What's the life expectancy of the Western Digital My Passport Essential USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive I'm looking to store mainly pictures and important documents and was wondering how long can one of these hold data before I should worry about backing up the back-up? What's the life expectancy of the Western Digital My Passport Essential USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive I'm looking to store mainly pictures and important documents and was wondering how long... » Read More What's the life expectancy of the Western Digital My Passport Essential USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive I'm looking to store mainly pictures and important documents and was wondering how long can one of these hold data before I should worry about backing up the back-up? « Show Less
1120022
I bought a western digital 500Gb external hard-drive for back up. I was always afraid of this hard-drive crash, so one day I started to backup my WD backup hard-drive, that's when I get a error message saying IO error from this cursed WD hard-drive. All my precious pictures are gone, I still regret until now that I should have second backup for my data. Never buy from WD again. The good news is that there are data recovery services, but they will cost you an arm and a leg.
1120023
So is better having DVDs for back up?I have a SimpleTech external HD I use to back up my data maybe once a month, I don't use it that often. I have one year with it, it's never failed. But I wonder if I'm only using the external HD for from time to time back up it will last longer or not.
1120024
I have a "very old" External Hard drive...not this make/model...I turn it on once/quarter to backup recent files...it's probably over 3 years old. Recently, I bought one of these WD Elite 500GB models...my plan is to backup on two externals...in case one fails. I know this seems lame, but it is the only way to ensure everything sticks around. Seems like its worth the extra $100.
1120025
One of my music tech professors said about 2 years, but of course he is a audio expert, not exactly a computer expert. I had my 320 GB passport for 10 months now which I use everyday and never had problems, but I don't know for sure how long it will last though, so I definitely would suggest a backup.
285312
You will find only negatives answer questions like this. I've had the 128gb model for over a year. I'm a photographer, i keep my lightroom catalog on it and all of my current working files. I transfer large amounts of data between this and my home network as i work, along with editing the files directly on the flash drive. Bottom line is this drive gets used very heavily. Still going strong.
496139
Like most external USB drives, I'd not rely on it for long-term backups over one year. Augment it with a cloud product that is acceptable for the type of data being backed up (i.e. personal, confidential, commercial, etc.). In my experience, none of the disks used in these devices are high-grade, and in commercial applications, we'll go to a NAS with RAID.
629559
I just had a Western Digital 2TB My Book fail miserably (miserably!!! Dead!) after two months. I've never had any other drive fail (and I've used much smaller capacity WD external drives w/out issue in the past). But i'm now a Seagate (1TB Freeagent) user because I won't trust the larger WD's any longer. Once bitten! ;) Since the failure, many of my colleagues have admitted the same type of failure from their WD's and are using Seagates with good results. If you search online, you'll see very mixed reviews with similar negative views of the Seagates, but I can only speak from my own very frustrating experience with my WD. I just had a Western Digital 2TB My Book fail miserably (miserably!!! Dead!) after two months. I've never had any other drive fail (and I've used much smaller capacity WD external drives w/out issue in the past). But i'm now a Seagate (1TB Freeagent) user because I won't trust the larger WD's any longer. Once bitten! ;) Since the failure, many of my colleagues have admitted the same type of failure from their WD's and are using Seagates with good results. If you search online, you'll see very mixed reviews with similar negative views of the Seagates, but I can only speak from my own very... » Read More I just had a Western Digital 2TB My Book fail miserably (miserably!!! Dead!) after two months. I've never had any other drive fail (and I've used much smaller capacity WD external drives w/out issue in the past). But i'm now a Seagate (1TB Freeagent) user because I won't trust the larger WD's any longer. Once bitten! ;) Since the failure, many of my colleagues have admitted the same type of failure from their WD's and are using Seagates with good results. If you search online, you'll see very mixed reviews with similar negative views of the Seagates, but I can only speak from my own very frustrating experience with my WD. « Show Less
2172147
Not exactly sure what you mean by this question..like useful life of the hard drive?
1390987
My fifth generation's hard drive is on the way out after two and a half years. I had a 4th generation that lasted less than two years before the drive died, luckily covered by credit card extended warranty. I don't think these things are great buys if you expect them to last more than 3 years.
