I wouldn’t use Smartware with a CPU less than a Pentium M 1.8. There appears to be some code that causes lesser processor’s onchip Cache to repeatedly invalidate to the point where Samrtware stalls the entire system.
However, if you have an adequate system, particularly with XP, try the following to clean up its operation.
a. create a new user account. Make it an Admnistrative user.
b. move your documents and email etc. over to it. I always also back up my old user account to a share in case I miss anything when I do this.
c. uninstall Smartware completely at THIS point. Reboot the system.
d. don’t manually delete the Western Digital configuration files from documents and settings, local settings, application data for wherever it is installed.
e. download the 1.6.0 or later Updater.
f. reinstall Smartware with it. This should set up a completely clean copy.
g. reboot your system.
h. start up Smartware, unlock your drive, then select Backup tab and press Start Backup.
When I did this properly, I notice that any elements of older releases of the software are no longer present, and it appeared to run much better. There also appeared to be some aspect of Smartware associated with the old user account that causes problems, so after I finished the above, I deleted the old user account.
Remember to protect yourself by backing up your old user account’s files, email and settings to a Share in case you miss something.
Simple, but it appears to have worked.
