4TB My Passport external drive partition

[grangervoldemort]

So ermmm... I have very important data on my 4tb My Passport drive. There is only once copy of it... that is on that drive. There are no other copies. If its gone from the drive then bye bye 3 years of work.

 

So I decided to do something possibly stupid. 

Create a partition.

 

Disk defrag says it's 80% shrunk.

EDIT: I have been watching it for about 5 minutes now and it's still on 80% O-o

 

It's a 4TB drive. I only selected to create a 80GB partition. It's taken about an hour so far.

The drive has 1.57TB of data on it.

 

When I go on computer management where I created the partition which I have left open of course, the mouse icon is a blue spinning wheel. 

 

I'm terrified of losing data.

 

Is it meant to take this long?

I did the same thing on my SSD earlier and it created a partition in seconds. 

 

EDIT: AHHHHH THIS HAHAPPENED

 

System log says:

 

Log Name:      System
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Ntfs
Date:          20/11/2018 20:06:04
Event ID:      140
Task Category: None
Level:         Warning
Keywords:      (8)
User:          SYSTEM
Computer:      
Description:
The system failed to flush data to the transaction log. Corruption may occur in VolumeId: D:, DeviceName: \Device\HarddiskVolume8.
(An operation was attempted to a volume after it was dismounted.)
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Ntfs" Guid="{3FF37A1C-A68D-4D6E-8C9B-F79E8B16C482}" />
    <EventID>140</EventID>
    <Version>0</Version>
    <Level>3</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x8000000000000008</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2018-11-20T20:06:04.529870400Z" />
    <EventRecordID>12819</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation />
    <Execution ProcessID="4" ThreadID="8540" />
    <Channel>System</Channel>
    <Computer>DESKTOP-6AJUD7I</Computer>
    <Security UserID="S-1-5-18" />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data Name="VolumeId">D:</Data>
    <Data Name="DeviceName">\Device\HarddiskVolume8</Data>
    <Data Name="Error">0xc000026e</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

 

 

 

AND

 

 

Log Name:      System
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Ntfs
Date:          20/11/2018 20:06:04
Event ID:      140
Task Category: None
Level:         Warning
Keywords:      (8)
User:          SYSTEM
Computer:     
Description:
The system failed to flush data to the transaction log. Corruption may occur in VolumeId: D:, DeviceName: \Device\HarddiskVolume8.
(An operation was attempted to a volume after it was dismounted.)
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Ntfs" Guid="{3FF37A1C-A68D-4D6E-8C9B-F79E8B16C482}" />
    <EventID>140</EventID>
    <Version>0</Version>
    <Level>3</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x8000000000000008</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2018-11-20T20:06:04.529870400Z" />
    <EventRecordID>12819</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation />
    <Execution ProcessID="4" ThreadID="8540" />
    <Channel>System</Channel>
    <Computer>DESKTOP-6AJUD7I</Computer>
    <Security UserID="S-1-5-18" />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data Name="VolumeId">D:</Data>
    <Data Name="DeviceName">\Device\HarddiskVolume8</Data>
    <Data Name="Error">0xc000026e</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

 

[corrado33]

Creating a partition of an existing drive takes a long time. It literally has to move all of the data from where you decide the new "partition" is. However, doing this on a data critical drive is... dumb. 

 

What happened when you restarted the computer? 

[grangervoldemort]

9 minutes ago, corrado33 said:

Creating a partition of an existing drive takes a long time. It literally has to move all of the data from where you decide the new "partition" is. However, doing this on a data critical drive is... dumb. 

 

What happened when you restarted the computer? 

Shhhhh. I know it was dumb.

 

I didn't restart it?

 

My data SEEMS to be ok..... I checked a few folders and it's there.

 

*Rocks in chair manically*

 

I think there is a problem with this drive. I have been in touch with WD about it and they not only take forever but the last reply was this. The connectivity lost during transfer happened when I was transferring from a MAC formatted drive on my windows PC using HTFS+ (software). The WD utility near the clock in the bottom right would cycle through disconnecting and reconnecting every 3 minutes or so.

 

The transfer didn't SEEM to be affected. (Is it affected or effected in this case?)

But it shouldn't be showing that in WD utility. 

Haven't transferred anything to it again since. 

Then just now I tried creating the partition and the above

 

Thank you for sending us for all the feedback, the screenshots and the logs you provided. Please be assured that, as I sent you in my previous email, everything has been recorded and escalated to appropriate departments for each issue.

