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16TB WD Elements USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive (Certified Refurbished) Expired
$148.75
$299.99
+ Free Shipping
Western Digital via eBay has 16TB WD Elements USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive (Certified Refurbished, WDBWLG0160HBK-NESN) on sale for $148.74 when you apply coupon code SHOPGREEN at checkout. Shipping is free.
Thanks to community member DealHunterNYC212 for finding this deal.
Features:
Thanks to community member DealHunterNYC212 for finding this deal.
Features:
- High Capacity in a Compact Design
- Improve PC Performance
- Plug-and-Play Simplicity
- USB 3.0 And USB 2.0 Compatibility
- WD Quality Inside And Out
- Windows 10+
- Reformatting required for use with MacOS
Includes:
- WD Elements Desktop hard drive
- SuperSpeed USB-A cable (5Gbps)
- AC adapter
Original Post
Written by
Edited April 20, 2024
at 07:57 AM
USE CODE: SHOPGREEN
Product Details
Reliable, high-capacity storage for ultrafast data transfers.
Product Features
High Capacity in a Compact Design
Improve PC Performance
Plug-and-Play Simplicity
USB 3.0 And USB 2.0 Compatibility
WD Quality Inside And Out
Compatibility
Windows 10+
Reformatting required for use with MacOS
In The Box
WD Elements Desktop hard drive
SuperSpeed USB-A cable (5Gbps)
AC adapter
Quick Install Guide
CERTIFIED REFURBISHED DIRECTLY FROM WESTERN DIGITAL
https://www.ebay.com/itm/295922418435
Store: eBay
Product Details
Reliable, high-capacity storage for ultrafast data transfers.
Product Features
High Capacity in a Compact Design
Improve PC Performance
Plug-and-Play Simplicity
USB 3.0 And USB 2.0 Compatibility
WD Quality Inside And Out
Compatibility
Windows 10+
Reformatting required for use with MacOS
In The Box
WD Elements Desktop hard drive
SuperSpeed USB-A cable (5Gbps)
AC adapter
Quick Install Guide
CERTIFIED REFURBISHED DIRECTLY FROM WESTERN DIGITAL
https://www.ebay.com/itm/295922418435
Store: eBay
in
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Most people who would invest in a large HDD know enough to have a backup battery set up. I know I do. This is also more theoretical than a frequent or likely scenario.
The point of an external desktop HDD is, you leave it on the desk. It's odd that you criticize it for risks associated with transporting it as though you think people would be carrying this thing around. Of course portable SSD is more suitable for that.
On a separate note, it says seller pays for return shipping, so this may be a risk-free deal. If you find anything wrong, return for free.
This is flat out false. Unless there is something wrong with your machine's cooling system, leaving it on for a week will not cause it to overheat. Many people leave their PCs on 24/7. Some argue that leaving them on continuously actually increases their lifespan, due to the lack of thermal cycling.
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So, after working fine for five years, your laptop's hard drive started showing almost certain signs of failure and you continued to use it for another five years. I have no doubt that was miserable but I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. After the second time bad sectors were detected the drive should have been replaced.
Where did you read that? It makes no sense. Basically all drives are partitioned, even if just with only one. Technically, there are ways to run a partition-less drive but that really is asking for trouble. There's no reason you can't repartition one of these external drives, adding more partitions. I've done it.
Partition table and filesystem corruption are legitimate concerns, especially with USB drives. This is mainly the result of flaky USB controllers/bridges and the fact that most people do not properly dismount and power down the drive, before disconnecting it. However, it is unlikely to happen just because a drive has multiple partitions. The type of partition table and filesystem(s) used may help reduce the chances of this being a problem.
A GPT partition table inherently stores a backup copy at the end of the disk. On a drive of this size, you wouldn't use an MBR partition table anyway, as they only support up to 2TB. Journaled filesystems (such as NTFS and EXT4) are much more robust than ones like FAT32 and exFAT.
On a side note, my impression is that the USB bridges used in WD's 3.5" Elements/EasyStore drives is a little above average and slightly less likely to cause issues, but I still wouldn't trust them completely.
Technically, you could install Linux (but not Windows) on one of these drives but I don't know why you'd want to, and I wouldn't recommend it.
