Windows 7 locks up after installing WD Anywhere Backup

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I have installed WD Anywhere Backup on two Windows XP systems and one Windows 7 system on my network.  The XP based systems have not flinched.  All is working as advertised.

I have had several anomilies on the WIndows 7 system.  After completing a backup (i.e., system is safe all files backed up), I went about my business.  It is a laptop so I have powered it down several times.  When I came back on, it said I did not have a backup plan.  All my files were on the Sharespace device in the PUBLIC folder.  It would not acknowledge that plan.  If I tried to use that area, it stated there was a backup there.  I uninstalled the software, deleted the entire backup from the Sharespace, reinstalled the software, and created the backup again.  It completed and is still working.

However, without notice, my system will lock up occasionally.  Once when it was backing up files.  Once when I was just browsing the interent, and once when it was sitting idle.  Ironically, several times whe I was on the WD Support site and trying to send an e-mail about the problem!!!

It had never locked up before I installed the WD software. (DIscovery and ANYWHERE Backup)

I can’t find anything in the EVENT logs that point to what is causing the system to lock.

I get several answers from WD.  One is, the Sharespace and Anywhere Software are not compatible with Windows 7.

Only the MEMEO pages states that the software is compatible.  I hear they have lots of problems with Windows 7, but some I call at WD say it works.

I am ready to unintsall and throw it away.  Need some help in verifying if this is a WINDOWS 7 compatibility problem, and if it is, will WD fix it?

HELP.

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UPDATE:::::

Contacted LEVEL 2 support and got the proper info.  The hardware and the WD ANYWHERE BACKUP are both compatible with Windows 7.

Still investigating  my lockup situation.  WD Support is helping. 

I’ll report the outcome here…

What a difference a “level” of support makes!!!

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UPDATE :::::::::::

Contacted Level 2 support again when my system locked up again.  It locked up some time after it restarted the background task to create a shadow copy of the PST file.  When the system locked up it may have been writing the file to the Sharespace because when I powered down the Windows 7 computer, it had a problem reconnecting to the Sharespace and the Anywhere backup program did not recognize the backup plan for the existing backup.

After a long discussion with Level 2 support, I ordered a Windows 7 compatible OUTLOOK (version 2007) and then I had to delete all my data from the Sharespace and recreate a backup plan that NO LONGER includes the OUTLOOK files.  I simply did a MS Windows Backup of the Outlook Directory scheduled for once a day until I get the new software in.

I will run the system this way and it should not HANG ANYMORE.  If it does, there is another problem with the backup somewhere.

Best that I can do for now…

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UPDATE:::::

While using my finance program (Quicken 2007) my system locked up again.  Once again it occured when I received a message from WD ANYWHERE BACKUP that it needed to restart the background task.  I responded YES and within 1 minute the system locked up.

When I shut it down and restarted, the WD ANYWHERE BACKUP once again could not find any backup on the drive, although the files were there.  Also, the computer could not see the SHARESPACE.  After I restarted the computer again, the computer could see the Sharespace, but still could not find the backup.  I uninstalled ANYWHERE BACKUP and when I did, I clicked NO to “save backup info”.  When I reinstalled the program, it wanted me to set up a backup.  This time, I had it look for deleted backup configuration and it FOUND IT in the proper directory.  I let it sync with the backup and it started working fine again.  However, this time I changed the backup structure to eliminate backing up the financial files.  Since QUicken already backs up its file to a location in the Documents area, the financial file is already saved by WD ANYWHERE BACKUP when it saves the recent backup files from Quicken. 

So, from this, I discovered that the lockup seems to be caused whenever the WD ANYWHERE BACKUP requests a restart of the background program.  Now that both OUTLOOK and QUICKEN had been removed from the backup configuration, the program works fine.  It seems to having problems making the “shadow copy” of an active file for QUICKEN 2007 and OUTLOOK 2002.

Of course, OUTLOOK 2002 was an old version and not approved for WINDOWS 7.  I have since received my new OUTLOOK 2007 program and updated the OUTLOOK on this computer.  This OUTLOOK 2007 is approved for use with WINDOWS 7 and I have added OUTLOOK back into my backup configuration.  SO FAR, it has worked.  I am monitoring the WD ANYWHERE BACKUP file to check on when the PST file from OUTLOOK is backed up…  When I see multiple backups of the PST file (it backs up this file once a day) and the system does not LOCK UP, then I’ll consider the issue closed.

I’ll see if I can run for  a week with no further problems.

Lesson learned in this is the following.  WD ANYWHERE BACKUP can lose the backup configuration data if your system hangs and loses communication with a network backup drive.  When this happens and you reboot the system, it loses “snyc” with the network drive and can not fine the backup.  Once the SHARESPACE can be found with windows explorer from your computer, then you can delete the backup configuration and have the program rediscover the backup on the external drive.  Unfortunately I have not found any command to eliminate the backup configuration so I can only do that when I uninstall the program and request that it does NOT save the backup configuraiton information.  Then, once reinstalled, you can get your system working with the old backup by using the backup recovery feature in WD ANYWHERE BACKUP.  It still takes a lot of time for it to re-sync with your backup, but at least you do not lose any data.  If MEMEO would provide a comannd to delete the backup configuration so you could “reset” your backup, then any abrupt failure of your system which may lose sync with your backup could be resolved without uninstalling and then reinstalling the backup software.  Since MEMEO has not responded to any requests for help, I have had to figure out this work around to get things going.

