[RESOLVED] External hard drive issue

[egdufwollamhsram1851]

My son has a 1tb ext western digital hd, with smartware ,. When the drive shows in my computer it shows as smart ware, not an i or k or what ever drive. I can't delete the software on it and i can't drag and drop anything to it. I let him install the software and then it started to do a backup in the smartware but i cancelled it as i was going to take a day to do the backup. I trired to do it inder windows backup on XP, Dell pc, but there when i right click on properties and hardware it shows cdrom , and if i go to the next wibdow to find rthe drives the first one is the c drive, the next is the wd external, but i can not change it, it will not let me use apply I don't know how he used this before, but wjy will it srtat the backup under the smartware where it sjows all the system files in number and volume, but will not recognize it in windows xp? He has no data on it je wants, all it shows are user manuals etcbut until you password unlock it it shows no free space.

Googling it there are oodles of the same issue?

If you reformat it will it be recognized differently or?

He bought a new seagate last night and i advised him to delete the software before using it, if this older one can not be recognized it will be tossed asap

[Midknyte]

all it shows are user manuals etcbut until you password unlock it it shows no free space.

That's the point of having password protection on the drive; to prevent people from just plugging in the drive and accessing your data. If you don't want that, then you'll have to remove the security off the drive.

https://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers...h-wd-smartware

After you remove the security, you can disable the Smartware VCD.
https://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers...a3Ntckpscmw%3D

[egdufwollamhsram1851]

I won't buy wd any more with all the baggage they have.

After reading part of the links it says that some of this can not be eliminated just disabled..i don't see where it allows you to drag and drop as it only shows up as smartware not a drive. No one else has access and the drive is disconnected after back up and secured... The seagate will not present this mess as others are finding out. I don't even take mine out of the box anymore unless i want to view it

I forwarded the links to him
tks

[Train]

Open Computer
R-click USB drive and select open

Drg garbage into its folder. All I do.

[Midknyte]

That must be a slightly older model of WD drive. I don't think the newer WD models have SmartWare anymore. It's kind of like how USB drives used to come with U3 installed.

[egdufwollamhsram1851]

Open Computer
R-click USB drive and select open

Drg garbage into its folder. All I do.

wd smartware.JPG

this is a photo from the link midk provided, not what is on my sons pc

this shows ip on his "my computer" but it does not show the drive letter on the right, there is a conflict between the cdrom as when i try to delete it, it says is a read only, and can not be deleted why under properties does it refer to cdrom and you can't change it to the ext dr?

i don't know if it shows the usb drive,. i'll have to look at it with him tomorrow.

as of now it appears the lock feature is working as he has a password to it, but according to the wd instructions this stuff van only be disabled not deleted?

[egdufwollamhsram1851]

he said it might be 2 years old?

[Midknyte]

It would help if you gave us the exact model number.

You should not be deleting the SmartWare CD from Windows Explorer. It is a VIRTUAL CD.

First you have to remove the password protection. Then you need to disable the SmartWare software. Did you follow the links I posted?

Look at step 5
https://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers...h-wd-smartware

If you want to change your security settings, just type in your password and choose either Remove Security or Change Password, in order to do either.

The second link shows you how to disable the virtual CD.
https://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers...a3Ntckpscmw%3D

[egdufwollamhsram1851]

It would help if you gave us the exact model number.

You should not be deleting the SmartWare CD from Windows Explorer. It is a VIRTUAL CD.

First you have to remove the password protection. Then you need to disable the SmartWare software. Did you follow the links I posted?

Look at step 5
https://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers...h-wd-smartware


The second link shows you how to disable the virtual CD.
https://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers...a3Ntckpscmw%3D

i don't know the model yet, he said it is a 2009 not 2 years old, according to the wd directions this smartware can not be deleted , just disabled. but the only thing that shows ujp on his my computer is smartware e,, does not show i or k as their diagram shows as the drive. i'm not sure what he's going to do with it, he bought a new seagat to use instead, i know he can delete the contents on it before use. as far as i can see you can not drag and drop on the smartware?:

[egdufwollamhsram1851]

That must be a slightly older model of WD drive. I don't think the newer WD models have SmartWare anymore. It's kind of like how USB drives used to come with U3 installed.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/produ...px?id=870#Tab2

Automatic backup software
WD SmartWare Pro automatic backup software works quietly in the background to help protect your data using minimal PC resources. Select automatic continuous backup to instantly create a second copy of your files. Or select the scheduled backup option to back up your files on your schedule and take control of your backup.

[Midknyte]

Ok. 2009 makes more sense.

but the only thing that shows ujp on his my computer is smartware e

Until you remove the password protection, that's the first thing you'll see.

according to the wd directions this smartware can not be deleted , just disabled.

That's true, but it's only about 20MB. Pretty small.

as far as i can see you can not drag and drop on the smartware?:

Yes. That's what I said before. You need to unlock the drive with the password, remove the password protection, then disable the Smartware VCD. If he didn't use a password in the first place, you wouldn't need to be doing all this.

I'm not sure why you posted the link about Automatic backup. Newer WD drives have software on them, but like Train said, you can just dump the folder.

[egdufwollamhsram1851]

Ok. 2009 makes more sense.


Until you remove the password protection, that's the first thing you'll see.


That's true, but it's only about 20MB. Pretty small.


Yes. That's what I said before. You need to unlock the drive with the password, remove the password protection, then disable the Smartware VCD. If he didn't use a password in the first place, you wouldn't need to be doing all this.

I'm not sure why you posted the link about Automatic backup. Newer WD drives have software on them, but like Train said, you can just dump the folder.

I have no idea how he set it up and i am assuming he did run the software thus the MESS.

Along time ago Train told me to dump the trash , and when we set up the SEAGATE today WE DID JUST THAT, and it works like a charm

I put the link on from WD as it shows SMARTWARE with some hard drives,

I told him he could take it home and use it if he wanted to try,
I told him to get a new one so he could get a system image as he is running a business on it

[Midknyte]

I have no idea how he set it up and i am assuming he did run the software thus the MESS.

Yup. The drives don't come password protected from the factory, so he would have had to run the security setup.

Along time ago Train told me to dump the trash , and when we set up the SEAGATE today WE DID JUST THAT, and it works like a charm

Ok. That's fine. Like I said, WD had Smartware VCD on the older series of drives. I haven't seen Smartware VCD on the newer drives.

SmartWare is just the general name of their backup/security software. SmartWare VCD is what you're having problems with. It's related, but not exactly the same.