I thought the failure to log in was a fault with the MyCloud Home Device and/or its software. I was wrong, it was totally unrelated programs installed on my P.C. interfering with the sign in process.
For months my 4TB Cloud Home came up with an error message when trying to Log In. This meant the contents were not available via the Desktop. No Drive Icon appeared, and a manual sign in resulted in an error message stating the process had failed. Sometimes it would eventually log in by itself after many hours, sometimes days.
The Drive was however always available via the URL.
I knew it was not an Internet / Modem problem as my 8TB device connected using a different P.C., via the same Network hardware.
This steps below are NOT a generalised ‘Try this and see’ as one so often finds described. It should definitely fix the matter if the fault lies with ‘other’ installed software.
IF YOU ARE HAVING A SIMILAR ISSUE:-
- Start your P.C. in ‘Safe Mode - with Internet’
- Run WD Discovery. As other programs will not have been auto started, if one of them was the culprit, the WD Drive should now log in automatically, or manually after a short time.
- IF you find, as I did, the Drive does now show as connected, then the problem is likely to be another ‘auto-starting’ program on your P.C., so now just a matter of ‘trial and error’ to discover the offending software.
NOTE - In Safe Mode look at the WD Discovery window to see if the drive has connected. The Drive Icon will appear on the Desktop, but it will not show the contents when clicked.
- Reboot normally, then one by one, disable any non-System Programs from starting automatically, and keep notes. I used WinOptimizer which made that just a matter of un-ticking a box.
It will take a little time, as you need to reboot every time to see if WD Discovery completes its signing in Windows process and connects the WD Drive (that is NOT immediate but should take no more than a minute).
POINT
Bear in mind there MAY be more than ONE auto-starting Program interfering with the Sign In process. You must take that into account when disabling each Program, and testing the result. That is why it is very important to keep ‘notes’ as you do this.
Each time you re-boot do NOT re-enable any Program until you are sure you have identified any with issues.
Once I had found the offending software, I only had to stop it (them) starting automatically. When the MyCloud device had signed in after Windows started I could run the problem software manually afterwards, and the Drive continues to work without issues. However if for any reason you Sign Out from your Drive, the problematic Programs will need to be disabled (if they allow themselves to be) before reconnecting the WD Drive. The easiest way will be to re-boot Windows, so they do not start immediately.
In my case it was two related installed Programs on my P.C. that were preventing logging in.
‘vcdplayer’ AND ‘virtual clone drive’
Once I disabled them from auto-starting then the 4TB Drive signed-in and connected within seconds, every time.
THE SIGN IN ISSUE IS ALSO LIKELY TO CAUSE PROBLEMS WHEN TRYING TO INSTALL WD DISCOVERY, OR UPDATING IT
so discovering the offending software is even more important.
