Hello, i have a WD passport which was easy to set up password using WD software, baught the WD 4 tb elements, was not aware than it is not supported by softwared to encrypt & formulate a passwor.
Now how can I encrypt & make a password like WD passport or is that not possible & have to use tidious encrypting programs which take forever to encrypt even small parts
please help
thanks
The Elements line of drives were created for customers who specifically did not want onboard drive encryption or password protection. You would need to use another 3rd party program to perform these tasks.
Concerning Encryption/Password Protection, you may want to try BitLocker, the native drive encryption system of Windows. Now, depending on the size of your WD Elements, and how much files it has. it may take a few minutes to several hours. Mine took 10 hours to finish encrypting because I got 1.2Tb of data already on my drive. My advice before trying to use BitLocker is to make sure your WD Elements is empty.
support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detailweb/a_id/1837
seems some Elements drives have hardware support for encryption
But, good luck finding a brand new WD Elements USB 2.0 in 2022
2nd Hand / Preowned would be the only way to get your hands on one.
Oh… I wandered across this realm as I was trying to figure out how to secure my 4tb elements usb drive… It’s a few years old. I guess it’s probably a USB 3.0 though.
I thought elements weren’t sold new in any version. Or?
None of it matters actually, probably just best I delete all my homemade porn and start growing up anyway. Any security I try to pit on this thing now is probably just gonna cause myself trouble down the road (and not actually protect me from anything, anyway…) but it’s just that I swear I had it password protected at some point via the software that originally came with it… 
Hi,
Please find below some steps that you can try:
- Connect your Western Digital external hard drive to the computer using the USB cable. If the device is powered with AC power, plug the power cable into an electrical outlet.
- Go to the Western Digital Downloads page .Select your external hard drive from the Downloads section and click the “WD SmartWare Software” link to install the program. Launch the application when the installation process completes.
- Click the “Settings” tab on the program’s interface to display the “WD SmartWare Settings” screen, and then click “Set Up Drive” to display the Drive Settings screen.
Click the “Security” button to display the Set Security screen. Enter a password in the “Choose a password” box, and then enter it again in the Verify Password box.
5.
Type a phrase or statement in the Password Hint box. If you forget your password, you’ll be required to enter the hint to retrieve your Western Digital external hard drive’s contents.
6.
Click “Remember my password on this computer” if you want this computer to keep track of your password, so you don’t have to enter it each time you connect the hard drive. This function will only remember the password for the Windows account you’re logged into. If you sign in to a different account, you must enter the password again.
7.Click “I Understand” after reading and complying with the warning about data loss, and then click the “Save Security Settings” button.
Hope this help.
