USB Flash Drive not recognised as Backup Target

WD Software & Mobile Apps WD Software
1

Hi all,

I have extensively searched this board, Google and also the user manuals for the WD Smartware Pro software, but have unfortunately been unable to find a solution to this issue.

I am running a Standard Licence of WD Smartware Pro V2.0.1 on Windows 7 Ultimate (32-bit) and am trying to backup to a SanDisk 16GB USB Flash Drive (NTFS format).

However, the only Backup Target listed on the WD Smartware Pro Home screen is Dropbox; my USB drive [recognised by Windows as drive G:] does not seem to be recognised by the WD Smartware Pro software.

I can confirm that the USB Flash Drive is not faulty as it performs flawlessly when copying files to and from the drive manually.

A few additional questions:

  • Does the WD Smartware Pro require USB Flash Drives to be using a particular format? (FAT/FAT32/NTFS)

  • Do I need to install anything on the USB Flash Drive for it to be recognised as a Backup Target?

I appreciate any help or advice provided.

Cheers,

Lee

EDIT: Formatted the USB Flash Drive as FAT32; still not recognised.

UPDATE: The USB Drive in question is listed as a Removable Disk, not a Local/Basic HDD. I have another 1GB USB Flash Drive that is listed as a Local HDD and this is recognised as a Backup Target by WD Smartware Pro.

So the question becomes: how to flip the Removable Media bit for a USB Flash Drive?

Alternatively, is there a setting to allow WD Smartware Pro to backup to a Removable Disk?

2

Hello,

The WD SmartWare Pro software upgrade extends the backup function to direct-attached non-WD drives (USB), unsupported WD devices, and a remote Dropbox folder.

Currently, flash drives are not officially supported.

3

It seems that I was misled by the advertisement that WD Smartware Pro could " Back up to any USB external drive":

Nowhere does it mention that this statement doesn’t include some USB Flash (Pen) Drives, on the contrary, surely a USB Flash Drive is considered a ‘USB External Drive’?

Thank you for providing this information and for saving me any more wasted time trying to resolve this issue; I will now be seeking a refund for this software.