Should I remove WD SmartWare?
What percent of users and experts removed it?
10% remove it90% keep it
What do people think about it?
(click star to rate)
How common is it?
Global Rank #1,288
United States Rank #988
Reach 0.5340%
Lifespan of installation (until removal)
< 26.40 days
778.78 days >
Average installed length: 409.19 days
Versions
| Version | Distribution |
| 1.6.2.6 |
11.16% |
|
| 1.6.1.5 |
0.10% |
|
| 1.6.0.25 |
2.52% |
|
| 1.5.4 |
8.44% |
|
| 1.5.3 |
0.12% |
|
| 1.5.1 |
5.85% |
|
| 1.5.0 |
0.76% |
|
| 1.4.5.5 |
20.09% |
|
| 1.4.3.4 |
1.11% |
|
| 1.4.2.5 |
0.91% |
|
| 1.4.1.1 |
8.72% |
|
| 1.3.1.6 |
1.33% |
|
| 1.3.0.16 |
1.96% |
|
| 1.2.1.26 |
0.45% |
|
| 1.2.0.20 |
7.92% |
|
| 1.2.0.8 |
15.87% |
|
| 1.2.0.7 |
0.41% |
|
| 1.1.1.6 |
7.13% |
|
| 1.1.1.4 |
0.11% |
|
| 1.1.1.3 |
0.01% |
|
| 1.1.0.7 |
1.84% |
|
| 1.1.0.2 |
3.18% |
|
Typically installed together
Other programs by Western Digital Technologies
Rankings
- #1,283 VAIO Event Service by Sony
- #1,284 Game Booster 3 by IObit
- #1,285 Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS Add-in for 2007 Microsoft Office programs
- #1,286 HP 3D DriveGuard by Hewlett-Packard
- #1,287 Bandicam by Bandisoft.com
- #1,288 WD SmartWare by Western Digital Technologies
- #1,289 Euro Truck Simulator 2 by SCS Software
- #1,290 Nero MediaHub 10 by Nero AG
- #1,291 Packard Bell Recovery Management
- #1,292 Toshiba Online Backup
- #1,293 WinRAR 4.11 (32-bit) by win.rar GmbH
WD SmartWare
What is WD SmartWare?
Western Digital also ships WD Smartware with many of its drives for use as backup drives. This software backs up all Documents, Pictures, Movies, Emails, and more on the drive, and continually checks for changes to drive locations. This means that regular backup takes place.
About (from Western Digital Technologies)
Data backup can be a chore, but it’s your family photos, your movies, your music - your digital life - and it’s important to protect it. So we made this software extra easy because we really want you to use it. See your content displayed in easy to understand categories like movies and photos. Watch the progress of y... Read more
Overview
The most common release is 1.4.5.5, with over 98% of all installations currently using this version. During setup, the program creates a startup registration point in Windows in order to automatically start when any user boots the PC. Upon being installed, the software adds a Windows Service which is designed to run continuously in the background. Manually stopping the service has been seen to cause the program to stop functing properly. It adds a background controller service that is set to automatically run. Delaying the start of this service is possible through the service manager. A scheduled task is added to Windows Task Scheduler in order to launch the program at various scheduled times (the schedule varies depending on the version). The software is designed to connect to the Internet and adds a Windows Firewall exception in order to do so without being interfered with. When installed, it will add a context menu handler to the Windows shell in order to provide quick access to the program. The primary executable is named WDSmartWare.exe. The setup package generally installs about 99 files and is usually about 23.74 MB (24,892,305 bytes).
Program details
URL: support.wdc.com
Installation folder: C:\Program Files\Western Digital\WD SmartWare\
Uninstaller: MsiExec.exe /X{22A51951-1F45-4C8A-B888-306527F9C45F}
(The Windows Installer is used for the installation, maintenance, and removal.)
