My Passport WD has my entire old computer backup on it. Now I want to restore it onto my new computer. How do I do it?
Hi,
You can do it. but I need some more info
What software, if any? WD Backup or WD Smartware. or other.
PC operating system? Windows 7, 8, 10 for each computer.
Is the OS software on the backup drive also?
Anything else?
Cliff
I am using WD Backup. the old computer runs on Windows 7 and the new one
on Windows 10. I did not back up the OS from the old computer (I don’t
think).
Thanks!!
Fred
Fred.
OK, first thing is to see if your Passport is recognized on the new computer. If you haven’t already, plug the USB cable for the Passport into a USB slot on the Windows 10 computer. If it starts up and the light comes on, we have a starting point. Now on the new computer see if you can find the Passport drive in Windows Explorer in the main display or under the navigation panel on the left. It seems frequently going from one computer to another causes a problem. If the My Passport doesn’t show up let us know and we will try to fix that.
Now. download WD software for the Passport form the Downloads tab at the top of the WD Community screen. You need: WD Backup. WD Discovery, WD Security, and WD Drive Utilities.
I’m not sure what happens when you download WD Backup. It might open on its own and give instructions. If not, open WD Discovery and under ‘apps’ look for WD Backup with Setup option and click on Setup or just WD Backup. If Setup, follow the instructions. It should be similar to what you used on the old computer using WD Security and WD Drive Utilities. If you had a Password on the old PC, then you will likely be asked for it.
Once WD Backup is running you should see the Passport. Select Restore and then Help for details on the Restore screen. Make sure you do not restore any of the Windows Operating System on the new PC. Otherwise you can select whatever folders and files you need.
Please let us know how this works out.
Cliff
I’m in a similar situation (backed up files from old device need to go onto a new device). Cliff’s solution didnt work for me. When I clicked on ‘restore’ on the new device it says I don’t have any back-ups to restore. The software has missed the point :-/ Any suggestions?
Read the 2nd post by Bowskg in this link https://community.wd.com/t/restoring-a-backup-on-new-pc/250050/2 for the solution to your problem (which I recently had). Be sure to follow the instructions in the ‘support-en.wd.com …’ link he supplied at the bottom of his post. Good luck!
Hi Cliff, searching the web to solve my backup restoration problem and come to this thread. What seemingly easy turns out not quite. I’ve installed WD apps into my newly salvaged computer. Connected my Passposrt drive to it and got recognized. In the restore function, WD cannot find my backup file in the Passport. I can see the Windows Image Backup folder dated a week ago. WD Backup prompted to me that I have not scheduled a backup plan therefore nothing to restore? This is a broken computer salvaged with a new SSD harddisk. Please advise what to do. Thanks.
