WD SmartWare Pro now asking me to activate, AGAIN!

My shiney new Synology DS214+ and two WD 3.0TB RED NAS HDDs were delivered today.

I will mothball the MyCloud for now with a view to sell some time.

Update 4/16/2014 - 4:40pm CDT

As previously promised by WD on this thread, I received a call today from a very nice and knowlegeable WD representative who was quick to apologize for the “Loss of Activation” problem.  He assured me WD was working on the problems. 

His request/action was to retrieve several WD Smartware 2.3.0 log files from PC # 2 which Lost activation after a reboot this morning.  Later, we attempted Activation by entering code/email and Activation was successful after about a minute or so after clicking OK.

Activation was not lost on PC #1 today following a reboot.  (Both PC’s are Win 7 32-bit).

I have noticed that once activation is lost and regained… settings return to the default state - as if the sofware had been reinstalled.  My back-up settings were lost - No folders were selected.  File history was 5 (default) and I had set it to 3.  The schedule of backup frequency was also lost and Backup showed as Disabled.

I am encouraged by today’s call and hope the problems can be resolved soon.  Thanks to the WD rep. 

I started having this same issue a couple of days ago. I tried the usual of uninstalling the program and do a reinstall

but with the same results. Most of the time it will not let me activate the program, giving the “There was an error trying to validate your activation code. Pleae try again later”

I have also tried turning off my anti-virus and firewall during activation with no change in results.

I did open a case, but the email reply was to call in and ask for level 2 support. Since WD seems to be aware of the problem I am not sure what good it would do to call if they do not have a solution yet.

Easter is over, the bunnies and the eggs have gone …AND SO HAS THE ACTIVATION OF NOT-SO-SMARTWARE AGAIN!!

Really guys this is beyond a joke now.

I had a nice phone call from a support person called David. His number displayed as ‘International;’  on my phone and since calls like that are usually selling me shares in a gold mine/lama farm/secret sauce recipe  I didn’t answer it. Bit like buying software from WD really. Promises lots of good stuff. Evaporates after a month

 

His followup email had a few suggestions and I have reinstalled the software, rebuilt the backup plans. It authorised ok… My machine took 36 hours to catch up on the backups

 

Now its back to asking me to authorise it again as if nothing had happened.This kinda makes me think the problem isnt at my end…

 

Back-up software its only really effective when it works. Its an insurance policy, a safety net, a failsafe. I do not expect to have to check it every few hours to see if its working.

 

Can someone at WD post here and tell us all whats going on.

Hmmm - I seem to have this issue.  Happy to contribute any logs etc to help get it sorted.

Mike

20:59 21 April 2014

NEWS!!!

Smartware Pro has RE-ACTIVATED!!

How long for?       I don’t know.

Has it done any backups?     Don’t know.

Can I rely on it?        No.

Am I totally [deleted] with it?    YES.

It’s happened to me at least 3 times. Not sure what I did to get it working again. I entered the validation codes and sometimes it works and other times it doesn’t. It’s annoying. Currently I’m waiting to validate and I’m getting the error.

OK… I am sick of this software now… I am sick of having the failed activations… been trying all afternoon to reactivate and it will not work… 

Can anybody recommend some decent backup software that works!

I may just go back to using my olde Memeo backup… it was slow but at least it always worked… 

This is now beyond a joke

Stuart

For WD…
Loss of Activation problem on WD Smartware Pro 2.3.0 was first reported on this thread 3-weeks ago and more more information was promised.   Community Manager Bill S posted:

Sorry, we weren’t ignoring you. We are taking this issue seriously, and we will get it fixed.  As soon as we have more information, we will notify you.

The last feedback was two weeks ago - Bill S posted:

We are looking into this.  However, we will need to get further information from those of you that are willing.  Each of you will be contacted by Support by private message.  Please respond.

As evidenced by 5-pages, 39 replies, and 499 views in this thread - the problem continues.   Repeated requests have been posted by users for WD to provide feedback.  

Calls have been placed to WD technical support and instructions followed to uninstall/reinstall the program and provide WD Smartware logs.  On other calls – I was told the problem was a server problem at WD and there was nothing to be done at the PC level.  I was told that once Activated,  the program did not connect with the server…and should remain activated.  So it appears there are 2 issues causing frustration with Loss of Activation and inability to  use purchased software with confidence.   One user asked how he could get a refund.  There was no reply from WD, but it is a legitimate request.  