 

I have also forward your latest feedbacks. Our engineers are always striving for the best, rest assure that if there is anything that it has to be done immediately they will take actions.

 

Please also review a summarized form of every issue that you sent us:

 

Issue 1: Connectivity lost during data transfer

Please review all links I sent to you in my previous emails. If this issue persist or if you feel your USB cable is faulty, as we discussed over the phone, let us know so we can provide you a replacement. 

 

Issue 2: WD Drive Utilities: The relevant Windows service stops sometimes

As I sent in my previous email, this is an issue you could to check with your OS as it is not related either to our device or our software.

 

Issue 3: WD Discovery issue about the information is lost when copying a file.

Recorded now and under investigation.

 

Issue 4: For https://support.wdc.com/knowledgebase/answer.aspx?ID=17596#subject1

Your notes regarding this KBA have also been recorded.

 

 

We always appreciate constructive feedback regarding our products. 

 

 

EDIT: Heyyyy interesting. I just connected an old 500gb internal sata drive and created a 80GB partition and it did it instantly. In 2 seconds.

 

So why did the WD Passport take over an hour then do that? 

And why did you say it takes a long time? It doesn't seem to at all. SSD did it in seconds and so did this 500GB 2006 Hitachi hard drive. It's formatted and usable instantly. 

[corrado33]

I know you probably don't have the room to do this, but if I were you, I'd copy everything from that drive to another drive, then reformat that drive correctly and how you want it. 

 

Also, to warn you, western digital uses a proprietary encryption on their drives so if the external enclosure fails, your drive is absolutely screwed. It will NOT mount in windows if you take it out of the external enclosure.

 

Affect vs effect.

 

The Arrow Affected the Aardvark (affect = verb)

The Effect was Enormous (effect = noun)

[grangervoldemort]

Just now, corrado33 said:

I know you probably don't have the room to do this, but if I were you, I'd copy everything from that drive to another drive, then reformat that drive correctly and how you want it. 

 

Also, to warn you, western digital uses a proprietary encryption on their drives so if the external enclosure fails, your drive is absolutely screwed. It will NOT mount in windows if you take it out of the external enclosure.

 

Affect vs effect.

 

The Arrow Affected the Aardvark (affect = verb)

The Effect was Enormous (effect = noun)

Reformat the WD Drive? Hell no. This pile of crap is going back to where I bought it from for a refund.

 

But I won't touch the My Passport drive now.

Don't trust external drives.

I will order a 8TB internal drive and copy it over to there and hope it all goes ok.

 

Then I will buy a 8TB Seagate backu plus and copy from the My Passport to there and then delete everything from My passport and return it for a refund. 

 

Screw WD. They have also made the PCB so that there is no sata port. Only USB so should the USB port become damaged which it can very easily due to only being soldered onto the motherboard, then the user has no way to retrieve the data by removing the drive.

 

Also I thought the encryption is optional.. you can turn it on and off using the utility....

[corrado33]

2 minutes ago, grangervoldemort said:

Reformat the WD Drive? Hell no. This pile of crap is going back to where I bought it from for a refund.

 

But I won't touch the My Passport drive now.

Don't trust external drives.

I will order a 8TB internal drive and copy it over to there and hope it all goes ok.

 

Then I will buy a 8TB Seagate backu plus and copy from the My Passport to there and then delete everything from My passport and return it for a refund. 

 

Screw WD. They have also made the PCB so that there is no sata port. Only USB so should the USB port become damaged which it can very easily due to only being soldered onto the motherboard, then the user has no way to retrieve the data by removing the drive.

 

Also I thought the encryption is optional.. you can turn it on and off using the utility....

As long as your data is safe, just make a backup.

 

As for the encryption being optional, I'm unsure. Every WD external drive I've ever had was encrypted (I took them all apart and made them internal drives, I've had 3 MyBooks throughout the years.) and I didn't ever turn it on. The response I got from the WD rep here on the forums is that it was hardware encryption. In theory, it's really nice. In practice, I don't like being unable to recover data if the external enclosure fails. 

 

WD makes good drives and good external drives. You just had bad luck with this one. 

[grangervoldemort]

17 minutes ago, corrado33 said:

As long as your data is safe, just make a backup.

