User Manual
inconvenience. Then, run all three whenever you encounter disk error conditions when
writing or accessing files.
1. Click Start > All Programs > Western Digital > WD Apps > WD Drive Utilities to display
the WD Drive Utilities screen, Diagnose dialog.
2. If you have more than one supported drive connected to your computer, select
the one that you want to check.
3. On the Diagnose dialog, click the button for the test that you want to run:
▪ Run Drive Status Check
▪ Run Quick Drive Test
▪ Run Complete Drive Test
Safely Disconnecting the Drive
Windows and Macintosh operating systems have a means for safely disconnecting
and removing the drive without turning off the system:
▪ Windows has a Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media icon in the system tray
which, when used, ensures that all data is
flushed from system cache before
device removal.
▪ Mac users can simply drag the drive icon to the trash before disconnecting it.
Due to the exFAT format of the drive, special care should be taken to follow the
steps listed above when disconnecting the drive. Failure to do so may result in data
corruption.
Erasing the Drive
Note:
Erasing your drive also deletes the WD software and all of the support
files and utilities. You can download these to restore your drive to its
original configuration after erasing it.
There are two ways to erase your drive, depending on whether it is locked or not:
IF your drive is . . .
AND you . . . THEN see . . .
Not locked, Want to erase the drive, Using the Drive Erase Function.
Locked Have forgotten or lost your
password and must erase the
drive,
Using Five Invalid Passwords
Using the Drive Erase Function
To erase your drive when it is not locked:
1. Open the WD Drive Utilities software by clicking either:
▪ The WD Drive Utilities desktop shortcut icon
▪ Start > All Programs > Western Digital > WD Apps > WD Drive Utilities
Managing and Customizing the Drive
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