Do I need to back up the My Passport before I repartition it?
Only if you don’t care what happens to your data on it.
So I don’t have to worry about any software that may have been loaded? The Passport is brand new and has no data.
There is likely some WD supplied back up or other software on drive. Have you even looked at the drive contents on your PC?
I ran backup and restore to check the ability of the device. When I try to eject the Passport I keep getting that Windows is using “generic Volume device?” And it will not let me eject it. What do I have to do to close all the possible programs running on it? I thought that I had closed everything that could be running on it.
The best way to “remove” a drive that won’t let you do (be sure some other program is not access the drive) is to turn off the computer. The OS will definitely shut it down properly. Before turning PC back on, unplug the drive so it doesn’t boot up again. Once PC is fully on again. plug drive back in to see if you get the same message and you can remove it as normal before you get too far along using PC or drive again.
@Rod_Smith - This is a generic windows message that happens whenever anything is accessing the drive and you attempt to eject it. From my experiences, what is actually using the drive varies quite a bit. Here are some examples:
- An anti-virus could be scanning the drive.
- A folder on the drive could be open on the PC
- A folder on the drive could be open on a different PC on the network
- A file on the drive could be being read on a cellphone or other device on the network
- A file on the drive could be open in an application like Notepad.
- A backup application could be scanning the drive
- A file-sharing application could be reading a file on the drive
- Malicious software could be installed on the PC and is currently accessing something on the drive or scanning the drive.
The first thing I would do is ensure that no other devices are connected to the network and attempt an eject. If the drive still won’t eject than the problem is likely on the PC itself - from there it’s just a matter of determining what is running and could possibly be accessing the drive. If you press ctrl-alt-delete and select “Task Manager” you can get a list of all applications currently running to help you make this determination.
Thanks for the nice laundry list; many I knew about; some I didn’t. I have checked Task Mgr and not always found the problem, so properly shutting down PC gives Windows the opportunity to properly close programs, including the one causing the issue. There never have been any animals harmed by doing this.
Next Question. I was able to backup and restore my computer in the first partition of my Passport. I then wanted to do the same for my wife’s computer (same model same software) and was first surprised that when I plugged in the passport it did not prompt me to load their software. So I went to the WD website and downloaded the software (utilities, backup, security and quick look) and when it prompted me to do the first backup it could not find the Passport (or anything else for that matter). What am I doing wrong?
