WD My Book Essential 1130 Not Recognized. Stopped Working in Windows.
I know this issue has been discussed on the forum before, however I believe this problem has not been resolved to any satisfactory degree nor can anyone post to that thread any longer. (happening since 2011)
Why can’t WD simply post the original drivers for download? Or post original widows drivers that would allow the computer to see this drive again? This WD “cloud” connection, which does nothing but eat up resources, and is totally ineffective in repairing the issue, is nothing more than a bait to put more garbage/sales software on my computer, and is a waste of my time.
Windows continues to update on my computer, which is of course deliberate by Microsoft, even when “Update” it’s turned off these days. And I believe this to be the root cause of the problem. I have been extremely happy with this drive’s performance, and if it had not, all of the sudden, stopped working, even though the unit is still in good working condition, I would have not hesitated to buy another Western Digital drive. If it’s possible I’m going to lose gigs of important data, I don’t need the headaches, I’ll go with something else on my next drive purchase. Putting important data on an external drive for safe keeping is the whole point of having an external drive.
In Summary: This issue does NOT instill confidence in WD’s products, and even less so with cloud software that doesn’t fix the problem either.
*One solution that I’ve been made aware of is: that plugging the external hard drive into another computer will allow access, when the unit is plugged back into the original computer. (if that helps anyone)
Newer My Book drives use standard Windows drivers. As for older units, the SES Driver is available in WD’s Support Article 3739.
WD My Book Essential units do not have cloud functionality. Which application or separate device are you referring to?
That perception is not correct and may lead to data loss. An external hard drive is not a “backup drive” by default. It depends on how you use it. If all of your data is stored in your external hard drive with no copies somewhere else, then you do not have a backup; your external hard drive is your primary data source.
Using your external hard drive as a backup means it has a copy of your data. Meaning, the original data is still available in a separate location such as your computer or a second external hard drive. This means either device can fail and no data is lost (Unless both fail at once).
“WD My Book Essential units do not have cloud functionality. Which application or separate device are you referring to?”
The application that claims to recognize and allows recovery in this situation on your website. You know… the program that wants to “start-up” in widows every time the computer starts… Check your “solutions” for this issue. (utility program-connects to internet) I don’t have time to search your website and link it for you.
“Newer My Book drives use standard Windows drivers. As for older units, the SES Driver is available in WD’s Support Article 3739.”
“3739”… Your website is a mess! WAY too much info and side tracking for 99.9% of the solutions required for a hard drive. (short of sending it back or ripping it open) I found those drivers, but it literally took me an hour. And it wasn’t from your “helpful” website, it was from a link posted from someone else with the same problem in the forum who had obviously spent hours on your website.
“That perception is not correct”
Ok, then why would I want an “External” hard drive at all? I’ve seen raid drives fail when a system goes down, and an external is actually safer and easier to recover from another computer by usb. Perhaps your “perception” is incorrect. I suppose you put Nothing on your External drive worth keeping? LOL…
Anyway, it’s been a good drive. I’ve come to understand it’s just old. It lasted a long time. And I’m not as dissatisfied as I was earlier with WD, because of that fact. Stuff just doesn’t last forever. I will have the data recovered. Thanks for your reply.
Can you name the application in question (WD Backup/WD SmartWare/Acronis/Other) or share a screenshot? Different generations of WD My Book devices come bundled with different software, and even those who support WD My Cloud units require a local WD My Cloud device and do not store data over the internet.
Which application are you referring to? You can right-click over it on the Windows System Tray icon and select “About” in order to know which software is the one you are referring to.
It’s the very first article that comes up when you type “drivers” in WD’s support site:
As additional storage and/or as a backup for your primary source of data. It’s up to you and your personal usage patters. However, it is not a backup by default. All hard drives (Internal and external) from all manufacturers and market segments (From Home to Enterprise) will fail at some point. Some unfortunately sooner than later. It is not a matter of if, but when. Making sure your data is backed-up (A copy) is the only way to minimize data loss.
RAID is not a backup. Not even RAID 1 (Mirror). RAID is a fault-tolerance system able to withstand individual disk drive failures. It is still susceptible to a controller failure (Killing the whole array) or data corruption.
There’s no need to undergo a data recovery process when you have a backup.
Of course I do. Valuable data that I’d rather not risk losing by having my cat trip over my external hard drive. As such, my data is copied into not 2, but 3 separate locations (My PC, my main External HDD, and my NAS). Up to 2 devices (Any combination of them) can fail at the exact same time and I don’t lose a single picture.
