My Passport Elite and Smartware Backup

WD Software & Mobile Apps WD Software
1

Hi All,

I just bought the Passport-Elite 500Gb drive.

I have enabled the smartware backup sw. I have selected C Drive and D Drive individually and perfromed the backup.

And choose 5 Files to be Files history.

My queries …

1.If I delete a file in D-Drive is smartware will update the back upo immediatley ?

  1. Since I choose 5 Files as history I belive the deleted file should be there ?

  2. Do I need to “BACKUP” again and again, is it automated ?

Regards

2

Since there’s been no replies, maybe you should try contacting WD’s Technical Support about this. You can do so either by phone or email.

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

3

answer1:

not immediately but it will eventually be listed with a strikethrough font!

I tested this by deleting a file (which I knew had been previously backed up) and immediately attempting to retrieve  the file fom the backup. The file was listed & could be retrieved. A couple of hours later I attempted to retrieve the file and it was lited in a strikethroug font. The ‘show deleted files’ option has to be on.

answer2:

yes you’re right - it should be.

answer3:

Smartware is supposed to backup continuously & silently in the background. There is no option to run a manual backup (other than the 1st initial backup after selecting which catagories to backup). BUT … as explained above, backup is not instant!

If you want to be sure that a particular file has been backed up - attempt to retrieve the file to an alternative loction.- Tedious, I know, but until WD write in a ‘verify backup’ option - there’s no other way!

4

@Bill_S (& other community managers)

I have been using this community web site for about a month now, and I have to say that it’s very poorly managed! The majority of your responses are “there’s no answer here - try contacting technical support”.

The problem with that is that technical support fail to respond, and the un-resolved issue is hidden from the community/public. What YOU should be doing is getting WD technical support to respond publically to WD community members. Both positive & negative responses are better than no response at all!

Also - the messages should be managed so that duplicate issues are grouped together. Under the “WD Smartware” title, there are 4 pages with approximately 30 issues on each page. WD Smartware is buggy software, but it has not got 120 separate issues!

These two community issues are either a result of bad management or a deliberate method of “diluting” the problems with Smartware.

5

The WD Community was created for Users, such as yourself, to help one another, and to share your experiences and ideas with one another. As Moderators, we are here simply to facilitate and oversee the community. If you have a question relating the what’s going on in the community, we will be happy to respond. However, 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

6

Thank you Bill_S for your prompt response.

I’ve given up on WD technical support, so I won’t be contacting them – thanks!

I have a question relating to what’s going on in the community :-

Is it possible for you &/or other moderators to merge duplicated issues thereby reducing the number of pages community members have to search through to find similar problems & solutions?

7

I can’t guarantee anything, but I will look into it.  As of right now, I’m the only moderator.   What I can do is at least try to do it for this board.  I do appreciate your patience.