Western Digital WD SmartWare User Manual

WD SmartWare™ Software

User Manual

Version 2.4.x

WD SmartWare Software User Manual, Version 2.4.x

Backup Software

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 email support service at http://support.wd.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. Email
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.wd.com.

Accessing Online Support

Visit our product support website at http://support.wd.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.

 WD Community—Share your thoughts and connect with other WD users.

Contacting WD Technical Support

When contacting WD for support, have your WD product serial number, system hardware, and

system software versions available.

North America

English 800.ASK.4WDC

(800.275.4932) Europe

Spanish 800.832.4778 Middle East

Mexico

South America

Chile 1230 020 5871 Australia 1800 42 9861 / [phone]
Colombia 009 800 83247788 China 800 820 6682
Venezuela 0800 100 2855 Hong Kong [phone]
Peru 0800 54003 India 1800 419 5591 / 1800 200 5789
Uruguay 000 413 598 3787 Indonesia [phone]
Argentina 0800 4440839 Japan 00531 65 0442 / 0120 994 120
Brazil 0800 7704932 Korea 02 703 6550

001 8002754932 Russia

0021 800 83247788

Europe (toll free)*

Africa

Asia Pacific

Malaysia 1800 88 1908 / [phone] (Telekom Malaysia)
New Zealand 0508 555 639 / [phone]
Philippines 1 800 1441 0159
Singapore 1800 608 6008 / [phone] (Singtel)
Taiwan 0800 666 290 / [phone] (Chunghwa)
Thailand 001 800 441 0570

00800 ASK4 WDEU
(00800 27549338)
[phone]
[phone]
[phone]
8 10 8002 335 5011

* Toll free number available in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy,

Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

ii

WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

USER MANUAL

Table of Contents

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

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

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

1 About the WD SmartWare Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Operating System Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

WD Hard Drive Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Non-WD Device Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Cloud Services Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Functional Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Home Tab Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Backup Tab Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Retrieve Tab Displays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Settings Tab Displays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Help Tab Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

2 Installing the Software and Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Installing the WD SmartWare Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Getting Started—Your First Backup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Getting Started—Your Initial Drive Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

3 Upgrading to the WD SmartWare Pro Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Getting Started with the Upgrade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Trying for Free. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Buying an Activation Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Activating the WD SmartWare Pro Software Upgrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

4 Securing the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Password Protecting the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Unlocking the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Unlocking the Drive with the WD SmartWare Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Unlocking the Drive with the WD Drive Unlock Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Changing Your Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Turning Off the Drive Lock Feature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

5 Backing Up Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

How the Backup Function Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Backing Up Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

6 Retrieving Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

How the Retrieve Function Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Retrieving Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

7 Managing and Customizing the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Checking Drive Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Erasing the Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Using the Drive Settings Drive Erase Function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Using Five Invalid Passwords. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Naming the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

TABLE OF CONTENTS – iii

WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

USER MANUAL

Registering the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Restoring the WD SmartWare Software and Disk Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Setting the Drive Sleep Timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Showing or Hiding the Virtual CD Icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Using the WD Quick View Icon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Checking Drive Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Monitoring Icon Alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Opening the WD SmartWare Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Safely Disconnecting the Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

8 Managing and Customizing the Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Checking for Software Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Configuring Your Dropbox Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Specifying a Different Retrieve Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Specifying the Number of Backup Versions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Uninstalling the WD SmartWare Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

A Compliance Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

GNU General Public License (“GPL”) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

TABLE OF CONTENTS – iv

1

1

WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

USER MANUAL

About the WD SmartWare Software

WD SmartWare™ software is an easy-to-use backup application that gives you the
power to:

 Protect your data automatically—Continuous backup instantly makes a second

copy whenever you add or change a file. Scheduled backups run on the days and
times you select.

 See your backup as it happens—Category-mode backup organizes and displays

your files in categories. File-mode backup lets you select specific files and folders.
Both show the progress of your backup.

 Bring back lost files effortlessly—Easily retrieve your data whether you have lost

everything, deleted a folder, or just overwritten an important file.

 Tak e c o nt ro l —Customize your backup, run diagnostics, manage the power settings,

and more for supported WD devices.

