How do I remove this smartware software from my drive?

WD Software WD Software
21

I see links to formatting tools and i read people saying it only hides it on THAT computer it is installed on.

I want to know if we can disable this smartware permanently so it doesn’t try and install itself when i plug it into other computers, (school, friends, library, etc).

Is there a way to completely remove it from the drive itself so that it does not attempt to install the smartware when i plug it into a different computer?

you know, the reason some of us buy portal storage devices for?

22

If I did not originally install the Smartware software do I need to download the recent update for the _firmware_?

23

If it ain’t broke don’t fixit really applies here. If it’s working Ok for you now I’d just leave it alone I don’t use the Smartware anymore and am not going to do upgrade.

Joe

24

this can be done by creating partitions on your WD harddrive

giving you complete manual control over your drive

and it will also stop smartware frm loading on any pc you’ll connect your drive to

For Windows xp

right click My computer> Manage> disk management

right click on WD drive letter partition

select delete partition

right click on WD drive letter partition

select create partition

then create further partitions of desired sizes

While creating partitions select all the partitions as ‘Primary’ instead of extended

Select ‘Quick format’ this will make the process faster for you

Note: that this will erase all your data from your WD harddrive so …backup

25

That still won’t remove the VCD from the drive.

Even if you (voided the warranty and) popped the case open and took the drive out of the housing, and formatted it by connecting it directly to a SATA controller, the drive will then no longer work in the enclosure (and this is not recommended, not just because of warranty voiding).  The SATA-to-USB controller in the enclosure expects that VCD partition to be there… if you remove it, the firmware on the controller will get confused when it can’t find the VCD that it’s expecting.  If you leave it there, then it’s still there, no matter what you do to the other partition(s).

If you don’t want a portable drive with the Smartware VCD installed on it, then buy one of WD’s portable drives that don’t have the Smartware VCD.

The Elements drives don’t – and they’re cheaper.

26

timber wrote:

I am trying to stop the WD smartware from running on my passport.  My school wont allow me to run the software on their computers, PC or Mac.  But I absolutely have to have the drive.  How can I get around this?

You “have” to have a Passport?  Or just “have” to have a USB hard drive.  WD sells external USB drives without the Smartware VCD…  for people that don’t want it/need it.

27

RandySanDiego wrote:

I bought a 2TB  WD MyBook Essential External Hard Drive because I needed 2TB, not 1.81TB!!!

Hate to tell you, but you’re going to get 1.81 of actual storage on ANY “2TB” drive from any manufacturer.

Hard drives have always done this (once one manufacturer started doing it, they all had to so their own drives didn’t look smaller).

A “10GB” drive only formats to 9.31GB.

A "100GB drive only formats to 93.13GB.

A “1TB” drive only formats to 931.32GB.

They tell you that on the box and on all the paperwork.  But they all do it and they’ve all done it for decades.

The VCD isn’t eating up 200GB of your 2TB drive.  The difference between “1000” and “1024” is what’s making your space “disappear”.

1 Like
28

Two things to note:

  1. Disabling the VCD through smartware does not remove it from the hard drive, just hides it.

  2. Most partitioning software does not remove it.

Someone has figured out that HP’s USB disk storage format tool works.

For a set by step, visit http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/passport-vcd.html. The link for the tool is toward the bottom of the page.

As of this writing, I have not finished testing the method. The drive is formatting now. Lets hope it works without the preinstalled smartware. *fingers crossed*. I will let you know if it works.

29

Eh, The drive still works, but the space is still allocated for smartware… I wish there was a way to reclaim the space that is righfully mine.

30

thats  why I got rid of that ■■■■ drive :slight_smile: why don’t WD just provide 2 firmware updates? one of the updates updates the smartwre for those who acualy like it and the other update removes the smartware like the U3 did.

31

Due to the fact that WD has no plans of removing the VCD from these drives, and that you can remove SmartWare by simply uninstalling it, I will close this thread.