GO flex external hard drive 1 TB, Airflow threshold temperature reached, Reallocated sector count 54. Need advice!

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gamepadx

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Hello everyone,

I have a 1 TB GO Flex Seagate external hard drive that i've been using since mid 2011 for backup on a Win 7 system.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seagate_FreeAgent_GoFlex_hard_drive.jpg
http://www.seagate.com/in/en/support/external-hard-drives/desktop-hard-drives/goflex-desk/#specs

Just the day before, I happened to scan the drive with HD tune and I got an airflow error as follows:
YQtOh1p.png


Sorry for not having the complete window of Hd tune as I didn't pay much attention then to the side scroll bar. Also, downloaded CrystalDisk and scanned it with the drive's case being open from one side. It displayed the following:

BdUhQcD.png


Reading the 'failed' message, I quickly made another backup of the entire drive and disconnected the drive by clicking on 'safely remove the hardware icon'. However, the GO flex being a desktop drive, I accidentally switched off the main power of the spike guard instead of the drive's own switch. (Would that pose a problem as the drive was 'safely removed' and the pc was shut down?)

Reconnecting it yesterday and HD tune gave me a reallocated sector error of 50 which then went up to 54 and is currently still at 54 today.

ygidV47.png


CrystalDisk yesterday showed a caution too.

ALYHiIB.png


To date, HD tune shows no bad sectors in the error scan. Seatools Short DST and Short Generic pass the drive.

My queries are as follows:
1. Is the drive safe at all for further use ? If the reallocated sectors do not rise after a weeks' time of regular checking, would it be safe to use in the future?

2. Should I pass a Long Generic test by Seatools (it's time consuming to say the least, hd tune took 8 hrs i believe for the error scan and its an office pc)

3. Is it OK to use the drive with the top side of the case kept open and the drive laid flat, for better airflow and temperatures?

4. A recommendation please, for a drive case that allows better airflow. (I read that GO Flex is not really the best case when it comes to airflow for an external drive. Please correct me if I'm wrong)

5. If the drive is bad, then i'd require to get another external drive. Any suggestions? (I'm looking for durability but not something too expensive. So something mid-range?)

6. Can external drive be kept near the pc (closed, and half opened as well) in general? Its on the desk near the monitor while the cpu is beneath the desk. Also, Is it safe with the pc speakers being at a foot's length in height?
The speakers are:
http://shopping.rediff.com/product/iball-speaker-woodpecker-plus/10231132

Sorry for the long post and thank you for your time!
 
Solution
Boogieman_WD
Sure thing.

1. Well I guess that this is up to personal preference. You've already mentioned the advantages of the portable drives when compared to the desktop external HDDs. Other than that, the desktop drives have models with higher capacities. I wouldn't say that a portable drive has a better airflow and depending on how you use a portable drive it might be a bit more exposed to risks like dropping it or damaging it if you carry it around with you all the time.

2. A failing external enclosure could be causing this, so you might try using it internally and re-test the HDD again, to see if you get different results. Yes, you could keep using it, but I'd recommend that you store only data which you can afford to lose. Even if the...
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

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Jul 31, 2014
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Hey there, gamepadx.

I'll try to address each of your questions one by one:

1. I would say - no. It clearly says that the drive is having problems. I don't know why those reallocated sectors would pop-up one day and not the other, but having reallocated sectors means that those are bad sectors which have been marked not to be used. In addition to the problem with the drive overheating, if I were you, I wouldn't trust it with important data I can't afford to lose.

2. Yes, I'd recommend that you run the long test. You're right that it takes a lot of time as the drive is being scanned sector by sector during the test, but it really shouldn't take as long as 8 hours for a 1TB drive. Perhaps the problems you're having with the drive are the reason for the test the be that slow. The important thing is that you've made a backup of all your data.

3. You can do that, although I'm not sure if it's going to work if the drive itself is having problems. There should be no reason for you to have issues because of that. Basically it'll be almost the same as if you were using the drive with a docking station.

4. Unfortunately as an official Western Digital representative, I can't really recommend an external enclosure, made by a different brand, but I'm sure that the guys from the community will be more than helpful with that.

5. Having in mind this is a desktop drive (3.5"), I'd recommend that you check the WD Elements Desktop drive. You can see all of its features here: WD Elements Desktop. It comes with capacities ranging from 2TB to 5TB, so if you'd like to go with 1TB, I can only suggest a portable drive.

6. Yes, you can keep a hard drive there. The speakers should not affect the drive in any way, don't worry about that.

The bottom line is this - in my opinion, the problems which you're experiencing with your HDD make it not trustworthy and I would recommend that you don't use it to store important data on it, no matter what are the results from the long test.

Hope that helps. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Boogieman_WD

 
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gamepadx

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Hey Boogieman_WD,

Thank you for your precise and patient answers to my queries!

The drive in question passed the Long Generic test after 16 hrs of scanning with no other programs running.
HD tune, after the scan, displays the reallocated sectors data stable at 54.

My queries are:
1. Is it beneficial to buy a portable WD external drive over a desktop drive for better airflow and longer life?
Are there any other benefits of a portable drive over it's desktop counterpart other than portability, no power
cord required and it's smaller size? Do portable drives have fans for better airflow?

2. Can I use this faulty drive as an internal drive and use it for temporary files like videos and games, copied from
the backup drive?

3. Will punching holes in the case of the Seagate Go FLex provide better airflow for the drive? It's case design has
circular dents as seen in the in the first post, what if I made them hollow. Is it OK for a drive to stand upright?
 
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

Judicious
Jul 31, 2014
6,050
2
35,960
Sure thing.

1. Well I guess that this is up to personal preference. You've already mentioned the advantages of the portable drives when compared to the desktop external HDDs. Other than that, the desktop drives have models with higher capacities. I wouldn't say that a portable drive has a better airflow and depending on how you use a portable drive it might be a bit more exposed to risks like dropping it or damaging it if you carry it around with you all the time.

2. A failing external enclosure could be causing this, so you might try using it internally and re-test the HDD again, to see if you get different results. Yes, you could keep using it, but I'd recommend that you store only data which you can afford to lose. Even if the drive works fine for years to come, it's best that you're on the safe side. If you decide to put important info there, please have it backed up in advance.

3. I really can't recommend anything regarding the damaging the enclosure. Basically logic dictates that the less the drive is covered, the cooler it will stay.

Please keep me posted on how everything goes.
 
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G

gamepadx

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May 18, 2014
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thanks for all the help Boogieman! got a WD elements 2 tb external HD. works great..thanks for the model suggestion, especially in regards to the case ventilation.
 
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