Where is WD mycloud desktop app for windows 7

Okay - long story follows, but cutting to the chase…

I have been searching for the MyCloud desktop app for Windows 7. All roads led back to the WD Support Downloads page, but I just do not see it.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

And the details in case they matter…

My Cloud NAS was already setup on home network with one Windows 10 PC and one Mac, plus assorted Android and iOS devices, and working fine. My wife will inherit my son’s old laptop (Windows 7 SP1), which he no longer uses, so I have been updating the machine with latest Windows updates, etc. I have tried to get access to the cloud drive, with limited success. I added my son (with his email and PC name) as a User, and I can see mycloud as a network device. Now, I want to map mycloud as a drive on this machine as I have done on my other PC, using WD Access. I went to WD Support and downloaded WD Smartware and WD Access. Smartware installed. Access did not install, which I can tell from looking under All Programs > Western Digital, where I also noted that the MyCloud desktop app was not there. Thinking maybe the failure of the WD Access installation might be related to the absence of the MyCloud app, I went searching for the MyCloud desktop app, which gets back to the leading question…

WD appears to be depreciating the My Cloud Desktop program in favor of the MyCloud.com web portal when it comes to remote accessing the My Cloud.

For local network access to the My Cloud just use Windows File Explorer (or Mac Finder if using a Mac). To make things easier, “map” the My Cloud to the local computer.

http://support.wdc.com/knowledgebase/answer.aspx?ID=2676

http://support.wdc.com/knowledgebase/answer.aspx?ID=2686

Edit to add: While WD has removed most of the links to the Desktop program these links currently appear to still be active:

WD My Cloud Desktop for Windows: http://download.wdc.com/nas/WDMyCloud_win.exe
WD My Cloud Desktop for Mac: http://download.wdc.com/nas/WDMyCloud_mac.dmg

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Awesome. Thank you.

The easiest way to map, I found was using WD Access. But as I indicated in the details, no luck in installing WD Access (and clearly unrelated to mycloud desktop app). As a newbie here, I assume this should be posted as a separate topic (unless it is a well-known issue that I have missed)?

You do not need WD Access or any other WD software to map the My Cloud. As the link posted above and again below indicates you can map the My Cloud through Windows File Explorer or Mac Finder.

http://support.wdc.com/knowledgebase/answer.aspx?ID=2676

If you are unable to map the drive following the steps in the link then post the specific error message.

Still curious why I can’t install WD Access, but I’ll take that offline. I have tried mapping in Windows 7 and Windows 10 previously, and always failed on Windows Credentials. Apparently the one private share on the NAS is driving the need for credentials, which are not Windows Credentials as in Username/Password for Windows 7, but the mycloud ui username and password (or blank for password off) for the owner of the private share. Who’da thunk it? Anyway, I was able to map the private share with the mycloud ui credentials, and map the public shares separately without credentials. I have seen from this and past attempts that confusion over credential input is ubiquitous on the internet. I will make a note of this under a separate topic with a conspicuous title and post links in some other sites I researched.

Thank you much for your help!

[quote=“Jay_Akers, post:5, topic:206171, full:true”]
Still curious why I can’t install WD Access…[/quote]
WD Access and the rest of the WD software is not needed for local access to the My Cloud or to configure the My Cloud. The entire My Cloud setup can be done through the My Cloud Dashboard UI using a web browser.

Part of confusion on which username/password to use stems from not reading the My Cloud User Manual or My Cloud Dashboard Help. Or stems from not understanding how Windows credentials work and how they generally DO NOT get used on entry level consumer NAS devices unless those NAS devices support being the master credentials manager for the network (something like Active Directory if I remember right). Generally what people will do is use the My Cloud Dashboard to create username/passwords that are identical to those used on their Windows (or Mac) computer.

The other common problem that is entirely due to Windows is the inability on Windows to access two different Private Shares using two different usernames and passwords. People blame the My Cloud when its actually Windows that is the cause.

Bottom line is a lot of basic confusion on how to use the My Cloud and how to create/use Users and Shares stem from people not reading the User Manual. Partly due to the fact that WD doesn’t (or didn’t the last time I setup a My Cloud out of the box) make it a point to provide users a link to the User Manual, didn’t include one on the My Cloud hard drive, or didn’t include a printed version in the box.

User Manual 4779-705147 (PDF) (Firmware 02.xx.xx): http://products.wdc.com/library/?id=439&type=25

User Manual 4779-705103 (PDF) (Firmware 04.xx.xx): http://products.wdc.com/library/?id=439&type=25&cn=4779-705103

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Windows doesn’t allow the use of mixed credentials to access a network drive.

So, if you have a private share, you need to enter your WD MyCloud user credentials, for both private and public shares; you can force the use of credentials when you map a drive. The chances are that if you enter private share credentials first, windows will default to using those credentials for any other any other share on the MyCloud, without you having to force the use of credentials.

This is a Windows problem, not a MyCloud problem. Although it’s a shame that the user manual does not mention this very common problem.

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Great advice. I have the mapping squared away, and I concur that nothing in the WD software suite was needed. My curiosity regarding the inability to install WD Access is that it may be rooted in a system problem that will bite me elsewhere.

And you are right, I did not read the User’s Manual. My wife purchased and set up the NAS, and did not create username/passwords that are identical to those on any computer on the network. Live & learn. Having setup my PC, I assumed that the same steps would be easier for the next PC. Bad assumption. And I know almost nothing about Windows credentials, having little need outside a home network.

Good note on Windows limitations, it was clear from my little research that Windows is the only OS with this limitations, so no fault to MyCloud for that.

This is great information, and hopefully others might avoid troubles by referencing the guidance here. I will, however, say that I actually located the manual online in the course of these activities, and the information related to credentials was still not clear to me. It was actually another post in the WD Community that clued me in to using the UI username/password for the private share (I did not bookmark that post, but several in the community contain similar details).

The manual generally refers to the “appropriate password” or the password for your user account, which in the context of an inexperienced user may be unclear. (The note on Page 86 clarifies pretty well, but is related to failure to remap a drive on restart and might not be referenced on initial mapping or setup.) In the context of what I know now, it all makes sense. Still, there might be an opportunity to add a “dumbed down” level of clarity with a footnote or FAQ entry on this topic in the manual or website. Food for thought.

And thanks again for your insights, I would undoubtedly still be banging my head on the wall without a push in the right direction.

It’s still there.