Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

My grandson has been trying to download his photos from a shoot a couple days ago, but his hard drive intermittently fails, or at least seems to. He's hoping it's not his USB drive on his MacBook Pro. It's a Western Digital HDD. His problem is that his LR is connected through his hard drive because he doesn't want a bunch of stuff on the computer's hard drive. I guess my question is, given that this external HDD is only a couple years old, have there been any failure issues of note with Western Digital drives? If so, is there a better, more reliable alternative to WD?

tbsteph Loc: Ohio

First, I would suggest you grandson immediately copy his photos library to a new drive. (That can be his laptop or a new USB drive.). Intermittent failures don't typically go away - they get worse.

WD produces better than average drives. I'm sure people have their favorite brands. But, all manufactures drives will fail at some point (Including the one in his laptop.). The safest route is to have a backup. Since he has a Mac, the easiest route for an online backup is iCloud. Alternatives would be Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. FWIW, I've had drives fail anywhere from a year or two to 5 or more. (Yea, I been using computers for 30 plus years. The school of hard knocks is a great teacher)

As an aside, I see you live in Wasilla. Isn't that the home of AK's former governor?

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

If I wanted an external drive that would be on most of the time I would get an external USB drive box and put a WD Gold (enterprise) drive in it. I put a WD Gold in my desktop when the computer told me there was an impending hard drive failure. They are more expensive drives, but they have a much higher MTBF than the red, black, etc.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Thanks for the info. I will relay it to him right away.

Yes, Sarah Palin does live here. When she isn't living somewhere else at the time.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Thank you, I'll let him know.

alx Loc: NJ

First things I would check... Try another USB cable in case it is a cable problem, then try connecting to another computer in case it is a USB port problem. Both are potential areas of weakness/failure. If those aren't the problems, I agree with the others here who say to get the files backed up to another drive ASAP. In any event, one should always keep a second set of files for life's inevitable problems.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

If he is using an enclosure with a bare WD Black or RE drive in it, you can't get anything better, though you can get an HGST Ultrastar and possibly get a little better performance. These drives all have 5 yr warranties. The typical external drive that you get in a nice box with cables and software - well, those things aren't worth the packaging materials they are shipped in. One or two yr warranties are fairly typical.

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

The more reliable alternative is a well thought out backup system that includes multiple copies of all important files on separate hard drives and sources.

When you say from a shoot, does that mean he is paid to be a photographer? A balanced backup system is vital in that case.

I have 2 Synology NAS with 2 hard drives each that mirror the contents. One is for my photography business and the other is for our interior design business. The photo one is used as a base storage of all my files, while I use 2 externals for working projects and 2 for independent backup. The design business one I actually use as a server for Autocad drawings for clients along with project design information so we can both access files from our PCs while keeping the raid set up. I built an FMP program for purchasing, tracking and billing clients that is on an external hard drive and backs up to the Synology daily.

Both Synologys back up nightly to another Synology at my sister's home for off site storage. This keeps everything safe in case of a major disaster in our home. We used to have a design studio for 30+ years, but in the age of the internet, leasing a studio for keeping a samples library became superfluous. (Not to mention expensive) When we had 2 locations, each Synology was backed up to a hard drive in the other location.

Gene is right, buy your HD enclosures WITH fans and put your own drives in them. I run WD blacks and HGST. WD's are quieter in my opinion.

Juat have your grandson imagine what would happen if all his work was lost forever, and then build a backup system to prevent that probability.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

(WD Gold is better than Black. Gold is an enterprise drive.)
...an MTBF of up to 2.0 million hours. Data center quality.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

I relayed all this info to him. What he has is a "working" hard drive, a back up and a back up to the back up, as well as iCloud. The suggestion to try another USB cable and to plug into another computer is a good one. Will try that.

Right now he's not exactly pro, as he hasn't started up a business yet. He was asked to take some pictures of a commercial truck hauling a huge load, though. The business part of things will come in time.

chrissybabe Loc: New Zealand

Always check the cables first especially if the drive gets plugged in and out a lot. DO NOT forget that cables have two ends and both of these ends plug into respective sockets and these can become slogged out with time and use. Note that, and this seems to surprise some people, plugs and sockets actually have a lifetime including USB. I don't know what this lifetime is for USB plugs and sockets but believe me it is shorter for fancy USB connectors (mini, micro and USB3). To be safe the best way to proceed is to add in an extra USB extension cable (a very short one). Leave this plugged into the laptop/desktop port and plug the drive cable into that. This cable becomes sacrificial and is easily replaced rather than ending up with a dodgy laptop port requiring a new laptop. Keep a spare of this cable so you can easily test for a cable issue.
As has been mentioned here before it is better to buy a drive housing and add a drive to it (WD has proven to be more reliable over 15 years that anything else). In my case I use small 2.5" drive caddies with 1TB WD black laptop drives. I purchase the caddies from China and the USB connector is the older style connector A I think. But with a blue plastic tab inside which means it is USB 3. The A connector has proven, to me anyway, to be a lot more reliable than the newer 2 part USB 3 connector.
I do not have any longevity experience yet with micro USB3 or 3.1 or C connectors.

11bravo

I have a large number of hdd's, and prefer HGST'S. Seems they no longer make the "plain" drives; I've used the NAS drives for several years now. I always keep them in Rosewill HDD enclosures with a built-in fan
https://m.newegg.com/products/N82E16817182247
Yes, there are 6 screws to remove, and another 4 to mount the drive, but the fan is worth it. Temperature is critical.

Before use, I provision my hdd's (windows, sure Mac's have an equivalent):
1. Do a LONG, not a quick format.
2. Command line chkdsk [drive letter]: /x /v /f /r / b
fully checks the HDD again.
3. I use StableBit scanner to run a 3rd disk check.
After all this (around 20 hours for a 4tb drive), I'm satisfied that the drive is solid. Fan ESSENTIAL for keeping drive cool with all this continueous access.

I use Hard Disk Sentinel to monitor HDD temps (can set over-temp thresholds to sound alarm and even shut down computer) with periodic StableBit scanner scans to monitor HDD's.

Exercise the HDD before use, and monitor temps with periodic surface scans, with backups of critical data.

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

I lost my picture drive years ago, now I back up on two separate hard drives as a camera down load by date (today is 180701) if one goes I got a back up. It takes a few minutes longer but In got them. The drivers are only used as extra back up. Process the pictures as usual just keep the dated pictures as a safety net. Just updated to 8 TB drives for about $130 00 @ cheep insurance.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

First of all, I will ONLY purchase WD (Western Digital), HST, Hitachi, Fuji,Toshiba and a couple of other brands. Personally, (having worked in Seagate (then Control Data's) plant in Oklahoma City, I have seen their (non)dedication to specifications, etc. and will NOT purchase anything made by them. The Oklahoma City Seagate plant's idea of quality control was/is if it doesn't pass QA, try another until one passes, then stamp them all approved. Seagate, Maxtor and other brands (many with very good histories) have been corrupted by Seagate's desire to push numbers rather than quality. Seagate's solution is/was to purchase drive companies with good names and then convert their production to the Seagate QA standard. This is "just my opinion" based on working for Control Data then Seagate as a member of Quality Assurance. Seagate is more concerned about numbers and "if the drive fails, the consumer can ship it back and we'll deal with it then" mentality.
Current builders of hard drives are Toshiba, Western Digital, and Seagate. All other brands, are totally owned by these three.. and Seagate owns nearly all. WD had one secondary brand name (HGST). Toshiba only builds drives under their Toshiba brand. Seagate owns all of the other current brands...and they all come out of the same Seagate plants with other logos.