When I backup my C drive I want to be able to do it by imaging it. I didn’t reinstall the Smartware when I reinstalled the external drive.
I have yet been able to locate a driver from Intel. Since that time, I’ve tracked it down to a Intel driver. I assumed that it had to have something to do with the external drive. When I uninstalled the external drive it went away. There was a BIG warning symbol on a category called “Other Devices” in the device manager. This could account for the failed tests as well. If you do, there may be something wrong with the USB port, or the cable, on the drive itself. Have you tried plugging the drive into another computer and seeing if you get that error when you do. Have you tried plugging the drive into different ports. However, you may also have a bad USB port.
Is Windows asking for a driver when you plug in the drive?
So, when you formatted the drive you did indeed get rid of the SmartWare software.
I think I have found the problem or hope I have. It was a good read, but I had already disabled the VCD using the smartware manager.
I hope I didn’t give the impression that I was offended by your response, not the case. To this end I pointed you to a thread where the OP has dissected a HP external drive that appears identical to a WD SmartWare drive, but where the SmartWare VCD has been replaced with a SimpleSave VCD.
I was merely addressing your questions about SmartWare, ie what is it, where does it live, is it possible to remove it, etc. I could probably pull the sound card and trade slots. My graphics card is a GeForce GTS 450 and takes up 2 slots. I will try the moving of the modem and see if that corrects the problem. It was also my understanding that if the smartware was not installed the drive would not function correctly. The images I attached were to just show that I had actually run the test. I have yet to get an image that will verify as usable should my system crash, and after all isn’t that what most of us us an external drive for.
It has however cause several issues with the programs that I do use for FULL image backups, such as Acronis True Image for WD. It would be useful tool if it were able to backup an entire system, alas it does not, therefore I find it totally useless. The original system was an OEM, (Acer built it) I had no problem getting it up and running. My 500GB WD Blue croaked and need replacing. The OS is Windows 7: installed on a new Caviar (1TB) Black.