Mighty_Miro_WD

Even so, I would still suggest to try connecting the drives internally (since they should have the necessary interface for that) and see if they will perform faster. That way we could tell for sure if the issue is related to the HDDs somehow or to the docking station/USB port it's plugged into. Have you tried to do so and if you did - what happened?

Hi @Kingslayer13! This is a standard SATA cable which you can easily replace with a new one. Furthermore, there is not really a lot of difference between the SATA II and SATA III cables as far as performance goes. Just keep attention to the specific length you need when you select the replacement and if you want you can specifically check for a cable with locking mechanism which will prevent the drive from slipping out. Cheers!

Hi @matrixmodulator! The best way to determine if the issue is related to the USB hub or the drives is to plug them directly to the PC and see if it will take the same amount of time to be recognized. Also, you can try to plug one drive at a time in order to check if the speeds will change, and to plug it in an USB 3 port (you can use a PC of a friend) just to test the hub. Hope this helps a bit and let me know how it went.

Hi guys! There are some differences between the WD Blue and WD Black besides the longer warranty. Basically the first one is meant for everyday usage and it's fully capable to run most games as well as many programs for editing or programming, while on the other hand WD Black is a performance oriented hard drive that has firmware features like a built-in dual-core CPU that makes it great for multitasking, and it is designed for heavy gaming, big workloads and intensive file usage. Also, WD Black's performance quality comes from the way it is build with some additional hardware inside, additional features in the firmware, the integrated CPU and improved cache. Cheers!

Hi @AvocadoTech! It could be related to the HDD of your laptop, but jsut so we can be sure that's the case I'd suggest to run a diagnostic test on the hard disk with our tool Data Lifeguard Diagnostics and see if anything abnormal will be detected. You can download it from here: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=WYq8Jc However, before you run the test make sure that everything important is backed up on another location and safely secured there. If it turns out that there is some serious issue with your drive though, then it will be best to replace it and the HDD you mentioned should do the job IMO. Hope this helps and let me know how it went. Also, feel free to upload some screenshots so I can take a look.

Hi @4M4D3U5! You can either clone the drive or make a fresh OS installation. My personal preference is to clean install the OS because it will basically ensure that no junk, redundant and temp files get cloned to the drive. Just make sure you unplug the HDD, while installing Windows on the SSD, otherwise you might encounter an OS confusion that might result in boot issues later on. Another important thing to do before beginning is backing up the data from the HDD somewhere else so it could be safely secured. If you decide to go with cloning though, then do have in mind that most of the manufacturers have their own versions of such tools which should be available in the official website - for instance, if at least one of the drives involved is WD you can download and use Acronis True Image WD Edition from here: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=XUC1Ze Additionally, you can follow the steps in this KB article as well in order to complete the process: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=liXn4L Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Hi @Geeku! Are you looking for a portable or desktop external drive? For a portable external drive I can recommend WD Elements and WD My Passport Ultra. They both are very good and reliable drives, and the only difference between them is that the second one is hardware encrypted and password protected while the first one is not. As for the maximum capacity, WD Elements comes with maximum available storage space of 2TB while WD My Passport is up to 4TB. Here's a link you if want to take a look: WD Elements - http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=dhOJDN WD My Passport Ultra - http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=astczY On the other hand, in case you're after a desktop external drives you can take a look at WD My Book which is also hardware encrypted and password protected and comes with capacity up to 8TB. You can check it out here: WD My Book - http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=vPhck5 Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Hi @Fox-Man20! The last configuration you mentioned would suit best for your needs IMO, but the only change I'd suggest is to get at least a 1TB HDD because 500GB could fil up pretty fast, especially since your mass data will be stored on it as well. Other than that, do you have any specific RAID in mind and for which drives do you want to set it up for - the SSDs or the HDDs? I'm asking because if it's for SSDs I would prefer to set them up as a separate storage locations because unless you need the raw speed for a professional environment (importing/exporting/encoding 40 GB files for instance), then there really isn't a point in setting up a RAID array. For the average user/gamer there is no practical reason to go RAID 0 SSDs. Another important thing to have in mind is also the fact that there is no redundancy of the data stored on it whatsoever, so I would suggest to make regular backups of any important data. Another popular option would be to setup a RAID 1 with the hard disks and this will give you some additional redundancy, but noentheless RAID is not a proper substitute for backup because there are a lot of risks that it can't protect against like: If you accidentally delete a file, it will instantly be removed from both mirrored copies. If your disk is corrupted by a software bug or virus, the corruption will be done to both mirrored copies simultaneously. If you're hit by a bad enough power surge, it'll probably fry both disks at the same time, etc. Hope this helps a bit and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

The third party app will do the job in this case and will be easier to use, so you can give it a shot. The tests will give you a basic idea abou the health of your unit, mainly the so called RAW values of the SMART parameters. Once the test is complete you can upload the results so we can take a look at them too. As for the SSD you've mentioned, since I'm company affiliated I won't be able to comment on the SSD you've mentioned, sorry.

