Question Why is my Toshiba Canvio USB 3.0 HD locked down?

[ArlisT]

It's there in 'Computer', it's there in 'Devices and Printers', it's there in 'Device Manager', but if I try and open it I can't get in. Tried to scan it with Malwarebytes, it won't let Malwarebytes open. In another thread, someone suggested Seagate software tool to check it, so I downloaded this, but as long as the HD is plugged in, it can't install the software. it will not let any anti-virus or anti-malware program open or install. I hate to reformat it because there's a lot of good stuff on there, but I finally just said screw it, and tried that - I can't even REFORMAT it.

How do I get into this thing?!

 

[jojesa]

The Toshiba Canvio USB 3.0 HDD comes with Toshiba Storage Security Software, which allows a user to secure the hard drive with a unique password to prevent unauthorized users from accessing the HDD data.
Run the Toshiba Storage Security Software and provide the password to unlock the HDD.

 

[ArlisT]

I have had this unit a couple years at least, and it has almost a terabyte of media on it. It didn't come with any software except what was already on the hard drive itself which I already stated I cannot open, so how I can enter the password (which it never asked for when I first got the thing) is a mystery to me. There is nothing in my computer with the name Toshiba except a folder called 'TOSHIBA Storage Diagnostic Tool' which contains nothing but a file called 'system_info' which I assume was generated by the software, and only consists of the relevant information about my computer itself.

As far as running the diagnostic software goes, assuming it is on the Canvio itself, as I stated before I cannot in any way shape or form access this hard drive.

It did let my Win7 laptop run a diagnostic and report to me that it was running properly, but right click open does nothing, double-clicking the icon does nothing, right-click scan with Malwarebytes does nothing, trying to open Malwarebytes manually to scan the unit is futile, since as long as the Canvio is plugged in, Malwarebytes will not even open. The fact it is so hostile to anti-virus and anti-malware makes me suspect the unit is infected, which is why I decided to reformat, but it won't even let me do that.

 

[jojesa]

Try formatting using Diskpart.
Open Command Prompt (Admin).
Type diskpart and hit Enter.
Type list disk and hit Enter.
You will see different drives listed, so take note of the drive you want to format.
Type select disk 2 and hit Enter (change the disk # with the # of the HDD you want to format)
Type clean and hit Enter
Type create partition primary and hit Enter.
Type select partition 1 and hit Enter
Type active and hit Enter