Can I use MBE 1.0TB on two PCs?

I recently purchased My Book Essential 1.0 TB and backed up older PC that is running on XP operating sys.  Later I purchased new PC with Win7.  Can I use same MBE external drive as backup device for both machines and just swap back and forth for occasional backups?  Or will the WD SmartWare only install correctly on one PC and/or under one operating system?    

Please advise as I am not computer savvy, if not already obvious from my question.

robocop,

Can I use same MBE external drive as backup device for both machines and just swap back and forth for occasional backups?  Manually no problem.  Using WD SmartWare it should, it “should” as back up folders gets unique id name to distinguish 2 different PC.

Or will the WD SmartWare only install correctly on one PC and/or under one operating system? 

It can be installed on more than 1 computer.  I would test a small file/data before diving in.

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I set up my MBE 1TB and backed up my first computer, disconnected and tried it on a second. It crashed the second computer immediately.

Maybe I have to use it manually for both instead of the (not very) SmartWave?

Any help is appreciated!

If you haven’t you may want to update WD SmartWare to latest and try again.

http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/updates/?family=wdsmartware

Thanks. After I backed up the first computer, I hit the “update” software button and downloaded what I assume is the latest firmware and software. The first computer decided it was a new device all over again. I had to power both down and restart like it was brand new. Fortunately it still had my back up… then I went to the second computer.

Maybe if I download the drivers to the second computer first: I’ll try that next.

cae01 thanks for the advice.  I followed your suggestions and they worked perfectly.  I am now able to swap MBE 1.0TB back and forth between the two pcs and it works flawlessly. Note that I did have all of the updates online etc before even starting the first backup on the first pc, so I did not have problems when connecting later to second pc, as seems to have created problems for at least one other user on this string of messages for this post.

I have a XP Media Center PC backed up to the 1TB MBE. I used the “Smartware” on the Desktop. Can I back up 2 vista laptops to the drive too? Please let me know if you have any suggestions for me. Thanks in advance.

Ryverrat

ryverrat wrote I have a XP Media Center PC backed up to the 1TB MBE. I used the “Smartware” on the Desktop. Can I back up 2 vista laptops to the drive too?

While I dont have first-hand experience with your question, if you read the discussion thread leading to your post, I believe you should be able to do what you are proposing.  In my situation the Smartware knew it was working with a new hard drive for my second back up, and so it created an entirely separate backup, independent from the backup on my first device, and all results are stored on my 1TB MBE.  I am not a seasoned technical user, so I hope this simple description is helpful.