WD SmartWare using too many resources

I kill the process and can still access my drive. It comes back when I reboot.

the only temporary fix i find is to PROCESS END “WDFME.exe” from task manager as soon as you login to your windows

haven’t tried these but 

in registry editor (regedit)

you can search for “WDFME.exe”

HKEY Local machine → system   → current control set → services → WDFME 

start is 2 … i think 0 for disable … and 1 for manual , not really sure 

seems just same like if you disabling from services.msc… 

well process end is the simplest so far 

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Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough before (Apparently)…

I see quite a few people here making this way more complicated than it really need be!

I had the exact same issue as all of you w/ WDF ME using up all of my memory. You know how I fixed it?

Simple.

Click ‘Start’ (Windows button).

Click ‘Control Panel’.

Under Programs, click on ‘Uninstall a Program’.

Locate ‘WD Smartware’, click on it to highlight it… then right click on it and click on ‘Uninstall’.

That’s it. You’re done.

The lock and everything else on the drive then works as normal. WDF ME is nowhere to be found.

Just don’t re-install ‘Smart-WHERE?’ and you should have no further problems.

From my experience, just uninstalling SmartWare from the computer is only temporary and the VCD has an autoplay file in its partition that automatically (re)installs the evil application next time you boot the computer and plug in the drive. The WD article I linked a while back actually changes the firmware so that the partition is not detected when the computer reboots and sets up drive partitions. And this also prevents installation when plugging the drive into a different computer. Here is the specific link for XP, Vista, and Win7.

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3835

i dunno why uninstalling SMARTWARE make both of mybook studio II and mybook studio not detected

it just become unknown device

as some people already mention… SMARTWARE itself actually driver

thats why even you uninstall SMARTWARE … when you reboot it will automatically install its driver (when VCD enabled)

IF you get disabled the VCD… then you might get problem with “unknown device” and can’t access your mybook

You might need to go into the Device Manager and uninstall the driver. Then when you plug in the device it should be detected by USB enumeration and the default driver will be installed for the device as an external drive. But if the firmware is screwed up then you might be out of luck. In that case, you might be able to get an external USB drive enclosure with its own interface, and just connect the drive and reformat it. Of course that will be an additional expense. If the drive is still under warranty, you can return it to WD and they will either repair or replace it. You could ask them not to include the SmartWare partition, but good luck with that. With a new drive, you should be able to follow the instructions in the link above to remove the partition from the firmware.

HEY WESTERN DIGITAL : YES, YOU GUYS . . .

Why are these incredibly simple issues not resolved?  Why on earth did they become issues in the first place?  Does this forum exist for actual problem solving, or merely entertainment and recreation?  There should be more need for a “community” and a “forum” for a pencil manufacturer than for all the problems and discussions being expressed here — far too many for pioneers in this technology.  We sure could use some real, practical, less-mystifying answers out here, guys.

Well, this community was created for Users, like your, to help one another, and to share your experiences and ideas with one another. If you are looking for technical support from WD, you will need to contact them directly.

To Contact WD for Technical Support
http://support.wdc.com/contact/index.asp?lang=en

While I fully appreciate that this forum is for user-to-user discussion, there should be some way to alert the product development and marketing teams at WD to the huge numbers of customers who continue to have problems which are not because of improper installation or usage, but because of well-documented and very serious problems with the software itself. I looked back to the earliest posts about Smartware from 2009, and even then there were many posts where people were having similar problems.

I can say that WD tech support was very helpful, although after almost an hour on the phone, trying all the “usual” fixes, it was finally determined to be a defective drive, and I was able to get a new one at no charge. But after a while I noticed the huge surges of resource usage even when the drive was disconnected, and it was only “fixed” by removing the Smartware and disabling the virtual drive partition.

Even when the backup software had been running for quite a while, it seemed that the backup was incomplete, and then I found out that some folders and some file types were excluded from the backup. It was a good thing that I discovered that before needing to do a restore. I found a post where a method was provided to change the exclusion list, but by then I had removed Smartware because of the resource hogging issue.

It seems incredible to me that WD has not addressed this continuing problem. This forum seems to be used only by customers and moderators who serve only to screen inappropriate posts, and the only suggestion is to contact Tech Support. But from my experience, tech support only serves to guide users through a standard list of troubleshooting tests that most tech-savvy users have already tried. I design and build electronic devices and I write the software that interfaces to them, and I can tell you that I pay close attention to any problems reported by my customers, and I often make the changes needed within a day or at most a week.

But I have a feeling that WD has outsourced the software design and by the time suggestions and defect reports are filtered through many departments, the true nature of the problem has become muddled, and the original software team may have been disbanded and reformed to work on other projects. Also, unfortunately, many software developers have concentrated most of their efforts on visual presentation and “cool” features, while the core functionality is likely to be poorly understood and beyond their abilities to fix.

