My WD backup to My Book or My Passport will not function if the computer is asleep. Is this normal?
@tcreek What computer and operating system do you have? Have you checked the settings to see if it can be awakened to do the backup when it is time for it?
I have a new windows 10 PC with the latest WD software. The backups worked originally but quit backing up a few days ago. Sometimes I receive a message, even when the PC is on, saying “Unable to initialize the backup engine while backing up files to My Book.” Manual backups work OK.
I have used or tried to use WD backups since the Smartware originally came out. It has always been erratic on the several PC that I have used. I have read hundreds of posts over the years complaining of this.
Your initial question ask about the PC being awake to perform this task. You should be able to set up a time to wake it to perform this task using Task Scheduler. See example image below.
Are you using SmartWare or WD Backup?
Do you have both a My Book and a My Passport?
I am using WD backup and have a My Book and a My Passport. The backup was working OK originally on both and I should not now have to set a Task to wake the computer. If this were necessary, WD should have had the wake-up trigger option and explanation in the setup procedure and in their Manual.
If I now must set a wake-up option for back-ups, I may just as well right-click the WD logo notification area icon and click ‘Backup Now’ every morning when I log on or every evening before I log off.
Have you looked at the Knowledge Base to see if it has an answer?
The answer to the question - “Will WD backup work if the computer is asleep” is obviously no.
From the Knowledge Base
Sleep and Standby Modes
Computers that go to sleep or standby mode will cause the backup job to stop. Preventing the computer from sleeping or going into standby mode will allow the backup process to complete in a timely manner.
So, this seems to mean that the computer must be “On” whenever the backup is scheduled. If you are going to do an hourly backup the computer must never be in sleep mode. And if the backup is daily you would have to trigger wake-ups on those days. The WD Backup instructions should have emphasized these point but it is nowhere to be found in the instructions.
Thanks for your help. I will do a manual backup each day. All it takes is 2 clicks.