The WD SmartWare software provides the drive settings functions for older

®

My Book
by the WD Drive Utilities™ software.

and My Passport® drives. For newer drives, these functions are provided

 Secure your encryption-enabled WD drive—Password protection and 256-bit

hardware-based encryption protects your data from unauthorized access or theft.

The WD SmartWare software provides the security functions for older My Book and
My Passport drives. For newer drives, these functions are provided by the
WD Security™ software.

 Upgrade to the WD SmartWare Pro software—Extend the backup function to non-

WD drives, unsupported WD devices, and supported cloud services.

A Dropbox™ account is required for cloud backup. Cloud accounts can be changed,
terminated, or interrupted without notice at any time.

Operating System Compatibility

The WD SmartWare software is compatible with the following Windows® operating
systems:

 Windows Vista

 Windows 7

 Windows 8

Compatibility can vary, depending on hardware configuration and operating system. For
highest performance and reliability, use the Windows Update service to download and
install the latest updates and service pack (SP).

®

ABOUT THE WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE – 1

WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

USER MANUAL

WD Hard Drive Support

The WD SmartWare software supports the following direct- and network-attached WD
external devices:

 My Book

- My Book

- My Book Essential™

- My Book Elite™

- My Book Duo

- My Book for Mac (reformatted for Windows operating systems)

- My Book Studio™ (reformatted for Windows operating systems)

 My Passport

- My Passport

- My Passport Essential™

- My Passport Essential SE

- My Passport Elite™

- My Passport Edge™

- My Passport Ultra™

- My Passport Ultra Metal Edition

- My Passport Slim™

- My Passport for Mac (reformatted for Windows operating systems)

- My Passport SE for Mac (reformatted for Windows operating systems)

- My Passport Edge for Mac (reformatted for Windows operating systems)

- My Passport Air (reformatted for Windows operating systems)

- My Passport Studio™ (reformatted for Windows operating systems)

®

direct-attached drives

®

direct-attached drives

Note: You must reformat Mac drives for compatibility with Windows operating

systems to use them with this version of the WD SmartWare software. For
information about reformatting your My Book or My Passport drive, see
answer ID 3865 in the WD Knowledge Base at http://support.wd.com.

 WD Network-attached devices

- My Book Live™

- My Book Live Duo

- WD My Cloud™

- WD My Cloud EX2

- WD My Cloud EX4

- WD My Cloud Mirror

- My Net™ N600

- My Net N750

- My Net N900

- My Net N900 Central

ABOUT THE WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE – 2

WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

USER MANUAL

Non-WD Device Support

The WD SmartWare Pro software upgrade extends the backup function to:

 Direct-attached non-WD drives (USB)

 Unsupported WD devices

 Supported cloud services

Upgrading to the WD SmartWare Pro software requires purchase of an activation code.
Or you can upgrade for a free 30-day trial.

Cloud Services Support

The upgraded WD SmartWare Pro software supports Dropbox cloud services.

Functional Overview

All operational features and capabilities of the WD SmartWare software are presented in
five tab-selected screen displays where:

The . . . tab display Provides . . .

Home Device icons and content gauges showing the total capacity and

category structure of the selected backup source device and each
available backup target device.

If the selected backup source device has more than one internal
hard drive or multiple hard drive partitions, or if an available backup
target device has multiple partitions or network shares, the
WD SmartWare software displays a selector box that you can use
to specify the one you want to work with.

See “Home Tab Display” on page 4.

Backup One of two backup dialogs, depending on the backup mode that

you select:

 The by-category dialog provides content gauges showing the

total capacity and category structure of the selected backup
source and backup target devices.

 The by-file dialog provides a folder view of the selected backup

source device for selecting the files and folders that you want
to back up.

See “Backup Tab Displays” on page 11.

Retrieve Three full-screen dialogs for selecting the:

 Backed up volume that you want to retrieve files from

 Destination where you want to copy the retrieved files

 Files that you want to retrieve

See “Retrieve Tab Displays” on page 15.

(Continued)

ABOUT THE WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE – 3

WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

USER MANUAL

The . . . tab display Provides . . .

Settings One of two dialogs, depending on the type and model of the

selected backup target device:

 For most supported WD drives and network-attached devices,

the Settings tab display provides buttons for displaying
Software Settings and Drive Settings screens.

