Portable Hard Drive: My Passport - P/N:WDBYFT0020BBL-0A
My New Computer: Dell Inspiron 5570 AIO (I like it!)
My OS: Windows 10 v1709
My WD Software: Smartware
I did my last backup, onto My Passport, 2 weeks before my old Windows 10 Dell desktop crashed 3 weeks ago. I used the same Smartware on the old Dell desktop that I have been trying to use on the new Dell All-in-One (AIO) and the temporary new Dell laptop I have. On the old desktop, I never had a problem backing up or retrieving files.
After installing the onboard Passport software, the laptop found the files on the Passport. However, the “Retrieve” button remained greyed out and I could not get thelaptop to “Retrieve.” I did a workaround and used File Explorer to retrieve a document on which I needed to work.
Based on that problem, I installed, on the AIO, the latest versions of WD Passport software, including Acronis True Image. None of the current apps read My Passport backup. I don’t even understand Acronis and I’m a bit tech savvy. So, I uninstalled the latest updates, and installed the old Smartware, after first physically connecting the Passport. Smartware recognized the file structure on the Passport and created the list seen in the accompanying screenshot. HOWEVER, the “Retrieve” button is greyed out and unusable. So close, but so far away.
All I want to do is retrieve the most current folders and files in an orderly manner and install them on my new AIO. My sense is the fault lies with the latest version of Windows 10 and the WD software not talking to each other. Right now, I do not want to drag and drop using File Explorer. I’m concerned I will be copying folders with multiple older versions of documents onto the new AIO. My last backup is all I want to copy over.
If you have any ideas, your help will be most appreciated.
@cat0w Thanks for replying. Yes, I did. Nothing that was useful.
After several more hours, I discovered that WD uses at least two backup software apps. I was using WD Smartware to try to retrieve my files. I finally found and installed WD Backup. I assume that I have been using WD Backup for saving to this Passport. WD Backup is now copying my files to the new AIO. Whew!
Updated to correct my reply after further testing.
I was able to restore to a different PC using WD Smartware 2.4.21
Old PC is Windows 10 Pro 32bit and new laptop is WIndows 10 Home 64bit
Initially I was able to restore by changing the backup source in WD Smartware to point to the external My Passport Ultra. However this failed to work the 2nd time I tried to restore.
So I renamed the hostname of the new laptop to the same as the old PC, rebooted it and was then able to restore the files back using a different location temporarily c:\temp\restore. I then just moved the folders to the correct location in c:\users.
Will rename the laptop back to its original hostname and configure a new backup.
However still trying to find a suitable replacement for WD Smartware that is universal and is able to backup files real time as they are changed.
I had the same problem and realised that the issues was with the name of the PC (‘DEVICE NAME’) in Windows10. The name of my new PC (or its DEVICE NAME) had to be the same name as my old PC. I’d forgotten the DEVICE NAME of my old PC but it was the folder name inside the ‘WD SmartWare.swstor’ folder … so in my case the folder name was HPDESKTOP, i.e.
This meant that I could either change my new PC’s ‘DEVICE NAME’ in Windows10 to ‘HPDESKTOP’ or change the folder name in my MyBooLive ‘WD SmartWare.swstor’ folder to ‘HPDESKTOP’. Hey presto, my Retrieve tab in my WD SmartWare tab could now see/recognise all the previously backed up folders under the ‘Backed Up Volumes’ section.
