Western Digital My Book Elite User Manual

®

My Book

Elite

User Manual

My Book Elite User Manual

™

External Desktop

WD Service and Support

Should you encounter any problem, please give us an opportunity to address it before returning
this product. Most technical support questions can be answered through our knowledge base
or e-mail support service at support.wdc.com. If the answer is not available or if you prefer,

please contact WD

Your product includes 30 days of free telephone support during the warranty period. This 30­day period starts on the date of your first telephone contact with WD Technical Support. E-mail
support is free for the entire warranty period and our extensive knowledge base is available 24/

7. To help us keep you informed of new features and services, remember to register your
product online at http://register.wdc.com.

Accessing Online Support

Visit our product support website at support.wdc.com and choose from these topics:

• Downloads—Download drivers, software, and updates for your WD product.

• Registration—Register your WD product to get the latest updates and special offers.

• Warranty & RMA Services—Get warranty, product replacement (RMA), RMA status, and
data recovery information.

• Knowledge Base—Search by keyword, phrase, or answer ID.

• Installation—Get online installation help for your WD product or software.

®

at the best telephone number shown below.

Contacting WD Technical Support

When contacting WD for support, have your WD product serial number, system hardware, and
system software versions available.

North America Asia Pacific

English 800.ASK.4WDC Australia 1 800 42 9861

(800.275.4932) China 800 820 6682/[phone]

Spanish 800.832.4778 Hong Kong [phone]

India 1 800 11 9393 (MNTL)/1 800 200 5789 (Reliance)

Europe (toll free)* 00800 ASK4 WDEU Indonesia [phone]

(00800 27549338) Japan 00 531 650442

Korea 02 703 6550

Europe [phone] Malaysia [phone]/1 800 88 1908/[phone]
Middle East [phone] Philippines 1 800 1441 0159
Africa [phone] Singapore [phone]/[phone]/[phone]

Taiwan [phone]/[phone]

* Toll free number is available in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy,
Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

011 26384700 (Pilot Line)

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MY BOOK ELITE

USER MANUAL

Table of Contents

WD Service and Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii

Accessing Online Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii

Contacting WD Technical Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii

1 About Your WD Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Kit Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Optional Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Operating System Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Disk Drive Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Physical Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Power Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Drive Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Kensington

Registering Your WD Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Handling Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

®

Security Slot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2 Connecting the Drive and Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Connecting the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Getting Started with the WD SmartWare Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

WD SmartWare Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

WD SmartWare Home Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Viewing the Info/Online Help Topics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Getting Started Without WD SmartWare Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Hiding the WD SmartWare Virtual CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Showing the WD SmartWare Virtual CD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

3 Backing Up Your Computer Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

About Backing Up Your Computer Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Backing It All Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Advanced Backup Capabilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Selecting Specific Content to Back Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Changing the Backup Software Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4 Retrieving Backed Up Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

About Retrieving Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Retrieving a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Retrieving a Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Retrieving an Earlier Version of a File or Deleted Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Retrieving All of Your Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

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MY BOOK ELITE

USER MANUAL

5 Locking and Unlocking Your Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Password Protecting Your Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Unlocking Your Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Unlocking Your Drive with the WD SmartWare Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Unlocking Your Drive Without the WD SmartWare Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Turning Off the Drive Lock Feature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Changing Your Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

6 Managing and Customizing Your Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Using the WD SmartWare Icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Opening WD SmartWare Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Checking Drive Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Monitoring Icon Alerts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Safely Disconnecting the Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Using the WD SmartWare Icon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Using the Drive Power Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Customizing Your Software Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Specifying a Different Retrieve Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Setting the Preferences Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Customizing Your Drive Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Specifying a Name for Your Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Registering Your Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Setting the Drive Sleep Timer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Erasing Your Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Showing or Hiding the Virtual CD Icon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Enabling the Backup and Retrieve Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Uninstalling the WD SmartWare Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Uninstalling on Windows XP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Uninstalling on Windows Vista or Windows 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

