Install WD Discovery for Windows. Software for Mac. Install WD Discovery for Mac. WD Access for Mac. WD Arkeia Network Backup. WD Drive Utilities for Mac.
WD SmartWare is included with many WD external drives. This backup software is completely optional and does not need to be installed in order to use the drive.
Important Notes:
The Virtual CD (VCD) included on these drives can only be disabled and cannot be removed from the drive. For assistance disabling the VCD please see Answer ID 18331: How to remove (disable/hide) the Virtual CD (VCD) for Windows or Mac OSX on a WD My Book or WD My Passport.
WD SmartWare is required in order to use the label included on some drives such as the My Book Elite. Please see Answer ID 14673: How to change the Label Name on a WD My Book (+ WD SmartWare) external drive for assistance using the label. Once the label is set you can uninstall WD SmartWare.
If WD SmartWare is already installed and you would like to remove it, please see Answer ID 15636: How to uninstall WD SmartWare from Windows (7, Vista, or XP) and Mac OSX (10.4, 10.5, and 10.6).
There are several different ways you can use the drive without WD SmartWare:
You can use the drive without any backup software. Both Windows and Mac OSX allow you to move files to and from the drive without any special software installed. Please see Answer ID 18911: How to move or copy files from one hard drive to another in Windows or Answer ID 11254: How to move files or folders to a different hard drive on a Mac for assistance using the drive in this manner.
You can use the drive with Windows Backup (on Windows) or Time Machine (on a Mac). If you are having trouble using Windows Backup please see Answer ID 15928: Windows Backup or Windows Live One Care does not recognize a WD hard drive. Please see Answer ID 18952: Starting macOS Time Machine Backups to My Passport and External USB Drives for assistance using Time Machine.
Your WD drive should work with most third-party backup applications. Please contact the manufacturer of the software you would like to use prior to purchase to ensure it is compatible with your model drive. Western Digital does not keep a list of compatible backup software and would not be able to confirm compatibility with any specific third party backup software. When using these applications be sure to point your backup to the actual external drive and not the Virtual CD (VCD). If your drive is locked, third party applications will not see the drive until the password is entered.