So if ones wants to use this portable drive as intended you cannot put a password unlocker password on it? As you will not be able to access the Passport if you do not have administrator permision on the computer the Passport is plugged into?
Stupidly, yes.
The Unlocker is poorly designed. When a standard Windows user account connects a locked drive and launches WD Drive Unlock.exe (prompt pops up in AutoPlay), UAC (User Access Control) elevation occurs and the administrator password is required. That is a the fault of the WD programmers - they should not require Admin permissions to do a simple drive unlock when the correct password is entered.
I also have a thread here on a related subject.
If I set up the drive and secure password on a home computer (Win XP) and take it to work (Win 7) — first, do I have to have software installed on the work computer, or will it merely ask for a password? And, it sounds from this thread that I’m stuck if I do not have admin access to the work computer anyway?
The unlocker software would run from the VCD. You would not need to install anything on the itinerant PC. But, as discussed, unless you have Administrator rights on the PC, you won’t be allowed to unlock the drive.
It’s entirely foolish on the part of WD designers. The unlocker should be written to allow a Windows standard user account to enter the drive password to unlock the drive.
You would think WD would put out a fix. Thinking back this goes to Costco and buy a brand that works. Or do they all do this?
There’s no good reason for them to do it that way. There are plenty of security applications that don’t require Admin rights. And, some that do require Admin rights only need them once, when the Admin can check an option to allow standard users to access the application on subsequent launches.
It’s likely more an oversight than anything. Likely the WD programmers all run their PCs as Administrator all the time. So, it doesn’t occur to them that standard users need to be able to unlock a drive.
Microsoft and many security experts strongly recommend that you not run your PC as Administrator all the time. They properly recommend that for day-to-day use you run as a standard user, going to Admin only when needed. It’s a sensible arrangement. But, a programmer who never runs as a standard user doesn’t see how his application works for a standard user, or in the case of WD Unlocker how it does not work for a standard user.