7 Checking Drive Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

8 Using the Drive with a Mac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Reformatting the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Connecting the Drive and Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Enhancing Performance with WD +TURBO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Installing the WD SmartWare Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Getting Started with the WD SmartWare Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

The WD SmartWare Home Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Using the WD SmartWare Icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Opening the WD SmartWare Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Checking Drive Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

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MY BOOK ELITE

USER MANUAL

Safely Dismounting the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Using the WD SmartWare Icon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Using the My Book Icon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Using the Drive Power Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Unlocking the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Unlocking Your Drive with the WD SmartWare Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Unlocking Your Drive Without the WD SmartWare Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Uninstalling WD SmartWare Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

9 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Installing, Partitioning, and Formatting the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Frequently Asked Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

A Installing an SES Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Installing on Windows XP Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Installing the Driver Automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Installing the Driver Manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Installing on Windows Vista Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Installing the Driver Automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Installing the Driver Manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Installing on Windows 7 Computers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

B Compliance and Warranty Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Regulatory Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

FCC Class B Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

ICES/NMB-003 Compliance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Safety Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

CE Compliance For Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

GS Mark (Germany only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

KCC Notice (Republic of Korea only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Environmental Compliance (China). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Warranty Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Obtaining Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Limited Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

TAB L E OF C O N TE N T S – v

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1

MY BOOK ELITE

USER MANUAL

About Your WD Drive

Wel come to your My Book™ Elite™ external hard drive, an elegant, high-capacity
storage solution for all the chapters of your digital life. Our latest edition features a
customizable smart display to identify what's on your drive, visual automatic, continuous
backup software, and drive lock security protection. The new sleeker design brings
beauty and brains together.

WD's best-selling My Book Elite USB external hard drive features WD SmartWare
software that backs up your data automatically and continuously, shows your backup as
it happens, and brings back lost files effortlessly.

This chapter includes the following topics:

Features
Kit Contents

Optional Accessories

Operating System Compatibility
Disk Drive Format
Physical Description
Registering Your WD Product
Handling Precautions

Features

Major features of the My Book Elite drive include:

Smart display—Create your own personalized drive label to remind you what's stored
on each drive. You can even view the label when the drive is unplugged. The display also
includes available capacity and security status.

Smaller, sleeker, more streamlined design—We've made these award-winning drives
even smaller, sleeker, and more elegant. As always, this book-like shape takes up less
space on your desk and allows two or more My Book drives to nestle neatly together like
volumes on a shelf.

WD SmartWare™ software—An easy-to-use backup solution that gives you the power
to:

• Protect your data automatically—Relax! Your data is secure. Automatic,
continuous backup will instantly make a second copy whenever you add or
change a file.

• See your backup as it happens—Seeing is believing. Visual backup organizes and
displays your content into categories and shows the progress of your backup.

• Bring back lost files effortlessly—Retrieve your valuable data to its original
location whether you've lost all your data, deleted a file, or just overwritten an
important file.

• Take control - Customize your backup, set drive security, run diagnostics, manage
the power settings, and more from the WD SmartWare control center.

• Drive lock—Gain peace of mind knowing that your data is protected from
unauthorized access or theft with password protection and 256-bit hardware­based encryption.

Illuminated capacity gauge—See at a glance how much space is available on your
drive.

ABOUT YOUR WD DRIVE – 1

MY BOOK ELITE

USER MANUAL

USB 2.0 interface—A simple connection that offers convenience and compatibility
among multiple computers.

Power miser—My Book external drives are designed to save energy. WD GreenPower
Technology™ lowers internal drive power consumption by up to 30%, a sleep mode
reduces power during idle times, and a power-saving feature turns the drive on and off
with your computer.

Planet friendly—We designed a small box from recycled materials to minimize waste.
We encourage you to recycle it.

Ready to plug-and-play with Windows computers—NTFS -formatted for compatibility
with all Windows operating systems.

Important: For the latest WD product information and news, visit our website at

www.westerndigital.com. For the latest software, firmware, and product documentation

and information, go to http://products.wdc.com/updates.