 For some supported WD drives, unsupported WD devices, and

all non-WD drives, the Settings tab display provides only the
Software Settings screen.

See “Settings Tab Displays” on page 17.

Help Instant access to:

 Detailed information about backing up and retrieving files and

making your software and drive setup selections

 WD Customer Support services

See “Help Tab Display” on page 20.

In each display, the WD SmartWare software changes the names and graphic images to
match the hardware configuration of the connected device.

Note: In addition to the detailed Help tab information, each WD SmartWare

display provides easy access to online help to quickly guide you through
your backup, retrieve, and settings tasks. Whenever you are uncertain
about what to do, click the info/online help icon in the upper-right corner
of the display:

To close the info/online help screen after reading the online help, click the
X close window icon in the upper-right corner of the screen.

Home Tab Display

Use the Home tab display to view device content gauges and select:

 The source device or drive partition that has the files you want to back up

 The target device or device partition/network share that you want to back up files to,

retrieve files from, or set up

See Figure 1 on page 5 and Table 1 on page 6 for a brief functional description of the
Home tab display.

ABOUT THE WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE – 4

WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

USER MANUAL

Computer Icon

Backup Source
Selector

Backup Source
Device Selector

Backup Source
Content Gauge

Backup Target
Device Icons

Activation Code
Required Icon

Backup Target
Content Gauges

Figure 1. Home Tab Display

ABOUT THE WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE – 5

Table 1. Home Tab Functional Description

Display Component Description

Activation code required
icon

Signifies that the device is either a non-WD device or an
unsupported WD device that requires a valid activation code and
upgrade to the WD SmartWare Pro software for access.

WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

USER MANUAL

Backup source Dropbox
icon

Backup source computer
icon

Not shown in Figure 1 on page 5:

Signifies that you have selected the Dropbox option for backup
operations.

Right-clicking the icon and selecting Select Account displays the
Dropbox Login Required dialog for configuring your Dropbox
account for access by the WD SmartWare Pro software:

Signifies that you have selected the computer option for backup
operations and provides the name of the selected drive or drive
partition.

Right-clicking the icon displays a menu with the following options:

 Open—Displays the computer’s file management utility listing.

 Properties—Displays the Windows System Properties dialog for

the selected drive or drive partition.

(Continued)

ABOUT THE WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE – 6

Table 1. Home Tab Functional Description (Continued)

Display Component Description

WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

USER MANUAL

Backup source content
gauge

The content gauge for the selected backup source device shows all
of the files that are available for a category-type backup against a
blue background in six categories where:

This file category Includes files with these extensions

Documents .doc, .txt, .htm, .html, .ppt, .xls, .xml, and

other document extensions

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

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

extensions

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

extensions

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

Other Others that do not belong in the five main

categories

For a complete list of all included file extensions, search for answer
ID 3644 in the WD Knowledge Base at

http://support.wd.com.

Note that:

 The System category, shown against a dark gray background,

includes all of your operating system files that are not available
for a category-type backup, including: system files, program
files, applications, working files like .tmp and .log files, and any
files that are stored in a Temp folder.

Backup source device
selector

When you select and run a file-type backup, the name of the
System category changes to Excluded and it then includes all of
the files that are not included in your file backup.

 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 a category-type
backup.

 Because they change so frequently, Outlook .pst files are only

backed up once every 24 hours for a continuous backup. This
exclusion does not apply to other mail application files. For a
scheduled backup, Outlook .pst files are backed up according
to the schedule.

 Hovering the pointer over a category displays the number of

files in the category.

When the computer option is selected, lists all of your computer’s
internal hard drives, hard drive partitions, and direct-attached drives
that are available as a backup source device.

(Continued)

ABOUT THE WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE – 7

WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

Table 1. Home Tab Functional Description (Continued)

USER MANUAL

Display Component Description

Backup source selector Provides options for selecting the type of source device you want to

back up:

 Selecting the computer option displays your computer icon and

lists all of your computer’s internal hard drives, hard drive
partitions, and direct-attached drives in the device selector.

 Selecting the Dropbox option displays the Dropbox icon and

hides the backup source device selector.

