Success!
Fortunately I have 2 MB Essentials, one is a 2 terabyte, the other a 1 terabyte (WDBAAF0020HBK and WDBAAF0010HBK, respectively). I was only trying to use the larger one (2T). I decided to give the 1T drive a try to see if it might work. It did.
With the 1T connected to the laptop I reset the system. WIN 8 asked me what it should do with the external device. I opened it in folder view. Then I started WD SMARTWARE. after going through the program installation the drive folder showed all the files. I connected the other drive (2T) and reset the system again. Upon opening the SMARTWARE application both drives we there, but not the files yet. Under the HOME tab there was an option to install the second drive (2T). After doing this the drive and all files were available in the windows explorer.
I believe the fix with only one drive would be to download and install the model specific WD SMARTWARE software.
Thanks for the use of the forum, Nick…
