Buying a "recertified" hard drive for use with valuable data is not a sensible buying decision let alone a hot deal.

Same BS comments on every re-certified WD thread. If you don't want to buy one then move along, there is a market for them and people do buy them. Ridicule all you want.

Thank you Darkroom bought 2 of them, need to upgrade my 4TB's but this means no more kids for me as when the wife sees the bill she will kick the life out of my balls, so thx

All1

Too bad as in need of a good deal on a HDD. Thanks.

yes the code does not work anymore.

WDSTORECPN - promo code no longer active? Is this correct or just me?

How?

48hrs of error testing showed no probs - currently using on my xbox one S to solve the limited storage

God dammit, why they have to do this crap to us.
The WD USB modules, how likely are they to fail?

And also, can you confirm if this is possible? Not sure if you was clear on that.

I hate returning stuff, judging from the posts on this thread it looks like such a hassle.

UPDATE:

6 days and loads of emails later, they finally sent me a UPS prepaid label. I've either got to drive to somewhere to drop it off or book a day (!) for them to collect. I'll just be glad to get my £99.99 back!

Would usually take a risk but that was the worst customer "service" experience ever!

Even more glad i didn't pick up my drives from the shop they were left at, it would seem my personal love affair with WD is coming to the end which is a shame as i have been with them since the days of IBM's Deathstar

All1

Yep, even without a password set by the user using the software, the data is encrypted between the USB module and the Standard WD Blue SATA drive, by the module, so that using a different (non WD) module, will mean your data isn't readable. If you have exactly the same WD module (i.e. you bought two drives at the same time), you could in theory dismantle the second drive, use the module from that, and retrieve the data, but it would need to match the failed USB to SATA module exactly.

Toshiba Canvio don't do this, certainly not the 2x0 series, haven't tried the 3x0 series, they use a standard USB 3.0 to SATA module, the WD ones have their own on-board bios that locks them to WD drives only.

one off code or reusable...?

^
think that code expired a couple of days ago

I'm getting an invalid promo code message

Alternatively (If I understood correctly from you), I can take out the
drive from the casing (Of-course voiding my 6 MONTHS warranty!), use
generic Sata III cable (or as you said USB 3.0 to SATA), transfer files
etc, and still able to retrieve the data?

Anyone know if this is correct please? I would rather know before using as to whether data is retrievable on hdd failure if I use the above described install method.

So, you telling me that if I was to store normal files on this 6TB drive like I would on a USB flash drive (no encryption, no password, no nothing), I still won't be able to retrieve my data if the WD USB module fails?

Alternatively (If I understood correctly from you), I can take out the drive from the casing (Of-course voiding my 6 MONTHS warranty!), use generic Sata III cable (or as you said USB 3.0 to SATA), transfer files etc, and still able to retrieve the data?

I initially bought 2 of these for secondary/third external backup.


Data Lifeguard Diagnostics (one of WD tools) is the one I used. Took 3 days/nights straight for the extended test to finish.

Have been running hd tune error scan on a 6TB for 4 hrs - only up to 475GB. Any other s/w I could use which are good/quicker ?

See Post #111. The USB to Sata Controller card has its own bios chip onboard which encrypts the data during the transfer, it also checks to make sure the internal drive is a Western Digital.
They are doing what ink cartridge manufacturers do, making all the parts proprietary. The trouble with this, in when any part fails, you're screwed. If I'd bought one of these to use an an external drive, which is pretty stupid unless its a secondary backup, I still would take out the drive and fit it in a generic usb 3.0 to sata controller, because that way my data is safe if that controller fails.

It's swings and roundabouts, because it does offer better security if you have a password encrypted the drive (if the drive was stolen etc), it's just the password encryption is tied to proprietary WD Hardware, which isn't good in terms of your own recovery of the data, should the usb to sata controller fail (and often, the internal hard disk is perfectly fine, but encrypted). It makes getting that data back a lot, lot harder, even if you haven't set a password.

Received mine, opened case and extracted drive for use elsewhere. Fitted a different drive in the case but the drive will not show up when connected to laptop. Disk management says has to be initialised which fails if executed. Cant find a work around.

Try 'HDTune Pro' software, I always use it to test new drive

Got one is blue 5400rpm anddoesn't have 'Recertified' on the label. Manufacturers day was 11/2015, it is new wd blue drive with few times on but has zero hours use. Wd may reset the time when recertify, don't know.

Just a word of warning to those using these as an external 6TB hard disk (as it's meant to be used). It's better to buy in two's at the same time, because if the WD usb module connected to the standard WD Blue Drive fails, you won't be able to recover the data from the internal working drive unless you match the usb module with the same part number. (And you can't tell this part number until you open up the device)

If you attempt to connect the internal drive to a generic usb to sata adapter to recover data, it will show the data/drive as encrypted.

This doesn't happen with the Toshiba Canvio 5TB/6TB Drives, the usb to sata modules in those is generic. Just something to be aware of.
Bottom line, always have a proper backup elsewhere. Backup, Backup, Backup, the three B's.

£114.99 now and £10 code not working

I've reported in various places. Received acknowledgements but nothing else so far (more than 24 hours later).

I had to return a new laptop drive ordered on the same order as it was too thick to fit in the bay so this might be different for recertified drives as opposed to the brand new ones but all I did was to email them to request an RMA and a couple of days later they emailed me a label for UPS to either come pick up the drive or drop it off to to one of the list of pickup points nearest me.

What a pain, sorry to hear that. Keep us posted on how you get on, hopefully it's already being sorted for you.

Got one of the new My Book 6TB for £99.99. (For some reason, last week they were cheaper than the "old" model.). Delivered today and the USB socket is damaged so it's impossible to plug the cable in. Not sure who "recertified" that one .... Now the PITA process of getting a refund begins. 10 fruitless minutes on the "helpline" to then be given another number which was unobtainable. Just saying ....

