portable hard drive showing up as folder not HD

Joined
Jan 5, 2011
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I just bought a new WD external harddrive and formatted it and started using it as a time machine backup drive. But now it doesnt show up as a harddrive, it just shows up as a folder and i cant reformat it. And these now come with password protections that i didnt enable but it wants a password. Any suggestions on how to get it to show up as a hard drive again or force reformat it?
 

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
Which Western Digital hard drive did you buy? Model number and capacity?
 

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
I just read through the specs for that drive. I'm assuming first that you have it connected as USB 2 and not 3 since USB 3 is not supported.

Also, have you turned off the hardware encryption? I'm not even sure how to do that as it didn't say. It seems to me if it's asking you for a password, then encryption may be turned on. Is there a jumper or switch on the drive to turn it off?
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top