SuperSoph_WD

Hello there, @JackBlack! There is quite a number of cloning/migrating and back up software programs out there that you can use to do this. I personally use Acronis True Image for this purpose, because it lets you select manually the stuff you wish to clone/backup. However, you just got your brand new PC and system up and running, so I'd strongly recommend re-installing your software apps and programs from the old system. This is a different computer, a different motherboard, so starting everything from scratch is the best way to avoid any compatibility issues with the programs from your old HDD. Hope I was helpful! Let me know if you have any more questions! SuperSoph_WD

Hey there, @InspectorNinja! I'd agree with @AleksaNS as well, I believe you will be satisfied with the WD Black. It's a performance drive and many users/customers are pleased with it using FRAPS or Dxtory. [EDITED LINKS]: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=760 However, you already have our 10 000 RPM VelociRaptor, so if I were you I'd take another look at it and maybe get the 1 TB version. Especially if you are planning to use it for recording as well: [EDITED LINKS]: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=20 I guess there would be no wrong choice between the two, it really depends on your budget and purposes for the extra storage! Hope I helped though! SuperSoph_WD

Hi again, @sid0195! Yes, it's totally possible that the problem is with the SATA cable itself. Did you tried with a different computer as well? You can also try swapping the SATA ports, because it might be the port on the mobo that's causing this. Keep me posted! Good luck! SuperSoph_WD

Hey there, @sid0195! I'm truly sorry to hear about your WD drive! I'd advice you to back up the data on that drive ASAP! You can try it in another computer or with a different SATA cable and see how it will react. The recommended thing to do here is to test the drive using Data LifeGuard Diagnostics: http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=810 It might fix the problem for you if it's some sort of corrupt data or not. If it passes the tests and still freezes, the HDD might have some sort of a physical damage. If the Extended test fails at any some point, I'd recommend contacting our tech support and RMA-ing your drive. You should be able to get a replacement, because it's still under warranty. Here are the contacts: http://support.wdc.com/contact/contact.asp?lang=en Here's a link that explains how to prepare your drive for RMA: http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8 Keep me posted and good luck! SuperSoph_WD

Hey there, @EdwardERS! Seems like you have quite the collection of WD products that are nicely put to use as storage solutions. Congrats on that! IMO, My Book could be a suitable addition to those. You get the speed with the USB 3.0 connection. It also comes with installed utilities like the WD SmartWare Pro automatic backup software with which you can back up even to your Dropbox account. You have the opportunity to do a system-level backup with Acronis True Image WD Edition as well, through which you can securely backup your whole OS. Another thing about WD My Book is that it comes with a 2-year or a 3-year warranty depending on your location, so you have that on top of everything that comes with the product. http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=870 As a WD rep, I cannot answer your questions about the prices though. Sorry! Still I hope this was helpful! SuperSoph_WD

Hey there, @steve518! What kind of diagnostics did you run on it? Was it just chkdsk? I'd suggest to boot from the Windows installation disk and choose Repair, afterwards open the Command prompt window And type these commands: bootrec.exe /fixmbr bootrec.exe /fixboot bootrec.exe /rebuildcd Afterwards just reboot and hopefully the problem will go away. You can also try this simple thing, that usually works for new laptops' startup errors: Unplug the power and take off the battery for fifteen minutes, then connect it again and leave it for another 15 minutes or so before you try to restart. If these doesn't help, I'd suggest you contact the store you bought it from. Hope it works though. Good luck! SuperSoph_WD

Hey, @Brandogg255! Your storage solution looks solid to me, SSDs definitely are a highly reliable solution. You will also notice quite an improvement in performance and speed. I'd keep backups on the WD Green as well, together with all the other big data I want to store safely on it. If you are willing to pay for the SSD's reliability, I'd go for it. However, I can still suggest you to take a look at WD Black for gaming as well, or maybe even the WD VelociRaptor. WD Black is an HDD specifically designed for demanding applications and high-end gaming with 64 MB cache and 7200 RPM: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=20 WD VelociRaptor is a 10 000 RPM drive with 64 MB cache as well designed for ultimate performance: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=20 Both drives come with a 5-year warranty, which is a pretty good thing to have when it comes to storage. Hope this helped. SuperSoph_WD