Kit Contents

As shown in Figure 1, your My Book Elite external hard drive kit includes the following:

• My Book Elite external hard drive

• WD SmartWare software (included on the drive)

• USB cable

• AC adapter

• Quick Install Guide

USB Cable

Quick Install Guide

AC Adapter

Figure 1. My Book Drive Kit Components

My Book Elite Drive

Optional Accessories

For information about optional accessories for this product, visit:

US www.shopwd.com or www.wdstore.com

Canada www.shopwd.ca or www.wdstore.ca

Europe www.shopwd.eu or www.wdstore.eu

All others Contact WD Technical Support in your region. For a list of Technical Support

contacts, visit support.wdc.com and see Knowledge Base Answer ID 1048.

ABOUT YOUR WD DRIVE – 2

MY BOOK ELITE

USER MANUAL

Operating System Compatibility

Your My Book Elite drive and the WD SmartWare software are compatible with the
following operating systems:

Windows

®

• Windows XP

• Windows Vista

• Windows 7

Mac® OS X

• Tiger

®

• Leopard

• Snow Leopard

®

®

®

™

Compatibility can vary, depending on hardware configuration and operating system.

For highest performance and reliability, always install the latest updates and service
pack (SP). For Windows computers, go to the Start menu and select Windows Update.
For Mac computers, go to the Apple menu and select Software Update.

Disk Drive Format

Your My Book Elite drive is preformatted as a single NTFS partition for compatibility with
all updated Windows operating systems. If you want to use this drive with a Mac
computer, see “Reformatting the Drive” on page 49 and “Troubleshooting” on page 64.

Physical Description

As shown in Figure 2 and Figure 2 on page 3, the My Book Elite drive has:

• Indicators on the front

• The power connector and button, interface port, and a security slot on the back

Capacity Gauge

Figure 2. Front of My Book Elite Drive

Customizable Label

Lock Indicator LED

Power/Activity LED

ABOUT YOUR WD DRIVE – 3

Power Button

USB 2.0

Figure 3. Back of My Book Elite Drive

MY BOOK ELITE

USER MANUAL

Kensington Security Slot

Power Connector

Indicators

The My Book Elite drive has four indicators:

• Capacity gauge

• Customizable label

• Power/activity LED

• Lock indicator LED

Capacity Gauge. The capacity gauge has ten segments that fill from bottom to top (if
the drive is vertical) or from right to left (if the drive is horizontal) to indicate space used
on the drive during the power-on state. Each segment represents approximately 10
percent of drive capacity:

Segment Number Percent Used Segment Number Percent Used

10 Greater than 90 5 40-49

9 80-89 4 30-39

8 70-79 3 20-29

7 60-69 2 10-19

6 50-59 1 5-9

(less than 5 percent does not display)

The numerical display indicates the percentage of capacity available.

The capacity gauge only works if the WD SmartWare software is installed on your
computer.

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Customizable Label. The customizable label that you specify remains on the drive even
when it is turned off or disconnected from your computer.

Lock Indicator LED. The lock indicator LED shows whether the drive is password
protected. It is turned off only when you remove the password from the drive, or when
the drive loses power.

Power/Activity LED. The power/activity LED indicates the drive’s power state and
activity as follows:

LED Appearance Power State/Activity

On steady Idle

Fast flashing (approximately 3 times per second) Activity

Slow flashing (approximately every 2.5 seconds) System standby

Power Button

Use the power button to safely power down the drive and avoid data loss or damage to
the drive. The power button only works when the WD SmartWare software is installed on
your computer.

Note: If you disconnect the drive after using the power button to turn it off, when

you reconnect it to your running computer, the drive automatically powers
on. If you leave the drive connected to your computer after using the
power button to turn it off, you must press the power button again to turn
it back on.

