Why are so many of my Western Digital HDD's expiring?

Tarka Dal

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Why are so many of my Western Digital HDD's expiring 2-3 years old?
Are Western Digital bad at making Hard drives?
4 Drives have failed in a year and they are only 2-3 years old....
Not covered by warranty...
 

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    Computer 2 :~ Dell Inspiron - 1x 350gb & 1x 250gb - 6GB Memory - Win 7 | Computer 3 :~ Samsung 355v5C Notebook - 6Gb Mem - Win8 2Core| Computer 4:~ Samsung 355v5C Notebook - 6Gb Mem - Win8 4Core
I don't think that is WD specific. Maybe it is due to your particular environment (heat, dust, etc.). I just had an external Seagate fail. But that was the first time any of my appr. 20 disks failed.
 

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    Vista and Win7
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    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
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    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
They have all failed due to their own little faults that I cannot find...
They had different uses and different types eg Blue and green.
As for heat and dust no chance...
 

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System One

  • OS
    Win8 pro
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    Computer 1 of 4
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A78LT-M LE
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    4GB Kit (2x2GB)
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    Samsung 18"
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
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    Cheapo
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    30mb
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    Computer 2 :~ Dell Inspiron - 1x 350gb & 1x 250gb - 6GB Memory - Win 7 | Computer 3 :~ Samsung 355v5C Notebook - 6Gb Mem - Win8 2Core| Computer 4:~ Samsung 355v5C Notebook - 6Gb Mem - Win8 4Core
I have never seen any HDD failing in my entire life!
 

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After seeing a Seagate hard drive of mine completely pass away that wasn't affected by heat or dust or anything external, it dawned on me about the TYPE of hard drive it is and how you use it. See, I used my hard drive for about I think 27 months until it died. Maybe a month or so of total downtime. That hard drive was on literally 24/7 for about 26 months. It was a typical desktop Seagate drive. This is probably why it died so soon. Desktop hard drives are designed to operate for 40 hours a week for many years. If you run it 24/7 for a while, it'll probably die sooner.

What the type of hard drive needed for this situation is an enterprise standard drive, a RAID/NAS approved drive as well.
 

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    Windows 8.1 Pro
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    ASUS
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    AMD FX 8320
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    Crosshair V Formula-Z
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    16 gig DDR3
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    ASUS R9 270
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    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
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    OCZ 500 watt
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    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
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    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
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    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
I have never seen any HDD failing in my entire life!

Short life, I'd say.

Used an external SCSI 45MB (that megabytes) drive on a couple of different Macs back in the mid 1980s. It died after starting to make the cricket noises.

Killed a 750GB Seagate in an external enclosure by dropping it a couple of feet (60cm) while it was spun up.

Other drives have failed at random times, infant mortality to years of constant use.

Saw someone receive some IBM drives with glass platters. He had ordered 4 of them for a RAID setup. Two were dead due to poor packaging for shipment. Seemed to be more fragile than the aluminum disks.
 

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    Window 8 Pro
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    homebuilt
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    I7-3930k
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    Asus P9X79 Pro
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    16 GB Gskill DDR3-2133
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    eVGA GTX 680
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    Soundblaster Zx
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    Asus PA246Q
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    1920X1200
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    Corsair Force GT 120GB
    WD Cavair Black 1.5TB
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    PC Power & cooling Silencer 750
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    Noctua NH-D14 w/ PWM fans
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    cheap Logitech USB wired
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    old 5 button Microsoft USB optical
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    6Mb cable
it dawned on me about the TYPE of hard drive it is and how you use it. See, I used my hard drive for about I think 27 months until it died. Maybe a month or so of total downtime. That hard drive was on literally 24/7 for about 26 months. It was a typical desktop Seagate drive. This is probably why it died so soon. Desktop hard drives are designed to operate for 40 hours a week for many years. If you run it 24/7 for a while, it'll probably die sooner.
Honestly, I don't think this really has anything to do with it. I've had consumer grade hard drives in my servers at home and my desktops at work and they run 24x7 year after year after year. In fact, I just retired this past summer my old file server built in 2006 which ran a pair of 200GB IDE drives for over 6 years straight, 24x7.

I think that good clean power has a lot to do with success. I run all of my PC's on UPS's. I have 4 UPS's at home and all of my desktops run from the UPS's.
 