 

As for the encryption being optional, I'm unsure. Every WD external drive I've ever had was encrypted (I took them all apart and made them internal drives, I've had 3 MyBooks throughout the years.) and I didn't ever turn it on. The response I got from the WD rep here on the forums is that it was hardware encryption. In theory, it's really nice. In practice, I don't like being unable to recover data if the external enclosure fails. 

 

WD makes good drives and good external drives. You just had bad luck with this one. 

How did removing the drive allow it to work considering you said it was hardware encrypted?

 

No idea if my data is safe. Not all of it. Will check later. Currently trying to CLONE my OS from the 128GB Crucial M4 SSD to the 500GB Hitachi. So then I can clone it onto the new SSD that will come tomorrow (MX500 500GB) as I want to test this 128GB SSD in another PC to see if it helps make it faster (old core 2 duo pc with 2gb ram). And I want to try out cloning as I have never done it before.

 

Only Macrium Reflect said 'nothing copied too many primary partitions'.

So now I have selected only the partition that shows 62GB used and not the weird recovery OEM partition that Windows 10 for some reason has created even though this is a custom build with windows installed from the media installation tool.

 

The other partitions show up as follows: 

 

But I cannot take a screenshot of how they up in Macrium as it's currently cloning.

 

When it's done I will show you. On Marcium it shows up as 4 partitions. 

 

A google search shows me there are only 2 people that have written about the same issue on the internet and none had an actual solution:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?rlz=1C1GCEA_enGB820GB820&amp;biw=1920&amp;bih=969&amp;ei=g3T0W5-oFIPwgQbYr73oCg&amp;q=nothing+copied+too+many+primary+partitions+macrium+reflect&amp;oq=nothing+copied+too+many+primary+partitions+macrium+reflect&amp;gs_l=psy-ab.12...0.0..5075...0.0..0.0.0.......0......gws-wiz.ZRLWYA2eOQQ

[corrado33]

4 minutes ago, grangervoldemort said:

How did removing the drive allow it to work considering you said it was hardware encrypted?

-snip-

I pulled the drive from the enclosure then plugged it into my desktop PC and it wouldn't mount or read or anything until I formatted it. The drive is normal, but the way it's written to (via the hardware inside the external enclosure) is not. 

 

I just transferred everything off of it before I took it out of the enclosure then formatted it.

 

With that said, I seem to remember the WD rep saying it was only for the "MyBook" series, and not the "passport" series. (Maybe? I don't remember.)

 

As for everything else you said.... I have no idea... good luck...

[grangervoldemort]

Just now, corrado33 said:

I pulled the drive from the enclosure then plugged it into my desktop PC and it wouldn't mount or read or anything until I formatted it. The drive is normal, but the way it's written to (via the hardware inside the external enclosure) is not. 

 

I just transferred everything off of it before I took it out of the enclosure then formatted it.

 

With that said, I seem to remember the WD rep saying it was only for the "MyBook" series, and not the "passport" series. (Maybe? I don't remember.)

 

As for everything else you said.... I have no idea... good luck...

I'm assuming those drives were pre USB only drives? All WD external drives are now USB only. No SATA ports on the drive and no SATA to USB card. Just one custom PCB.

[kirashi]

On 11/20/2018 at 1:14 PM, grangervoldemort said:

I'm assuming those drives were pre USB only drives? All WD external drives are now USB only. No SATA ports on the drive and no SATA to USB card. Just one custom PCB.

The portable WD's were the first to switch over to a directly soldered USB only PCB, while the 3.5" desktop external drives were still using a removable SATA to USB PCB inside the enclosure at the time. However, as @corrado33 noted, you have to format the drive and start fresh each time to remove it from the enclosure, or put it back inside. This is because the PCB scrambles the data using hardware encryption, even if you choose not to password protect it using WD's utility, and is why I will never purchase external WD HDD's period, unless I'm shucking them for a data storage project. Anything that makes it more difficult to recover my data is unwelcome to me.

 

No idea if WD has started to use the singular USB only PCB on their Desktop drives these days; I know from perusing /r/DataHoarder that their MyBook Desktop drives are still shuckable as they're still using a SATA to USB PCB at this time. I believe it depends on the model though.

[corrado33]

27 minutes ago, kirashi said:

 

No idea if WD has started to use the singular USB only PCB on their Desktop drives these days; I know from perusing /r/DataHoarder that their MyBook Desktop drives are still shuckable as they're still using a SATA to USB PCB at this time. I believe it depends on the model though.

The last myBook I bought was ~3 years ago, and I "shucked" that and it was still using a SATA to USB board with hardware encryption.