Drive Interface

Hi-Speed USB 2.0 supports data transfer rates up to 480 Mb/s. USB 2.0 is backward­compatible with USB 1.1. Connection to a USB 1.1 port transfers data at USB 1.1 speed
(up to 12 Mb/s).

Kensington® Security Slot

For drive security, the Kensington security slot accepts a standard Kensington security
cable (sold separately). For more information about the Kensington security slot and
available products, visit www.kensington.com.

Registering Your WD Product

Always register your My Book Essential drive to get the latest updates and special offers.
You can easily register your drive using the WD SmartWare software, as described in
“Registering Your Drive” on page 41. Another way is to register online at

register.wdc.com.

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Handling Precautions

WD products are precision instruments and must be handled with care during unpacking
and installation. Drives may be damaged by rough handling, shock, or vibration. Be
aware of the following precautions when unpacking and installing your external storage
product:

• Do not drop or jolt the drive.

• Do not move the drive during activity.

• Do not use this product as a portable drive.

• To allow proper ventilation, do not block any of the enclosure’s air slots.

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Connecting the Drive and Getting Started

This chapter includes the following topics:

Connecting the Drive
Getting Started with the WD SmartWare Software
WD SmartWare Overview

WD SmartWare Home Screen
Viewing the Info/Online Help Topics
Getting Started Without WD SmartWare Software

Connecting the Drive

To connect the My Book drive to your Windows computer:

1. Depending on your region, if required, change the power adapter, as follows:

US/JA/TW

2. Turn on your computer.

3. Connect the My Book drive as shown in Figure 4 on page 8.

4. If you have reformatted the drive for use on a Mac computer, skip the rest of this

procedure and see Figure on page 62 instead.

5. After you physically connect the drive to your computer, verify that the new
WD SmartWare virtual CD and My Book drive appear under My Computer in
Windows Explorer.

EU/KO

Installing

Removing

US/JA/TW

EU/KO

Installing

Removing

CONNECTING THE DRIVE AND GETTING STARTED – 7

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Figure 4. Connecting the My Book Drive

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4

3

6. If a Found New Hardware screen appears, click Cancel to close it:

Windows XP

Windows Vista or Windows 7

The WD SmartWare software will install the proper driver for your My Book drive.

7. Several different screens might also appear, depending on your computer’s
operating system:

IF your operating system is . . . THEN . . .

Windows XP Proceed to step 8.

Windows Vista or Windows 7 Skip to step 10 on page 9.

8. For Windows XP, one or two screens might appear, depending on whether the
AutoRun (AutoPlay) function is enabled or disabled:

IF AutoRun (AutoPlay) is . . . on your computer, THEN . . .

Enabled Proceed to step a on page 9.

Disabled Skip to step b on page 9.

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a. On Windows XP with AutoRun (AutoPlay) enabled, the Welcome to

WD SmartWare screen displays (see Figure 5).

b. On Windows XP with AutoRun (AutoPlay) disabled, right-click to open the

WD SmartWare virtual CD drive listing in Windows Explorer:

Note: The WD SmartWare software is provided in the form of a “virtual” CD

(VCD) drive on your My Book drive. The VCD displays and behaves just
like a physical CD. To see the contents of the VCD, such as the
documentation and some extra programs, right-click the VCD and select
Open.

c. Double-click the WD SmartWare.exe file to display the Welcome to WD

SmartWare screen (see Figure 5).

9. Continue to “Getting Started with the WD SmartWare Software” on page 10.

If you do not want to install the WD SmartWare software, go to “Getting Started
Without WD SmartWare Software” on page 15 instead.

10. For Windows Vista or Windows 7, two or three screens might appear, depending on
whether the AutoRun (AutoPlay) function is enabled or disabled:

IF AutoRun (AutoPlay) is . . . on your computer, THEN . . .

Enabled Proceed to step a on page 10.

Disabled Skip to step b on page 10.

Note: If a Flash Player is installed on

your computer, the screen is
animated.

