Western Digital My Book/Passport drives.

[Blindgroping]

So, I got two WD My passport drives 320gb.
I was wondering why there were so many on Ebay and why they were cheaper than the others.

They come with a pre-installed WD SmartWare cd emulation software (and other crap) that turns the drive into a 297gb drive.
Now, I couldn't even change the name of the drive until I dug into the properties a few layers.
But the program remains.
Add/remove program does not work.

I went online and found a way to hide the new CD drive, but I want more then hiding.

Does anyone know how to delete the program and folders itself so I can have that 20gb back?

Additionally, reformatting options only allow one at the 297gb option.

 

[Conchaga]

Next time shell out the cash and get a 1T WD Passport. Who buys anything less than 500gb any more?

 

[Conchaga]

In other words, you're s.o.l.

 

[Eggs Mayonnaise]

People bitched at WD for ages about the ammount of space their allegedly helpful embedded software takes up, and I think they finally offered a patch or something that enables you to remove it. Check on their site.

My 2TB MyBook drive worked like a dream until it dropped on the floor and its cheap hard plastic shell cracked. But that's a whole other thread in this forum...

 

[Blindgroping]

People bitched at WD for ages about the ammount of space their allegedly helpful embedded software takes up, and I think they finally offered a patch or something that enables you to remove it. Check on their site.

The site only tells how to hide the virtual CD drive that the software created, the 20gb program remains.
Unless you can exactly show me the thread you are talking about, I tried the one that was "supposed to" work.
(the two step process: firmware update then the software update)

 

[Blindgroping]

Next time shell out the cash and get a 1T WD Passport. Who buys anything less than 500gb any more?

I didn't have the money for that sized single purchase.

 

[Eggs Mayonnaise]

I have 2 1TB WD drives that are in sturdy metal/rubber cases that are indestructible. The inner drive of my 2TB is their "green" internal drive which worked great, but they really skimped on the casing to keep the price down. I'm still trying to retrieve 1.6TB of data from it...

 

[Archibald Nixon]

I've got a 500gb WD drive myself, which I only recently started to use. I'm looking to do the same thing with it --not for any desperate need to recover space, but because I find the WD software highly irritating & unnecessary.

Found this:

http://www.fixya.com/support/t2499990-completely_remove_wd_sync_software

HOW TO BYPASS THE CRAPPY SOFTWARE
---------------------------------------------
1. Install WD Smartware and update it.
2. Run Virtual CD (VCD) Manager at http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/updates/?family=wdsmartwareutilities
to remove the virtual CD drive.
3. Use Control Panel add/remove programs to uninstall WD Smartware.
4. Everytime When you plug the hard drive in Windows will come up with the look for drivers window hit 'Cancel'
5. Now use it as an ordinary hard drive!

Assuming you are using XP, Vista, or 2000 you can format it as a NTFS drive. while a lt of folks do not like Vista, this is one area where it really shines.

Plug in your WD PASSPORT.

Bring up the START menu -> right click COMPUTER-> select MANAGE -> select STORAGE ->select DISK MANAGEMENT.

Find the dive -> select/highlight the WD PASSPORT -> right click and select FORMAT. make sure to format as an NTFS drive. Depending on the size of the drive this might take a while - so go have dinner and a movie.