I bought the My Passport Essential thinking I could use it to safely backup documents/photos/emails etc from my PC and laptop. However, I’ve spent hours now on the internet reading horror stories about how My Passport should not be used as a backup solution, rather it shoud only be used to sync them. There seem to be lots of disgruntled customers who have used it to backup their docs and have subsequently lost them because when data has been lost from the PC, then when you sync the Passport, it has also deleted the documents from there as they won’t be on the PC anymore. Surely this defeats the object of the Passport?
I have now installed the Smartware software but half way through a back-up I have got cold feet about using it. I don’t intend to leave it connected to my PC so the automatic backup function isn’t important to me (surely if the PC was stolen then the portable hard drive would be too?!)
HELP! I’m so confused. WD Smartware calls it ‘backup’ and doesn’t mention syncing anywhere. Am I safe to finish my backup on the PC and then on the laptop, safe in the knowledge that if either fail, I will be able to easily retrieve my stuff?
They are not talking about WD Smartware, they are talking of WD Sync, a software that used to come with the old version of this drive. WD Smartware is a backup software while the WD Sync is a synch application.
Oh I see. Think I’ve been worrying over nothing then…
So just to check: If I back-up all my stuff using Smartware then everytime I connect the Passport to my PC it will just backup additional documents and changes to already backed up stuff, is that correct?
If I was to lose everything from my PC then I’d be able to safely restore all the documents etc from the Passport back onto the PC.
Also, how do I create a new profile to back-up stuff from my laptop too?
So just to check: If I back-up all my stuff using Smartware then everytime I connect the Passport to my PC it will just backup additional documents and changes to already backed up stuff, is that correct?
If I was to lose everything from my PC then I’d be able to safely restore all the documents etc from the Passport back onto the PC.
Yes and yes.
Also, how do I create a new profile to back-up stuff from my laptop too?
Many thanks.
When you connect the drive to your laptop, the software will create a new profile with the name of your laptop, automatically, the software have the capacity to keep the data of your desktop and laptop separated.