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System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
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    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
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    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
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    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
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    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
it dawned on me about the TYPE of hard drive it is and how you use it. See, I used my hard drive for about I think 27 months until it died. Maybe a month or so of total downtime. That hard drive was on literally 24/7 for about 26 months. It was a typical desktop Seagate drive. This is probably why it died so soon. Desktop hard drives are designed to operate for 40 hours a week for many years. If you run it 24/7 for a while, it'll probably die sooner.
Honestly, I don't think this really has anything to do with it. I've had consumer grade hard drives in my servers at home and my desktops at work and they run 24x7 year after year after year. In fact, I just retired this past summer my old file server built in 2006 which ran a pair of 200GB IDE drives for over 6 years straight, 24x7.

I think that good clean power has a lot to do with success. I run all of my PC's on UPS's. I have 4 UPS's at home and all of my desktops run from the UPS's.

One of the things that seems to make newer drives die sooner is because of the high capacity. A 200 gig IDE drive would last longer versus a 500 gig drive, or a 2 terabyte drive.

It seems modern drives are prone to dying these days than before. I once had an 120 gig IDE drive that lasted for a good eight years, and that one was a Seagate Barracuda. My 500 gig Seagate Barracuda died in two.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
One of the things that seems to make newer drives die sooner is because of the high capacity. A 200 gig IDE drive would last longer versus a 500 gig drive, or a 2 terabyte drive.
Well, I've also had good luck with my larger hard drives. I have a half dozen Western Digital Caviar Blue's that are at the 4 year mark. I've got 4 of the Samsung F4 2TB that are now 3 years old. And I've got a couple of Western Digital Blacks that are nearly 3 years old as well. No problems with any of them.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
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    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
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    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
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    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
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    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
there are a lot of reasons a hard drive can fail at any given time
There is no predicting it. Many are very lucky to have them work for decades
Some, not so much.

Brown outs, power surges, sudden fluctuations in power that cause the hard drive to power off and right back on again.
Heat, over use, weak parts, slightly damaged parts or parts that simply degrade for any reason over a period of time.

There are literally probably a thousand reasons that could be thought of. and it could be one, or a combination of several.

HDD's die, it happens. Keep data backed up always.

Also, where they were produced can some times have an impact
For a while there, i believe it was Seagate, the ones mad e in China were garbage, the ones made in Thailand were Rock Solid.
 

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System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1 Pro
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    PC/Desktop
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    Self Built
    CPU
    I7-3770K
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    ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77
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    CORSAIR 8GB 2X4 D3 1866
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    EVGA GTX680 4GB
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    ASUS 24" LED VG248QE
    Hard Drives
    SAMSUNG E 256GB SSD 840 PRO -
    SAMSUNG E 120GB SSD840 -
    SEAGATE 1TB PIPELINE
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    CORSAIR GS800
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    CORSAIR 600T
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    CORSAIR HYDRO H100I LIQUID COOLER
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    LGELECOEM LG 14X SATA BD BURNER -
    CORSAIR SP120 Fans x 3 -
    NZXT 5.25 USB3 BAY CARD READER -
    HAUPPAUGE COLOSSUS
Brown outs, power surges, sudden fluctuations in power that cause the hard drive to power off and right back on again.
Heat, over use, weak parts, slightly damaged parts or parts that simply degrade for any reason over a period of time.
All of those power issues can be better handled with a UPS. If you currently don't have one on your computer, I would HIGHLY suggest getting one. I think Tepid is very spot on with those observations about power.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
Yeah, I did fail to mention that, and highly recommend them myself, I have one, but it's old, really old. I need to replace it or the battery, but, probably just get a new one. However, I think it does still do some protecting.

However, please note to all, this doesn't mean you won't have a HDD that never fails, just a better protected one.

And, keep in mind that surge protectors are nice, but they only protect against Surges. Battery Backups are completely different.
Now that they are more available to the consumer market, Look for a high quality one, don't skimp on it.
 

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System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built
    CPU
    I7-3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77
    Memory
    CORSAIR 8GB 2X4 D3 1866
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX680 4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS 24" LED VG248QE
    Hard Drives
    SAMSUNG E 256GB SSD 840 PRO -
    SAMSUNG E 120GB SSD840 -
    SEAGATE 1TB PIPELINE
    PSU
    CORSAIR GS800
    Case
    CORSAIR 600T
    Cooling
    CORSAIR HYDRO H100I LIQUID COOLER
    Keyboard
    THERMALTA CHALLENGER ULT GAME-KYBRD
    Mouse
    RAZER DEATHADDER GAME MS BLK-ED
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    APC 1000VA -
    LGELECOEM LG 14X SATA BD BURNER -
    CORSAIR SP120 Fans x 3 -
    NZXT 5.25 USB3 BAY CARD READER -
    HAUPPAUGE COLOSSUS
I have never seen any HDD failing in my entire life!

