Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
My Passport 2 TB USB 3.
When I connect the locked drive to a Windows 7 PC (that does not have WD SmartWare or any WD software installed), I select “Run WD Drive Unlock.exe”,
User Account Control (UAC) elevation prompt appears, requiring Administrator password in order to continue.
WD Drive Unlock then lets me enter password.
Unlocker offers checkbox “Enable auto unlock” for Administrator user.
How can I have this occur without UAC elevation prompt, so I can select “Enable auto unlock” for a standard user?
Or, is there another way to make WD Drive Unlock allow “Enable auto unlock” for a standard user?
Hello mate,
You will need to check the settings for the computer or disable the UAC.
ragdexx wrote:
Hello mate,
You will need to check the settings for the computer or disable the UAC.
Thanks for the reply.
Disabling UAC would be a ill-advised move. That would significantly reduce the security on a PC.
Surely WD has thought of a way to set “Enable auto unlock” for a standard user. Many other similar applications have ways to handle UAC but still allow settings for the standard user.
No one else wants to select “Enable auto unlock” for a a standard user account in Windows?
It appears like probably WD Drive Unlock has not been coded to fully comply with Windows 7 UAC standards. Often this is a result of the application trying to write files or access code in a way that is not Windows 7 approved.
I’ve used other account or device unlock tools that allow password entry without triggering the UAC elevation prompt. I think the WD Drive Unlock needs to be adjusted to be fully Windows 7 compliant, so that it can be used by a standard account without requiring Administrator approval.
Other users must be encountering this inconvenience. It makes no sense that a standard Windows user should have to know the Admin password in order to unlock a WD drive.
However, if users are running as Admin all the time, rather than doing the more secure route recommended by Microsoft of running as a standard user and leaving the Admin account just for when it’s needed, then I guess they wouldn’t see this as a problem. If they are the Admin, then they’d obviously know the Admin password.
But, it seems crazy that a standard user can’t unlock a drive unless they know the Admin password.
Also, it’[s annoying to have to go through the UAC elevation prompt and password just to unlock a WD drive.
