WD Elements (brand new) won't work

WD External and Portable SSD External SSD for Windows
1

I just received my new WD Elements yesterday to replace my broken Passport. I plugged it in… nothing. I uninstalled my old Smartware, restarted the computer, downloaded WD Smartware from the WD site, restarted the computer, clicked on the icon for the Element as instructed. When I do this a box with a message appears that says “To upgrade and enable backups to your WD Elements and non-WD devices activate with an activation code from WD.” I do not want to upgrade and, indeed, when I went to the WD site I found messages saying that Pro will no longer be supported. It is like going in circles and I have yet to find a way around this.

Can someone point me in the right direction to get my WD Elements working or let me know what I am doing wrong because this is crazy making? Thanks.
Mary Ann

2

WD Elements doesn’t include SmartWare (unless somethings changed recently). It’s designed to be a bare-bones drive you can use with third party backup applications (including the ones built into Windows and macOS) or simply use for data storage.

3

Thanks Scott. I figured it out.