A backup program is not “rocket science”. There are many ways to implement the process, and it should be simple enough to examine the functionality of other successful backup products to see what works. Apparently the Smartware product was designed to be simple and nearly automatic so that non-technical users might be able to just let it take care of the tedious details, but unfortunately this results in false confidence that all important files can be restored. I have found that is NOT the case, and perhaps the other more obvious problem of system slowdown was a blessing in disguise, since otherwise I might not have noticed the missing files.

Unfortunately, us moderators are not tech support, we might provide an advice or recomendation as any other users here, but as you stated, our job here is to enforce the forum guidelines. Also, we escalate many of the issues in here to WD.

WD frequently updates Smartware, many of the initial issues have been resolved, but not all computers are the same. Just to give  you a example, I have used WD Smartware, and this issue that it takes all the resources does not happen on my PC, neither the partial backup. I have not used it that much because I like to do manual backups, as for me it is the most pure and simple backup process, but I try to use all the backup software of my drives just to see if they are good or not; furthermore, I don’t use Smartware as a backup, but I cannot say it is a bad software, it might not be geared for the advanced users, but instead it has been concieved as a basic application for backups.

“OXTER,” a moderator says:

“…does not happen on my PC, neither the partial backup. I have not used it that much …”

If the drive “isn’t used,” isn’t exercised using the features advertised for the drive, including continuous backup of files, HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY KNOW whether there is a problem with the drive ON YOUR COMPUTER???  The people who are having these problems are asking for the drive to do what WD advertises it will do WHEN IT IS HOOKED UP AN TURNED ON.  They DID NOT buy a new backup drive so they could have something pretty sit on their desk unplugged while they continue to do manual backups!!  I do manual backups, too, and semi-automated backups, to a NAS, and two Seagate drives that are rotated into a fire file.  I bought the Essential to do continuous backups, A STATED FEATURE, just like all the other people in this forum.

Maybe the drive/Smartware combination really will do continuous backups, but who can find out???  Hook up one of these drives and there will be NOTHING to be backed-up continuously because the only thing Smartware does continuously is PREVENT you from using the computer for anything other than running Smartware!!!

WAKE UP WESTERN DIGITAL!!!  I sent a SUPPORT REQUEST into the REAL technical support area about this forum six weeks ago, asking whether they were aware of the lack of ANY COGENT assistance from ANY WD related or “approved” source the the many frustrations being expressed.  NO REPLY was received back.  Now, that has NEVER happened before between WD support and me.  Check my earliest posts in this thread: I LOVE WD SUPPORT because when I’ve needed support they’ve provided support above and beyond my expectations, and have earned my loyalty. Now I’m wondering whether that will be true in the future.

I understand that forums are in part intended to unburden the support phone lines, but this thread has become a farce, and it is clear that WD pays absolutely no attention to anything being complained about or being said in this forum.  Moderators respond selectively then disappear.  Now we find out that “Advisors” don’t use the product themselves.  Get real WD.

If you own one of these drives, have any of the problems being described in this thread, don’t waste your time HERE or with the drive.  Try the real technical support if the drive is still in warranty, and you really have a burning desire to burn time, but my EXPERIENCES with these drives and the frustations expressed in this very long thread say, “Return the drive now.”  Move to a NAS, or to one of the several Seagate solutions, the later being preferred by my clients, who are all mobile-professionals.

c2biz wrote:

 

 Moderators respond selectively then disappear.  Now we find out that “Advisors” don’t use the product themselves.  Get real WD.

 

 

No one can force the “Advisors” to use a software. Once again, this is a users forum, these “Advisors” are regular people like you and me, if they buy WD Drives then it is their prerogative to use the software or not, nobody pays them to do so.

There’s so much hate on this thread that it makes Kill Bill look like Finding Nemo…

I used Smartware the first 3 weeks I got my drive just to test it and I still have it install on my computer and update it each time there is an update, I keep it because it helps me control my drive, disconnect it, change my password and test it, but not for backups because I have been using Windows backup way before I even knew Smartware existed, so I see no need to stop using a software I have used for years.