Hey there, @WHOISRYO! As @EcoBoost already mentioned, you're not going to be able to build a decent video editing PC with the WD Green drive. However, it's going to be a reliable storage for your projects and data, once they are finished. An SSD as a boot is the most reasonable solution as suggested. As for an HDD that would allow you to edit your videos and use the needed demanding applications, a WD Black will be suit your rig perfectly. These drives are specifically designed to work in environments that demand higher performance of the storage. The capacities vary from 500 GB up to 4 TB with 64 MB cache and 7200 RPM. You can check it out for yourself here and see if it suits your budget: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=760 Hope this helped. SuperSoph_WD

Hey, @KarmaOfPain! I'm truly sorry to hear about your issue with your computer running slow. I'd suggest to test your WD Black for problems with the Data LifeGuard Diagnostics tool. The tool: http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=810 How-to: http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/940 It will test the drive for errors and repair sectors. However, I'd still do what was already suggested and clean your redundant files and defrag the drive. Hope this helps you though! SuperSoph_WD

Hey there, @maddogl! I personally like Acronis True Image when it comes to cloning, it's pretty good and easy to use, you can include or exclude whatever you want from the cloning process. The interface is pretty attractive as well. http://www.acronis.com/en-us Hope this helped. Cheers, SuperSoph_WD

Hi again, @choppeduppork! I see what you want now. Ok then, I guess a migration software might be useful to you. I don't know if you've checked this one out yet, but I've used the cloning software of Acronis and I was pretty satisfied with it. They also have a migration software: http://www.acronis.com/en-us/personal/migration-software/ However, I'd definitely support you on the backup before doing any kind of data transfer and I hope you find what you are looking for. Hope this helps. Good luck! SuperSoph_WD

Wow, really amazing job, @Blade of Grass! Thank you for doing this guide! Very accurate and well done, pretty professional as well! However, I have a couple of suggestions you might be interested in: I'd hyperlink each drive to its web page because it would be much easier for users to just go straight to the product page of the HDD series they want to check out, instead of browsing through all of them. Also I'd maybe add the Velociraptor to the WD drives because I've noticed there are quite a few people from the community that are interested in those as well. This should go in sticky indeed! Cheers, SuperSoph_WD

Hey there, @InfamousSynergy! As you can see a lot of pros and cons to all the possibilities. WD Reds are specifically designed for RAID/NAS use and tested in 24/7 environments as well, as you mentioned. However, for gaming I wouldn't recommend them. From what I can see, your focus is on the speed. And since we are talking about a gaming HDD that will fit your budget, you should take a look at WD Black drives. Though it might not be a good idea to put them in a server: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=760 The SSD indeed seems like your best option, because you don't need big capacity - just high speed, but as @Dimwitted mentioned if you intend to write to the server constantly, the regular SSD will most probably fail. WD Velociraptors have impressive speed with 10 000 RPM and Pre-emptive Wear Leveling (PWL) that ensures reliability for your gaming read/write operations. Another upside of those is that they come with a 5-year warranty. http://wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=20 However, if you truly intend for your server to be working 24/7 with a high workload on the storage, I would second the opinion to check out the Enterprise HDDs as well: http://wdc.com/en/products/internal/enterprise/ Hope this helped. SuperSoph_WD

Hey there, @choppeduppork! Sorry to hear about your WD Green, it's not really supposed to be used as a boot drive though. WD Greens are designed for secondary storage solution, which should explain the slow speed on boot. What is the OS version you want to migrate? Does your system support UEFI or BIOS? Depending on the OS version, there might be a slight possibility to do this without wiping the data and reformatting to MBR but I'm afraid that afterwards a lot of issues will give you a headache. You are already doing your research on tools that might help, so I hope you find something that works for you. But as you've noticed most of them won't let you migrate without formatting the drive. The best thing to do is backup the data on a third location (Cloud, external HDD, etc.) before attempting to use any tools whatsoever. I'd personally do a backup of all the data and perform a clean install on the second HDD or I'd just get another HDD or SSD for booting. Something that's not big in capacity, but that has good speed specs. Hope I was helpful. Keep me posted! SuperSoph_WD

