I have been backing up to my WD Passport Essential regularly using WD SmartWare, and have just done so again a few weeks ago. I then had a look in the ‘retrieve’ tab to check the presence of an important file, and found it was not present. The file did not appear in the ‘files not backed up’ under the ‘backup’ tab, and there appears to be no facility to force a further backup.
I e-mailed Western Digital Support asking for advice on 11 September, but have had not response.
I have heard elsewhere that this software is not particularly good, and can only assume that WD have pretty much given up on it, especially as they do not seem interested in offering me any help.
I therefore decided that I, too, should give up and have now re-formatted the WD Passport and removed all SmartWare software from my computer. I have successfully backed up the entire contents of my computer hard disc using Windows Backup and Restore and, as far as I can tell, the backup was complete. Certainly a few important files can be found in the backup.
Although the WD Passport seems to work well on its own, I shall not be buying any more WD products purely on the grounds of their poor customer support.
If you think I am wrong or over-reacting, I should be very grateful to hear your opinions.
Hi JBRobinson, we appreciate your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced with your device, as this is not the typical or intended experience with the product and provided support. We have passed your case to support, please check your private messages.
I would like an answer to the same question. Smartware is not backing up 3 gig of info and yes i have the latest version. I have also reformatted the drive, reinstalled smartware X2…
I would like an answer to the same question. Smartware is not backing up 3 gig of info and yes i have the latest version. I have also reformatted the drive, reinstalled smartware X2…
Hi, what file type are you trying to backup? Note that Smartware wont backup files if they are in use by another program. To make sure that the backup is complete you can manually explore the Smartware backup folder (smartware.swstor) in the external drive.
I am grateful for the Mod’s response and attempts to help, but I’m afraid I see no solution to the problem yet.
My advice, Bootyboot, is to do what I have done: re-format the drive and then back up using Windows Backup and Restore (or a decent third party application). The drive itself works well as an external hard disc, but the SmartWare software seems to have insurmountable problems.
If WD’s technical support department should come up with a definite solution, I’d be happy to re-install SmartWare and try it again, but for now I’m relying on the basic Windows software that works.
