2 bad WD externals...change brands or try again?

luckydriver

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well after 2 dead 2tb WD drives (just tried writing zeros and got tons of errors) i'm debating to risk a 3rd from amazon or try seagate or some other brand?

i realllly only need 1tb so i was wondering is there a better chance of a good drive if i go smaller?
 
Did you try it on another PC? Did you try the new power adapter? It is strange to get two dead drives in a row, and I would check your PC closely to make sure there is not a hardware problem with your USB port.
 

luckydriver

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i got 2 brand new units from amazon so everything was new. dont know how to check a USB port but it was hooked up to the PC directly. still i do find it strange the laptop backed up ok.

mabe ill try the test on the laptop
 

luckydriver

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what if the USB is bad on the PC..i'm not going to buy a new motherboard...and why would everything else on the hub work but not the drive? weird

i was hoping it was something 'simple' like it needed to be formatted under XP first vs the win 7 machine lol..i'm gonna let it run at least 20 hours until i get home from work
 

luckydriver

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ran the tests last night...got tons of write zero errors.....upon reading microsofts info, i believe even though i formatted NTFS under win 7, there's something 'wrong' and i should have formatted under XP ntfs..i know it probably shouldnt matter but what other answer really is there?

i did swap the USB to a known good one where my mouse is plugged in and it still gave me the errors...so the USB must be working...i assume? :)


• Clusters cannot be 64 kilobytes (KB) or larger. If clusters are 64 KB or larger, some programs (such as Setup programs) may incorrectly calculate disk space.
• A FAT32 volume must contain a minimum of 65,527 clusters. You cannot increase the cluster size on a volume that uses the FAT32 file system so that it contains fewer than 65,527 clusters.
• The maximum disk size is approximately 8 terabytes when you take into account the following variables: The maximum possible number of clusters on a FAT32 volume is 268,435,445, and there is a maximum of 32 KB per cluster, along with the space required for the file allocation table (FAT).
• You cannot decrease the cluster size on a FAT32 volume so that the size of the FAT is larger than 16 megabytes (MB) minus 64 KB.
• You cannot format a volume larger than 32 gigabytes (GB) in size using the FAT32 file system during the Windows XP installation process. Windows XP can mount and support FAT32 volumes larger than 32 GB (subject to the other limits), but you cannot create a FAT32 volume larger than 32 GB by using the Format tool during Setup. If you need to format a volume that is larger than 32 GB, use the NTFS file system to format it.
 

luckydriver

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i called WD and told them my story..they agreed i did all the right tests and nothing more i can do but also said it's odd that 2 in a row failed

i'm getting a 3rd from amazon but next i'm doing seagate..3 is more than enough chances
 

luckydriver

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ok i'm wrong, wont get a 3rd from amazon, they only send out one replacement then stop you lol

i guess ill try a seagate 1tb..not much to lose at this point
 
(1) go with Samsung F3
(2) Is the HDD being plugged into a USB2 or USB3 port??
(3) If plugging into a USB2 port, Are you are using a seperate PS (AC Adaptor) to power the HDD. USB2 can ONLY proved 0.5 Amps Max (This equals 2.5W) and many HDD require more power than USB 2 can provide.
(4) For external HDD I (A) use a powered enclosure or (B) use a POWERED USB hub. NOTE this encludes 2.5 in HDD - just to play it safe.

I'm quessing that you may be under powering the HDD's dring the write cycle where power requirements are highest.
 

luckydriver

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usb 2...tried drives both with and without separate AC power.....the seagate 1TB that was USB only did work at first..but after my 3rd backup on a 2nd new partition, it wouldnt write to it...so i returned it...at this point i gave up...i ordered a WD with 5 year warranty the same size as my PC drive and a seagate free go or whatever that non powered one is for my laptop. i guess i can never use an external drive with my PC again..no way 3 drives are bad..just really not possible.funny thing is all the other USB things work just fine.