I have bought My Cloud and as it is backing to the device it seems to be filling my C drive as well. I have been cutting and pasting now to Cloud drive to free up space and it is still filling up. Help please. Running on Windows 10 and drive has latest updates/firmware.
What size hard drive do you have on your computer? Nothing should be coming back unless you have set up WD sync.
Why are you cutting and pasting instead of just dragging and dropping?
Iâm going to guess that you have WD Sync installed, probably as a result of using the automated setup tool when you first got the device.
Am I right�
Did you install WD Sync? If so are you copying and pasting files from your computer to the Share/folder location WD Sync is monitoring on the My Cloud? If so that is the cause. Copy/paste the files to another location on the My Cloud that isnât being monitored by WD Sync.
I do have sync on.
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Then you need to read up on what file sync is, and how it works, and check that you have it set up correctly; it sounds like you donât have it set up well at the moment.
Is that in the handbook or searching forums?
l let the WD Wizard set it all up, so would expect if paying for a product it should work -shame on WD.
Much appreciated
Iâd start with some googling about backup and sync. There are recent threads here on the subject, too, e.g.
No automated setup can decide for you what files you want to sync, and how. Thatâs up to the user to decide.
This is the reason I usually recommend people DONâT use the WD automated setup, because it tries to setup facilities that the users donât need, and donât understand, and makes no attempt to help the user understand what theyâre doing, or how their device works.
See the help associated with the WD Sync program. It explains how to use/configure the software.
WD Sync does work, more or less⊠sometimes less, for syncing files between the My Cloud and the computer. In the future do not copy or move files from your computer using Windows File Explorer/Mac Finder into the same Share or folder on the My Cloud that the WD Sync program is using as the sync repository. Instead move/copy those files into a Share or folder that is not being monitored by WD Sync. One can use the My Cloud Dashboard to create additional Shares (folders) to use.
If you havenât done so already it is suggested one read the My Cloud User Manual (https://support.wdc.com/product.aspx?ID=904) which explains how to use the My Cloud device and its features.
I donât understand why WD cannot solve this through software instead asking us to read the manual. I am also running out of diskpace on my PC and I found out that there is a hidden file of 60+GB in a folder called western digital. Donât understand why i have to give up so much space when I am backing up on cloud. Not worthy. Some one help me please.
Please note most in this disucssion are not WD employees or paid by WD. One reason why it is suggested one see the product user manual or the WD software help is because both detail how to configure the device or software. In certain cases issues can be fixed by changing the settings on the software or the device (My Cloud Dashboard).
What WD software are you using? WD Sync does not âbackupâ your computer. Syncing and backing up are two slightly different functions. The Smartware program is used for backing up a computerâs data (when properly configured). WD Sync is used to maintain the same set of files in both monitored locations.
The issue with WD Sync is that it will create a hidden folder and then populate that folder with backups of files synced. It is supposed to allow a user to restore a previous version of a file or restore a deleted file. WD Sync is what it is and it has itâs issues as you have discovered.
One solution is to dump using WD Sync and use third party sync software like Free File Sync (https://freefilesync.org/) or Microsoftâs SyncToy (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=15155) if using a Windows PC.
One does not need to use Smartware to backup their computer. There are a number of free and paid backup programs that one can use to backup a computer to a network attached storage device like the My Cloud. Several of those third party free/paid backup programs offer boot disc/boot USB flash drive creation for booting a computer without an operating system or whoâs operating system is corrupted so one can restore files or the entire operating system.
Let me clarify my problem - I was syncing my laptop folders (selected ones) on to my âMy Cloudâ device using WD Sync software. What I found out is this a) my laptop and my device folders are synced properly. b) there is an addtional 60+GB hidden file in my system folder under WD Sync which means it was keeping a third copy of the files!
Ultimately, I ran out of disk space. I had to take WD sync app out of my disk. Now I have a cloud space (My cloud) but it is not synced. This third copy of the file is the trouble maker!
What is the problem?
(thanks for the previous answers).
The reason WD Sync creates the hidden folder and populates it with files is to allow the user to recover a file that is deleted (or an older version of the file) from the folder(s) the WD Sync program monitors. That is the problem with the WD Sync program. It has a tendency to use use the free space. Many complaints in past discussions about this particular issue.
As previously indicated one solution is to stop using WD Sync, uninstall that software and remove the hidden folder to free up space on the drive. Then use a third party sync program rather than WD Sync. Most third party sync programs do not create a hidden folder and fill it with files or use Version History to allow a user to recover an older or deleted file.
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