Figure 5. Welcome to WD SmartWare Screen

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a. For Windows Vista or Windows 7 with AutoRun (AutoPlay) enabled:

Click the Run WDSmartWare.exe option to display the Welcome to
WD SmartWare screen (see Figure 5 on page 9).

b. For Windows Vista or Windows 7 with AutoRun (AutoPlay) disabled, open

Computer, click to open the WD SmartWare VCD drive listing in Windows
Explorer and double-click the WD SmartWare.exe file to display the Welcome to
WD SmartWare screen (see Figure 5 on page 9).

11. Continue to “Getting Started with the WD SmartWare Software” in the next section.

If you do not want to install the WD SmartWare software, go to “Getting Started
Without WD SmartWare Software” on page 15 instead.

Getting Started with the WD SmartWare Software

To get started with the WD SmartWare software:

1. The What would you like to do? prompt on the Welcome to WD SmartWare screen

provides three options for getting started with the WD SmartWare software:

IF you want to install . . . THEN click the . . .

The full version of the WD SmartWare software, with
continuous automatic backup, retrieve, drive lock
password protection, and drive management features and:

• Run your first backup

• Create a drive label

• Password protect or register your drive

Only the WD SmartWare software drive lock password
protection and drive management features, and:

• Create a drive label

• Password protect or register your drive

Install WD SmartWare button.

Install Drive Settings button.

The full version of the WD SmartWare software and

Retrieve a backup link.

retrieve files that you have already backed up to your
My Book drive on another computer,

2. Read the license agreement and click Accept to continue.

3. Wait for the software installation to complete. This could take several minutes.

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4. After the software installation completes:

IF you clicked . . . at step 1, THEN the WD SmartWare software displays . . .

Install WD SmartWare The initial Backup screen for performing your first backup

Figure 6 on page 12). Here you can either:

(see

• Run your first backup—See “Backing Up Your
Computer Files” on page 20 before clicking
Run Backup and then proceed to step 5.

• Skip the backup for now and display the initial Drive
Settings screen (

following subsections and then skip

Figure 7 on page 12)—See the

to step 6:

- “Specifying a Name for Your Drive” on page 41

- “Password Protecting Your Drive” on page 31

- “Registering Your Drive” on page 41 before clicking

Skip Backup

Note: In this case, the initial Drive

Settings screen includes a Return
to Backup button for returning to
the initial Backup screen.

Install Drive Settings The initial Drive Settings screen for securing and

registering your drive (

a. See

b. Skip to step 6.

Retrieve a backup The Home screen for accessing all WD SmartWare

functions:

a. See

b. This completes the getting started procedure after

Note: The initial Backup and Drive Settings screens only appear one time—the

first time you install the WD SmartWare software on your computer. After
that, launching the software displays the Home screen so you can choose
what you want to do.

:

• “Specifying a Name for Your Drive” on page 41

• “Password Protecting Your Drive” on page 31

• “Registering Your Drive” on page 41

Figure 8 on page 13 and “Retrieving Backed

Up Files” on page 27.

selecting Retrieve a backup.

Figure 7 on page 12).

5. After completing your initial backup, click Continue on the initial Backup screen to
display the WD SmartWare Home screen

(Figure 8 on page 13).

This completes the getting started procedure after selecting Install WD SmartWare.

6. After password protecting or registering your drive, click Finish to close the initial
Drive Settings screen.

This completes the getting started procedure after selecting Install Drive Settings.

In this case, however:

• Opening the WD SmartWare software displays the drive management Home

screen (see Figure 9 on page 13) with the Settings tab for performing all drive
management functions (see “Customizing Your Drive Settings” on page 39).

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• Clicking the Settings tab displays the drive management Drive Settings screen

with a Preferences button that you can use to enable the WD SmartWare
Backup and Retrieve functions (see Figure 17 on page 32 and “Enabling the
Backup and Retrieve Functions” on page 46).

