My hard drive works good as an internal but bad as external

Michael Karam · Jun 21, 2015

Hey Everyone !, I have WD 1TB hard Drive It opens up the windows Perfectly but when I connect it with another PC by USB as an external HD it was read as RAW and tells me to format it.. actually I formatted it once before and made a new Windows image but it has the same issue with another PCs I thought that the issue from the cable but I tested another HD and it was read perfectly, Please tell me how to make it good readable.. :sarcastic:

Thanks,,!

Paperdoc · Jun 22, 2015

Your problem MAY depend on exactly how you "connect it with another PC by USB as an external HD". The issue is power.

A standard USB2 port can supply power to a connected device so that the device itself does NOT need any additional power supply unit. BUT the power available is limited to 0.5 amps. That is sufficient to run a small low-power HDD like the ones often used inside a laptop. But it certainly is not enough for that 1 TB WD unit. Therefore, whatever unit you used to mount the 1TB unit is so you could connect to your computer's USB2 port may not be providing enough power for the HDD to work. Whether it's a docking unit or a complete enclosure, you will need to have a power supply module ("wall wart" or such) that provides power to the dock or enclosure directly so that it does not have to rely on the limited power from the USB2 port.

Michael Karam · Jun 22, 2015

Paperdoc :

OMG Thank you I connected it directly to mother board by a SATA cable and worked FINE !! thanks but Sometimes I need to copy huge data from my friends I used to use this USB cable to transfer them on my old HD (320 gb) it was working for it ,, How can I transfer these data using this 1TB ? knowing that I need to connect to a laptops ( no sata ports ) can I use USB 3.0 will work for me ? Thanks for your powerful reply

Paperdoc · Jun 22, 2015

A USB3 port can supply up to 0.9 amps, more than USB2. But that still is not usually enough to power a larger HDD commonly used in desktop machines. Even to get that working, you would need to buy an enclosure or dock designed with a USB3 interface plus a USB3 hub that is powered by a power supply module that comes with the hub.

Now, USB3 is much faster than USB2 for data transfer with a computer IF the host computer also has a USB3 port. If the host has only USB2 (VERY common on older desktops and laptops), a USB3 enclosure for your 1TB HDD will work, but only at the slower USB2 speeds that you are used to.

I think your better choice would be a docking station (easy to change HDD units) or an enclosure (better protection for the HDD mounted inside) that can accept SATA units and has a USB3 data connection to the host computer, but ALSO comes with its own power supply so that any HDD installed can receive all the power it needs. That way any SATA HDD can work with that, plus you will get faster transfer rates IF the host computer you're working with happens to have a USB3 port. In fact, some docks or enclosures are able to accept either the desktop standard size 3½" form factor HDD or the smaller 2½" size common in laptops. Don't worry about SATA I, II or III (now called SATA 1.5, 3.0 and 6.0 Gb/s) specs. They are all backwards compatible, and there are NO standard mechanical hard drives (spinning platters and moving heads) that can even get up to the SATA 3.0 Gb/s data rate. Only the best SSD's can exceed that spec.

Example Docks:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0VN-0003-000H5&cm_re=hard_drive_dock-_-0VN-0003-000H5-_-Product
Handles any SATA HDD, has USB3 and its own power brick; good user reviews

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198056&cm_re=hard_drive_dock-_-17-198-056-_-Product
similar to above, but also can accept old IDE hard drives.

Sample Enclosure:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198056&cm_re=hard_drive_dock-_-17-198-056-_-Product
Handles 3½" SATA drives but not 2½", has USB3, own power supply; good user reviews

Michael Karam · Jun 22, 2015

Paperdoc :

A USB3 port can supply up to 0.9 amps, more than USB2. But that still is not usually enough to power a larger HDD commonly used in desktop machines. Even to get that working, you would need to buy an enclosure or dock designed with a USB3 interface plus a USB3 hub that is powered by a power supply module that comes with the hub.

Now, USB3 is much faster than USB2 for data transfer with a computer IF the host computer also has a USB3 port. If the host has only USB2 (VERY common on older desktops and laptops), a USB3 enclosure for your 1TB HDD will work, but only at the slower USB2 speeds that you are used to.

I think your better choice would be a docking station (easy to change HDD units) or an enclosure (better protection for the HDD mounted inside) that can accept SATA units and has a USB3 data connection to the host computer, but ALSO comes with its own power supply so that any HDD installed can receive all the power it needs. That way any SATA HDD can work with that, plus you will get faster transfer rates IF the host computer you're working with happens to have a USB3 port. In fact, some docks or enclosures are able to accept either the desktop standard size 3½" form factor HDD or the smaller 2½" size common in laptops. Don't worry about SATA I, II or III (now called SATA 1.5, 3.0 and 6.0 Gb/s) specs. They are all backwards compatible, and there are NO standard mechanical hard drives (spinning platters and moving heads) that can even get up to the SATA 3.0 Gb/s data rate. Only the best SSD's can exceed that spec.

Example Docks:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0VN-0003-000H5&cm_re=hard_drive_dock-_-0VN-0003-000H5-_-Product
Handles any SATA HDD, has USB3 and its own power brick; good user reviews

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198056&cm_re=hard_drive_dock-_-17-198-056-_-Product
similar to above, but also can accept old IDE hard drives.

Sample Enclosure:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198056&cm_re=hard_drive_dock-_-17-198-056-_-Product
Handles 3½" SATA drives but not 2½", has USB3, own power supply; good user reviews

THANK YOU you really helped me :bounce:

Paperdoc · Jun 22, 2015

You're welcome

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