Backup target content
gauge

After installing the WD SmartWare software—before running your
first backup or copying any files to the device—the backup target
content gauge shows only a small number of files in the Additional
Files category. These are the system files and hidden files that your
computer’s operating system put there when you installed the
device.

After running a backup or copying files to the device, the backup
target content gauge shows:

 All of the files that have been backed up in the same categories

as the content gauge for the backup source device (see
“Backup source content gauge” on page 7)

 Any other files that you have copied or saved to the device in

the Additional Files category

(Continued)

ABOUT THE WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE – 8

WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

Table 1. Home Tab Functional Description (Continued)

USER MANUAL

Display Component Description

Backup target device icon Provides the name of the backup target device connected to your

computer.

If you have more than one supported device connected to your
computer, left-click the one that you want to use for backup and
retrieve functions. The WD SmartWare software highlights your
selection with a light-blue background:

Selected My Book Drive

Right-clicking a direct-attached drive icon displays a menu with the
following options:

 Open—Displays the device listing in your computer’s file

management utility

 Properties—Displays the Windows Drive Properties dialog

 Safely remove—Prepares your system to disconnect the drive

The Safely remove option is not available for non-WD drives.

Right-clicking a network-attached device icon displays a menu with
the following options:

 Open—Displays the device listing in your computer’s file

management utility

 Dashboard—Displays the Web interface for configuring the

device

 Map—Displays the Windows Map Network Drive dialog

 Create Shortcut—Adds a shortcut to the device to your

desktop display

 Alerts—Displays the WD SmartWare WD Alerts reports

 Properties—Displays the Device Details and Troubleshooting

information for the device

If you have upgraded to the WD SmartWare Pro software, right­clicking the Dropbox icon displays a link to the Dropbox login
Required Dialog for configuring your Dropbox account for access by
the WD SmartWare Pro software.

(Continued)

ABOUT THE WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE – 9

Table 1. Home Tab Functional Description (Continued)

Display Component Description

WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

USER MANUAL

Backup target device

Not shown in Figure 1 on page 5:

selector

The backup target device selector appears under the icon for each
supported backup target device that has more than one drive
partition or network share. The drive partition or network share that
you select is the target for subsequent backup operations and the
source for subsequent retrieve operations.

Device display scroll
pointers

Not shown in Figure 1 on page 5.

One installation of the WD SmartWare software supports as many
external devices as your system can handle. When the number of
connected devices exceeds the display capacity, the
WD SmartWare software displays left/right device display scroll
pointers so you can see them all:

Scroll Pointers

Device locked icon Not shown in Figure 1 on page 5:

Signifies that the device is password protected and locked.

Free-trial countdown icon Not shown in Figure 1 on page 5:

Signifies that non-WD devices, unsupported devices, or cloud
services are being accessed by a 30-day free trial of the
WD SmartWare Pro software upgrade.

No writable partition icon Not shown in Figure 1 on page 5:

Appears when the WD SmartWare software cannot find a valid
volume or share on the device. You must configure the device
before you can select it for WD SmartWare backup and retrieve
functions.

(Continued)

ABOUT THE WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE – 10

Table 1. Home Tab Functional Description (Continued)

Display Component Description

WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

USER MANUAL

Upgrade to WD SmartWare
Pro software button

Appears in the upper-right corner of each WD SmartWare tab
display to remind you of the WD SmartWare Pro software upgrade:

Clicking the button displays a dialog for buying and activating the
WD SmartWare Pro software upgrade or starting a free 30-day trial.

Backup Tab Displays

The WD SmartWare software provides two different Backup tab displays, depending on
how you want to select files to back up:

 By category—As shown in the content gauges

 By file—As shown in the folder structure of the selected backup source device

Use the Backup tab displays to select the files or categories of files that you want to
back up and control the backup operation.

See Figure 2 on page 12 and Table 2 on page 13 for a brief functional description of the
Backup tab displays.

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WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

USER MANUAL

Backup by Category Display

Backup Source
Content Gauge

Category/File Backup
Toggle Button

Set Backup Frequency

Button

Backup by Files Display

Advanced Backup Area

Backup Target
Content Gauge

Enable/Disable Backup
Toggle Button

Figure 2. Backup Tab Displays

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WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

Table 2. Backup Tab Functional Description

Display Component Description

Advanced backup area In category mode, the initial/default configuration of the

WD SmartWare software is to back up all categories of your files. In
this configuration, the advanced backup area is blank.

