WD MyCloud - Very intermittent connection and inability to switch user shares on Windows 10

#1

Essentially, the WD MyCloud sometimes appears as a computer on Windows Explorer > Network but most of the time does not. Sometimes it will appear as a computer on Windows Explorer > Network but when you click on it, the device will fail to make a connection with the WD My Cloud. On the occasion it does make a connection you will not be able to swap from one user share to another which I imagine is an issue with Windows Credential Manager but even when you clear all associated log ins to the MyCloud on Windows Credential Manager and restart the system it still refuses to connect to a different user share.

I understand there has been a running sequence of incompatibilies with Windows 10 from browsing this forum and others but to this date I have not found any consistent set of solutions. Are Western Digital developing an updated firmware with successful compatibility with Windows 10?

I have performed a quick self diagnostics test and no issues were found.

Screenshot below from a laptop running Windows 10 Home 64 Bit Version 1803 OS Build 17134.407. I have performed a network reset on this laptop and the WD MyCloud shows as a storage and media device but still it does not show as a computer so I cannot attempt to access the files through windows explorer. SMB 1.0/CIFS/Automatic Removal/ Client/ Server are all ticked.

WD%20My%20Cloud%20Support_Window%2010%20Home
WD My Cloud Support_Window 10 Home.png794x400 22.7 KB

Here are some of the errors I am encountering. The below is present on a desktop running Windows 10 Education (64 Bit) Version 1809 OS Build 17763.134. SMB 1.0/CIFS/Automatic Removal/ Client/ Server are all ticked.
WD%20My%20Cloud%20Support_Windows%20cannot%20access
WD My Cloud Support_Windows cannot access.png1049x538 31 KB

This has been a running issue for a very long time. I want to say since Windows 10 was installed on these systems very shortly after it was released back in 2015. Windows 10 has been reinstalled on some machines since then but made no difference. At this point I shall try again to get a consistent solution but I’m looking at just buying another desktop and building my own NAS. I believe my device is the first gen of WD MyCloud with 2TB storage and it runs the current firmware: WDMyCloud v04.05.00-327 : Core F/W which was last updated on Tuesday, May 15, 2018 at 5:10:49 AM. At the time this product cost a lot of money but it has only caused a lot of inconvenience. Essentially I have a lot of files on a hard drive that I cannot use windows explorer to browse, save or download from. Chocolate teapot anyone?

Of course it still works fine on a laptop running Windows Vista.

Help me.

#2

I guess I am a lucky one. I have a 1st and a 2nd generation My Clouds, using Windows 10 with all updates on both a laptop and desktop, and have not had any major problems with them or connecting to this forum. I reboot all my devices on my home network once a week. I just bought a new router and wi-fi range extender. The router is a Linksys EA9400 but shows as the EA9500 on my network and the range extender is the RE9000.

image

When I have had the My Clouds not show up on my desktop as a computer a reboot of the desktop solves the problem and they show. I have only had the new router a few days so I don’t know if that will solve the problem of them not showing up as computers occasionally on my desktop.

#3

I am happy it is working for someone. Restarting any device does not seem to make a difference. Enabling SMBv1 doesn’t make a difference and is deemed dangerous. I’ve been in contact with WD Support and their latest recommendation is to back up the files, wipe the drive, restore to default settings and start again. Not entirely helpful if I’m honest as the MyCloud is the back up drive where we put copies of files thus we won’t have anything big enough to back everything up to in one location. We’ll have to buy another HDD which begs the question why not just replace the MyCloud.

There is some sort of issue with Windows 10 but WD does not seem interested in investigating the issue with Microsoft and would rather leave it to the customer.

#4

I have been trying to investigate the issue on the Microsoft Community forums because Western Digital do not seem to have any suggestions. Using the Run command and entering \WD MyCloud IP Address*User Share* I am able to connect to the WD MyCloud in its entirety and pin it to quick access but only on Windows 10 Home.

Windows 10 Enterprise and Education behave differently to Windows 10 Home and Pro. The following article explains this and enabled me to connect my Windows 10 Education device to the WD My Cloud by mapping it via its IP address.

However, this solution masks the issue that Windows 10 cannot detect the WD MyCloud as a computer automatically and I am still unable to switch between password protected user shares because it won’t allow you too unless you clear the saved credentials in Windows and restart the system which was never the case on previous Windows OSs. To get around this I have just enabled full access to all drives from all WD MyCloud log ins which isn’t ideal but there isn’t much choice. At this point I am fortunate to now have consistent access to my files but the device is still not acting as intended.