Re-entering Your Password

The WD SmartWare software lets you enter an incorrect password five (5) times, after which your drive is temporarily locked. After that, a message appears to indicate that too many attempts have been made, and you must safely unplug your drive, turn it off and then on, plug your drive back into the computer, and then try again.

For this reason, it is helpful to have your password written and stored somewhere away from your computer, especially if you use many password-protected devices and have multiple passwords. If you forget or lose your password, WD cannot retrieve it for you, and you must erase your drive before you can use it again.

The following instructions provide two options for unlocking your drive: one for turning your drive off and then on again and re-entering your password (because you entered it incorrectly), and another for erasing your drive if you have completely forgotten or lost your password.

To restart your drive and re-enter your password:

  1. Do one of the following to turn your drive off and then on:
  1. Wait 30 seconds, and then reconnect your drive to your computer.
  2. Navigate to and open the WD SmartWare Virtual CD (VCD) associated with the drive you want to unlock, then open and run the Unlock application.
  3. Enter your password; then click Unlock.

To erase your drive if you have lost or forgotten your password:

  1. Review the Warning message.
  2. Click the I Understand that Reformatting My Drive will Delete all of My Data option.
  3. Click Format. A status message appears to indicate the approximate time required to erase your drive.