Western Digital WD Elements 4TB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive

Best Feature:nonePerformance:turns out to be a fakeI received a fake. After trying for two days to transfer and write new data, I have given up because of how SLOW it was compared to what's advertised. I have an older WD hdd and it is so much faster than this one. So, I believe I received a fake. Especially after checking the device information via laptop. General UDisk nakalagay imbes na WD. Grabe, na excite pa naman ako gamitin, yun pala ang binigay sakin FAKE. Buti na lang wala pa alo natransfer na important files.

Do not buy this product

Owned less than a year. Took care of it; was gentle, kept it in a hard case. Then it stopped working one day for no apparent reason. Same as all the other complaints; drive is making clicking noises but not recognised by any computer. Local IT repair guy says this is a very common issue with WD, and he wouldn't even touch it as it's un fixable issue. Lost a lot of personal photos and data as I cannnot afford monstrous data recovery costs. Worst product experience I've ever had. Don't buy.

It arrived as a brick - completely unusable.

It arrived as a brick. The only things about it that work are the ridiculous licensing agreement and the LED on the case.It won't work on a Mac without reformatting and it won't allow me to reformat it. This is the second Western Digital Product I've had a problem with. No more WD for me.I just tried to submit this review and they even have a "terms and conditions" statement you have to check before you can submit a review. Western Digital must only hire lawyers. They certainly don't seem to have any engineers.

LITERALLY HORRIBLE

I bought this one in 2020 thinking I could use it later when my current external hard drive is full, and haven’t touched it since. Two days ago I decided use it and it has been a HORRIBLY CONFUSING HARD DRIVE. Literally spent the last 48 hours scavenging the internet for solutions. Immediately got in touch with customer service. The issue: I have a mac and windows computer, it will not initialize or reformat on either platforms. Like I have zerod the thing out, I have tried using first aid, I have tried reformatting/erasing it and on top of that, IT WILL NOT LET MY COMPUTER BOOT UP WHEN ITS PLUGGED IN?! Not a user friendly experience at all, because of it I learned how to use disk utility, terminal, windows commands and disk management so I guess that’s a plus. ... MoreI bought this one in 2020 thinking I could use it later when my current external hard drive is full, and haven’t touched it since. Two days ago I decided use it and it has been a HORRIBLY CONFUSING HARD DRIVE. Literally spent the last 48 hours scavenging the internet for solutions. Immediately got in touch with customer service. The issue: I have a mac and windows computer, it will not initialize or reformat on either platforms. Like I have zerod the thing out, I have tried using first aid, I have tried reformatting/erasing it and on top of that, IT WILL NOT LET MY COMPUTER BOOT UP WHEN ITS PLUGGED IN?! Not a user friendly experience at all, because of it I learned how to use disk utility, terminal, windows commands and disk management so I guess that’s a plus. literally if you want a device that can just plug in and keep data on it, this is not it, it’s not my choice. And customer service said that my device was out of warranty and that it’s non-functional so there’s that. $100 down the drain just like that.

Only used twice and now it won't mount

Purchased a 10GB WD Elements from Officeworks in Australia on 17/7/2024 for A$460. Today's date is 11/9/2024. I've only used the new device TWICE in these first 8 weeks of owning it - I have just been copying over photos, files and documents. Today I went to use it - this is only the third time I've switched it on - and the new WD elements device does not appear on the WD list or in Mac disk utility so it can't be mounted. It's formatted in exFAT so I plugged it into a Windows PC and the PC says the disc has errors that can't be repaired. I am ropable. This is the first and last time I will ever be investing in a WD external hard drive - or anything else WD. I own six smaller hard drives - other brands - some are 10 years old and still working. All I wanted to do ... MorePurchased a 10GB WD Elements from Officeworks in Australia on 17/7/2024 for A$460. Today's date is 11/9/2024. I've only used the new device TWICE in these first 8 weeks of owning it - I have just been copying over photos, files and documents. Today I went to use it - this is only the third time I've switched it on - and the new WD elements device does not appear on the WD list or in Mac disk utility so it can't be mounted. It's formatted in exFAT so I plugged it into a Windows PC and the PC says the disc has errors that can't be repaired. I am ropable. This is the first and last time I will ever be investing in a WD external hard drive - or anything else WD. I own six smaller hard drives - other brands - some are 10 years old and still working. All I wanted to do was back them all up on one drive. And that one big drive has failed after only a few hours of use.