Why wouldn't it be recommended to install Linux on this? I want to use the OS to encrypt the drive and transfer files that way just in case it turned out to be defective and I was to return the drive over the 30-day period or 2-year warranty so no one would be able to get their hands on my personal files. I know DBAN can destroy all data permanently but I've read reports of users being unable to access the drive or any of their data after leaving it in a closet for a few months (likely due to a faulty controller). Using it as an OS will also allow me to see if it develops issues or bad sectors since I would be using it constantly.
(Finally decided to pull the trigger on this drive after much hesitancy...)
---
I read about WD recommending against partitioning on a Reddit post including here: https://superuser.com/questions/1...hat-are-th
One technique to identifying potentially defective external hard drives is doing file transfers while leaving the hard drive tilted and listening for clicks, pauses, and abnormal noises. If any of that is noticed, the drive is defective.
https://www.lifewire.co
---
I would first personally run CMD as administrator and use the command: chkdsk D: /f /r /x
(Substitute D: for the external drive letter.)
And then I would use one or more of the HDD error checking programs if no error or bad sector was detected.
https://www.avast.com/c-ssd-vs-hdd
https://www.avast.com/c-hard-drive-test
https://www.avast.com/c-how-to-clone-hard-drive
https://www.avast.com/c-wipe-old-hard-drive
https://www.avast.com/c-how-to-format-hard-drive
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It's not just "firmware" of course. I'm not as dumb as you look.
Why wouldn't it be recommended to install Linux on this? I want to use the OS to encrypt the drive and transfer files that way just in case it turned out to be defective and I was to return the drive over the 30-day period or 2-year warranty so no one would be able to get their hands on my personal files. I know DBAN can destroy all data permanently but I've read reports of users being unable to access the drive or any of their data after leaving it in a closet for a few months (likely due to a faulty controller). Using it as an OS will also allow me to see if it develops issues or bad sectors since I would be using it constantly.
(Finally decided to pull the trigger on this drive after much hesitancy...)
---
I read about WD recommending against partitioning on a Reddit post including here: https://superuser.com/questions/1...hat-are-th
While you technically could run Linux from one of these, modern operating systems perform poorly when installed on a hard drive. Running an installed OS from an external drive also increases the likelihood of various issues. Things like sleep could cause issues. Also, any flakiness with the USB bridge could cause serious corruption. Overall, it's just not a great idea.
Encrypting the data, in case the drive has to be returned but can't be wiped, is a good idea. Installing Linux on the drive and using it to encrypt the drive and transfer files between it and the host OS (Windows?) may work but it would be convoluted. Unless you're well versed in Linux, and understand the potential pitfalls, I would not recommend this method. It would be much simpler to use a method of encryption that is compatible with Windows, such as Bitlocker or Veracrypt.
As for WD recommending against partitioning external drives, I'm inclined to agree with the people from that link who say it's likely WD trying to protect themselves from support being inundated with complaints from people who don't know what they're doing. Technically, there's no reason you can't partition an external drive. However, some operating systems can get a little grumpy about partitioning external drives. That may have something to do with the specific issue being discussed in that thread. I'm not familiar enough with Mac OS to help.
One technique to identifying potentially defective external hard drives is doing file transfers while leaving the hard drive tilted and listening for clicks, pauses, and abnormal noises. If any of that is noticed, the drive is defective.
This would be of no diagnostic value, but moving a running hard drive can potentially damage it. Abnormal noises (regardless of orientation) can be a sign of issues but most people aren't going to know what are normal vs abnormal for these drives. Modern drives often make unexpected noises that most people would assume are abnormal.
https://www.lifewire.co
---
I would first personally run CMD as administrator and use the command: chkdsk D: /f /r /x
(Substitute D: for the external drive letter.)
And then I would use one or more of the HDD error checking programs if no error or bad sector was detected.
I would not bother using chkdsk to scan for bad sectors (the /r switch). It will only check the specified volume. I'd suggest using something like HDDScan or Victoria, which will scan the entire drive, while also reporting slow/weak sectors. chkdsk /f would be useful for finding and repairing filesystem issues but isn't directly related to hardware.
https://www.avast.com/c-ssd-vs-hdd
https://www.avast.com/c-hard-drive-test
https://www.avast.com/c-how-to-clone-hard-drive
https://www.avast.com/c-wipe-old-hard-drive
https://www.avast.com/c-how-to-format-hard-drive
It's not just "firmware" of course. I'm not as dumb as you look.
But they need to have products that work. Even after a required upgrade. Their support is pretty much non-existent.
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Definitely don't buy or keep this to run 24/7 in a living area if that sort of thing bothers you