Hopefully, if I get several successful backups of the PST file with no system hangs, I’ll consider this issue closed…

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Your post sounds more like an Idea or a Feature Request. The best place for this is in our Ideas Lab. This way someone from WD will be sure to see it. However, I would search first and make sure that there isn’t another idea similar to yours that you could add your post to and vote on.

Ideas Lab
http://community.wdc.com/t5/community/categorypage/category-id/idea

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I am having similar problems with Windows 7.  I get the message that WD Anywhere needs to restart and then if I click yes I get the Windows 7 permsion screen (like a new sw install).  If I do this my computer slows down to the point where I cant use any other applications.  Even if I select “no” to the resrt question it takes over all the computer resources.  This has happened several times in the last couple of weeks.  It appears to happen more often when I have my laptop out of the docking station away from the connection to the external drive.  It also appears to be happen when trying to backup PST files.  However unlike the other user I have been running Outlook 2007 all along.  If I leave the computer run for about 3 hours it eventually relaeases the resources, but it certainly screws up my work for several hours.  It always happens with no warning and rebooting does not even seem to fix the problem. 

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I’ve got a similar problem. I’m getting blue screen shutdowns when I try to run a WD anywhere backup on my Windows 7 machine. Problem is, I’m not running Outlook OR Quicken. Does anyone know of any other conflicting programs???

Thanks.

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After many weeks of system lockups and contacting WD Support, the problem now has been dumped back in my lap with the final response from WD that “Sharespace has NOT be certified to support WINDOWS 7”.

I have spent many hours gathering info, calling support, trying their different solutions, and even had my issue relayed to Memeo.  Memeo response was “check the hardware with WDC”.  After that WDC Support called to say that the WD Sharespace has NOT been certified with Windows 7.  I would have to monitor their support web site for an upgrade to the firmware.

YET.  By removing Memeo from my system, I no longer get system hangs.

Oh, yeah.  My 30 days of support is just about up.  My guess is they won’t respond anymore without me paying for additional support.

I have been ripped off…

Good luck to those who are still struggling.  The support I was given did not help at all.  I am left to handle the issue myself.

For now, I uninstalled Memeo and I’m looking for a good software backup program that is CERTIFIED for Windows 7 use.

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You might want to look at Acronis products. Best of luck.

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terceiro wrote:

After many weeks of system lockups and contacting WD Support, the problem now has been dumped back in my lap with the final response from WD that “Sharespace has NOT be certified to support WINDOWS 7”.

 

I have spent many hours gathering info, calling support, trying their different solutions, and even had my issue relayed to Memeo.  Memeo response was “check the hardware with WDC”.  After that WDC Support called to say that the WD Sharespace has NOT been certified with Windows 7.  I would have to monitor their support web site for an upgrade to the firmware.

 

YET.  By removing Memeo from my system, I no longer get system hangs.

 

Oh, yeah.  My 30 days of support is just about up.  My guess is they won’t respond anymore without me paying for additional support.

 

I have been ripped off…

 

Good luck to those who are still struggling.  The support I was given did not help at all.  I am left to handle the issue myself.

 

For now, I uninstalled Memeo and I’m looking for a good software backup program that is CERTIFIED for Windows 7 use.

 

Actually, support will continue to help you after the 30 days, if you haven’t resolved the issue.

1 Like
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I installed the same software on Windows 7 and experience amoung other problems the Blue Screen Off Death!  The backup software works continuously and grabs files.  If one of those files is critical to your system, then you will experience a crash.  There seems to be issues with the lack of releasing of critiical files to that  your computer can operate normally.  It can be very confusing because the problem you are having is dependent on the file that the backup software has grabbed at the time your computer needed to use it to operate properly.  My feeling is that the backup software is not ready for prime time even though it has been around for a while. 

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Just got off the phone with support again.  I found that on the WDC site, the WD Sharespace is listed as WINDOWS 7 Compatible.  After I asked why they tried to end my case by stating it was not compatible, they replied that Windows 7 is new and they have issues with it.  As for Memeo backup software, they now state that the version I have is licensed to WDC and maybe the standard Memeo version would work (i.e., spend more money and buy software from a company that will not respond to a series of requests for help on the current software).

This is just passing the buck.  Neither WDC or Memeo will acknowledge that they have a problem.  Only that they have complainst for many users and are working to find solutions.  The problem is, they will not provide work arounds or work with a customer to resolve these issues.