Clicking Advanced View displays a backup files selection box that
you can use to specify the categories of files that you want to back
up:

USER MANUAL

Clicking Apply Changes in the backup files selection box creates a
custom backup plan and updates the content gauges.

Clicking Switch to File Backup displays a folder structure view that
you can use to specify individual files or folders that you want to
back up:

Note: The folder structure view displaces the backup

source device content gauge on the Backup tab
display.

In file mode, the initial/default configuration of the WD SmartWare
software is with none of the files/folders selected for backup. After
selecting the files or folders that you want to back up, clicking:

 Apply Changes creates a custom backup plan using your

recent selections

 Revert clears your recent selections and redisplays the prior

applied configuration

(Continued)

ABOUT THE WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE – 13

Table 2. Backup Tab Functional Description (Continued)

Display Component Description

WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

USER MANUAL

Backup schedule reminder
button

Backup source content
gauge

Backup target content
gauge

Category/File Backup
toggle button

Not shown in Figure 2 on page 12:

For scheduled backups, clicking the button displays a status dialog
that:

 Shows the date and time of your next scheduled backup, the

last backup that might have been missed, and the last
completed backup

 Provides a Backup Now button for bypassing the schedule and

running the backup now

Same as the content gauge for the selected backup source device
on the Home tab display. (See “Backup source content gauge” on
page 7.)

Same as the content gauge for the selected backup target device
on the Home tab display. (See “Backup target content gauge” on
page 8.)

Switches the backup mode between category and file:

 Category mode—Backs up files according to their categories,

as shown in the content gauges.

The button name is Switch to File Backup when the backup
mode is category.

 File mode—Backs up files according to their folder structure on

the selected backup source drive.

The button name is Switch to Category Backup when the
backup mode is file.

Enable/Disable Backup
toggle button

Set Backup Frequency
button

Upgrade to WD SmartWare
Pro software button

Starts and stops the backup.

Opens the Set Backup Frequency dialog for selecting either
continuous or scheduled backups. A continuous backup runs all the
time. A scheduled backup runs only on specified days at specified
times.

Appears in the upper-right corner of each WD SmartWare tab
display to remind you of the WD SmartWare Pro software upgrade:

Clicking the button displays a dialog for buying and activating the
WD SmartWare Pro software upgrade or starting a free 30-day trial.

ABOUT THE WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE – 14

WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

USER MANUAL

Retrieve Tab Displays

Three Retrieve tab displays guide you through finding backup files and copying them to
the selected retrieve location:

 Selecting the backup volume to retrieve from

 Selecting the destination for retrieved files

 Selecting the files to retrieve

See Figure 3 below and Table 3 on page 16 for a brief functional description of the
Retrieve tab displays.

Select a Volume to Retrieve From Display

Retrieve Destination Option Buttons

Change Retrieve Folder Box

and Browse Button

Backed Up Volumes Selection Box

Select a Destination for Retrieved Files Display

Retrieve Files Option Buttons

Select Content to Retrieve Display

Figure 3. Retrieve Tab Displays

Retrieve Some Files Selection Box

Start/Cancel Retrieving
Toggle Button

ABOUT THE WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE – 15

Tab l e 3 . R et r i e ve Ta b Functional Description

Display Component Description

WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

USER MANUAL

Backed Up Volumes
selection box

Change retrieve folder box
and browse button

Retrieve destination
option buttons

Retrieve files option
buttons

Lists the backed up volumes that are available to retrieve files from
on the selected backup target device.

Yo u must select a backup volume before you can click Next to
continue with the retrieve operation.

By default, the WD SmartWare software creates and uses a folder
named Retrieved Contents in the My Documents folder for your
user name. If you want to specify a different folder, use the Browse
function and click Apply.

Specify where you want to copy the retrieved files. Selecting:

 To the Original Places copies the retrieved files to the same

locations they were backed up from.

 To a Retrieved Content Folder copies the retrieved files to the

specified Retrieved Content folder.

By default, the Retrieve Some Files option is selected and the
WD SmartWare software displays the Retrieve Some Files
selection box that you can use to find and retrieve only selected
files or folders.

