I’ve had WD Passports before ( a 40GB, 80GB and 120GB) and always used them to backup all of my important files like music and pictures. I never used the software, just dragged and dropped folders and never had a problem at all. I recently bought a new computer and wanted to combine files from my old computer and my ex’s computer onto this new computer. I copied everything over using my old WD passports and it went quickly and effortlessly. Once combined I had about 240GB of files on this new computer so I bought a 1TB WD Passport so it would have enough space to backup everything without having to use seperate drives. First I used Windows Backup and it was very slow (took about 2 and a half days to copy). Also I didn’t like that you can’t view the files on the passport once it is complete. So I tried using the Smartware. It seemed to work great AND fast at first but after about 89GB it completely stalled and then said “Partial Backup Complete” and no matter what I did I could not restart the backup or continue or anything. It just stopped and got stuck. I decided to try to delete the folder that the backup was copied to and try again. It’s been 4 days now and it’s still slowly deleting that folder… 4 days to delete 89GB!!! I don’t have a ton of experience with computers but I am not totally computer illiterate either and that just seems ridiculous. In the past when I used WD Passports to copy manually it took me about 12 hours to copy 160GB. I was content with that. But 4 days to DELETE 89GB?! ANd who is to say after it is deleted it will even make a difference? The software may still be stuck. Can someone help me out? I don’t know what to do. Will it work faster if I do it manually without using the SmartWare? I’ve been trying to read up on it and I get confused by a lot of the answers because it’s a little out of my comfort level with computers. It does seem like a lot of people are having issues though with the speed AND the general performance especially when it comes to the smartware. I don’t know how to format drives and configure things. I just know I want my music and my pictures folders copied to my passport FAST! LOL (Or at least within a DAY!)
Okay… let’s try the simple things first. Uninstall Smartware from your PC. Disconnect all the USB devices and shut down your PC. Now disconnect AC power cable from your PC and remove the battery if it is a notebook. Wait for a few minutes (have a coffee) and reconnect everything (except USB drive) and reboot. Once completed booting, connect WD USB drive.
First try to delete what ever you have on the external drive. (You have nothing to lose as everything is still on your PC’s.) If this is unsuccessful, Try downloading WD DLG software and first run diagnostics. If completed, but reported errors, use the repair mode. If this fails, you will have to return the drive for refund.
DLG Link…
http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=505&sid=2&lang=en
Thank you and I agree I think I am going to have to return the drive for a refund…
The most recent time I connected the drive and reconnected it it wouldn’t even recognize the drive. You can’t open it to even remove the contents anymore.
Now when I connect the drive it says “This Drive must be Formatted before you can use it” and there is an option to format it according to Default. However if you choose it, in a few minutes it says that it is unable to be reformatted.
You can’t access the drive at all anymore… I connected MyBook and copied over the WD Quick Format software, then disconnected that and connected the Passport again and attemtped to format it using that… About 5 mins it it says it has encountered an error and stops.
I only bought it on the 22nd of January, so I am going to Best Buy now to exchange it… Lets hope this works.
