual cd. Wd smartware is a backup and restore software that, boots with your machine. Both pieces of software are windows only, and are available here.
Use the windows add or remove programs function to uninstall the wd software from your. A workaround for removing western digitals smartware. Download wd smartware virtual cd manager accessible, small and simple software application that was created to act as a virtual cd manager for your western digital external drive. Turning it off makes them work with the wii but it also means whenever power is going to the drive it is spinning. I recently purchased a 1tb western digital mybook essential from amazon.
After installing the wd my book software to manage the external drive i noticed there was an additional drive letter. The sleep mode can be disabled through the smartware software that came with the wd drive under the settings tab. To disable the virtual cd if you are not running wd smartware and wish to disable the virtual cd, click here for instructions. Full solutions to no writable partition found in wd smartware. Thank you for your interest in evaluating wd smartware pro. If you found this video, youve no doubt pulled your hair out trying to get rid of wd smartware even before mavericks came out. Wd my book and wd my passport drives have the hardware encryption feature while other products such as the wd elements dont. The ses scsi enclosure services driver is different from the virtual cd, and wd smartware 1. The wd smartware software installer screen displays. There are very important steps everybody should know while setting up these drives, so its clearly stated on the western digitals support pages. How do i remove this smartware software from my drive.
How to remove wd smartware virtual drive jared heinrichs. Wd smartware software is not compatible with windows 10. Wd smartware is a utility designed for backing up data on west digitalwd devices. Then, you can launch wd smartware to see whether you. Wd backup, a software developed by arcsoft, often gets into your computer via webpage browse or some freewares installation. Downloads download software and updates for your wd product at. During setup, the program creates a startup registration point in windows. Lately ive been noticing my computer not running at its peek and although i was running steam, skype, downloading and installing a game, and surfing the interwebs my computer used to be able to do this. Oct 15, 2015 as we all know, smartware and specifically wdfme are huge users of resources. Wd smartware wd smartware is another great tool for recuperating access to your hard drive. Wd has posted the steps to remove the smartware and its vcd, mac or windows. Then start windows explorer and see if there is still a folder with the name of the software under c.
Apr 10, 2010 i recently bought a wd external hard drive to back up my files before upgrading to windows seven, after the upgrade i promptly removed the hard drive from my computer and though nothing of it. During setup, the program creates a startup registration point in windows in order to. The partition is identifying itself as a dvd cdrom drive. If you dont wish to run wd smartware or use the security features, you can disable the vcd following the steps below. Click on preferences and there is a checkbox for open wd smartware when drive is connected. Unable to disable virtual cd wd unlocker on 1to hd my. 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. Jul 03, 2010 western digital does advertise a virtual cd utility on their site, which can disable the virtual cd device. How to disable the western digital vcd smartware on mypassport. Western digital my passport essential user manual pdf download. It just shows up on your computer because its a partition designed to look like a virtual cd.
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. It comes preloaded with wds stupidware smartware software, which is their cross platform answer to apples time machine. With the help of partition recovery, you can get the partition and data back at the same time. You can schedule backups for when your computer is idle or choose automatic, continuous backup to instantly save files when they are added or saved. I have 9 computers in total in my household, of which 7 are desktops which i built myself using wd hdds.
Here are some common wd smartware problems reported by users. The vcd is necessary if you wish to install wd smartware or if you want to use the encryption and password protection features on the drive. Wd smartware drive manager is a software program developed by western digital technologies. How to delete wd unlocker udf partition microsoft community. Jan 30, 2012 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. To download the software, please fill out the form below. Double click on its uninstaller and follow the wizard to uninstall wd smartware. The function is to spin down the drive when not in use. The whole uninstall process may takes even less than one minute to finish, and then all items associated with wd smartware 1. Wd smartware backup alternative for windows 1087 easeus. Jun 28, 2019 surely, you can also install wd smartware on computer to activate its backup feature if your wd hard drive is not mounted with this software.
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. Wd my book drives and encryption automatically enabled. Wd portable drives come with wd backup software wd smartware or wd backup for the customers ease and backup solutions. A workaround for removing western digitals smartware virtual. So i was surprised when i visited the wd web site and saw that there was not only a software update, but a firmware update as well. From all the articles i came across, the write protect read only issue appears to be a widespread problem that happens to users. An essential storage backup tool in a digital world. Also, it will only show up only if theres an active password, so you wont even see the vcd until you create a password with the new drives, so the first partition recognized by the system is the drive itself rather. Wd smartware is a program that automatically backs up photos, music, video and data files to an external hard drive. It works like a control center controlling how and when to do backup for wd external hard drives. To access many of the optional features of your drive, you. Wd smartware unlock utility admin access windows forum.