Estimated size: 23.74 MB
Language: English (United States)
Files installed by WD SmartWare
| Program executable: | WDSmartWare.exe |
| Name: | WD SmartWare |
| Path: | C:\Program Files\Western Digital\WD SmartWare\WDSmartWare.exe |
| MD5: | 3ac504081f4aecc262a6b9a8b452ebb7 |
Additional files:
-
WDRulesEngine.exe - WD Business Rule Engine Application (WD Business Rule Engine)
-
WDFME.exe - WD File Management Engine
-
WDFMEIPC.dll - WD File Management Engine IPC Module
-
WDContextMenuHandler.dll - WD ContextMenu Handler
-
WDCollections.dll - WDCollections Library (WD Collections)
-
WD Quick Formatter.exe - WDQuickFormatter.exe (WD Quick Drive Format)
-
RemoveBackupPlans.exe - PreserveBackupPlans
-
WDEncrypt.dll - WD Shared Libraries (WD Encrypt)
-
WDIO.dll - WD I/O
-
WDLocale.dll - WD Locale
-
WDUPnP.dll - WD UPnP
-
WDUtilities.dll - WD Utilities
-
WDDMStatus.exe - WD Drive Manager Status
-
WDBackupEngine.exe - WD SmartWare (WD Backup Engine)
-
WDLockedFiles.exe - WD Locked Files
-
WDShadow.5.1.dll - WD Shadow Copy (XP)
-
WDShadow.5.2.dll - WD Shadow Copy
-
WDSmartWare.exe
-
WDDM.dll - WDDM (WD Drive Utilities)
-
WDEngine.dll - WD Engine
-
shadow.dll - WD File Management Engine Shadow Copy Module
-
WdNetworkDiscovery.dll - WDNetworkDiscovery
-
RemoveMemeoPlans.exe - RemoveMemeoPlans
-
ConvertSCE.exe - ConvertSCE
-
EraseDrive.exe - EraseDrive
-
Interop.WDRulesService.dll - Assembly imported from type library 'WDRulesService'.
-
Interop.WDCollections.dll - Assembly imported from type library 'WDCollections'.
-
WDSmartWare.Controls.dll - WDSmartWare.Controls (WD SmartWare Controls)
-
WDDMService.exe (by WDC) - WDDriveManager.exe (WD Drive Manager Service)
Behaviors exhibited
Context Menu Handler
- WDContextMenuHandler.dll added to Windows Explorer under the name 'WDBackupMenuHandler' with a class of {C752BC82-C19A-4827-9C15-0996BA85C180}.
3 Scheduled Tasks
- WDSmartWare.exe is scheduled as a task with the class '{7EC904D3-9FBF-4D18-8F96-CD8B0B04029E}' (runs on registration).
- WDDMStatus.exe is scheduled as a task with the class '{9F5930D5-79DE-42C2-95F4-D7E06DB1006C}' (runs on registration).
- WD Quick Formatter.exe is scheduled as a task with the class '{204947D0-DD09-4DC5-B883-6015F95BA1FF}' (runs on registration).
4 Services
- WDRulesEngine.exe runs as a service named 'WDRules' (WDRulesService) "WD SmartWare Rules Engine".
- WDFME.exe runs as a service named 'WDFME' (WDFMEService) "WD SmartWare File Management Engine".
- WDDMService.exe runs as a service named 'WDDMService' (WDDMService) "WD SmartWare Drive Manager".
- WDBackupEngine.exe runs as a service named 'WD Backup' (WDBackup) "WD SmartWare Backup Engine".
Startup File (All Users Run)
- WDDMStatus.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'WD Quick View' which loads as C:\Program Files\Western Digital\WD SmartWare\WDDMStatus.exe.
Windows Firewall Allowed Program
- WDSmartWare.exe is added as a firewall exception for 'C:\Program Files\Western Digital\WD SmartWare\Front Parlor\WDSmartWare.exe'.
