My passport essential....is it possible

WD External Drives WD Portable Drives
1

Hi,

I’ve just got the my passport and already transferred files on to it…

Is there any way to view the files that went on it and delete unwanted files from it ???

I actually just bought the drive to store my billions of pictures on it and to delete them of my laptop to free some space, but I didn’t know I can’t view those files afterwards…or am I just not doing it right…

Thanks for any advice.

Diana

2

How did you copy your files onto your drive?  If you used Windows or the Mac OS, deleting files off the drive is the same that you would when deleting them off your internal drive.

3

You can also locate your files copied by SmartWare as well. For each category, there is a folder, which will then contain the files that fit that category. They are not packed in any way and can be viewed directly, same as the original. Jeremy; if he/she used SmartWare to copy the files, will deleting them corrupt the backup? Or SmartWare will simply copy the deleted files back again next time it is activated?

4

SmartWare has no provision for deleting a backup so if you delete files out of SmartWare’s backup folder then there is no guarantee that the backup will function normally thereafter.  The best thing you can do to remove a backup is to either delete the SmartWare backup folder entirely or erase (reformat) the drive. 

5

I just bought one, too, also planning to use it to store photo and music files.  But it appears to ONLY be a “backup device.”  Unless I am missing something, all you can do is make back-ups, and restore them.  That’s useful, of course, but it wasn’t what I thought I was buying in an an “external hard drive.”  If I delete the files from my desktop, they are also deleted from the Passport by the “smartware” back-up software.

I feel like I wasted my time and money.  For the same money,  I could have purchased a much higher capacity non-portable device that would allow me to use it as an actual extgernal drive.  I am also reading about lots of people having trouble retrieving fiules when their PCs do actually die.   So, it may ■■■■ as a back-up device, too.  Ugh.

6

You can drag/drop your files onto the drive without SmartWare.  You don’t even need SmartWare installed in order to use the drive that way.

7

Please explain how I do that?

8

Please see both links below for information on using your drive with Windows:

WD KB #1198:  How to move or copy files from one hard drive to another in Windows

WD KB #1717: How to use a WD external hard drive with your computer

9

I’m in the same situation as Matriarchy.  SO:

  1. Wow, my question is already in the knowledge base.

2.  Jeremy, thanks for your answers.

3.  I have already installed the auto-back-up software.  As a result, the Passport drive appears in my computer as a device with removable storage, rather than a hard drive.  Now, drag and drop copying gets rejected.  I guess I have to uninstall the WD software.  Is that right?

4.  If I do uninstall the WD smartware, do I need to install any other kind of driver?  Or will mindows XP automatically be able to read it as a USB memory device?

The annoying thing is, I couldn’t find out any of this until I read the user manual, which I couldn’t read until I had installed the software … open the crate using the crowbar which is inside the crate…

I therefore suggest to WD that this product should be shipped with a small pamphlet explaining that users have the choice to install the drive as either a regular external hard drive or as an automatic back-up device.  That would save people like Matriarchy and me a good deal of time.

Thanks, 

Noob11

10

A further suggestion - it would be good to have some idea of how long I should expect to wait for a response.  Having time and date stamps on each post would help, or a note explaining what level of service is provided here.  I.e. is it 24/7, or business hours (presumably USA hours) only?

Kthnxbai

11

Update:

I have uninstalled the WD smartware auto-backup software.  This worked fine.

Now, when I turn the computer on with the WD passport connected, or when I connect the device via USB, windows crashes.

It gives an error message indicating that Windows has shut down to prevent damage to the computer, and adds :

BAD_POOL_HEADER

It then tells me to ask the hardware maker for any windows updates I need. 

I am running Windows XP with service pack 3.

It then adds technical info, which is:

STOP: 0X00000019 (0X00000020, 0X FF953120, 0XFF953138, 0X1A030001)

which probably means nothing to anything with a pulse.  :slight_smile:

So, questions for the community or Jeremy:

1.  Do I need further software updates?  If so, what?

2.  How do I make it so I can use the device as a regular exterrnal hard drive?

12

Further update:

I managed to connect the drive without it crashing windows.  I said NO to installing the smartware software.  Windows found a driver - I didn’t record its name, something like WD USB storage device, something like that, I think the version number was 1.0.8.0.

I worked once, and I transferred one folder of pictures as a test.

Next morning, as I turned the machine on, Windows crashed with the same stop error.  Unplugged drive, windows starts fine.  Plugged drive in, windows crashed.  Repeatedly.

I logged on to microsoft to check for updates (I autoupdate, but I’ll try things) but there were no updates available.

I have checked the pages referred to in post eight, especially answer 1717.  These did not help.

This is extremely disappointing and frustrating.  I have spent six to eight hours of my time (worth several times the purchase price of this product) trying to make it work.  This should be a two minute job.

It is now Sunday afternoon, my time.  I will leave this until Tuesday, so as to allow for office hours in different time zones.  If there is no answer by then, this overpriced paperwieght is going back to the shop for a refund, and Western Digital will be on my list of brands to never touch again.

13

The drive doesn’t change its hardware device if you uninstall SmartWare.  Are you sure that you aren’t trying to drag your data onto a removable card reader?

I apologize but WD’s online forum isn’t a place that we provide continuous support.  For that, you would wish to contact our telephone or e-mail support.

WD KB #1048: How to contact Western Digital for support (email or phone)