Hi @Patrick Filios and welcome to the community! Can you check if the hard disk is showing up in BIOS? In case it doesn't then try a different SATA cable like @ma77yman suggested, as well as to plug the drive in another SATA port. In case this doesn't solve the issue then as a last option you can try to connect it to a different PC and if it appears there simply partition and format it in Disk Management. Speaking of formatting, does the HDD appears in Disk Management on your computer as Unallocated? If it is then you need to format it in order for it to be recognized by the computer - you can follow the steps in this KB article on how to do that: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=jGFGhX Hope this helps and let us know how it went.

Hi @Desting! For a SSD you can check WD Blue SSD. It's a relatively new product on the market which has endurance up to 400 TBW and can reach up to 545MB/s and 525MB/s sequential read and write speeds. Here's a link if you want to take a look: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=SltnGG As for your HDD question, if you don't have any issues with the HDD and its capacity works for you then you can keep it. However, I'd suggest to make sure that it's healthy by running a test on it with the manufacturer tool if possible (you should be able to find it in the official website). If you decide to go with a new drive I can recommend you some hard disk, but still if your current one is healthy you can use it as a backup location, internally or externally (by putting it in an enclosure, for instance). Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Hi @dawidyadhana! You can take a look at WD Blue SSD - it's optimized for multitasking and which will provide solid performance and can reach up to 545MB/s and 525MB/s sequential read and write speeds and has endurance up to 400 TBW. Here's a link if you want to check it out: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=ep1iDg Cheers!

Hi @G27Racer_188! It depends on your personal preference, but I would prefer to go with a new unit because there could be some potential issues with the SSD you don't know about and a lot of times you won't be able to get refund. With that said, it's very important, or at least IMO, to ask the seller to send you the full S.M.A.R.T. report, like @knightslugger wrote, so you can check what the RAW values are currently. If you want you can upload the screenshots so we can take a look.

Hi @Macks! Basically not all sounds from a HDD are signs of a problems with the hard disk, some are absolutely normal and there will be no reason to worry about them, but nonetheless you can upload a recording with the noises if possible so I can hear what is happening exactly. Other than that you can take a look at this KB article about drive sounds if you want: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=DL7JUQ Also, since you've run a diagnostic test on the drive, can you upload the results so I can take a look? If you want you can run an additional test with our software tool Data Lifeguard Diagnostics just in case, but don't forget to make a backup of your most important data before that so it could be safely secured on another location: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=OO9xbs Hope this helps a bit and let me know how it went.

Hi @Freezanator! IMO it depends on what are you going to need more on your PC - space for programs and applications or more capacity for general usage. 240GB might be a little faster indeed and with more space on the SSD you can install more demanding software that will take advantage of the faster bott and loading times that a solid state drive will give you - this will be better if you want to use the PC for video editing for instance. If you're going to use it for gaming and general computing though then you may consider going with a bigger HDD. That's because when it comes to gaming only the open world games and such that have to load often and load in objects will get noticeable improvement in terms of loading times (your drive will not affect the FPS since the GPU and CPU are the key components for that) and also you will have more storage available. Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

If I understand this correctly after the wiping no Pending sectors were detected by the program or? Did you run another test to check the health of the unit?You can use our tool to check the drive if you want: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=ltvSWd This is possible by the way because basically there are two types of bad sectors - software and hardware based. Hardware ones are caused by physical damage or becoming magnetically fixed, and they are unrepairable. Software bad sectors on the other hand are when something called an Error Correction Code (ECC) doesn't match the contents of the hard drive. These can be repaired by overwriting the data on the drive with zeroes, which you did and if nothing is detected by the diagnostic program then it should be OK to use. Of course, if you don't trust the unit you should still be able to RMA it back and get a replacement.

Hi @Maximusfoximus! Since you already have the drives I would prefer to set them up as a separate storage locations. That's because unless you need the raw speed for a professional environment (importing/exporting/encoding 40 GB files for instance), then there really isn't a point in setting up a RAID array. For the average user/gamer there is no practical reason to go RAID 0 SSDs. Indeed they will perform faster, but for just loading a your random games, loading the OS and some other random tasks you won't be seeing a huge difference. If you decide to go with a RAID0 though then keep in mind that it offers no redundancy, so I would suggest to make regular backups of any important data on another location. Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Hi @Sypran! The Current Pending Sectors parameter is showing if there are active visible bad sectors on the drive that cannot be read but are still visible to the operating system. These are dangerous and cause a lot of problems, which is why I would suggest to change the drive. Since the HDD is still under warranty and you've got the HDD from a retailer you can contact their support and arrange a RMA so you can get a replacement unit. Hope this help and let me know how it went.

