WD external HD help
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- OSFA
Hey guys, one of my desktop WD external HD (elements) just went shitty on me. The little USB dock broke and wont work anymore.
I have read a few reviews on this issue and it seems pretty common for this brand. My question is...
Can I buy a dock or new enclosure and simply swipe the HD? Have you guys had this issue? What did you do? Any brand for enclosures you recommend? Thanks!
- Miguex0
OSFA
I've never done it myself, cause I'm computarded, but I know lots of people that buy HD cases and switch drives left and right, some even store drives inside tupperware without cases.Apparently there's only one cable you need to plug to the case
- i popped my drives out and put them in my mac promoldero
- logi0
yes, just make sure it is either sata or ide.
- OSFA0
Shit I need to buy a new one, but now I'm not sure about WD.
Do you guys have any experience with other brands? Which one tends to be more reliable? Lacie? WD? Seagate?
- jaylarson0
seagate homie
- OSFA0
I've checked the filter and see a lot of guys here don't like WD. Would seagate be a good option? Any other brand to consider? Sorry to keep asking but the reviews vary so much that it makes it easier to compare or chose one...
- You'll read failure stories for every brand of HD.nikdaum
- But studies like this are interesting.
http://www.extremete…nikdaum
- ghandolf0
No drives can be totally trusted forever. Always buy two drives... one to use daily and another one to back that one up weekly/monthly.
I've had several 'enclosed' drives fail, and in all cases but one, it was the electronics in the enclosure (power supply) and not the drive itself.
I recently purchased another enclosure for one of these failed drive enclosures, from StarTech...
http://www.startech.com/product/…
..which has a fan built into the enclosure, and accepts either SATA/PATA or IDE drives, with the use of adapting cables. I tore open a Maxtor 1TB enclosure that failed and swapped the drive out into the new enclosure - all is well. You can purchase 'regular' internal hard drives this way, usually at a better price and more reliable.
Always back that shit up and you'll have an edge over any manufacturer's reliability. It's the only way.
This is also a great way to swap and back up drives...
You can buy them in a 2 banger or 4 banger version...
http://www.startech.com/product/…- ...also, there's this option.
http://www.thermalta…
ghandolf
- ...also, there's this option.
- spookykat0
I've own a lot of WDs myself and bought an enclosure before (broke) also but I think you should buy a HD Dock AND a enclosure. That way you can easily swap out HDs at home without worrying about taking them out of the enclosures. Buying externals that are non-swappable is a waste because the HDs bound to die and you can't technically put another HD in.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pr…
I bought this one.
- nthkl0
I use these cases, then when a drive is full i move it to an open bay on my 8core tower at home, then grab a new 10k rpm drive from new egg.
- adumbratesly0
The 2 rules of hard drives...
1. It is never a matter of if, only a question of when
2. Back up that shit, oftenUSB/ESATA ports, plus interface bits break all the time - typically crap manufacturing. Get an external dock for those just in case scenarios (I have this http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Pr…). Swapping to a new case is not that complicated - just do your research and take your time.
Good luck!
- OSFA0
- cbass990
I recently bought an Seagate GoFlex Wireless External HD and all of the sudden my iMac doesn't recognize the HD. It should be detected wirelessly and if I plug in w/ USB. Any ideas or help? I've used it about 4 times..
It shows up under Disk Utility but when I run Repair Disk, it gives me this message:
"Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files."
- ask Seagatemonospaced
- thanks mono. you're a genius.cbass99
- sorry, I just think you might have better luck getting an answer faster that waymonospaced
- Doomedpango
- try running Disk Warrior etc on it but yeah probably fcked.horton
- pango0
This is great.
Got FireWire, esata, usb3
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/N…
- MrT0
This happened to me as well. Yoda told me it's usually everything but the drive itself that goes tits-up, so I swapped the drives into one of these. Two busted externals (a Seagate and a WD) are now a RAID. They've now lasted longer in here than in the original housing.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/f…
I'm no techxpert but if you can follow instructions and use a screwdriver it's a doddle.
- sem0
Just thought I'd add this bit of info in here
If you get that ticking/skipping sound and your hard drive won't start it is sometimes just the PCB thats blown and you can still save your data by replacing said board with one from eBay (making sure its from the exact same model hard drive)
Its a simple unscrew/screw job also.
Also, if you're pulling apart 2.5 enclosures always keep these if working as they come in handy for quick testing drives etc.
http://www.centrix-intl.com/send…Many a time I've had to save a drive.