I am weary of trying to push spaghetti through a colander (or herding cats). In my experience, WD SmartWare (& Pro version) is quirky, inflexible, and unreliable.
A huge number of users have trouble upgrading to Pro Version, for which registering a DropBox account mysteriously seems to help, for a while, at least.
WD SW seems to only back up from one drive, until user manually switches the source drive. So we must remember to regularly switch settings in order to maintain backup of multiple drives.
WD SW does not understand my need to use Only One Target Drive. Despite the presence of my fancy new WD MyCloud 3 TB, which hosted or enabled the WD SW, the software detects and often backs to target in my older Seagate FreeAgent Desk 1 TB USB drive. I have no need to keep such backups on two drives, and I’d rather keep the FreeAgent Desk drive clear for other uses, but WD SW requires frequent correction to reestablish Target as the MyCloud drive. The support techs had no solution, said the SW “conveniently” detects other WD & Seagate drives.
Finally, and awkwardly, the tech support program is not very helpful. Although techs do take some time to help on calls, many of us users are not tech experts, cannot spend 10 days solidly focused on experimenting with tech support “solutions,” and need more than 30 days to recognize that some problems are not User Incompetence, but instead are rooted in Software Inadequacies.
I haven’t found much fault with the MyCloud drive, though, so I only need decent backup software (not WD Smartware).
Low-cost solution? For several years, I have been using variations of Norton 360 security, and the software includes what appears to be a flexible and robust backup solution. While earlier backing to my now-repurposed Free Agent Desk drive, I’d used Norton 360 to back up a few critical system files, partly to quiet N360’s frequent notification that I hadn’t backed up yet.
Now I have further examined the N360 backup details and found that it both recognizes my mapped MyCloud drive (Y: Smartware) and facilitates backing of multiple drives and folders. What’s not to like? I am switching now!
Norton 360 costs only $40-$50 annually, when we grab a deal (often rebated) from Staples, Best Buy, a wholesale club, or a web deal, avoiding Norton’s automatic upgrade “deal” for $80+ per year. I need security software anyway, so the backup solution is “free.”
Feel free to write me and ask how my new solution works out!
