The driver you are looking for is on a virtual CD on the new drive. To install it go to my computer select the C/D WD Smartwave and then click the WD smartware folder and then the ses driver version for your O/S. Ditto for the S.martware program. Works fine someone just skipped a few instructions. Ciao.
urgent need help help…once i plug in use into my laptop, normally in my computer we can see the hard disk driver logo but i cant see the logo totally and cant search the hard disk. i ever try many computer already…also same result…who can help me???please…i just bought and never use before…just want to start use but already face this problem…
Hi, really long discussion, but I still can’t find a solution for my problem. Sorry for a longer post :o)
I have My Book Elite 2TB normally installed at work PC (XP PRO), just as a proof if it is working. Everything is working fine, including WDSmartWare. I did it right after I got it because of eager.
Then I tried to install it at home PC (XP PRO) and something went wrong. Every time I connect My Book to the home PC it first slows down the whole system, than after 2 min. PC stops responding to any command from a mouse and kbd. but it not freezes. If I have Task Manager opened I can see processes changing, but at the end I have to reset my PC to start again.
If My Book is connected to the PC during boot, it freezes PC even before the BIOS can finish it’s job (at checking USB mass storage…).
Then I thought it is something wrong with this hard drive, but I tried to install it on my laptop (Vista home) and everything went just fine. It works normally and WDSmartWare works fine too.
Finally I have found the WS SES Device is missing on my home PC. I have installed a driver from the “extras” folder and I have got the WD SES Device in the Device Manager, but with a yellow error mark on it. I just tried to update driver for a couple of times, but with no result. It says system could not find a better match for your computer… Maybe there is a better driver somewhere but I can’t find it. (This one is Version: 1.0.8.0 - from 6.3.2009.) Any suggestions?
Hi, could you send me the drives? I have been experiencing the same problem as the others. And my Vista 32bit alwasy remind me installing the drives. But I can’t find it out to install it. Morever, my computer even don’t display the WD device’s name(like"H" “G” etc). Could you instructe me how to solve this problem? Thanks a lot!
I share with you all in your frustrations, especially for those who reformatted their drives to wipe out the smartware, only to realize that you had to install the SES drivers. I have finally found the location of where you can get a copy of the smartware partition and extract the needed files. The Link is here this is the link to downloading the partition for both Macs and PCs via Western Digital. Using the knowledge base, the link is referenced with the answer ID is 5419. The download is a good 465 MBs.
Once you have downloaded the file, extract it.
Then extract the WDSmartWare_Windows_Disk_Image_PP4R2_1_4_1_2.zip
What you’ll be wanting is the Extras folder, which contains the essential drivers.
Once you have the Extras folder extracted, open up Device Manager
Right Click on the SES Drivers with the Yellow Mark, and select update driver
Select Browse My Computer, and browse to the location of your extras folder.
PROBLEM SOLVED.
Note: This method won’t require you to install the Smartware from WD.
(This post doesn’t really add much to the discussion of how to “solve” the problem of implementing the drivers, if you have a copy, but rather it provides the most important information, which is the link of how you can get the drivers if you have accidentally deleted them).
Good luck all. I hope my time spent trying to find the smartware partition will save you countless headaches and frustration.
Is it necessary to even install the driver? I have disabled the VCD. I recently reinstalled the OS (Windows XP Pro) on my computer. Plugging in the WD MyBook hard drive gives me the same error everyone else is getting. However, I ignore the error and still have complete access to all the files on the WD drive.
So why do I need this driver to be installed? Just to avoid having an error pop up? That seems useless. Why has WD created such a convoluted system. I want the external drive to function the way an external hard drive is expected to (no drivers required, just plug in USB and go), especially after having turned off the very bad VCD software. Now every time I plug in this extenal drive to a different computer, I get an error as well. Thanks WD!! It is after all an external drive, not meant to be connected to just one computer. Very bad decision making and implementation.
WD, you would have been better suited to partner with a real backup software solution and bundle it on your drive and let the user try it out if they decide to install it. That way the backup system only works on the computers that the user wants it to.
I will not be buying another extenal drive that has these types of issues, from any manufacturer!
I have the 1 TB essential mybook. I used it for a week and all was fine, then it did the same thing you all have been describing. I can find it in device manager with a yellow warning sign, saying I have no driver for it, and the firmware updater from WD can’t locate the drive and windows can’t find a driver for it. The problem I’m seeing is that where people say to click on “update driver” , that button isn’t available to me… I’m going to try to download the smartware partition, but my internet connection isn’t reliable, so a download of that size may not be possible… I’m running windows 7 64 bit, any ideas as to why I can’t update the driver?
I could have done this fix a few hours ago but now my laptop wont even recognize my WD passport so I can’t access the WD Smartware folder. When I plug it in it attempts to install the drivers - but then informs me that they were not installed correctly. I can see the device under devices but it is not active under my computer as it was initially. Under my computer is where I can access WD Passport files and the extras. any advice???
If you have Internet access on the PC you should be still able to install the SES driver:
“We recommend that you install the driver by selecting the _ Install the software automatically _ option on the popup screen. Windows will automatically find the Windows SES driver online, and the prompting will disappear. This will not affect your operating system negatively in any way.”
Recently I attempted to reformat my hard drive after a virus, but the formatting was interrupted when my power went out. After that I tried reformatting it again and recieve an error: “Windows was unable to complete the format.” I reinstalled all of the SES Drivers, but still recieving an error that says: “Windows was unable to complete the format.” Tried formatting with the WD Quick Formatter and recieved the same message. When i try to access the drive it says i have to format it before i can open it, and then just cycles through not formatting, have also tried a regular format but that just freezes my windows explorer. Any suggestions on how to fix it?
Also, after exiting the formatting screen in windows i recieve this message: “The disk in drive F: can not be formatted.”