Erasing your Drive

The WD SmartWare™ software lets you enter an incorrect password four (4) times, after which your drive is temporarily locked. If you have completely lost or forgotten your password, WD cannot retrieve it for you, and you must erase your drive before you can use it again. For this reason, it is helpful to keep your password written and stored in a secure location away from your computer, especially if you use many password-protected devices and have multiple passwords.

While you can turn your drive off and then back on and attempt to remember and re-enter your password, if you have forgotten or lost your password, you must erase your drive before you can use it again.

To erase your drive:

1. From the WD SmartWare Virtual CD (VCD) of the drive you want to erase, locate and open the Unlock application.
2. Review the Warning message regarding permanently erasing all the data on your drive.
3. Click I Understand that Reformatting My Drive Will Delete All of My Data.
4. Click Format. A status message appears to indicate the approximate time required to erase your drive.
5. Restart WD SmartWare and set a new password if desired.