Anyone have the WD MyBook Essentials hard drive?

[HeXen]

Hoping someone with experience on this drive could help. I'm having a hell of a time getting it to work.

For starters it wont do anything on my 3.0 usb slot, but on 2.0 it shows up on my computer. ok whatever. Now its suppose to have some kind of smart software backup thing...considering all it comes with is a quickstart guide which failed to tell me there is a power button thats difficult to see and perfectly flush with the back of the unit.....time later....
basically all that comes up is showing the empty drive on my computer showing 2.72 gigs...seems to be some missing space/hidden partition? anyway.

So i try to update the firmware. i get an error saying " A wd firmware updater error occurred. please download the firmware updater from http://suport.wdc.com/product/download/asp."
which of course i did ...3 times now. I used both links i could find for the Essentials drive.

So i download the manual PDF, which i think is stupid as it should have came with it to begin with, at least put on the drive. Anyway, now the problem is about the Smartware, the manual says its on the drive but i can't find it, shows nothing. i tried downloading the smartware/vcd manager which basically does nothing

So i can't update the firmware, i can't install the wd smartware/vcd manager. wtf? i thought this drive would be simple.
any help?

 

[FishAk]

Did you see the AT review? 2.7TB is the formatted size Anand got also.

Looking at SmartWare, it looks to be just a simplified backup program. Hardly worth tinkering with from what I can see. I certainly wouldn't use it.

USB 3 not working is a major concern. If you are sure your setup actually works with USB 3, I recommend exchanging the drive for one that works. It should work right out of the box. There's no sense messing with USB 2 if you have the option for USB 3- that's a big part of what you're paying for in that drive.

 

[HeXen]

but i wanted the simplified backup software and usb 3.0 for speed cause i have very large files.
hence perhaps why i'm asking for help on getting it to work.

 

[FishAk]

...perhaps why i'm asking for help on getting it to work.

Perhaps you missed the point.

Do you know USB 3 works on your setup?

Is the problem drive new?

If you can answer yes to both of these question, why are you worried about it? Sometimes you get a dud. It happens. Life goes on. All you need to do, is exchange the drive for a working one.

The price of those drives includes USB 3. It should work out of the box. If it doesn't, and you know the rest of your setup works with USB 3 (i.e you have tested it), take it back. Get what you paid for. Why give it another minute of your time?

 

[MarkLuvsCS]

I own the 3tb essential and I remember running into an issue with the WD SES drive not loading properly. If you check out device manager you likely will find yellow (!).

http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=125&lang=en

Download the SES Driver and it should then show you the virtual CD drive that contains the WD software.

 

[HeXen]

Why give it another minute of your time?

You asked why give it my time? Out of the millions of threads with questions..in a Tech forum no less, you think i should RMA this unit, wait a few weeks for a return, potentially running into the same issue when perhaps someone with experience of this drive could have a simple asnwer?

wow. I guess you could say that to anything in life and not even try huh.

But i'll answer your question. Its because someone actually read and comprehended the post and pointed something out to me. and behold
i got it working now....that is why
Not trying to be a dick, but seriously, that is a jackfck response, even bothering to respond if you never used the drive nor have any experience of it despite the obvious intent of my post.

I own the 3tb essential and I remember running into an issue with the WD SES drive not loading properly. If you check out device manager you likely will find yellow (!).

http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=125&lang=en

Download the SES Driver and it should then show you the virtual CD drive that contains the WD software.

thank you. finally someone that can read and comprehend a post. :wub:
i used the recovery image and found the installer, for some reason it installed but the one i got directly from the website did not. it crashed with unhandled exeption.
i dont know how the drive got formatted though, but it works now. firmware still didnt work but oh well, its backing up the files so its all good now

 

[GrumpyMan]

I just bought one of these a week ago and tinkering around I accidentally knocked it over on it's side. That apparently is enough to tank the whole drive's USB controller and is now useless. So I go to hook it up manually in the computer to see if I can get my pictures and videos off of it, nope W7 wants to reformat it and of course can't see any of the folders already on it. On the WD forums I find out that the USB controller sort of encrypts the data on the drive, and with out that particular controller the data cannot be accessed. I didn't know about that.
So in order for me to rescue that data I will have to buy another My Book, take out that hard drive and stick the other one in so I can rescue my pictures. Or what I have also read is that the new BlacX USB 3.0 docking station sometimes works to get to that data.
I think that after I rescue my data, that I'll install the hard drive in my computer and just use it that way after a reformat. Live and learn I guess.