external hd

Has anyone bought a good external hd recently? If so what type of external hd was it? I just had the WD HD crap out on my after less than a month.


Amazon.com: WD 1TB Blue-Black My Passport Ultra Metal Edition Portable External Hard Drive - USB 3.0 - WDBTYH0010BBA-NESN: Computers & Accessories

after less than a month.

Click to expand...

Then it will still be under warranty. Take it back.

Hmmm!
Since external HD's first showed up, years ago now, I've had several given to me, because they quit working. Every one was a WD.

Of all the internal HD's I've had to replace in the last ten years, almost all of them were WD's

I gauge a brand by how well it performs, not by some hype I read on the internet. For this old tech, WD is on my "Never More" list.

I do however have very good luck with Seagate, Samsung or Toshiba hard drives.

Good Luck,
TechnoMage

The bigger problem I have had with external drives (and enclosures - where you install your own drive) is the interface - that is, USB. More often than not, after pulling the drive and direct connecting it as a secondary drive inside a computer, I have then been able to use the drive (though often only after a re-format to correct the corrupt caused while in the enclosure ). I never had a problem with eSATA external devices (though those are much less common).

I think another problem with external drives and enclosures is heat build up. Some enclosures have fans but many don't. I have a docking station that I use a lot. This one uses both eSATA and USB but I have not had any problems even using the USB connection. Not sure if just luck, or because heat is not a problem with one of these.

Generally speaking, I don't like using external drives. I think once setup, a NAS (network attached storage) drive is much more convenient - especially if you need to access the data from multiple computer. Plus they can be physically located anywhere on your network and not tethered to your computer. In my experience, they are much less troublesome.

I agree with itaregid, if the drive is only a month old, take it back or contact WD for an RMA, it should still be under warranty.

Itaregid also has a valid point regarding the enclosure/interface itself, it's the "weak" link in an external hdd. If there's data on the drive that you need to recover, try removing the drive from the enclosure and connecting it directly to your computer. If it works then, recover your data. Once you recover the data, if it is sensitive, use software like DBAN to securely erase the drive BEFORE you return it under warranty.

Unfortunately, it may void your warranty to open the enclosure so only open it if you need to recover your data or if, for some reason, your drive is no longer under warranty and can't be returned.

@strollin, all Western Digital external HDDs except the Elements Model are hardware encrypted by a encrypt/decrypt chip in the SATA to USB bridge inside the enclosure. If the HDD itself is taken out for recovery, the decryption is lost. What all one can get assuming that the HDD itself is OK, is the encrypted data which will be useless.

Now the worst: In the WD My Passport Ultra,- apart from the hardware encryption -the Sata to USB bridge is integrated into the HDD - meaning the HDD has no SATA connector. So one will not be able to separate the HDD for connecting it as an internal drive.

If the OP is not interested in Data Recovery, he should only RMA it and get a new drive. If he is interested in Data Recovery, only the WD Data Recovery partners who have the decrypt key can do it.

That may be true about the WD external hdds, that's just one reason why I'm not a big fan of buying external hdds for myself. I'd rather buy a bare drive and put it in an enclosure of my own choosing.