Short life, I'd say.

Used an external SCSI 45MB (that megabytes) drive on a couple of different Macs back in the mid 1980s. It died after starting to make the cricket noises.

Killed a 750GB Seagate in an external enclosure by dropping it a couple of feet (60cm) while it was spun up.

Other drives have failed at random times, infant mortality to years of constant use.

Saw someone receive some IBM drives with glass platters. He had ordered 4 of them for a RAID setup. Two were dead due to poor packaging for shipment. Seemed to be more fragile than the aluminum disks.

That's a nice example of failures but why did you killed one? I don't get it... Experiment? :)

Glass platters! Man, never had one of those.
The platters of normal HDDs are not aluminium: I keep more than 20 around from old scavenged HDDs and can say they do good mirrors but are a bit heavier than aluminium and stronger.
I'd say they are titanium alloy or something else with inoxidable properties.

I use the metals of the older HDDs in repairing stuff. The magnets are neodymium types: expensive.

In the end, only very old disks died here, ones with up to 4GB size, the other ones still run.

Disks fail more rapidly to people who use them badly (or kill them) and to those who use them 24/7 but that is an expected fair deal.
But some disks are worse made than others so this is also a failing factor.
 

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    120W adapter
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    small
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    SteelSeries Sensei
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    Chromium, Pale Moon, Firefox Developer Edition
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    That's basically it.
I don't think that is WD specific. Maybe it is due to your particular environment (heat, dust, etc.). I just had an external Seagate fail. But that was the first time any of my appr. 20 disks failed.

Hi there
some of these "External Disk failures" can be repaired quite easily. Often it's not the HDD at all but connector / power supply. In particular the USB connection can become defective so the Disk appears as if it's defective.

Open the case - often it's just a standard SATA disk attached to internal power supply via standard power connector and a USB connector via a small piece of electronics.

Remove the Disk -- you can then simple mount this back into a standard Mobo as an internal drive as a SATA disk or buy a new enclosure. There are plenty of powered SATA==>USB enclosures for HDD's.

I've done the reverse after I "retired" an old desktop PC -- It had 2X 1 TB drives which I now use as external USB3 drives -- USB3 is fast too !!!.

I've seen a few of these external HDD failures (powered disks not the small "passport" types) that have worked perfectly again when repaired like I've said.
 

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    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
I share your concerns -- as I had the very same experience. I have been using PCs for a LONG time and, in most of that time, used WD drives. Generally found them to be reliable.

Then, last year, I had three different WD drives all fail within a few months. One was only a few months old!

Something happened in recent times to cut the quality of WD drives, because while I certainly have seen other brands fail, I've not seen so many of one brand fail within such a short time frame.

So now, I avoid WD drives and buy only other brands. But, as they say, your experience may vary.
 

My Computer

I buy a lot of hard drives and I strongly prefer WD drives. I keep them as cool as I can and I haven't noticed any more failures than usual with them. I have noticed that the Seagate SATA hard drives have a tendency to break off the plastic tab at the SATA data connection. This has happened to 3 Seagate drives recently and I've never seen it happen with other brands...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 10 Pro 64bit
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    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home built Intel i7-3770k-based system
    CPU
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    ASRock Z77 OC Formula 2.30 BIOS
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    GeForce GTX 980ti SC ACS 6GB DDR5 by EVGA
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    Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD, Corsair SP2500 speakers and subwoofer
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    LG 27EA33 [Monitor] (27.2"vis) HDMI
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    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB (system drive)
    WD 6TB Red NAS hard drives x 2 in Storage Spaces (redundancy)
    PSU
    Corsair 750ax fully modular power supply with sleeved cables
    Case
    Corsair Air 540 with 7 x 140mm fans on front, rear and top panels
    Cooling
    Corsair H110i GT liquid cooled CPU with 4 x 140" Corsair SP "push-pull" and 3 x 140mm fans
    Keyboard
    Thermaltake Poseidon Z illuminated keyboard
    Mouse
    Corsair M65 wired
    Internet Speed
    85MBps DSL
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    Chrome and Edge
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    Windows Defender, MalwareBytes Pro and CCleaner Pro
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    Client of Windows Server 2012 R2 10 PC's, laptops and smartphones on the WLAN.

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