Resource utilization averages
Show technical details
| WDRulesEngine.exe |
| Memory: | 35.57 MB | |
| Total CPU: | 0.0000189601% | |
| Kernel CPU: | 0.00000302% | |
| User CPU: | 0.00001594% | |
| CPU cycles/sec: | 4,273 | |
| I/O reads/min: | 15 Bytes | |
| I/O writes/min: | 3 Bytes | |
| WDFME.exe |
| Memory: | 38.51 MB | |
| Total CPU: | 0.0000170622% | |
| Kernel CPU: | 0.00000265% | |
| User CPU: | 0.00001441% | |
| CPU cycles/sec: | 3,971 | |
| I/O reads/min: | 17 Bytes | |
| I/O writes/min: | 0 Bytes | |
| WDBackupEngine.exe |
| Memory: | 24.85 MB | |
| Total CPU: | 0.0000853556% | |
| Kernel CPU: | 0.00003702% | |
| User CPU: | 0.00004833% | |
| CPU cycles/sec: | 78,474 | |
| I/O reads/min: | 13 Bytes | |
How do I remove WD SmartWare?
You can uninstall WD SmartWare from your computer by using the Add/Remove Program feature in the Window's Control Panel.
- On the Start menu (for Windows 8, right-click the screen's bottom-left corner), click Control Panel, and then, under Programs, do one of the following:
- Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall a Program.
- Windows XP: Click Add or Remove Programs.
- When you find the program WD SmartWare, click it, and then do one of the following:
- Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall.
- Windows XP: Click the Remove or Change/Remove tab (to the right of the program).
- Follow the prompts. A progress bar shows you how long it will take to remove WD SmartWare.
OS VERSIONS
Win 7 (SP1) 64%
Win Vista (SP1) 0%
|
|
HOW IT STARTS
Automatically starts? Yes
(Found in the run registry)
|
|
USER ACTIONS
 |
Uninstall it 10%
Keep it 90%
|
|
Windows
Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
| Windows 7 |
66.97% |
|
| Windows 10 |
17.44% |
|
| Windows Vista |
9.03% |
|
| Windows XP |
6.54% |
|
| Windows Server 2003 |
0.02% |
|
Which OS releases does it run on? |
| Windows 7 Home Premium |
44.15% |
|
| Windows 7 Professional |
11.48% |
|
| Windows 7 Ultimate |
9.14% |
|
| Windows Vista Home Premiu... |
7.16% |
|
| Microsoft Windows XP |
6.45% |
|
| Windows 10 Home |
5.94% |
|
Geography
61.13% of installs come from the United States
Which countries install it?
| United States |
61.13% |
| Canada |
4.49% |
| Australia |
3.55% |
| United Kingdom |
3.50% |
| Germany |
3.42% |
| France |
3.26% |
| Italy |
2.04% |
| Israel |
1.34% |
| Netherlands |
1.05% |
| Iran |
0.85% |
| Sweden |
0.72% |
| Belgium |
0.69% |
| Saudi Arabia |
0.65% |
| Spain |
0.65% |
PC manufacturers
What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
| Hewlett-Packard |
29.22% |
|
| Dell |
28.63% |
|
| Acer |
11.91% |
|
| Toshiba |
9.06% |
|
| ASUS |
7.63% |
|
| GIGABYTE |
5.72% |
|
| Samsung |
3.11% |
|
| Lenovo |
2.30% |
|
| Intel |
1.52% |
|
| American Megatrends |
0.90% |
|
Common models |
| HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook ... |
9.48% |
|
| HP Pavilion dv7 Notebook ... |
7.57% |
|
| Dell Inspiron 1545 |
3.41% |
|
| HP Pavilion g6 Notebook P... |
2.91% |
|
| Dell XPS 8300 |
2.16% |
|
| HP Pavilion g7 Notebook P... |
1.87% |
|
About Western Digital Technologies
Western Digital is one of the largest hard disk drive manufacturers and has a long history in the electronics industry as an integrated circuit maker and a storage products company.
Publisher URL: www.wdc.com