How to Reset Western Digital My Book World Edition

A Western Digital My Book World Edition is an external hard drive that can be used to store digital files and programs. The My Book World Edition allows you to set a password for the unit to protect your files. If you forget the password, you won’t be able to access your files. A My Book World Edition also generally stores hidden copies of your files even after you’ve deleted them, making it difficult to safely get rid of the device when you no longer want it. Both of these issues can be solved through a reset.

Password Reset

Make sure the Western Digital My Book World Edition is off. Unplug the power adapter and the cable that connects it to the computer from the back of the unit.

Use a paper clip to press the reset button on the back of the unit in. The reset button is located directly between the power port and the Ethernet data port.

Hold the reset button in, and plug the data cable and the power cable back into the unit. Wait until the lights on the unit light up and then count to 10 before letting go of the unit’s reset button. The unit boots up and the “AutoPlay” window displays on the computer screen.

Use the default username and password for the unit to get into the hard drive. According to the Western Digital My Book World Edition user manual, “admin” is the default username and either “123456” or “admin” is the default password for the unit, depending on your version of the My Book World Edition drive.

Reset to Factory Settings

Download the computer software for your Western Digital My Book World Edition if you don’t have it installed on your computer. The software can be downloaded on the Western Digital website (see Resources.) Install the software to your computer.

Go to the “Start” menu. Click “All Programs,” the “Western Digital” folder and then “My Book World Edition Software” to launch the software.

Switch to the “System” tab. Click either the “Restore Configuration” or “Full Restore” button on the tab, depending on your My Book World Edition drive.

Click the “Browse” button, select the factory settings default restoration point, and then “General Restore” to return the unit to factory settings, or click “Full Restore” and then “Restore Factory Default,” again depending on your specific My Book World Edition device. The unit powers off, all data is erased from the hard drive and the My Book is returned to factory settings.