2194924
If your pc is relatively new (up to 6-8 yrs) it is probably USB 2.0 or greater --- and this would be an excellent choice. I use the 128GB for 13 years worth of photos, plus I back up my most critical files there too.
2262971
I got a WD Passport 160 GB USB 2.0 Drive today. - It does not work on my 4-year old Compaq Presario 900 laptop (XP home with SP2). Nothing happens. - So far no trouble running it on my newer HP Pavilion dv4000 (XP home with SP2). With all the comments about working or not working with laptops I keep my fingers crossed! Noticed that reviews earlier this year were far more negative than more recent one's. Did they improve the product??
1819658
I have two, one for the laptop and one for the desktop. I've had both for about 8 months, and not a single problem. These things can take more of a beating than regular HDDs (not like you should be beating them:( )but alas, as with all technology, some do fail. I'm good so far though! Not packing them full of files helps.
1403782
According to the SanDisk website (http://www.sandisk.com/products/usb/drives/extreme/) there is a lifetime limited warranty. Please contact Sandisk for more information.
1894889
I just checked www.wdc.com Typed in Serial Number from drive I received. Answer from WD: "The warranty for this product has expired. The product is not eligible for replacement. If you need technical assistance, please send us email." So either Seller is warranting this drive OR NO ONE IS!!! I, for one, would like to hear from the seller on this matter!
2147720
I think a portable hard drive is a high capacity hard drive, but a bit larger than memory stick (flash drive), yet MUCH smaller than an external hard drive. An external hard drive is not as portable/small as a portable hard drive. A good example of a portable hard drive would be the Western Digital Passport. No power cable, uses the power from the USB port and holds 120 GB. Its meant more for portability.
565786
If you Google the question, it still remains to be seen if the data after 25-50 years is still completely intact. There are numerous factors that can affect this, ie., how they are stored (such as upright in their case, humidity free, etc.) gravity, how they have been handled, manufacturer quality control, etc. If you want long life, I would look into archival gold dvd's. Their quality and life expectancy is rated higher than these standard disks. I have used hundreds of these disks over a decade but could not begin to know how long they will last, even handling and storing them properly.
95935
B. Meerdink, neither of the two information you brought are backed by the links you posted.I've been searching the internet for the same info D. Wong wants, I'm about sure there is no document on WD's website that will state which is the internal drive interface of "My Passport Essential" products. This is something only reviewers who have opened their "My Passport Essential" drives can tell us. Do you happen to own one of those? Have you opened it up?? Has anyone out there?
2192896
I have been using WD drives for many years, and only one crashed on me. It was 100 degree temperature when it crashed. It was still in warranty, and WD is very good on warranty. In general, choose HDDs with long warranty period. This one has 5 years warranty instead of the average 1-3 years, and it runs cool. I use it as the primary OS drive for my desktop. But bad things will and do happen. So I (1) separate the programs and data into 2 HDDs, and (2) back up the data to an external drive everyday. In my laptop, I use a 64-g flash drive as my data HDD. I have a DOS macro to do the backing up. I have been using WD drives for many years, and only one crashed on me. It was 100 degree temperature when it crashed. It was still in warranty, and WD is very good on warranty. In general, choose HDDs with long warranty period. This one has 5 years warranty instead of the average 1-3 years, and it runs cool. I use it as the primary OS drive for my desktop. But bad things will and do happen. So I (1) separate the programs and data into 2 HDDs, and (2) back up the data to an external drive everyday. In my laptop, I use a 64-g flash drive as my data HDD. I have a DOS macro to do the backing up.
1893691
goto western digitals website and you can check the warranty status with the serial number that is on the drive. Most drives I have bought usually have 1 1/2 to 2 year warranties
1789788
You have two internal hard drives? Not many computers have that. It wouldn't be possible to say which is the quickest without knowing the transfer speeds of both drives. It may not be a significant difference anyways. The edge the external drive would have is that you can easily and quickly remove it and connect it to another computer if something catastrophic happened to your computer. Another thing- as far as I can tell there was no backup software included for the Passport so you'll need to rely on your computer's backup software. That's probably not a factor. In the end it's probably apples and oranges whether you go with an internal or external drive. Personally, I prefer the portability of an external drive. Good luck with your purchase.