Western Digital My Passport is one of that external hard drives that come with 256-bit hardware encryption. As external hard drives can store large amounts of data then it is necessary for us to protect the data stored on them. Some years ago external hard drives were like USB flash drives with no encryption. Nowadays external hard drives come with built-in hardware encryption for data security.
Taking backups of your precious files is not enough, you should also secure it everywhere you are storing it. One such way is to install a password on your external hard drive. WD My Passport uses 256-bit hardware disk encryption encrypted with a key. The security of the drive is locked with the help of a password. Without the password, the drive can't be opened to view files. Whenever the WD unlocker software registers 10 invalid password attempts it gives you the option to erase your My Passport. In this situation, if you erase the drive then it will be a secure delete operation. No file can be recovered when you erase a password protected WD My Passport. What happens actually is that the software permanently deletes the key used for encrypting the data stored on the external drive. Technically it is impossible to recover any file after this scenario.
So if you have locked your WD My Passport then you will stay assure that if someone gets your drive then he can't unlock and view your files. However, he/she can use it as their own after a full erase. But your files can't be seen and recovered at any cost. So you see why it is necessary to password protect and encrypt your WD My Passport, the answer is sheer data security.
Taking backups of your precious files is not enough, you should also secure it everywhere you are storing it. One such way is to install a password on your external hard drive. WD My Passport uses 256-bit hardware disk encryption encrypted with a key. The security of the drive is locked with the help of a password. Without the password, the drive can't be opened to view files. Whenever the WD unlocker software registers 10 invalid password attempts it gives you the option to erase your My Passport. In this situation, if you erase the drive then it will be a secure delete operation. No file can be recovered when you erase a password protected WD My Passport. What happens actually is that the software permanently deletes the key used for encrypting the data stored on the external drive. Technically it is impossible to recover any file after this scenario.
So if you have locked your WD My Passport then you will stay assure that if someone gets your drive then he can't unlock and view your files. However, he/she can use it as their own after a full erase. But your files can't be seen and recovered at any cost. So you see why it is necessary to password protect and encrypt your WD My Passport, the answer is sheer data security.
How to Set Password for WD My Passport Ultra
- Download and install the WD security software.
- Connect your external drive to your PC via the USB cable.
- Launch the WD security software.
- Enter your password carefully. You can also enter a hint, but I won't suggest it.
- After entering the password click 'Set Password'. Wait for few seconds and the password will be installed and saved on to the ROM chip of the WD My Passport.
- Now exit the software and disconnect the drive. Then reconnect it.
- A popup will open as wdunlocker.exe. Click it to launch.
- To unlock it enter your password. You can also select the auto-unlock checkbox for the computer you use your drive mostly with.
- To remove password launch the software again.
- Select 'Remove password'. Enter your password. Then click 'Update Security Settings'.
- Your WD My Passport password will be removed.
➜ Warning: There is no way to reset the password on a WD My Password Ultra. So always remember the password and keep it safe by writing it somewhere. If you forget the password then it will be technically impossible to unlock the external hard drive. In this situation, you can only erase it by entering a wrong password ten times. After that, you will have an option to erase it. After erasing your WD My Passport you can use it again but the previous files can't be recovered.
If you liked the article then please share it.
You May Also Read
Get Blog Updates Via Email Subscribe Now
Please check your email for the verification link. Click on the verification link to start your email newsletter subscription.
No comments:
Post a Comment