Hi @prem0910! @linesma gave a pretty cool basic troubleshooting steps and agree that this will give you a good idea about what is happening with the PC exactly. The only thing I would add is to test both drives with the manufacturer diagnostic tools and see what the results will be - I prefer such tests instead of chkdsk because these programs and tuned to the specific firmware of the drives and therefore will show more accurate results. Such tool you can use if you have a WD hard disk is Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for instance: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=F8Mc5Z Just don't forget to make a backup of your most important data on another location before you start so it could be safely secured there. Once the test is complete feel free to upload some screenshots so we can take a look.

Hi @jc_raymundo and welcome to LinusTechTips! You should be able to clone the HDD to the new SSD with the cloning tool offered by the manufacturer - @Wix has mentioned the one available from the SSD one and it should do the job. However, I personally would prefer to make a clean installation because that way no junk or redundant files will be transferred to the SSD, and furthermore with a fresh installation the system will run faster. Either way though I'd suggest to make a backup on another location so your most important information could be safely secured there until the cloning (or the re-installation) is complete. Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Hi @the gremlin! The hybrid drive are a good option for laptops where you have only one drive bay available and you want to have bigger capacity for your budget. I personally won't use them in a PC because having a dual storage configuration (SSD+HDD) will be faster. Basically hybrid drives blend HDD capacity with SSD speeds (the small flash capacity you've mentioned) by placing traditional rotating platters, and a small amount of high-speed flash memory on a single drive. So a hybrid drive only has a certain amount of fast storage (cache) for commonly accessed files, which means that the files within this cache are accessed at SSD speeds while the rest are accessed at standard HDD speeds. If you go with a SSD and a HDD, you can choose what to run faster (OS and most demanding programs on the SSD, for instance) and what not because you'll skip the algorithm part (mass storage on the HDD). Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Hi @Lokantic Jain! I agree with what the others have said - basically any external drive will do the job. However, what type of external drive are you looking for - desktop or portable? Basically the first one will suit better if you want to keep it next to your PC and offers bigger capacity, while a portable drive is smaller and you can easily transport it if you have to. As a WD rep I have both portable external drives we have, WD Elements and WD My Passport, and I find them reliable and solid, and the main difference between them is that the second drive has hardware encryption and is password protected, while the other one is not. I don't know what capacity you want, but WD Elements is up to 2TB and WD My Passport - up to 4TB. WD My Passport - http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=Fouvtw WD Elements - http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=53cHWO As for the desktop external, you can take a look at WD My Book which is also hardware encrypted and is available in capacity up to 8TB. http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=jgk47R Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Hi @King_of_Oz! Like the others wrote it depends pretty much on what are you planning to do with the PC, but I personally would prefer the dual storage configuration with a 120/256GB SSD and 1TB/2TB HDD. Basically a SSHD blends HDD capacity with SSD speeds by placing traditional rotating platters, and a small amount of high-speed flash memory on a single drive. It has a certain amount of fast storage (cache) for commonly accessed files, which means that the files within this cache are accessed at SSD speeds (for instance, 8GB or 16GB of files), and everything else is accessed at standard HDD speeds. The biggest con though is that with the hybrid drives you have no control over what the SSHD stores in its cache since the drive uses a built-in algorithm to determine which frequently used files it will cache, so unless you're going to use the same file very often you won't see a big deal of benefit. At the same times, with an SSD and a HDD you can choose what to run faster and what not because you'll skip the algorithm part and you will put whatever you want wherever you want. Also, my personal preference is to have one drive for your OS and most demanding software and another one mostly for mass storage since that way you'll have a secondary backup unit for the most important data from the primary drive. Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

If the SSD is SATA you should already have all the necessary cables to connect the SSD - SATA power cables arrive with the motherboard and the SATA power cables come with the PSU.

Hi @Ashiella! I'm sorry to hear about your issues with the drive... At this point I'd suggest to connect it to a different PC and see if it will be recognized there. In case it is, then move your data so it can be safely secured on another location. If it's not though, then IMO the best option will be to consult with a data recovery company and see if the specialists there will be able to help you retrieve the information. If you don't know any data recovery company in your area then you can check this link with few that are WD partners: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=nQS0IH Hope this helps and best of luck!