I have now backed up my old computer and want to move them to my new computer. I understand i am to plug My Passport into new computer and first perform a backup. Then what? When I go to retrieve I am asked if I want to back up files to “original location” (folders that do not exist on my new computer) or to one large retrieval file and then what … copy and paste the folders to new locations on my new hard drive? This should be a common need among WD passport users. Why am I have so much trouble finding instructions for this? I read the manual and it does not have any specific instructions for transferring files and folders to a new computer.
Hello there,
Depending on the software that you used to create the backup, here are two KB articles that might help with information on how to retrieve the files.
Here’s how to restore from MyPassport (full and incremental) to a brand new computer (Win 11) using Acronis software. I just did this because my old computer died and I needed to restore the data to the new computer.
Bottom line: 1. Download the Acronis app to new computer. 2. Using file explorer, right click on the full back-up file (& incrementals) and select “Validate.” Now use the Acronis app to restore the data to the new computer. Detailed instructions and a few pro-tips below.
Details:
I downloaded the Acronis software to the new computer but when I opened the App, the “Recovery” function wouldn’t work. It didn’t see my WD external drive. It told me there was nothing to restore because I had never backed up (from this system).
Via a chat session, Liam at WD Support (not Acronis support) said to open file explorer [sic] and right click on the drive I wanted to restore and click “Validate.” NOTE: after right clicking in file explorer I had to click “Show More Options” from the pop-up; then I saw Acronis on the list. I hovered over Acronis and selected “Validate” (not “Mount.”)
It was a big 1TB file and it took quite some time. When it was done, I could see the WD backup under “Recovery” in the Acronis App.
I actually had 1 full back up and 1 incremental back up. I validated both of them. (Actually I had a second, older back up but DID NOT validate it as I didn’t want to restore it.) I selected both the full and incremental back-up files together to be restored,
One more note: If the name of the drive you backed up is the same as where it’s going, it’s pretty straight forward (i.e. you backed up your old D: drive and are restoring to the D: drive on your new computer.) But if you are going to a drive with a different name, be sure and select “Keep original folder structure” or you might lose the folder structure. I experimented a bit. I moved one folder that had one sub-folder and 6 images. The six images were transferred to my D: drive without any folders. I tried a different folder with 4 sub-folders with several images in each and the sub-folders transferred but not the top-level folder. When I selected “Keep original file structure” It created a folder on the new drive with the name of the old drive and put all the files there with the original folders.
I used the default options for everything else.
