How to remove wd smartware virtual drive jared heinrichs. Wd has posted the steps to remove the smartware and its vcd, mac or windows. Sep 30, 2011 no writable wd smartware partition found problem. Troubleshooting hard drives not showing in disk managerthis pc in windows 10. Wd smartware is a software program developed by western digital technologies. The software installer includes 1 files and is usually about 941. Im using a wd passport ultra 1tb external hard drive as the backup device for my computer, and it worked perfectly for the last few months. One is a wd my book 4tdrive and the other a 5t drive also a wd my book. Give wd smartware virtual cd manager a try to see what its all about. Windows users click here a small portion of drive space on your new my passport or my book hard drive has been used to create a virtual cd vcd.
After trying gparted in ubuntu linux, disk manager in windows xp and a. A better way to uninstall wd smartware virtual cd manager 1. Yeah i have tried startup repair a few times and it tells me that no hard disk was found. No really, make a backup then give this a go starting in safe mode option. Feb 12, 2017 your new ssd or hdd is recognized and shown in bios, but it doesnt show up in windows, neither in the explorer nor in the device manager and its not found. Hey all, just completed my new pc build only one issue. Mar 08, 2012 how to install the virtual cd manager windows xp, windows vista, windows 7 step 1. I downloaded and install smartware software in both my desktop windows xp and laptop windows 7 but in both case the software is not able to detect the external hard disc. Disconnect all other external drives from the computer except for the my book or my passport hard drive you want to update. Whats worse, i uninstall it from the device manger, it reinstalls itself, and still wont show under disk management. Uninstalled the western digital smartware program and activated a backup setup.
Software and firmware downloads seagate support us. Apr 15, 2008 operating system driver provider driver version. After making an unrecognized wd external hard drive detectable in your pc, the next step is to restore all saved data. After disconnecting the wd ext hard drive, it still shows up under my computer and disk manager as the cd drive.
I have tried to delete usb device and then reboot and try again but now luck. Although the drive was not connected and the western digital backup software was. Wd smartware by western digital technologies should i. External hdd shows up in device manager but not my. The tutorial explains how to do this with western digital wd disks, but. Completely uninstall wd smartware virtual cd manager 1. Regedit to change from ide to ahci on windows 10 hardforum. Disconnect all other external drives from the computer except for the my book or my passport drive you want to update. There is a much easier and safer way to uninstall wd smartware virtual cd manager 1. Nov 07, 20 wd smartware virtual cd manager is an application developed by western digital to help you manage the use of the vdc virtual cd.
External hdd shows up in device manager but not my computer. It shows desktoplaptop whichever is apt on left hand side of software but not the hard drive on right side. Usb device not recognized wd passport 1t vmware communities. I have 2 cd drives installed and one ide harddrive my main is sata. Wd smartware installer is a program developed by western digital technologies. I did some research and found its a part of the drives firmware and mounts as a virtual cd every. How do i remove a mybooks wd smartware virtual cd from. Automatically back up all your important files from your computer to your storage device. If playback doesnt begin shortly, try restarting your device. External hard drive issues january 2015 forums cnet. Looking at disk management you can see it as disk 2 see image, but all the options to format etc are grayed out.
Fix wd external hard drive not recognizedworking with light. Wd smartware virtual cd manager free download wd smartware. The problem i have is that even if i wanted to and sort of now conceded to do a complete clean install, without my hdd responding i cant even do that no. Driverhive database details for wd ses device driver. For several reasons the ide hard drive or cddvd drive can stop. Unplugged all other drives except the 3tb wd and launched the installation cd for both windows 7 and xp to see if either would recognise it. From what i read and wasnt aware of before, it seems wd is providing extended nonstandard functionality on their usb drives what they call smartware which includes their virtual cd vcd. Quickly determine the condition of the drive in your. I do not know how to uninstall this ghost of a drive. I can see the device as a large usb storage device in the device manager. Ideally keeping the data that was on there, but if not then just reformatting. From what i read and wasnt aware of before, it seems wd is providing extended nonstandard functionality on their usb drives what they call. Jan, 2015 locate and open to the wd smartware virtual cd vcd on the drive you want to unlock in one of the following ways.
Hello i have a wd smartware my book essential 320gb, i have one password for all my internet accounts and my users in my pc and my softwares, also my wd smartware my book essential 320gb has the same password and its impossible to forgot my password because i enter my passwords around 20 times a day, today, like other days, i tried to login to my external hard disk wd smartware. You must run the unlock application from the wd smartware cd associated with the drive you want to unlock. When i install soft wd smartware virtual cd manager for windowsv1. Go to device manager, find the intelr ich9mem sata ahci. I would like to remove this, but cannot figure out how. Of these four drives, only one of the two 1tbs from the old computer is showing, and the new 2tb and ssd arent showing at all. How to install the virtual cd manager windows xp, windows vista, windows 7 step 1. Tutorial how to fix no writable wd smartware partition found error. Fix wd external hard drive not recognizedworking with. Well, i knew the device would come preformatted with ntfs and loaded. Wd ses device driver manufacturer is western digital technologies and developed by western digital technologies in the database contains 8 versions of the wd. This video covers how to disable the virtual cd on the wd passportelements drive on windows 7vista. A small portion of drive space on your new my passport or my book hard drive has been used to create a virtual cd vcd.
