…I do not know the drive password.
I was advised by a WD technician to format the drive which would erase all the data, but also erase the mystery password. I tried to erase the drive by formatting it, but for some reason, that did not erase the drive password. One possible reason was that I did a quick format, not a full format. I did not find that quick / full distinction included in any WD instruction.
WD Drive Unlock
“Unlock Drive”
“Your My Passport Drive is locked. To unlock your drive, please enter your drive password in the box below.”
From Techwalla:
By Sylvia Cini
My Passport is one of the external storage product lines produced by Western Digital, or WD. My Passport drives are designed for on-the-go use, unlike the enlarged devices found in the My Book series. Passports have slim cases constructed of heat-sinking materials such as aluminum – which compensates for the lack of built-in fans. They range in storage capacity from 250 GB up to 1 TB, although out of the box this amount is diminished because of the installation of SmartWare, WD’s user-friendly software. You can reset the password on My Passport from within the application if need be.
Step 1
Click “Start” and select “Computer.” Double-click the CD-ROM drive, then double-click the “SmartWare” application; on a PC, the application is listed as “WD SmartWare.exe,” and on a Mac it is listed as “WD SmartWare.app.”
Step 2
Click the “Settings” tab. Click “Set Up Drive.”
Step 3
Select “Install” and accept the “End User License Agreement” when prompted. Click “Continue Setup.”
Step 4
Open the “Security” tab. Type your current password into the box labeled “Password.” Enter a new password and a new password hint. Confirm by checking the “I Understand” box and clicking “Update Security Settings.”
In this case, I do not understand Step 4. In particular, why would I reset my drive password if I knew my current password?
WD Drive Unlock Help
About the WD Drive Unlock software
The utility that is on the drive itself.
Unlocking the drive
Your password always works, whether the WD Security™ software is installed on your computer or not.
Erasing the drive
The only alternative if you forget or lose your password.
So I think the solution is to “erase the drive”, meaning format the drive" but quick formatting didn’t work for me. What to do now?
Thanks,
About the WD Drive Unlock software
The utility that is on the drive itself.
Unlocking the drive
Your password always works, whether the WD Security™ software is installed on your computer or not.
Erasing the drive
The only alternative if you forget or lose your password.