Smartware has given me errors, crashes and slow-downs but I don’t care since a software is replaceable and most of the people in here don’t know that… It’s like they need Smartware to work even if the program that comes with the computer itself is better…

Any drive can do automatic backups with a software, this means that there isn’t a single drive on the market that does automatic backups on their own, the software that comes with them is the one doing the job and I have seen branded computer, same model, same specs, same OS and same store as one is able to run a software and the other is not… Computers are just like people and relativity, you can’t just expect each situation to work for everyone on each case…

I find it funny how a basic jus-in-case-you-don’t-have-your-own software can spam such a fuss and so much hate when Windows has Windows Backup and Macs have Time Machine to make their own backups without additional softwares or installations

Oh well… I’ll keep reading, this thread is amusing :) 

Funny - I just watched “Kill Bill” on TV two days ago. I agree that there is a lot of anger and even hate expressed in this thread, but some of it is justified. I find it amusing or amazing that WD has not apparently looked at these posts and taken some simple steps to minimize the problem. I just reviewed this entire thread (from May 2010) and I see where I came to it in August. I was very frustrated but eventually I found a solution that worked for me, so now I just find it interesting when other users discover this thread and report the same problems over and over.

I realize that some software may run differently on various computers, and it is often due to the wide variety of programs people have installed. If you have Smartware installed and you don’t have any problems, I am quite surprised. Any software that acts as flaky as this must have a seriously major flaw in the way it is written. And I am also concerned that it requires a late release of DotNet, which in my experience is a bloated and ill-conceived framework and totally unnecessary and inappropriate for a simple backup application.

After my bad experiences with this drive and Smartware, I am not willing to try any new releases. From what I’ve experienced, and from other posts, these updates do not fix the core problem. And my opinion of WD has been reduced to the point where I would actively discourage anyone from purchasing their products. Maybe the 100+ posts in this thread from the 30 or so dissatisfied users is not enough for WD to be concerned about. But if my product reputation were being questioned and eroded, I would be very concerned and I would take immediate steps to correct it.

But maybe, as you seem to indicate, most people for some reason do not have problems with these drives and the Smartware that seems to install itself automatically. Have you actually checked your CPU usage and other metrics in the list of processes?

1 Like

As I stated before:

Smartware has given me errors, crashes and slow-downs but I don’t care

And it still does!!! But since I only use Smartware for drive management ( I use Windows Backup for my backups) it is not an issue to me.

The slow-downs and resource hog used to be an issue until I optimized the way WDFME and related processes behave on my computer using TuneUp Utilities, which is what I like to do to control software bloat on my computer…

I found my solution to Smartware on a type of program that just like your antivirus, should ALWAYS be on your computer no matter what: A system optimizer.

First and most likely my last post SmartWare what a load of Cr@P. I have not seen one app spike CPU like this applications does. Disapointing WD!!

 :manmad: :manmad: :manmad: :manmad: :manmad: :manmad: :manmad: :manmad: :manmad: :manmad: :manmad:

1 Like

Jamit wrote:

First and most likely my last post SmartWare what a load of Cr@P. I have not seen one app spike CPU like this applications does. Disapointing WD!!

 :manmad: :manmad: :manmad: :manmad: :manmad: :manmad: :manmad: :manmad: :manmad: :manmad: :manmad:

Here we go again, and again, and again…

I took your advice and I purchased Advanced System Optimizer from SysTweak, which was highly rated and a special deal with an extra 20% off so it was $24. It found quite a few registry problems and spyware. Interestingly, it flagged the Virtual CD Manager, that I had downloaded from WD and used to disable the Smartware partition, as a “Trojan swisyn ykl” malware! I could not find any information on it, however, and it might be a false positive.

WD should really look into this problem. I don’t think I’ve seen any posts that have anything good to say about it (but of course, that would be expected). It “doesn’t count” if you are using an optimizer to throttle the misbehaving software, and although it is a good idea, people should not need to use such a tool for legitimate software.

THERE HAVE BEEN NO OTHER REPORTS OF MALWARE DETECTED IN ANY OF THE WD/SMARTWARE DOWNLOADS! This is a highly suspect message, and is too consistent with a whole lot of other crys of “WOLF - MalWare” by folk trying to sell questionable applications.  BUYER BEWARE!

There is something you, guys, need to understand: any continuous backup software is going to use resources.  WD is more than aware of this fact. In our research we found many, if not most, customers are actually looking for a continuous backup solution for their data.  We are providing that. 

Granted Smartware has had some issues, resource usage being one of them, but we are working on that and have improved it tremendously.  Unfortunately, there are drives out there that have the original software on it, that are still being sold.  We recommend that all our customers update SmartWare to the latest version - just like any company would that is constantly improving their products.  But no matter what, continuous backup software will use signficant resources to run.  If that bothers you, then a continuous backup software is not for you.  Or, if your current computer in unable to handle providing the resources required to run such a software, then it’s not for you. 

Since this thread is so old, and to prevent all of you from getting any more upset with each other, I will close this thread. 

[edit]

For more information on this, please check our Knowledge Base article below.

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6582