Did you ever install the wd software on either the mac or windows. Start virtual cd manager and disable mounting of the virtual disc. May 09, 20 my cd rom tray is broken and so to get into it i or my gf lol have to take my laptop apart and place the disk in then rebuild, anyway i put my recovery disk in and it wont find my hdd therefore cannot even do a fresh install coz windows has no where to put it. Hard drives not showing in disk managerthis pc in windows 10.
During setup, the program creates a startup registration point in windows in order to. External hd shows in device manager but no where else. Ever since, it keeps saying no writable wd partition found and i cant backup any new data or access old data. External hard drive failure recognized as cd drive.
And if this is one of the particular models that has a virtual cd for that software, they can have a lot of problems. The drive was not listed in the disk manager either. During setup, the program creates a startup registration point in windows in order to automatically start when any user boots the pc. The smartware virtual cd manager is a tool that lets you hide the vcd. I got an external wd hard drive from a friend who said that it stopped working. Well, thats the problem unlock wont run on my new drive, but it runs fine on my old passport. Operating system not found, windows cant find my hdd. My cddvd drive is no longer recognized in windows explorer, bios or the device manager. Hdd under device manager but not disk management windows. Today, when i was trying to do a backup, i connected this device to my computer, but it was not showing up. Sep 11, 2010 hello i have a wd smartware my book essential 320gb, i have one password for all my internet accounts and my users in my pc and my softwares, also my wd smartware my book essential 320gb has the same password and its impossible to forgot my password because i enter my passwords around 20 times a day, today, like other days, i tried to login to my external hard disk wd smartware my book. How to remove hidden virtual cd vcd partitions on your western. Cddvd drive not visible in bios, device manager or. Im out of ideas i did see a few things online i didnt try, like uninstall the ide ataatapi controllers.
A workaround for removing western digitals smartware. How do i remove a mybooks wd smartware virtual cd from my. Unplugged all other drives except the c drive and the 3tb wd, same result as above. When i satrt up my windows recovery cd, go through the language options etc even if i choose install. So, how can i to create this virtual cd and use this software.
You also no longer have access to the drives security settings. The vcd is necessary if you wish to install wd smartware or if you want to use the encryption and password protection features on the drive. A third party uninstaller can automatically help you uninstall any unwanted programs and completely remove all of its files and free up your hard disk space. It does, however, show up briefly in windows explorer during security scans of the computer. Once the utility has found your drive, click configure drive and then click exit. I have a 1 tb wd external drive and it worked fine until recently, when i decided to update the firmware and smartware. Your new ssd or hdd is recognized and shown in bios, but it doesnt show up in windows, neither in the explorer nor in the device manager and its not found. Wd drives are just the best and most reliable drives. Wd ses device usb device ive had good results with the seagates, including the 1tb drives. I have a 750g hd that shows up under the device manager, but not under disk management. If your product is not listed above, please visit the product page. Before running the virtual cd manager, you must first update the firmware on your hard.
If i remove the drivers and the drive, when i boot, windows reloads the drivers as if new hardware was found without it being connected. The problem is pretty straightforward, right from the title. A workaround for removing western digitals smartware virtual. Wd provides a tool to hide the virtual drive, but it doesnt remove it, so you cannot reclaim the partition. A workaround for removing western digitals smartware virtual cd. Recovering data from an wd external hard drive blogger. For windows, rightclick the wd smartware vcd icon and choose open from the drop. Browse and download the latest software, apps, utilities, plugins, and firmware content. Dec 11, 2014 unplugged all other drives except the 3tb wd and launched the installation cd for both windows 7 and xp to see if either would recognise it. Im out of ideas i did see a few things online i didnt try, like uninstall the ide ataatapi controllers from the device manager, since i dont really know what that means i didnt. Wd smartware virtual cd manager is an application developed by western digital to help you manage the use of the vdc virtual cd. My external hdd still shows up as a named device in device manager, but its not in my computer. The vcd contains the wd smartware installation software, the encryption and password protection application, user manuals, and other resource files. Click exit, locate and open the related wd smartware cd, and then run unlock to unlock the desired drive.
Everything is working fine but like a lot of us here we want to see a clean device manager. If you have valuable data saved on your wd drive, just download easeus hard drive recovery software to get all data back with a few simple clicks. If you are an agent, please login through salesforce. Wd passport or elements usb hdd disable virtual cd vcd. Ive done this numerous times before on various wd drives. To access many of the optional features of your drive, you will. Next, it is not uncommon to find windows malware on external disks now and then. I came with an idea to disable wd virtual cd in device manager an its. Cddvd drive not visible in bios, device manager or windows. Microsoft windows 10 64bit i have installed this m.
Regedit to change from ide to ahci on windows 10 hard. Its not the optimal solution i was looking for, but at least it takes the. If so, run the uninstaller and remove it that could easily be part of the problem. If youd like to login as an admin, please click here. Locate and open to the wd smartware virtual cd vcd on the drive you want to unlock in one of the following ways. Hard drives not showing in disk managerthis pc in windows. The vcd looks like an actual cd volume and appears on the screen each time you connect your wd drive to the computer. One testworkaround is to plug the device into a usb 2. Wd smartware virtual cd manager is an application developed by western digital to help. The vcd feature is added to the my passport and my book hard.