Solid and reliable

I just bought this a few weeks ago because I needed a laptop back up storage unit. You have to format it first, but it should work with either a Windows or MacBook laptop plugging it in. It works fine. You don't necessarily have to install their proprietary software, As it becomes an annoying pop-up on your laptop after every restart. The design is also really boring and looks like every other external hard drive, but you can put a cute sticker on it. I purchased it with a warranty because my last external hard drive died within a few years that I had it so here's hoping this one stays alive, but it seems reliable.When I bought the drive through Media Markt, it had the option to Uber bike deliver to my door within 90 minutes, which was the absolute best way to buy ... MoreI just bought this a few weeks ago because I needed a laptop back up storage unit. You have to format it first, but it should work with either a Windows or MacBook laptop plugging it in. It works fine. You don't necessarily have to install their proprietary software, As it becomes an annoying pop-up on your laptop after every restart. The design is also really boring and looks like every other external hard drive, but you can put a cute sticker on it. I purchased it with a warranty because my last external hard drive died within a few years that I had it so here's hoping this one stays alive, but it seems reliable.When I bought the drive through Media Markt, it had the option to Uber bike deliver to my door within 90 minutes, which was the absolute best way to buy this product!

The product stopped working soon after purchase; impossible to return because of confidential data!

We purchased this product because we have other Western Digital drives, but it stopped working less than one week after arriving. The drive was no longer recognized by any computer it was attached to, making it impossible to determine if the defect is in the drive itself or the adapter. By the time it died, it already contained a mirror image of another drive with sensitive confidential information, more than 250,000 sensitive files, that we cannot allow in the hands of someone else! The drive could not be wiped clean because it was not recognized by any computer. The result? A total waste of money. Galaxus did not respond to this issue when raised during registration of the defect and no human being could be found through their website. I've made many purchases on ... MoreWe purchased this product because we have other Western Digital drives, but it stopped working less than one week after arriving. The drive was no longer recognized by any computer it was attached to, making it impossible to determine if the defect is in the drive itself or the adapter. By the time it died, it already contained a mirror image of another drive with sensitive confidential information, more than 250,000 sensitive files, that we cannot allow in the hands of someone else! The drive could not be wiped clean because it was not recognized by any computer. The result? A total waste of money. Galaxus did not respond to this issue when raised during registration of the defect and no human being could be found through their website. I've made many purchases on Galaxus, but I'm less than impressed with the service/support.

Unstable temperature on 5TB version

4TB and 5TB had unstable temperature when copying many GB for a backup (for example a transfer that takes about 30 minutes). I pause the transfer in Windows 11 to cool down.I added an entire roll of aluminum foil both on top and below the hard disk enclosures. The foil must be as flat as possible, or small pockets of air heat up too much. I have tested all this. Max temperature on 4TB version was about 39 degrees Celsius for a transfer of hundreds of GB, which is stable enough. But 5TB version still heats up too much internally to about 43 degrees Celsius max. This is a little too much heat for durability probably.Temperature can be displayed by various free programs. I implore WD to spend a little more on internal heat sink. This is really poor design if the ... More4TB and 5TB had unstable temperature when copying many GB for a backup (for example a transfer that takes about 30 minutes). I pause the transfer in Windows 11 to cool down.I added an entire roll of aluminum foil both on top and below the hard disk enclosures. The foil must be as flat as possible, or small pockets of air heat up too much. I have tested all this. Max temperature on 4TB version was about 39 degrees Celsius for a transfer of hundreds of GB, which is stable enough. But 5TB version still heats up too much internally to about 43 degrees Celsius max. This is a little too much heat for durability probably.Temperature can be displayed by various free programs. I implore WD to spend a little more on internal heat sink. This is really poor design if the temperature causes malfunction.