Selecting the Retrieve All Files option closes the Retrieve Some
Files selection box and the WD SmartWare software retrieves all of
the files from the selected backup volume on the selected backup
target device.

Retrieve Some Files
selection box

Start/Cancel Retrieving
toggle button

Upgrade to
WD SmartWare Pro
software button

Displays all of the files from the selected backed up volume in a
folder structure with check boxes for selecting individual files or
folders:

Starts and stops the retrieve operation.

Appears in the upper-right corner of each WD SmartWare tab
display to remind you of the WD SmartWare Pro software upgrade:

Clicking the button displays a dialog for buying and activating the
WD SmartWare Pro software upgrade or starting a free 30-day trial.

ABOUT THE WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE – 16

WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

USER MANUAL

Settings Tab Displays

The configuration of the Settings tab displays depends on the type and model of the
selected backup target device:

 For most supported WD drives and network-attached devices, the Settings tab

display provides buttons that link to the:

- Software Settings screen

- Drive Settings screen for direct-attached WD drives

- Web user interface for network-attached WD devices

 For WD drives that support the WD Security and WD Drive Utilities software, and all

non-WD drives, the Settings tab displays only the Software Settings screen.

See Figure 4 on page 18 and Table 4 on page 19 for a brief functional description of the
Settings tab displays.

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WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

USER MANUAL

Settings Tab Display

Software Settings Screen

Figure 4. Settings Tab Displays

Drive Settings Screen

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WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

Table 4. Settings Tab Functional Description

USER MANUAL

Display Component Description

Diagnostics button Displays the Run Diagnostics dialog for launching diagnostic/self-

test utilities for checking drive health.

Drive Erase button Displays the Drive Erase dialog for erasing the drive when it is not

locked.

Dropbox Account button Displays the dialog for configuring a Dropbox account for access by

the WD SmartWare Pro software.

File History button Displays the Set File History dialog for specifying the number of

backup versions that you want to keep for each file.

Label button Not shown in Figure 4 on page 18.

For My Book and My Passport drives that have a customizable
label, displays the Set Label dialog for naming the drive.

Registration button Displays the Register Drive dialog for registering supported WD

drives.

Retrieve Folder button Displays the Set Retrieve Folder dialog for specifying a different

destination folder for retrieved files.

Security button For encryption-enabled WD drives, depending on whether the drive

is password protected or not, displays the:

 Set Security dialog for creating a password

 Your Drive is Secure dialog for changing your password or

turning off the drive lock feature

Set Up Drive button For supported direct-attached WD drives, displays the Drive

Settings screen for securing and setting up the drive.

For supported network-attached WD devices, uses your Web
browser to display the Web interface for configuring the device.

Set Up Software button Displays the Software Settings screen for managing and

customizing the WD SmartWare software.

Sleep Timer button Displays the Set Sleep Timer dialog for specifying the period of

inactivity for turning off the drive.

Software Updates button Displays the Software Updates dialog for enabling/disabling the

option that automatically checks for software updates.

Upgrade to WD SmartWare
Pro software button

Appears in the upper-right corner of each WD SmartWare tab
display to remind you of the WD SmartWare Pro software upgrade:

Clicking the button displays a dialog for buying and activating the
WD SmartWare Pro software upgrade or starting a free 30-day trial.

(Continued)

ABOUT THE WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE – 19

WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE

Table 4. Settings Tab Functional Description (Continued)

USER MANUAL

Display Component Description

Virtual CD button Not shown in Figure 4 on page 18:

For My Book and My Passport drives that provided the
WD SmartWare software on the virtual CD, clicking the Virtual CD
button on the Drive Settings screen displays the Virtual CD Settings
dialog for showing or hiding the virtual CD icon and drive listing in
your computer’s file management utility displays.

Help Tab Display

The Help tab display provides quick access to Learning Center topics and links to online
support services.

See Figure 5 below and Table 5 on page 21 for a brief functional description of the Help
tab display.

Learning Center

Topic Buttons

Figure 5. Help Tab Display

Support Link

Contact Us Link

WD Store Link

Online User Manuals Link

ABOUT THE WD SMARTWARE SOFTWARE – 20