TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

It’s trivial to format it... Besides, that gives you the option of file systems. In Win 10, just go into storage management and partition and format it. Windows will prompt you through the process, but I’ll be glad to post the procedure for anyone who needs it.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

It hasn't been a problem for me.. My C: drive is a 1tb WD My other drives, (D:, F: G: H: I:) are all WD 4 TB or larger drives. My E: drive is my DVD/CD reader/writer. I've managed to get rid of all of my non-WD drives... they are now sitting in a plastic shoe box to be used in my external USB drive case.
http://support.wdc.com/knowledgebase/answer.aspx?ID=15142
This is from the WD Knowledgebase

Oh, and I am running Windows 10 on all of my computers.

photosfromtexas

This is not exactly what you are asking, but perhaps something to consider. I used WD for years for the Time Machine backups on my Mac. Then suddenly last year it started to have problems. The WD would not wake up to do the backup in the middle of the night. If I woke it up it would work fine. Apple told me it was a problem they were having with WD. WD said it was a problem they were having with their WD power supply. I din't really understand that as the sudden development of the problem. WD sent me a replacement since it was still under a long warranty period of 3 years (I don't know if that was standard or if I had paid extra for that extension). Anyway, problem recurred on the new unit...it didn't wake up automatically to do the Time Machine backup.Maybe it was a mismatch of communication fo WD with an Apple software update? If so, it might have been fixed by now. In any case, I switched to Seagate 6T for about $120 on Black Friday and now I store my photos in that. The Mac Time Machine backup is now done on a Seagate 8T I bought for about $200 way before Black Friday. Both Seagates are working fine.

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

Have you checked with WD? They used to have a 3 yr. warranty, but I understand they reduced it to 1 year now but even so, if yours was less than a year old, they will replace it. I was fortunate when mine went out after nearly three years. I made it under the wire just before they changed their policy and received a new replacement. I like WD and Seagate both.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

TheShoe Loc: Lacey, WA

I had a Seagate that failed after 5 years. I an now using WD.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

They all fail, sooner or later. There are two external hard drives, owned by the same company.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Are you referring to the supposed purchase of Western Digital by Seagate which was reported on April Fools Day in Storage Newsletter?

sigpaw

I don't quite get the problems folks have with Seagate. I see the reviews, and have heard the stories. But -

I collected movies for over a decade and chose to use Seagate 1TB drives as my primary, master storage medium.

I've purchased 80-100, Seagate 1TB drives over the course of eight years or so. For online storage; 20+ 2TB, 10+ 3TB, eight 4TB and five 8 TB. All Seagate. We have three home media computers that have run 24/7 for years. The latest has four, 8TB drives and an extenal 8 drive (cheap-ie Sans Digital) SATA tower full of 4TB drives. Haven't seen a single failure (which is kind of crazy, I know).

Only problem I've ever had was when a Microsoft Update rendered my MBR inaccessible, the result of an ASUS BIOS issue with that update (grrrrrrr).

Some of my earlier Seagate 2TB drives were susceptible to vibration/noise being transmitted mechanically through their chassis mounts. i.e. cooling fan vibrations would cause the drives to hunt and click excessively. But I discovered turning down the fan speed made this problem go away (I finally shock mounted the fan(s) on rubber grommets which fixed the problem at all speeds)...

But I also used WD in years prior and had excellent luck with them,, as well as HGST. So go figure. Perhaps I should start buying lottery tickets. ?

;)

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

I read an article about it. However, I was unaware it was an April Fools Joke. Thanks for clearing that up.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I know. I read the article when it was published and did a double-take. Had to research it to realize that I had been had. I guess we’d now either call that fake news or “alternate facts” 😳.

rfmaude41 Loc: Lancaster, Texas (DFW area)

I use Seagate (enterprise) hdd's ( like Constellations, etc.) and have had absolutely NO PROBLEMS (they've bee running continually for over 5 years).