Reinstatement of files to new hard drive

Hello,
I bought and installed a WD 2Tb MyCloud onto my WiFi router in 2017 to record input to my ITb Windows laptop. The hard drive on that just failed and was replaced with a new hard drive which had a new copy of Windows 10 on it. I successfully downloaded a replacement Office Home and Student 2013.There are some files which I will have to get other software for.
Now, tell me, how exactly do I reinstate files and folders from the MyCloud backup to my laptop hard drive and then return to the backup recording of input [to my primary laptop drive] again? After all, this occurrence is what I installed WDMyCloud for.

Did you use a backup program like WD Smartware on the laptop to backup files to the My Cloud prior to replacing the failed hard drive on that laptop? If so use the backup program (after reinstalling and setting it up) to restore files from the My Cloud back to the laptop.

If you use some other application to copy files from the laptop to the my Cloud then use that application to restore files back to the laptop.

I comes down to how was the laptop backed up or how the files copied from the laptop to the My Cloud. If one used Windows File Explorer or Mac Finder to copy files from the laptop to the My Cloud then use Windows File Explorer or Mac Finder to copy the files back to the laptop.

Dear Bennor,

I did not use WD Smartware or any other dedicated backup program to backup files to the My Cloud prior to replacing the failed hard drive on that laptop.

When I set up the WD My Cloud I only had a three step card in the supplying package which I adhered to not wanting to do anything complicated. To be honest, I did not understand backup then and I am now on a slow learning curve. I still don’t understand what the purpose of backing up to the same physical drive might be.

I now suppose I used Windows File Explorer to copy the files to My Cloud.

I reset the WD machine because I did not register its purchase until after I had to ‘restore’ the files from it [ 3 years later] and had used a separate email to set it up.
After changing the original password twice, administrator problems meant that I had to do this.

I did not know that my repairers had installed Windows 10 on the replacement hard drive. Thinking it was bare, I approached a neighbour to make a bootable Windows installation thumb drive using the key to my original Windows 8.1. He has a fast Internet connection to his Mac but found difficulty at first in writing the downloaded [Windows upgraded to 10] ISO file to a bootable thumb drive.
I rang the repairer to make sure that the hard drive was formatted correctly for my installation and thus discovered the Windows 10 installation that they had included, after my neighbour had solved the problem.

I could not access the dashboard but it did not mention restoration of files and folders in the Internet pictures.

I did not have a male to male USB connecting cable and, when I eventually bought one, discovered that the USB outlet on WD My Cloud is for expansion purposes only. My repairer assumed the file transfer occurred over USB.

I connected the My Cloud to my laptop with an Ethernet cable.

I am at the stage where all my files are intact BUT they contain multiple copies where I have made adjustments over the last years. There is no WD window or dashboard.

What are the steps for copying from the backup to my new hard drive, editing the files and then what do I do to set up the My Cloud so that it carries on recording as before?

[I still have plenty of space from my original 2Tb left.]

In the meantime I am using my WiFi only smartphone for emails and Internet access.

Yours newly yet sincerely,

Nicholass.
PS I’m in the UK.

If using Windows 10, first step is to ensure SMB1.0/CIFS is enabled in Windows. Microsoft typically disables this option in recent updates or when one first installs Windows 10.

The single bay/single drive My Cloud is a basic network attached storage device. It IS NOT a USB hard drive. The USB port on the My Cloud is for expanding the My Cloud storage by using USB external hard drives. The My Cloud is generally designed and intended to be connected to the local network router. While it can be directly connected to a computer’s Ethernet networking port, it is intended to be used while connected to a network router.

If you used Windows File Explorer to copy files to the My Cloud previously, then just reverse the process and copy those files back to the local computer. This assumes of course one can access the Share(s) on the My Cloud where the files reside.

Generally the purpose of backup programs is to create a large single file containing the files (or entire partition) on a computer. If using a Macintosh computer one can use Apple’s TimeMachine to backup their Mac. On Windows one has a number of options, from using WD’s Smartware to Windows embedded backup option to third party backup programs like Acronis and others. Typically third party backup programs offer the ability to boot a computer using a USB flash drive or CD/DVD disc and restore the files or entire computer hard drive partitions to a brand new drive. By backing up the entire hard drive one can restore it without having to restore the operating system and reinstall apps from scratch.

If one hasn’t done so they should read the My Cloud User Manual for their device. It explains how to use the device and it’s features.

https://support-en.wd.com/app/products/product-detail/p/126

If one does not know how to access the My Cloud Dashboard to configure their My Cloud see the following WD Support document.

If one has forgotten the administrator password (if enabled) to access the My Cloud Dashboard then one can reset the My Cloud using the reset button on the back of the unit. The following WD Support article explains the two different reset options (4 second or 40 second) and what is reset by each.

Win10 Has a backup option.