Hey there, @PoLoMoTo! It really depends on what kind of RAID you have set up. If you have a software-based RAID, then I think it's possible to transport between the arrays. For example, Windows will ask you to import them and they should be able to rebuild themselves. However, if you are using a motherboard RAID controller, the new controller won't be able to see the RAID created by your old one. You might have a chance since both motherboards are the same brand, but you have to check if they have the same controller as well. If yes, you might be able to re-create the array and read the meta-data. Another very brave thing to do is set up the new motherboard and controller with the same settings you used in your old array and hope that it will pick up your configuration. But before attempting anything whatsoever, I'd advice you to backup your array somewhere else. Whenever you are migrating, cloning or whatever kind of transporting data you should always do a back up, because the procedures are very delicate. Good luck! Hope I helped! SuperSoph_WD

Hey there, @NeatSquidYT! In theory, yes! But it depends on a lot of factors. The max transfer speed using Ethernet/Gigabit is 1000 Mbps, which with a Wi Fi modem/USB is about 150-160 Mbps.Again it also depends on your Internet service provider... usually both connections will have the same speed if you are limited to a maximum Internet speed of, let's say, 10 Mbps. But if we are talking about the connections themselves, Ethernet is faster. You will definitely notice difference in speed if you transfer a large amount of data (>4GB), though. CAT5 enhanced supports networking with Gigabit Ethernet speeds up to 1000 Mbps as I already mentioned; whereas the USB 2.0 theoretically supports a max data rate of 480 Mbps. I'm sorry to hear about the slow speed transfer of your My Cloud though. You can check out this thread for faster transfer speed ideas: http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-My-Cloud/Transferring-Large-Amounts-of-Data-to-the-My-Cloud-and-a-Coupl-e/td-p/620219 As for your NAS build, it looks legit. However, I'd probably take another look at the mobo and swap it for a one that has USB headers, you never know when it might come in handy. You might want to have that option, if you later on decide to back up some sort of an external storage or a flash drive onto the NAS. Hope I helped. SuperSoph_WD

Hey there, @Pig__9_! @Anthony10 gave some pretty good suggestions, since you want to use the drive as a secondary storage. WD Green is designed exactly for that, to keep your massive amount of data safe and sound. When you open the product page of WD Green drive: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=830# You will find a blue button "Where to buy", click on it and it will tell you all the online stores that have WD Green available; and there's also a tab with local stores, where you can type your location and see if you have a retailer nearby. Hope this helped. SuperSoph_WD

Hey there, @Aussie Pawz! As the community already mentioned, you need first to partition and format the HDD before you can actually use it. I can suggest to take a look at these couple of guidelines that should help you out with that! How to install a SATA HDD: http://products.wdc.com/library/um/eng/4779-705037.pdf How to partition and format an HDD on Windows: http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3865 I hope you find this helpful. Keep us posted if you need further assistance! SuperSoph_WD

Hey there, @ottavianus! As @SirRoderick already mentioned, I don't think this software can do any harm to the drives. However, the PSU actually can do damage on your system components. My suggestion would be to test your drives with Data LifeGuard Diagnostics tool: http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=810 It will give you much more extended and detailed results on your HDDs' health. This is one way to put your mind at ease about the hard drives. I would definitely check up that PSU though. Hope this helped. SuperSoph_WD

Hey there, @Columbo! Quite an impressive experience you got there! You definitely thought of everything. However, the question is why would you want to set up a RAID configuration with 2 SSDs? This is only justified if you are using, for example, uncompressed video data that needs extremely high write speed. Otherwise, you won't even notice the difference if you use your SSDs separately or in a RAID configuration. The SSDs are fast enough on their own. I personally don't see the point. Hope I helped. SuperSoph_WD

Hey, @Hatsune Miku 「　」 I'd go with Acronis as @QAZ suggested. http://www.acronis.com/en-us/ I've tried it as well. It's a pretty good software with a lot of features and advantages. It also gives you the option to clone your SSDs, so you will definitely find it useful. Hope this helped. SuperSoph_WD