Moderators could improve WD’s relationship with users by being more active in these forums. 

   
I received an email from WD on 4/17 that referenced my case number for loss of activation.  It was a request to complete a customer satisfaction survey.  If it were completed today, my comments and advice to friends would be to avoid WD Smartware Pro.  

Well, I got it sorted. 

I bought a Synology DS214+. Much better and soooo fast.

Mothballed my MyCloud.

I purchased a Western Digital back up drive in December, and then PAID to get the full version of the software… As I have now spent over 2 hours TRYING to get this to activate AGAIN!!! I am now really fed up… Almost every time I switch my PC on I have to do this, spending 2 hours tring to get it to work is a joke.

As far as I can tell the software supplied by Western Digital is NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE and as such I would like a FULL REFUND of the money I paid for software which I am unable to use… IT DOES NOT WORK!

Please contact me for details were the refund can be sent… 

I will then go out and buy some reliable and useable software that does do what it should… 

I expect a reply to this post… ASAP! 

Ha glad I’m not the only one!

I had problems with the software last night and so reinstalled, only to be prompted for the activation code, fine I thought I have that, but it wont accept it!

I have only been using the drive since Thursday but it looks like their severs can’t cope with the demand…

Its gone again.

This is an ongoing problem that is there one day, then vanishes, then comes back. I’ told its the ‘transaction servers’ and I’m also told they have been fixed. Obviously the fix didn’t take.

Personally I’ve given up on this software because I have no idea what has been backed up and what has been missed. I cant trust it anymore.

Can anyone recommend any software that works?

I thought it was fixed, but it’s now asking for the activation code again but not accepting it.

WD, if you can’t fix this, why not offer all of us customers, a refund of our purchase?  Or at least send us a file that “unlocks” the software permanently?

Hello,

I’m experiencing this problem too. Sometimes the activation code works, but the next time I open smartware pro it still asked for the activation code.

Getting tired of this problem.

Today - I lost activation on PC #1.  PC #2 remained activated - even after a reboot.  Both are Win 7/32bit.

Attempted to reactivate using email/code…but after a few minutes the “error message” occurred stating “try again”.  I tried again and it failed again.

I remain hopeful that WD is treating this as a priority and will resolve the problem very soon …and notify us when resolved.  But - at this point , I consider WD Smartware unreliable because of continued Loss of Activation  and recommend WD Smartware Pro not be used as the primary program for continuous or daily backups.

Have I got this right? The Smartware Pro has to check with a server to validate the acitivation when you open the Smartware Pro program?

Usually I have my modem off unless I am using the internet. The Smartware isn’t running unless I click on the desktop icon.

I have the 30 day trial at the moment so maybe it isn’t checking for an activation code. The Ultra was bought 3 days ago and haven’t used it a lot. I did read about the 2.3 software update, haven’t loaded it yet.

The way I plan to use it is to backup files but I won’t be on the internet when doing this.

If I open Smartware Pro when it is activated after the 30 day trial do I have to be on the internet in order to start the program? I don’t use the internet a lot so it seems like a hassle to have to turn on the modem and wait for the connect in order to start a program.

Thanks in advance for any responses to this question.

I

First time activation requires Internet connection.

If activation is lost - it also requires an Internet connection.

Don’t know if WD Server is contacted with each use of WD Smartware Pro.  I was told - once activated - It should remain activated…but it does not.  There seems to be no explanation - to date - as to why activations continue to be lost.

Hope this helps.

.

Thank you d-wduser. That makes more sense, once activated it stays activated.

I’m wondering if I should keep it. After reading about all these problems such as activation of Smartware Pro and the problem of it not backing up new files that the 2.3 update should address this does not seem like a wise purchase.

I appreciate the help. Now I have to seriously consider this purchase.

Well guess what…

After trying all day yesterday to get this pathetic software reactivated again! I finally managed to get it to accept the code at 11PM last night…just before I turned my PC off for the night…

8am Sunday…switched on…NO ACTIVATION!! now it won’t reactivate again… 

Just off to find my old copy of Memeo backup to use again…it was slow but at least it was RELIABLE!

Absolue joke!