Dealing with a write protected external WD HDD?
- Thread starter asadaga
- Start date
SuperSoph_WD
Glorious
- Jul 30, 2014
- 6,758
- 3
- 45,960
Hey there, asadaga!
I'm sorry you encounter such issues with your external WD hard drive.
This issue can occur when the computer wakes from sleep or hibernate while the external is still plugged in. During sleep or hibernate, an external drive with password protection will lock itself to prevent data access.
There are several ways you can try to resolve the issue.
1. As @shac2014 mentioned, you can simply go to device manager and uninstall the USB drivers, disconnect the external, reboot your computer and plug back in. If you have Windows Update set automatically, it will reinstall the drivers by itself.
2. If you do have a password on your external, you can open the WD external Virtual CD-ROM, click on the Unlock.exe application and enter your password to unlock the HDD: http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5747
3. If the problem persist, I suggest you test the drive using Data LifeGuard Diagnostics tool and perform an extended test on it: http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/940
Hope this helps you.
SuperSoph_WD
I'm sorry you encounter such issues with your external WD hard drive.
This issue can occur when the computer wakes from sleep or hibernate while the external is still plugged in. During sleep or hibernate, an external drive with password protection will lock itself to prevent data access.
There are several ways you can try to resolve the issue.
1. As @shac2014 mentioned, you can simply go to device manager and uninstall the USB drivers, disconnect the external, reboot your computer and plug back in. If you have Windows Update set automatically, it will reinstall the drivers by itself.
2. If you do have a password on your external, you can open the WD external Virtual CD-ROM, click on the Unlock.exe application and enter your password to unlock the HDD: http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5747
3. If the problem persist, I suggest you test the drive using Data LifeGuard Diagnostics tool and perform an extended test on it: http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/940
Hope this helps you.
SuperSoph_WD
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