ZOLTAN Gera and Nathan Ellington both opened their accounts for the season as Albion cruised past first-round giant-killers Peterborough.
Magic Magyar Gera added to his penalty strike for his country against Italy six days ago by opening the scoring with a 32nd-minute header.
And Ellington doubled the lead a minute before the break with a crisp finish to give the Baggies some breathing space against their League Two opponents.
The visitors spurned a host of other opportunities to increase their lead but it was not all one-way traffic, with Dean Kiely being called upon to pull off important saves in the second-half.
But Darren Ferguson's men never threatened to repeat their shock 2-1 win over Championship outfit Southampton in the previous round against an Albion side that has now only conceded once in 371 minutes of football.
Tony Mowbray made half-a-dozen changes as he elevated Jared Hodgkiss, Bostjan Cesar, Neil Clement, Richard Chaplow, Zoltan Gera and Nathan Ellington to his starting XI.
Carl Hoefkens, Leon Barnett, Paul Robinson, Pele, James Morrison and Kevin Phillips were the men to make way.
After a quiet start, the game exploded into life in the sixth minute when Ellington turned and threaded Chaplow in on goal.
The former Burnley midfielder squared for Craig Beattie who, with the goal at his mercy, curled the ball over from 15 yards.
Three minutes later, Chaplow slotted Filipe Teixeira through and he stepped inside his marker before seeing keeper Shwan Jalal block his effort with his left foot.
The gilt-edged chances kept coming when Ellington headed straight at Jalal after skipper Jonathan Greening had picked him out with a right-wing cross.
Chaplow then drifted past Josh Low and Gavin Strachan in the 15th minute before drilling the ball high over the bar from 18 yards.
Seconds later, Posh forced their first shot of the night when Aaron Mclean leapt highest and nodded the ball down for Low to fire a shot millimetres wide of the left-hand post from 15 yards.
Cesar underhit his backpass to Kiely in the 22nd minute and the former Ireland goalkeeper had to be alert to rush out and block at Chris Whelpdale's feet before seeing the ball out for a corner.
Four minutes later, Jamie Day forced a flying save from Kiely with a 20-yard free-kick that looked to be heading for the top right-hand corner of the net.
But the Baggies were soon back on the attack.
Just past the half-hour mark, the energetic Beattie connected with Greening's left-wing corner but saw his header cleared off the line by Day.
But it was only a temporary reprieve.
Two minutes later, Clement swung in a back-post corner which Gera headed home despite Jalal getting his hand to the ball.
The visitors almost doubled their lead in the 40th minute when Gera cut the ball back for Ellington, who miscued his shot.
Beattie pounced on the loose ball but saw his effort athletically cleared off the line by United captain Adam Newton.
Albion broke out of defence at pace a minute before the break and Clement picked out Gera on the right.
The Hungary international forced Jalal to parry his drive from just inside the area before Beattie headed the ball up in the air and Ellington smashed a volley home at the second attempt.
Albion were soon back on the attack after the break.
Ellington's long diagonal ball almost put strike partner Beattie in the clear in the 51st minute but Jalal was quick off his line to clear on the edge of his box.
A minute later, Day crossed from the right and Kiely pulled off a fine one-handed save to his left from Shane Blackett's header.
Danny Crow cut the rebound back for Charlie Lee who smashed the ball over when he should at least have hit the target.
Ferguson's men were now playing with renewed vigour.
Day centred again moments later and Lee looked to have pulled one back, only to see his downward header shave the outside of the left-hand post.
Albion regrouped and Cesar saw his header from Clement's free-kick easily gathered by Jalal in the 62nd minute.
Gera's instant cross three minutes later flashed across the face of goal with Ellington coming within inches of getting a vital touch.
At the other end, Mclean raced clear and unleashed a vicious 18-yard right-footed drive which flew into the side-netting.
Robert Koren made a welcome return from an eye injury in the 69th minute when he replaced Teixeira.
But Koren and Slovenia team-mate Cesar were unable to hault another powerful Mclean run and were grateful for Albrechtsen's last-ditch block.
Kiely was then forced to scramble across his goalline to prevent Mclean's header from Whelpdale's long throw-in creeping in.
Hodgkiss was denied his first-ever Albion goal in the 76th minute as he raced into the box to get on the end of Chaplow's cross and was thwarted at point-blank range by Jawal.
From that point on, the Baggies switched onto cruise control and restricted Peterborough to long-distance efforts.
PETERBOROUGH (4-4-2): Jalal; Newton, Westwood, Blackett, Day; Whelpdale (Potter 73), Strachan (Keates 73), Lee, Low; Mclean, Crow. Subs not used: Tyler (gk), Charnock, Howe.
ALBION (4-4-2): Kiely; Hodgkiss, Cesar, Albrechtsen, Clement; Gera, Chaplow, Greening, Teixeira (Koren 69); Beattie (Tininho 84), Ellington (MacDonald 79). Subs not used: Steele (gk), Martis.
GOALS: ALBION - Gera (33), Ellington (44).
BOOKINGS: ALBION - Cesar (unsporting behaviour 87).
REFEREE: M Thorpe (Suffolk).
ATTENDANCE: 4,917 (1,081 Albion fans).
ALBION STARMAN: Zoltan Gera.
PIC: ELL OF A VOLLEY...Duke smashes Baggies two-up
