Software Update - WD SmartWare Windows Version 1.5.1.6 (8/16/11)

[t5247rb]

Hello, I seem to have exactly the same problem as others regarding the memory consumption.  The funny thing is it seems to have been not so noticeable before and seems to be getting worse with time.  I wonder if WDFME has been negatively impacted by Windows updates and WD has not been able to keep up.

There were performance problems with this software in version 1.3  and before that were eventually resolved. 

I agree that customers should expect the software bundled with the drive to work acceptably.  I am not impressed with WDs track record.

I am using Windows 7 64 bit Family edition (Premium) Service Pack 1

[t5247rb]

Hello, I seem to have exactly the same problem as others regarding the memory consumption.  The funny thing is it seems to have been not so noticeable before and seems to be getting worse with time.  I wonder if WDFME has been negatively impacted by Windows updates and WD has not been able to keep up.

There were performance problems with this software in version 1.3  and before that were eventually resolved. 

I agree that customers should expect the software bundled with the drive to work acceptably.  I am not impressed with WDs track record.

I am using Windows 7 64 bit Family edition (Premium) Service Pack 1

[RickH_1234]

Bad, Bad!!!!

I just uninstalled the "Smartware".  I was having all kinds of issues.

I spent a lot of money on this drive.  The issue has been going on for to long....will not buy WD again.

How hard is it to send and email, let people know there is an issue, and let them know you are working on it, and when you might expect for it to be fixed.

I am using Vista 64, new version 3.1.5.4 of smartware.

My computer was unusable.

[ThePizzaMatrix]

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RickH_1234 wrote:

Bad, Bad!!!!

I just uninstalled the "Smartware".  I was having all kinds of issues.

I spent a lot of money on this drive.  The issue has been going on for to long....will not buy WD again.

How hard is it to send and email, let people know there is an issue, and let them know you are working on it, and when you might expect for it to be fixed.

I am using Vista 64, new version 3.1.5.4 of smartware.

My computer was unusable.

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Uninstall it and use another software. Period.

The drive itself DOES NOT depend on Smartware to make copies, you can use Windows backup; it's better and IT CAME WITH YOUR COMPUTER.

[CaphWD]

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ThePizzaMatrix wrote:

Uninstall it and use another software. Period.

The drive itself DOES NOT depend on Smartware to make copies, you can use Windows backup; it's better and IT CAME WITH YOUR COMPUTER.

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Yes but it's not realtime backup software which is what we have paid for. When you buy WD My Book Live you buy the hardware and software, not one or the other. The last time I checked any product that is sold, must be fit for purpose otherwise it is breaking the law, at least that's the case here in the UK.

The fact that I am experiencing an unusable laptop after installing this software on a clean Win7 install indicates major problems with their QA, and the fact that this is the same fundamental problem that was reported to them over a year and a half ago says more about their programming team than I ever could.

On the plus side, I found the link to Timeline Free (Timeline Free) but I haven't tried it because they have a 50% off offer on at the moment so I've bought the TimeLine Pro for just under £27. At the minute it is backing up at a rate of knots using Turbo mode and is using 17% CPU, and in the default Smart mode that drops to 7% CPU. Now that is what realtime backup software should be doing and it is using one core only, not all 4 like WDFME! And it is backing up to a folder in the Public share so I don't need to also manually copy files to make them available across the Internet to WD2GO Pro (again, awful software but what can I do, it's the only option on an Android phone). Actually I can't let this go without saying this about WD2GO Pro - who writes software that enables you to offline files for offline access but requires you to connect online to the device before you can access your offline files??? Seriously! That isn't just poor design and management, it's pure incompetence. I'll skip the many other major flaws in this atrociously designed software.

WD should lay off their abysmal programming team and concentrate on hardware. They could even do a deal with Genie9 for their Timeline software and with the savings from laying off the programming team could offset bundling Timeline with the MBL.

I'm just glad I've managed to get Smartware off my PC, it would be better categorised as a virus or at least malware for the all the damage it does.

For the sake of balance, I'd also like to add that the WD MBL itself is great. It's quiet, simple, looks good and keeps cool. The power saving works well and the single light tells me all I need to know. They make great hard drives, and they make great NAS boxes. I don't think that will ever change. There may however be a problem with the new V2 firmware in that large files can be copied at 40MByte/s but the same data split across smaller files can only reach 1MByte/s. I'm hoping this is a V2 firmware bug but it may be due to an underpowered CPU in the unit itself. At the price point of the MBL I'm probably being picky here.

