Firstly, please assume that I have no knowledge of the product and that I have had it for 2 to 3 years (or more) without paying any attention to it.
This is the problem: When I go to My Computer and then click on My Book (F:) I get several files showing including one marked as WD Smartware.swstore whereas the remaining 4 files filenames are incomprehensible. There was a time when I could get the screens as shown on page 10 of the User Manual but no longer. As a result I have no idea of what is happening.
 WD Smartware.swstore carries files from my C drive.
If so, I suggest downloading the latest SmartWare version and installing it. Something seems to have damaged the current installation. Reinstalling should update and repair any problems.
WD Universal Firmware Updater for Windows
WD Quick Formatter for Windows
WD SES Driver
WD SmartWare Utilities (VCD & Firmware) for Windows
WD SmartWare Update for Windows
WD SmartWare User Manual (pdf)
I am not sure which of the above you suggest I do.
This should repair the missing part of SmartWare. If you don’t have any error messages about WD SES Driver or VCD (Virtual CD) you should be back to familiar ground with the software. If there still are warnings, you might have to install additional items from this page-
Thank you for your help so far. I have downloaded as suggested and restarted the computer. When I go to My Computer and Click on MyBook (F:), I get 5 files the last of which is WD SmartWare,swstor. If I click on that I get a file marked as USER-8248BE60BAS. If I click on that I get 2 files one of which is Metadata and the other one is Volume.32c42643.efce.11dd.9fc3.806d6172696f. If I click on that, I get all of the files that have been saved before but there is no sign of any Back up Screen. Something I am doing wrong ?
My Belarc Advisor shows the following : WD My Book 1130 – drive 1, s/n rev 1012.
Please forgive me if I am misunderstanding your situation. As I read the description, you are examining the files in Windows Explorer. However, the various screens you are seeking are part of the Smartware application.
If SmartWare is running on your computer, I believe you should see an icon for it in the Notification area (right end) of the task bar. (I am guessing that your arrangement with the Essentials drive is at least somewhat similar to mine with a My Book Live or a Passport Ultra.) The icon in question is blue on white, with the outline of a head with two meshed gears inside. Right clicking on the icon should produce a menu which includes “WD SmartWare” as one of the choices. Left click on this option and it should run SmartWare.
Once in the SmartWare app, you should see tabs labeled “Home, Backup, Retrieve, Settings, and Help.” On the Home tab, if you have more than one HDD or partition, you need to select the desired drive in the drop down menu in the Backup Source column at the left side. You then should be able to view previous backups from the Retrieve tab, or set up backups from the Backup tab.
Let me know if this does not get you where you expect to be.
