WD smartware password lock drive on older (ME) model HDD

[TonyP]

I recently purchased a new 750 GB passport essentials HDD. I was wondering if it's possible to use WD smartware's lock drive capability on an older model (i have a 5000ME)?

Thanks!

[TonyP]

No WD Gurus in the house...??? Or at least someone with relevant experience on the matter?

[Bill_S]

Unfortunately, no it's not possible.

[georgectv]

Similar but different question... I have a WD3200ME My Passport Essential that I got the day after Thanksgiving.  I don't see anything listed on WD's website concerning it.

I 'thought' when I first hooked it up, that it had an option to password protect the drive.  I'm certain it did not come with Smartware software on it which is fine.  But is there any option for password protecting the drive?

Thanks.

(Update - I did find the drive has another preinstalled program... WD Sync... it does have a place for a password to be entered... however it appears to be a method to password protect the profile I create for sync'ing data to the drive... so I can password protect the profile that tells the drive what files I want copied, but there is no method to protect someone from viewing the files I've stored on the drive?)

[drtdunham]

is anybody at WDmonitoring these boards?  I need an answer and here's a pertinent post--with no reply though it's four weeks old.  disappointing.

[Bill_S]

The WD Community was created for Users, such as yourself, to help one another, and to share your experiences and ideas with one another. As Moderators, we are here simply to facilitate and oversee the community.

I usually only step in if it's something dealing with just product knowledge.  I didn't see this second post.  WD Sync is a software solution for protecting data on our older WD Passports.  It's not a backup program.  The only solution we have for password protecting the whole drive, is found on our newer drives and it's called SmartWare. 

If you have any other questions relating the what's going on in the community, I will be happy to respond. However, if you are looking more for technical support from WD, you will need to contact them directly.  They don't really monitor the forum to do technical support.

To Contact WD for Technical Support
http://support.wdc.com/contact/index.asp?lang=en

[Nizzy]

You’re right georgectv . WD sync encrypts the data on the drive where as WD Smartware locks the drive.

I have replaced WD Smartware with Dmailer sync on my WD portable hard drive and Dmailer sync works in similar way to WD sync. But be warned – sync software is NOT backup software. You could loose data using sync software to backup your files.

So … as you you stated, files are visible on your drive but won’t appear as …

X:\users\public documents\secretletter.doc

… for example, but as …

X:\DmailerData\My profile\Data\Sync.4.0.deposit\a\a\0.dml

The .dml files are encrypted versions of your files. One profile on my portable hard drive contains approx. 49,000 dml files (file names 0.dml to 499.dml) in 99 folders (folders & sub-folder names a to z). So even though files can be viewed, they’re unreadable & secure (without the profile password).

Dmailer also have a free backup program called Dmailer Backup 3.0 which may suit your needs.

(PS: WD_sync which is now obsolete was written for Western Digital by Dmailer)