[ThePizzaMatrix]

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CaphWD wrote:

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ThePizzaMatrix wrote:

Uninstall it and use another software. Period.

The drive itself DOES NOT depend on Smartware to make copies, you can use Windows backup; it's better and IT CAME WITH YOUR COMPUTER.

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Yes but it's not realtime backup software which is what we have paid for. When you buy WD My Book Live you buy the hardware and software, not one or the other. The last time I checked any product that is sold, must be fit for purpose otherwise it is breaking the law, at least that's the case here in the UK.

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The drive itself is working and sold and for the purpose it was made: to work as a NAS.

Smartware is optional and FULLY FREE, a regular USB Mybook costs EXACTLY the same as an Elements, which are Smartware-free, hence, it means they are not charging for Smartware. Plus, Smartware only works on Windows with the MBL, making it even more of a bonus than an actual feature.

As a lot of people have already said: Remove Smartware, get a better software (Free or not) and move on, no one is forcing you to use it, no one told you you -should- use it. It's a plan-B, not a priority, NOT NEEDED. If it was needed AT ALL for anything related to the drive then sure, it is not working as intended, but the MBL itself even on the manual explains that it was made to use Smartware as an OPTION and even lists Windows Backup and Time Machine as more complete backup solutions due to the many restrictions they can bypass than Smartware can not, mainly SYSTEM BACKUPS, which the manual makes clear SMARTWARE DOES NOT AND THEY DO, so why keep on insisting?

Forget Smartware even existed and move on.

I won't post again on this thread since I've made my point, I won't even read it. So please feel free to have the last word if you may.

Enough is enough, too many people have said the same thing over and over and over and over and over again: Move on.

[CaphWD]

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ThePizzaMatrix wrote:

The drive itself is working and sold and for the purpose it was made: to work as a NAS.

Smartware is optional and FULLY FREE, a regular USB Mybook costs EXACTLY the same as an Elements, which are Smartware-free, hence, it means they are not charging for Smartware. Plus, Smartware only works on Windows with the MBL, making it even more of a bonus than an actual feature.

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I'm not bothered if you post again or not but i do have to correct you, not because I think you are wrong, but because the law says you are.

Anything bought from a supplier, if brand new, must be fit for purpose. This is not limited to the the first item in the box, the second item in the box, or the item that ThePizzaMatrix says, it applies to the whole product. I made my purchase decision based on the hardware and software in the bundle that I bought and the law protects me in this regard whether you like it or not.

[chronicfathead]

A customer of ours has just brought their home PC in to be looked at, as it stops responding after 5 minutes or so.  After checking a few physical things, and watching what was happening, it became apparent that the WD Smartware software was dragging the system down to a point where it was using 1.46GB of the available 1.75GB.  Obviously Vista was not liking this.

I have eventually managed to remove the software, as recommended above, and the system now operates as expected.

To whome should I give my bill for 45 minutes labour?

Should the end user pay me for correcting the fault introduced by shoddy Western Digital software.  OK it came free with the drive, but surely it should work without major defect, as it was part of the product my customer bought and wanted.

I'll pass the bill on to my customer and see if they ever buy Western Digital again!

[Kramer]

While  I am not impressed with the communication by WD on this particular issue (seriously, this has been going on for over a year now in most cases), and even though I am no longer inclined to recommend WD products to my clientrs solely because of the lack of support on this issue; I may have a solution for some of you.

I am sure this has been mentioned, perhaps even within this thread, but I did a full uninstall of 1.5.x, deleted all the temp files in my windows/temp folder, plugged the passport back in, installed the 1.4.1 version of smartware that is onthe drive, and ran a backup and it no longer pulls 98% memory from the 4 systems I have performed this workaround on. I just refuse to update the software and keep the version at 1.4.1 and things seem fine.

Hopefully this will help some of you, for those that still can not find a cure for the resource bug I wish you luck as I know how frustrating the lack of support can be.

-K

[TVZ527]

I too selected this drive over others largely due to the promised software included.  Its just too bad that the law probably won't dictate that I be compensated for the time lost working on the problem.  Maybe someday soon a class action suit will at least refund me for the new software I will have to purchase to perform the service I paid to have done by this software when I selected and purchased this bundle.

[Jurgen]

This update crashes my PC Sony Vaio on W7.

Serious crash, had to use windows recovery point to before any WDsmartware point.

Repeated error, with antivirus disabled.

Search on internet, wowww, so many people really hating this software, no go for me anymore, bye smartware

Too bad.