WD Smartware Software Not Installing; Device not appearing in "My Computer"

[feanor01]

I bought my WD Passport Essential 320G a few months back and was previously able to successfully install the Smartware software in my laptop which a Vista OS.

Recently I reformated my computer  to its original factory settings and had a new RAM card installed too. I don't know what happened but when I plug in my WD Drive now, the software would no longer install properly. The device also doesn't appear on "Computer."

The installation manual says I should click "cancel" when the "Found New Hardware" window appears and the software is supposed to install properly. But it doesn't. So what I try to do is click on the "Locate and Install Driver Software" option:

But when I do that, a dialogue box prompts me to insert a CD, which WD does not provide:

So the whole installation process just gets cancelled. I checked on the device manager what it says about the WD device and here is what I see on the section "DVD/CD-ROM Drives." It says "Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware because a previous instance of the device driver is still in memory (Code 38)." What does that mean?

I also checked what the device manager says about my WD Drive in the section "Other Devices," and it says "the device is not configured correctly (Code 1). Is the "reinstall driver" option safe to use in this case or will it endanger my files? Any sort of help would be appreciated Thanks.

[feanor01]

Okay I solved the problem myself For those of you who will be experiencing the same problem, try installing the SES driver first not via plugging the device itself but by downloading it from the WD website. When the device is recognized in "My Computer," you can then install the Smartware Software. Here is the link for the SES driver download:

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5419/related/1/session/L2F2LzEvdGltZS8xMzA1NzA1NjgwL...

[Gabthemonster]

Thank you!!.

This may help other users!