Hi,
because the support of “WD Backup” has ended, I’ve recently switched to “Acronis True Image for Western Digital” OEM version as suggested at the official product page Software and Firmware Downloads | WD Support
As stated by the Acronis documentation, the Backup encryption should be part of the Settings options e.g. Acronis True Image Help
The first problem is that this important features is missing in the Acronis OEM version of WD.
So I’ve tried out to use “WD Security” to encrypt the complete external drive. I unlock the drive, do a backup with Acronis - fine.
This works fine as a workaround using Windows only.
But Acronis proposes to create a “Rescue Media Builder” stick too in case of a complete system crash. This way I would be able to boot by this stick and recover e.g. complete disks.
The 2nd problem is, that the drive, which is encrypted with “WD Security”, cannot be unlocked when booted to the rescue stick.
So, I am forced to create a backup without any encryption at all using the Acronies OEM version of WD to be able to use the rescue stick because
- Encryption option is missing in the settings of Acrones OEM of WD
- Drive cannot be unlocked using the rescue stick when encrypted with WD Security
To WD, I think that backup encryption is nowadays a must-have feature for every serious backup-software and the Acronis OEM version of WD is useless this way.
Please provide a new Acronis OEM version which includes this functionality or can someone explain to me, how I can create encrypted backups using Acronis OEM of WD and recover this later by the rescue stick?
Hi @foobarbaz,
Please contact the WD Technical Support team for best assistance and troubleshooting:
https://support-en.wd.com/app/ask
@Keerti_01 thanks for your answer. I’ve opened a ticket at the WD technical support with the same problem description from above and here is the answer
Dear xxx,
Thank you for contacting Western Digital Customer Service and Support. My name is Kate S.
I understand your concern regarding My Passport drive. Rest assured will assist you in a better way.
Based on your query, I would request you to please refer the below mentioned link in order to to restore the backup to your DAS drive:
Acronis True Image for Western Digital File Backup and Restore to a WD DAS
Perform File Backup & Restore to WD External Drive Using Acronis True Image for Western Digital
If you face any issue, please reply us with the screenshot of the error you are getting.
Sincerely,
Kate S
To be honest, this is not the answer I’ve expected and the technical support does not understand the actual problem, that Acronis OEM software WD is offering to customers to create backups is feature-restricted without the possibility to create and restore encrypted backups.
Acronis has the functionality to encrpyt backups usually integrated, see Acronis Documentation “Backup Encryption” at
https://www.acronis.com/en-us/support/documentation/ATIMAC2018/index.html#37097.html
But the WD OEM version does not provide this option to encrypt backups, not select-able, somehow removed in the software.
Only chance is to encrypt/lock the drive with “WD Security” but then the drive cannot be unlocked when the Acronis rescue stick is used to restore a backup (reason WD Security is not part of the Acronis rescue stick/unlock cannot be executed).
The possibility to create encrypted backups was an important buy-decision for me and a reason I’ve decided for WD. Now the feature is gone 
What do you propose next?
Hi!
Unfortunately you’re right. Yesterday I’ve installed Acronis True Image 2021 WD edition and I immediately realized that this important feature has been cut off from the commercial version. That’s a real pity, because encryption is absolutely necessary for sensitive data. I’m using a ex2 ultra Nas and I don’t want to encrypt it, because of the performance drop. So I need to make encrypted backups. At least for sensitive data. So I think I’m going to use another backup software, buying a perpetual commercial license.
Are there any alternative encryption methods or tools that can be used in conjunction with Acronis WD Edition for added security such as Coffee?
I’m sorry if I’m not answering to your question regarding Acronis, but I had to find another reliable solution with EaseUS. They have the same features AND encryption in their free version.
To encrypt backups with acronis WD Edition, create a new backup plan, select your destination, and enable encryption in the settings. choose a strong password and save it securely, as Acronis won’t recover encrypted data without it. Confirm that the encryption is active before starting the backup.
