This has got to be wrong!
Why is it, if I get a BSD, when I reboot and get the machine up-and-running, the 4 x External drives are still open?
And yet, if I close my machine normally they close as they should!!
What do you mean by “open” and “closed”? You mean “powered on”, “still spinning”? Are they in powered USB enclosures? Do the enclosures use external power (their own power supply)?
What drives are they? What OS are you running on your PC?
Open means, they are not password protected.
Closed means, the password is protecting the drive.
They are a mixture of, My Passport Models, mostly 3TB, powered by USB.
I run a Windows 10 PC.
I expect, quite rightly I think, that if there is a power failure, or my machine crashes for any reason, then the drives should go into Protected mode automatically!
If not, what is the point in investing in WD Password protected drive?
I have another Passport drive 4TB which sometimes goes into protected mode or doesn’t!
I have invested in a Seagate 5TB Password protection drive now because these WDs seem so unreliable!
Following.
I have the same exact issue with a new 5TB My Passport.
I have an old 2TB My Passport which, whenever my desktop is either sitting idle for a while, or rebooted, requires me to enter my password via the WD Dive Unlock.exe to access it.
Meanwhile the new 5TB once unlocked, stays unlocked even after a hard reboot.
What good is needing a password to access the drive, if it never auto-locks after setting up password to auto-lock it?
Any resolution is greatly appreciated!
Well, it seems, like most of WD, you get NO WHERE!!
I’ve come to the conclusion that WD Drives, along with the Company, are simply too UNRELIABLE to trust with important information!! 
I will look into alternative Encryption!
Try swapping the ports around. Some PC/laptops can provide a USB port with constant power (even when off) to charge up a device. When you shut down or hard reboot, power to the USB ports should cut off. Once rebooted, power is restored, the drive “spins up” and should prompt. If the drive doesn’t loose power, it may remain unlocked.
As a test, shut down with the drive that won’t lock still attached. Once off, disconnect the usb cable, the reconnect and reboot. Does it prompt?
That’s an interesting thought!
However, I have five external drives connected at the moment, and there’s simply no way I can connect them all directly to my computer.
So I use one of these Powered USB multiport things.
Could that be the problem? It is always powered on unless there’s a power cut?
But what is the alternative?
