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04/18/10 Posted By Dave
Independent Security Specialist
Toymaster Security Lab
I have had some queries
lately regarding Western Digital external hard drives and the
included software named SmartWare.
It seems a number of purchasers of
Western Digital external hard drives do not like to imbedded
software, how it works, or the system resources it consumes.
They would much prefer to use the
backup software they already have and are used to.
This subject has come up so many times
(today again, in fact) in the past six months that I decided to
write this paper.
I must say that I am not
surprised, and I feel the same way.
I personally dislike SmartWare and the
way it operates.
It does not give any granular control
or choices as to exactly what is backed up, and it can start up and
use a lot of system resources at the most inopportune times.
Further, I have found that not all the
files you assume will be backed up are indeed backed up.
Sometimes, files you might consider
very important are left alone with no backup.
No problem, you say, I
will just remove the program.
So, off you go to the control panel and
merrily remove SmartWare from your computer.
It is now gone, right?
Wrong.
It is only gone until the next time you
restart your computer, or plug the external hard drive back in
again.
In addition, if you check, the virtual
CD with Smart Ware is actually still running.
Yeah, but the icon is now gone from my
tool tray.
Trust me, the virtual CD is still
running.
It seems the next step
for most users is to fire up their trusty browser, and use a search
engine to find out how to remove this stuff and regain full control
of the new external hard drive.
Believe me when I say that a search
will yield a ton of results and a whole lot of very bad advice on
this subject.
Many users I have seen commenting on
forums and asking for help are so upset they indicate they will
never buy a Western Digital external drive again, and are now
purchasing another new external drive from Seagate, Maxtor etc. that
they can be happy with.
One individual on a forum that was
quite belligerent indicated he was so frustrated he trashed four
(that’s right, 4)
1 TB WD external drives and went out
and bought four more new ones from Seagate.
Boy what a waste of money and time.
He will be learning the hard way that
Seagate external drives are actually not as good and do not last as
long, plus they run hotter.
This is all most
unfortunate because Western Digital actually makes excellent, high
quality hard drives, both external and internal.
I have been a big fan of WD drives for
quite some time now, and have never had any real problems with any
of them.
Most of my external drives have run
24/7/365 for around seven years before they start to die.
The real problem is too many people
that do not know what they are doing, searching the Internet for
advice from a lot of other ‘experts’ that do not know what they are
doing or talking about either.
The end result is a lot of unhappy and
frustrated folks that didn’t need to be that way, all because of
lack of knowledge and bad advice.
But gee, if it was on the Internet on a
forum with [perceived] technical experts, and they say this cannot
be removed; they must be right, right?
Wrong again.
The whole issue can be
easily resolved if any of these people, ‘experts’ included, would
stop yelling and talking about things they have no knowledge of and
try something novel for a change – contact the manufacturer.
Gee, what a refreshing new concept!
If Western Digital made it, they might
just have the answer, right?
Yes – correct for a change.
So there is a solution?
You bet there is, and it is a very good
one.
Western Digital explains the situation this way:
“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). The VCD contains
the WD SmartWare installation software, the encryption and password
protection application, User Manuals, and other resource files. The
VCD looks like an actual CD volume and appears on the screen each
time you connect your WD drive to the computer.
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.
If
you don't wish to run WD SmartWare or use the security features, you
can disable the VCD following the steps below. The VCD can be
re-enabled by running the VCD manager”.
The entire solution, complete with Firmware
update files and VCD manager to control the virtual CD is located
here:
http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/updates/?family=wdsmartwareutilities
How ‘bout that – they
made it, and they do indeed have the solution!
Don’t condemn a good hard drive just
because you don’t like the software that comes with it.
A lot of users actually like the
software and it is the only backup solution they have.
You have to admit that the encryption
and password protection features are also very useful for the
average non-technical user as well.
To keep things as simple
as possible for you, I have used this procedure on four external
drives already and it works flawlessly.
I also have some recommendations for
you as we go through the instructions together so everything will go
quite smoothly for you, I promise.
These instructions are from the Web
page at Western Digital at the link location I have provided above.
If you are ready, here we go:
Virtual CD (VCD) Manager
Instructions
IMPORTANT:
The following precautions must be performed before installing the
firmware update:
- All
AntiVirus software MUST be disabled
- All
Anti-Spyware software MUST be disabled
- ANY and
ALL programs that would require drive access during the update
MUST be disabled
Failure to perform these
precautions may cause data corruption/loss and/or drive failure.
How to install the Virtual
CD Manager
Windows® XP,
Windows Vista®, Windows 7
I have found from experience that the following
is also quite true – Please follow my steps below in order, and do
not disable security software just yet.
- This also works on Windows 2000 SP 4
- You should actually begin by making sure
Auto Play (Auto Run) is disabled (You know that you should not
be running this anyway, right?)
- You should then safely eject and disconnect
your external drive(s)
- After the reboot,
connect only the drive with Smart Ware on it [if you have more
than one, you will have to repeat this procedure for each drive
– do only one connected drive at a time, leave the other(s)
disconnected]To save time, open
your browser and download the files to a WD folder you create on
your desktop so they are ready to go.
Put each download in a separate
named sub-folder so you won’t get confused as to which file is
which.
- Close your browser
- Unzip (extract) each file to the folder it
was downloaded into
- Reboot your computer, but disconnect from
the Internet
- Exit any automatic disk defrag programs you
might have installed
- Exit any backup software you have installed
-
Now you can disable (exit) your
security software
- Connect the external drive you will be
working with
Now on to Western Digitals’ instructions:
STEP 1: Firmware Update:
Release 2.003 (3/4/10)
Before
running the Virtual CD Manager, you must first update the firmware
on your hard drive.
-
Disconnect all other external drives from the computer except
for the My Book or My Passport drive you want to update.
- Ensure
that the My Book or My Passport drive is connected to a USB port
on your computer.
-
Download the Firmware Updater for Windows.
- Unzip
the file and double click to open the Firmware Updater.
- Click
Continue to update the firmware.
- Click
Accept the End User's License Agreement (EULA). The updater will
scan the drive which may take a few minutes.
- Verify
the attached drive's serial number located on the back of the
drive.
- Click
Update Firmware.
- Once
the updater is finished, click Exit.
- Turn
off the drive - For My Passport, disconnect the USB cable. For
My Book disconnect both USB and power cables.
- Wait 10
seconds. Reconnect the USB/power cables.
This is OK, but I would prefer to give it a
minute instead of 10 seconds.
STEP 2: Download and run
the VCD Manager
-
Download VCD Manager for Windows
(WDSmartWareVirtualCDManagerforWindows-v1.0.7.4.zip) to your
desktop.
- Unzip
the utility (Extract the file using an extraction utility.)
- Double
click WDSmartWareVirtualCDManagerforWindows-v1.0.7.4.exe.
- Click
Continue to disable the VCD.
- Once
the utility has found your drive, click Configure Drive and then
click Exit.
- Turn
off the drive - For My Passport, disconnect the USB cable. For
My Book disconnect both USB and power cables.
- Wait 10
seconds. (Again, I prefer you wait a minute) Reconnect the
USB/power cables that have been disconnected in the previous
step.
- Verify
that the VCD no longer appears.
- Restart your security software
- Reconnect to the Internet
- Restart your defragmenting software
- Restart your backup software
All Done!
Now, enjoy using your drive.
If you were paying attention, you only
shot about 10-15 minutes and now have the drive the way you wanted
it, and it is a very good drive.
Best Regards
Dave
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