I have a WD My Book Elite 1.5Tb, I am running SmartWare under XP.
After installation SmartWare took 14 hours to perform a backup of 29GB, 26,500 files. A direct file copy took a fraction of this time.
More importantly, on every boot now SmartWare hogs the C: drive while it re-categorizes it, taking 75-100% processor resource and making the PC unusable for at least 20 minutes. Setting SmartWare backup speed to ‘pause until computer idle’ has no effect.
Adding extra memory had no effect so this is not a memory shortage/virtual memory issue.
I am very concerned about the number of negative posts re SmartWare.
I have always preferred WD drives but is it too much to expect a hardware manufacturer to supply user-friendly software?
Can someone help with what’s happening here? Some input from WD would be appreciated.
I am planning to uninstall the smartware after I use a windows based back up (which I would rather not do).
We would need a table to determine how many people lost their data due to a WD software update, but I am positive that I am not the only one.
In any case, I used system restore to return to my former state and will not update anything again. It took me several restarts, but my computer resource meter seems to have returned to normal…for now anyway.
Hopefully, someone will give us some good information as feedback instead of a standard Answer ID.
I did not update manually as I had checked the ‘Automatically check for updates’ checkbox and assumed this would inform me of updates.
I have now updated firmware and software to version 1.3.0.16 and the problems are solved, although the C: drive still rattles away for a few minutes after boot. The PC is now usable during this time.
Apologies for the slow response, took a break from my PC woes!
Hello, the same for me, it takes me about 12-14 hours to save all my list selection (images, document, sound, others), slowling down dramatically my machine with crazy response time. At first I thought that this was due to initial settings, but even after that starting backup, my machine (Toshiba Satellite Pentium 4, Windows XP, with 2GB RAM) continue to be paralysed (really)
It is simply impossible to work with those conditions, so I remove the software, all is now ok. I will use my WD as a simple memory storage through an another backup software (Handy backup) making a complete bakcup every week/month. Soviet but efficient.
I am a little bit disappointed because the idea of a permanent “on the job” backup of all new or changed objects sounds great. But no chance with such conditions !
I have the same problem and it is getting worst. WDFME.exe used to take 90% of my cpu for 10 minutes upon start up and it is now up to a half hour or so. This, with no files to back up.
I had a number of emails back and forth with WD beginning 6 months ago but they have been no help. They say the cause must be something else. When I reply that Task Manager only shows one process running, WDFME.exe, they still try to explain away the problem as being something other than the SmartWare. I must admit though, that they are very polite.
I have the latest updates.
What really bugs me is that I also have a My Book without SmartWare. I purchased this one last January to keep from doing manual back ups.
Did you update to the latest version of SmartWare? Also, keep in mind that you have to have, minimumly, .NET 3.51 for SmartWare to work right. And even then it needs to be installed right. I’d contact Tech Support and have them guide you through the process.
No application programs start automatically except McAfee Security . Whether McAfee is disabled or not , WDFME.exe still uses most all of my CPU for 15 / 30 minutes at startup.
I use Windows XP SP3 with ample memory and HD space and every update. I have no other problems with the PC.
I have had several email conversations with WD, including techs. Their final response was that there must be a problem with my PC. I guess there must be many problem PC’s out there from the amount of complaints.
Hi, I had the same issue on Windows 7 Pro 64 bit. with Firmware Ver. is 2.010, and the WD Software Ver. is 1.4.11.
CPU cycles were hitting 46%-60% and memory is upwards of 450MB+
This was on my “gaming” notebook, with an i7QM OCed to 2.26 (3.2 Ghz Turbo-mode) CPU(
4 cores total with 4HT for 8 total) + 8GB’s of DDR3 1333Mhz + 2x ATI 2GB 5870m in Crossfire
I did a c lean install of NET Framework 3.51 SP1(After un-installing the old 3.5 Ver & rebooting my notebook,)
After that everything was fine.
Also, if you don’t follow the install instructions for the WD software(I recommend, turning off your AV + Antispyware apps) as directed, you can end up with a corrupt install, and need to re-install the software over itself the right way(like updating to a newer version, only with the same)
I have my WD smartware running at 4% on cores 1&2 now, with only 36MB of memory used when doing auto backups