I had the system lock up when I booted up.  The windows 7 machine froze and it messed up the network to the Sharespace such that the other computers had a problem communicating with the Sharespace.  I even received a message from the Sharespace that the unit was “overloaded”.  I  shut off the Windows 7 machine, sent a reboot command to the Sharespace from an XP machine and was able to clear the network port on the Sharespace.  This then allowed the Windows 7 machine to boot up and run as if nothing had ever failed.

I now shut down the Memeo software whenever I use the Quicken program.  My belief is that the multiple files opened by Quicken (old database structure) hangs the Memeo program, corrupting the Quicken files and hanging the system.  By shutting off Memeo, I am able ti use the finance program with no problems.  Since I back up Quicken to the Documents area, the next time Memeo runs, it backs up those files.

As for OUTLOOK, I have had no problems since I updated to OUTLOOK 2007 which is windows 7 compatible.  What happens is, when you are running Outlook, Memeo makes a request for you to restart their background program.  When you do, it waits until you shut down OUTLOOK and then it backs up the file.  THAT SEEMS TO WORK WITHOUT HANGING WINDOWS 7.

I went away for two weeks and never had a glitch or hang with Windows 7.  It even backed up all the files when I returned with no problems.  So, most of the system is working and the problem is most likely the Memeo software and an incompatibility with it and Windows 7 which is causing these problems.

No one from WDC or Memeo will adress the problem directly.  Their response is WINDOWS 7 is NEW and these problems have to be worked out.  In the meantime, Memeo is suggesting that you buy their standard program and not the licensed versionto WDC.  It may have some limited support which they do little to support.

In the mean time, I have a ticking time bomb on my Windows 7 machine that can freeze the system and hang the SHarespace device without warning.  In fact as soon as you think you have a method to get around the problem, the system may freeze unexpectedly.

I am unhappy with the support from WDC and MEMEO and feel that until these products have some idea of what the problems are, they should not advertise them as WINDOWS 7 compatible.

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I totally agree. I’ve been getting nothing but the runaround from WDC and Memeo for **bleep**ing weeks. They both just point the finger at the other and say “it’s not OUR fault!”.

Memeo’s got to be **bleep**ing insane if they think I’m going to give them a penny for their version of the software that you KNOW is going to be just as buggy as the Memeo product you have now! If they could debug one version, they would debug both of them.

So now I just have to keep deactivating the program every time I boot to keep my machine from losing all network/internet access!

Gee, thanks guys! YOUR PRODUCTS ■■■■!

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I am through.  I deleted Memeo from the system.  I have had no problems since then.  I am about to try the ACRONIS software.  The Memeo software causes system hangs at random.  It can not be trusted.

The glitches have caused problems which now have messed up other applications which were installed on my DELL and now DELL states they only warrant the hardware and want money to fix the software…

THEY ARE ALL THIEVES… 

I am about to throw the notebook against the wall and get myself some pads of paper and pencil and do thinsg the old way.

Remember, Bill Gates started all this.

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Just thought I’d check back.  I haven’t had a crash since removing Memeo from my system.  I downloaded the trail version of Acronis True Image 2010 Home and I am testing it to see how it works.  So far so good.  It is on sale now for $40 so I may get the package after I run some trials.

Memeo is working just fine on the XP systems so I’m leaving it there.

It is a shame because the Memeo backup software fit my needs perfectly and on the XP machines, runs seamlessly.

If they had stated that they need time to work out the kinks and told the truth to us, I’d be a Memeo customer,

Now, I won’t buy it or another WDC device (except for the replacement drives in the Sharespace).

GREED has made most of these companies useless.  It is BUYER BEWARE “big time”.

When you purchase something, assume you will get NO SUPPORT and must trust the help from others on web sites such as these to solve the problems.

Thanks for all the inputs and good luck dealing with MEMEO and WDC…

Paul

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Agree with all the previous complaints.  WD Anywhere Backup always seems to make my PC work very hard and quite often causes it to shut down.  I am runnung Win 7 Ult 32-bit.  Goodbye WD.

I tried Acronis and Genie (paid-for versions) previously (with WinXP Pro) and eventually gave up both because they eventually became inaccessible, after working quite well for a while.

Is it me?

Any suggestions for a reliable backup/mirror/incremetal app for Win7 that won’t hog all the resources and won’t crash it?

WD is now turned off and my PC fan has calmed down at last.

Hoodie.

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For those considering parting with the money to upgrade to the Premium version - watch this space.

I upgraded and it changed nothing.

The reason I upgraded was because I was running the WD Sharespace software on Vista and having problems including the CPU usage fluctuating over 20% even several hours after I had selected ‘pause indefinitely’.

Installing premium didn’t do anything any differently.

I then switched to Win7 64B and now get blue screens and WD Backup restarts and restarts over and over.

I have sent them countless messages through their error reporting feedback screen (Do they actually even get read?!?!?!?!) but I never got a response.

I am talking to tech support now.

I’ll let everyone know if I get anywhere, but for now I would suggest keeping your money in your pockets and waiting.