Starting a Backup

WD SmartWare™ has located and categorized all the files on your computer that are candidates for a backup operation, and is ready to begin backing up files. WD SmartWare recognizes and backs up files based on file extensions and categories, and displays them in content gauges.

To back up all the categories of available files:

Click Start Backup to start your initial backup.

To back up only selected categories:

  1. On the Backup screen, click the triangle next to Detailed View (between the two gauges) to display categories separately. By default, all categories are selected for backup.
  2. Deselect the categories you do not want included in your initial backup.
  3. Click Apply to create a customized backup plan.
  4. If desired, click Update Gauges to display the changes made in the Detailed View. (Macintosh only)
  5. Click Start Backup.

To skip backup and continue to drive settings:

Click Skip Backup to skip backup file selection and continue to the Drive Settings screen.

About Content Categories

For a complete list of both supported and excluded file types, please search for Answer ID 3644 in the WD Knowledge Base at http://support.wdc.com.

For Windows Users

WD SmartWare backs up files for Windows systems by file extensions, as partially defined above.

For Macintosh Users

Macintosh files are not categorized by file extensions; rather by folder locations, as defined by the Macintosh operating system.

About the Content Gauges

When you click Backup, the content gauges for both your computer and WD drive display different colors to represent different states. When you hover over a category on a content gauge, the number of files in the category is displayed.

    Unused or free drive space, for example, the color of your WD drive content gauge before your first backup.
    Available, but excluded from backup, for example, your System Files
    Not yet backed up or new content
    Backed up and retrieved content
    Content ready for backup or retrieve, for example, all your original files