Figure 6. Initial Backup Screen

Drive Management Initial Drive Settings Screen

WD SmartWare Initial Drive Settings Screen

Figure 7. Initial Drive Settings Screens

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Figure 8. WD SmartWare Home Screen

Figure 9. Drive Management Home Screen

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WD SmartWare Overview

WD SmartWare software is an easy-to-use tool that gives you the power to:

• Secure your drive—In drive settings, create a password to protect your encrypted

drive from unauthorized access or data theft.

• Protect your data automatically—Automatic, continuous backup instantly makes

a copy whenever you add or change a file.

Note: Automatic backup protection is continuous for as long as your My Book

drive is connected to your computer. Then, whenever you disconnect and
reconnect the drive to your computer, the WD SmartWare software
rescans your computer for new or changed files and resumes automatic,
continuous backup as before.

• See your backup as it happens—Seeing is believing. Visual backup organizes and

displays your content into categories and shows the progress of your backup.

• Retrieve lost files effortlessly—Bring back your valuable data to its original

location whether you’ve lost all your data or just overwritten an important file.

WD SmartWare Home Screen

The WD SmartWare Home screen provides four tab-selected options:

• Home—Provides a Content Gauge that shows the capacity and content of each

hard drive in or connected to your computer (see Figure 8 on page 13)

• Backup—Manages existing backups or creates new backups of your important

data, including movies, music, documents, e-mail, and pictures (see Figure 10 on
page 21)

• Retrieve—Brings back valuable data that has been lost or overwritten (see Figure

13 on page 28)

• Settings—Manages security, diagnostics, power settings, and backup parameters

(see Figure 11 on page 24)

On the Home screen, you can modify the primary drive being categorized with the drop­down selection box under the name of your computer. By selecting a different drive, the
system will identify the categories of files on that drive. Then click the:

• Backup tab to back up files from the selected drive to your My Book drive

• Retrieve tab to retrieve backed up files from your My Book drive to any location

on your computer

In the Content Gauge for your computer’s hard drive, all of your files that are available for
backup are shown against a blue background in six categories where:

This file category Includes files with these extensions

Documents

Mail

.doc, .txt, .htm, .html, .ppt, .xls, .xml, and other document
extensions

.mail, .msg, .pst., and other mail extensions

Music

Movies

Pictures

Other

.mp3, .wav, .wma, and other music extensions

.avi, .mov, .mp4, and other movie extensions

.gif, .jpg, .png, and other picture extensions

Others that do not belong in the five main categories

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For a complete list of all included file extensions, search for Answer ID 3644 in the WD
Knowledge Base at http://support.wdc.com.

Note that:

• The System category, shown against a dark gray background, includes all of your

operating system files that are not available for backup. Files that are not backed
up include system files, program files, applications, and working files like .tmp and
.log files.

• The Retrieved category, also shown against a dark gray background, includes the

files that you have retrieved from a prior backup. They, too, are not available for
backup.

• Hovering the pointer over a category displays the number of files in the category.

In the Content Gauge for your My Book drive, the Additional Files category includes all
of the files shown in the used space portion of your drive properties. This space is not
available for backups.

Note: The small number of files that are shown in the Additional Files category

when you first install the WD SmartWare software—before performing
your first backup—represent the system and hidden files that your
computer’s operating system put there when you installed the drive.

Viewing the Info/Online Help Topics

Each WD SmartWare screen provides easy access to online help information to quickly
guide you through your backup, retrieve, and settings tasks. Whenever you are uncertain

about what to do, just click the info/online help icon in the upper-right corner of any
screen:

To close the info/help screen after reading the online help, click the X icon in the upper­right corner of the screen.

