DriveErase

WD Drive Utilities Help

Erasing the drive

CAUTION! Erasing your drive permanently deletes all of the data on the drive. Always back up the data on the drive before erasing it.

Note: Erasing your drive also deletes the WD software and all of the support files, utilities, and user manual files. You can download these to restore your drive to its original configuration after erasing it. See Restoring the WD software and disk image.

The WD Drive Utilities™ software provides two ways to erase your drive, depending on whether it is locked or not:

 

Using the WD Drive Utilities Drive Erase function

  1. If you have more than one supported device connected to your computer, select the one that you want to erase.
  2. Click Drive Erase to display the Drive Erase dialog.
  3. On the Drive Erase dialog:
    1. For a RAID-enabled WD dual-drive storage device configured as individual drives, select the check box for each drive that you want to erase:
      • Erase Drive A or Erase Drive 1
      • Erase Drive B or Erase Drive 2
    2. If you want to change the name of a volume, type over the name in the Volume Name box.
    3. Select the option to specify the file format for each volume:
      • HFS+J
      • ExFAT

      Note that the exFAT (extended File Allocation Table) format is not configurable on some RAID-enabled WD dual-drive storage devices.

    4. For some RAID-enabled WD dual-drive storage device, if you want to perform a secure erase operation on a drive, select its Perform a secure erase check box.

      Note: Selecting this option ensures all data on the device is erased. This will take several hours to complete. If you do not select this option, a quick erase will be performed and the data may be recoverable using disk recovery software.

    5. Read the warning about the loss of data if you erase your drive.

      Important: If you want to save any of the data that is on the drive, back it up to another storage device before continuing with the drive erase.

    6. Select the I understand check box to signify that you accept the risk and activate the Erase Drive button.

    7. Click Erase Drive.
  4. When prompted, type your computer logon password in the Password box and click OK.
  5. When the erase operation completes, click OK to close the message display.

Note: Erasing your drive also removes your password. If you used a password to protect your drive, you will need to re-create it using the WD Security™ software.

Using five invalid passwords

When you have lost or forgotten your password, you can erase the locked drive by entering five invalid passwords on the Unlock Drive dialog:

  1. Make five attempts to unlock the drive by:
    1. Typing a password in the Password box.
    2. Clicking Unlock Drive.
  2. The fifth invalid password attempt displays the Drive Erase dialog with a Too many invalid passwords prompt.
  3. Read the warning about erasing all of the data on your drive and select the I understand check box to signify that you accept the risk and activate the Erase Drive button.
  4. Click Erase Drive.
  5. When prompted, type your computer logon password in the Password box and click OK.
  6. When the erase operation completes, click OK to close the message display.

Note: Erasing your drive also removes your password. If you still want to use a password to protect your drive, you will need to re-create it using the WD Security software.

Restoring the WD software and disk image

In addition to deleting all of the data on your drive, erasing the drive also deletes the WD software and all of the support files, utilities, and user manual files.

If you ever need to remove and reinstall the WD software on your computer, or move the drive to another computer and install the software there, you will need to restore the WD software and disk image on your drive. To do this, after you have erased the drive, see Knowledge Base answer ID 7 at http://support.wd.com.

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