Getting Started Without WD SmartWare Software

If you do not install the WD SmartWare software, you can still use your My Book as an
external hard drive. In this case, however, you will not be able to:

• Protect your data with automatic continuous backups (see “Backing Up Your

Computer Files” on page 20)

• Retrieve earlier versions of lost, or damaged files (see “Retrieving Backed Up

Files” on page 27)

• Secure you drive and all of the files on it with a password (see “Locking and

Unlocking Your Drive” on page 31)

• Customize your software and drive settings for the best possible performance

(see “Managing and Customizing Your Drive” on page 36)

• Check the operational condition of your drive with built-in diagnostic features (see

“Connecting the Drive and Getting Started” on page 7)

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To forego these performance features and get started without installing the
WD SmartWare software:

1. Click Do Not Install on the Welcome to WD SmartWare screen to display the

Continue without installing WD SmartWare? prompt:

2. Click:

• Continue without Install if you still do not want to install the WD SmartWare

software.

• Go Back if you have changed your mind and do want to install the

WD SmartWare software. In this case, go to “Getting Started with the
WD SmartWare Software” on page 10.

Hiding the WD SmartWare Virtual CD

If you have decided to get started without installing the WD SmartWare software, you
might also want to hide (disable) the WD SmartWare virtual CD (VCD). Doing this would
be a simple two-click operation from the WD SmartWare Virtual CD Settings dialog (see
“Showing or Hiding the Virtual CD Icon” on page 45). But if you have not installed the
WD SmartWare software, it is more involved, and you should be aware of the following
precautions:

• Hiding the VCD inhibits access to the WD SmartWare Virtual CD Manager utility

that enables and disables the VCD. If you move the drive to another computer, the
VCD remains hidden there too. You will need to either copy the utility back to the
drive or download another copy of it if you want to show the VCD or install the
WD SmartWare software on the other computer.

• You cannot run the WD SmartWare Virtual CD Manager utility directly from the

drive—you must run it from a folder on your desktop.

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With those precautions in mind, if you have not installed the WD SmartWare software
and want to hide the VCD:

1. Open the WD SmartWare VCD file listing in Windows Explorer and double-click the

Virtual CD Manager.exe file to display the WD SmartWare Virtual CD Manager utility
screen:

Note that when it opens, the WD SmartWare Virtual CD Manager utility also copies a
Virtual CD Manager folder to your desktop. This is the folder you will want to copy
back to your My Book drive in case you later want to show (enable) the VCD.

2. Click Continue.

3. Read the license agreement and click Accept to continue.

4. The WD SmartWare Virtual CD Manager utility locates your My Book drive and

displays its current and target VCD settings:

5. Click Configure Drive to continue.

6. As prompted, for your change to take effect, you must power cycle your My Book

drive:
a. Disconnect the USB cable from your drive.

b. Either disconnect the AC power adapter cable or press the power button to off.

c. Wait ten seconds.

d. Either reconnect the AC power adapter cable or press the power button to on.

e. Reconnect the USB cable to your drive.

7. Click Exit to close the WD SmartWare Virtual CD Manager utility.

8. Check your Windows Explorer and My Computer Devices with Removable Storage

listings to confirm the change.

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9. If you think you might later want to move your My Book drive to another computer,
show (enable) the VCD there, or install the WD SmartWare software, then use the
copy/paste or drag/drop function to copy the Virtual CD Manager folder from your
desktop to your My Book drive. (This is the folder that the WD SmartWare Virtual CD
Manager utility copied to your desktop at step 1 of this procedure.)

Showing the WD SmartWare Virtual CD

If you got started without installing the WD SmartWare software, hid (disabled) the
WD SmartWare virtual CD (VCD), and now want to move your My Book drive to another
computer, or install the WD SmartWare software, you might want or need to show
(enable) the VCD on the other computer. Doing this would be a simple two-click
operation from the WD SmartWare Virtual CD Settings dialog (see “Showing or Hiding
the Virtual CD Icon” on page 45). But if you have not installed the WD SmartWare
software and have hidden the VCD, it is more involved.

If you have not installed the WD SmartWare software and want to show the VCD:

1. Use the Windows Explorer copy/paste or drag/drop function to copy the Virtual CD

Manager folder from your My Book drive to the desktop of your computer. (This is the
folder that you copied to your to your My Book drive at step 9 of “Hiding the
WD SmartWare Virtual CD”.)

If you did not copy the Virtual CD Manager folder to your My Book drive when you
hid the VCD, then use your Internet connection to download the utility Virtual CD
(VCD) Manager for Windows from support.wdc.com.

2. Open the Virtual CD Manager folder or the downloaded utility .zip file
(WDSmartWareVirtualCDManagerforWindows-vx.x.x.x.zip) and double-click the
appropriate .exe file to display the WD SmartWare Virtual CD Manager screen:

• Virtual CD Manager.exe from the Virtual CD Manager folder

3. WD SmartWare Virtual CD Manager for Windows-vx.x.x.x.exe from the downloaded
.zip file

4. Click Continue.

5. Read the license agreement and click Accept to continue.

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6. The WD SmartWare Virtual CD Manager utility locates your My Book drive and
displays its current and target VCD settings:

7. Click Configure Drive to continue.

8. As prompted, for your change to take effect, you must power cycle your My Book

drive:
a. Disconnect the USB cable from your drive.

b. Either disconnect the AC power adapter cable or press the power button to off.

c. Wait ten seconds.

d. Either reconnect the AC power adapter cable or press the power button to on.

e. Reconnect the USB cable to your drive.

9. Click Exit to close the WD SmartWare Virtual CD Manager utility.

10. Check your Windows Explorer and My Computer Devices with Removable Storage

listings to confirm the change.

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Backing Up Your Computer Files

This chapter includes the following topics:

About Backing Up Your Computer Files
Backing It All Up
Advanced Backup Capabilities

About Backing Up Your Computer Files

The WD SmartWare software automatically and continuously backs up all of the content
on your computer to your My Book drive—music, movies, photos, documents, e-mail,
and other files.

Note: One installation of the WD SmartWare software supports up to three

backup drives that are configured with WD SmartWare software.

After the WD SmartWare software categorizes the different types of content you have,
clicking the Start Backup button will back all of them up. Or, you can select specific
types of content to back up.

After performing a backup, the WD SmartWare software protects your files by backing
up any:

• New file that is created on your computer or copied to your hard drive

• Existing file that is changed in any way

This protection is automatic—the WD SmartWare software does it for you without any
action on your part—just make sure to leave your My Book drive connected to your
computer.

Note: Automatic backup protection is continuous for as long as your My Book

drive is connected to your computer. Then, whenever you disconnect and
reconnect the drive to your computer, the WD SmartWare software
rescans your computer for new or changed files and resumes automatic,
continuous backup as before.

Additionally, the Backup screen (see Figure 10 on page 21) provides:

• Content Gauges for your computer’s disk drives, so you can see the number of
files and the storage size for each content category

• A Detailed View content box that you can use to select specific categories of files
or folders to back up, with an Apply Changes button for implementing your
selections

• Run Backup and Pause Backup buttons for starting and pausing backups

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Figure 10. Backup Screen

In the Content Gauges for your computer’s disk drives, the categories of files that would
be included in the backup if you click Start Backup are shown where a:

• Light blue background in the Content Gauge for your computer’s hard drive
represents the original files that are available for backup.

• Gray background in the Content Gauge for your My Book drive represents the
potential backup copies of the original files.

• Dark blue background identifies categories of files that have been backed up

In the Content Gauge for your My Book drive, the Additional Files category includes all
of the files shown in the used space portion of your drive properties. This space is not
available for backups.

In the Content Gauges and the Detailed View content box:

This file category Includes files with these extensions

Documents

Mail

Music

Movies

.doc, .txt, .htm, .html, .ppt, .xls, .xml, and other document
extensions

.mail, .msg, .pst., and other mail extensions

.mp3, .wav, .wma, and other music extensions

.avi, .mov, .mp4, and other movie extensions

Pictures

Other

.gif, .jpg, .png, and other picture extensions

Others that do not belong in the five main categories

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