I'm a sheep .. ordered 1

just ordered a 6TB one :smile:

Try CrystalDiskInfo..

Has always been good for me i am sure there are others out there.

Ah I see, I will give them a go.
Hard Drive Sentinel? I read forums saying that software isn't reliable. has it changed?

The drives comes with utilities on there already but if you want a more thorough test get Hard Disk Sentinel

should have waited..

Received my WD HDD, package looks like it hasn't even been opened (cables and sticky film still there).

is there any tests I need to run? or use to check how long HDD has been used etc?

ordered 4 may order another 4 next week if code still ongoing

Good deal, ordered

Yes, have used their predecessors WD Greens for streaming no problem

These any good for streaming media?

Cheers for spotting that, updated the price in the post to reflect this.

They've reduced them further now to £109.99, making it £99.99 with code.

Returns info is here http://shop.wdc.com/store/wdeu/ContentTheme/pbPage.returnspage_en_GB/

Unfortunately, return shipping is at the customer's cost

OK thanks Darkroom] in that case i just won't bother picking mine up from the shop they were left at.

All1

My 2 came yesterday, they look new, pretty fast drives

No returns label in the box

Anyone have any idea if there is a free returns label in these or do we have to pay to return them ourself?

Thanks for the info. It's not a deal breaker for me, as the I'm only using them for cold storage, but those planning to use them 24/7 or for intensive applications may feel a little uneasy.

BTW both the ones I got are 5700rpm and run quieter than my other WD drives.

I meant 7200rpm in previous post.

Yeah cant use wdidle on these newer blue drives. Apparently these newer 5400rpm blue drives dont have intellipark feature so should be ok! When WD merged the greens with the blues, the first greens rebadged as blues were still 7400rpm and had the intellipark feature, however, the newer blues are 5400rpm and apparently dont have this feature as its not required due to being low power because of 5400rpm. Cant be 100% certain but i have read it in at least five different sites and on the wd forum direct from wd.

Update - tried again tonight and the site was working! I guess the demand was too high for the site to cope last time I tried, definitely worth a punt for the price, as everyone else says make sure its not your only copy of your data just in case something goes wrong!

I've had a couple of recertified drives as spares in the past and had them last longer than new ones of the same make and model so it seems to be luck of the draw to some extent, that is unless you get one that already has months/years of usage already, although hopefully they do not sell those ones as recertified drives!

Will check mine but if they can't be altered they will be going back and very sad to say i will have to look at another manf which is a shame as i love my WD drives

Received mine now, 6TB blues inside. Ran wdidle3, but throwing up an error. Done a net search and it would appear WD have removed the ability for the head parking on the blues to be adjusted with wdidle.

https://community.wd.com/t/wdidle3-not-working-on-new-blue-drives-any-help/193353/12

Did you run wdidle3 to check head parking?

No problem with flat. There are no fans inside that require a particular orientation for air flow and the case has slots all around for heat flow, therefore, lay them however you want.

I have received my 2 x My books 6TB. I have opened them and they are WD Blue Drives 6TB, and only 9 months old!

just got my 6TB drive, :smiley:

...question though? - any probs laying these MyBooks drive flat (ie horizontally) as dont like it standing up (ie vertical) all the time?

Thanks OP - dithered, browsed the web site a lot, and then WD sent me a 20% off code - so a 6Tb is winging it's way to me :-)

Thanks, just ordered 4 6TB drives. Will pull them from enclosures and run them in RAID 10.

'Claimed friends' lol....guess you are not a buyer then....so please enough already:-))

I agree but if you want a replacement drive, then RMA it is!.. could always see if it can be magnetised to ensure data "securely erased"
I am not sure how to do that to a dead drive without voiding the warranty.

I don't know what you store on your drives, but warranty is useless to some of us. Some of us wouldn't trust any of our data, encrypted or not with a company. If I have a drive fail it's done, warranty or not and encrypted or not it's not being sent off. I've heard too many horror stories.

Just remember to cross your fingers in 6 months time when the warranty runs out. If you want to convince anyone these drives are a good buy then maybe you should first convince WD to offer at least 1/2 the warranty period of a new product instead of 1/6th.

That your (and your claimed 'friends') drive hasn't failed yet means squat. I will go with WD's reliability assessment as indicated by their miserable 6 month warranty.

Well said!There are enough sensible comments on here from owners of re-certs to prove that they are a good buy.So I echo this sensible chap's words...if you don't want to buy then move along...don't drop negative waffle and useless one liners(flashjmp)...not helpful to anyone!!

putting your data on here is like sleeping with a prostitute with no condom and hoping your manbits dont fall off

i've had a few WD drives from their website, mostly refurbs, and all were external drives that i removed the HDD's to use internally in my pc. with the exception of the 8tb ones i got (which weren't refurbs), the others including the 6tb drives in particular, had hardware encryption. i have a method of testing involving pluggin in via usb, dischecking, copying some data, dischekcing, deleting partition, make a new partition, disck check, copy a few gb of data, disccheck, delete partition, make a new one and disckcheck and if that works ok then i fill the full disc with data. i had one drive fail creating a new partition after i deleted the original one and sent it back, that's the only failure/problem i've had with recerts. customer service wasn't great and the returns process was slow in my view, but i saved a lot of money using refurbs and discount codes. anyways after filling the disc and disk checking i remove the drive and put in my pc internally but due to encryption i can't see the data and then have to delete the partition, make a new one and copy the data again. the 8tb drives i got didn't have that encryption and all my data was there, which saved a long time of recopying

so if your drive has a problem due to the caddy itself you may not be able to read the data. but that's why people keep saying backup backup backup, as if you have everything properly backed up, you just get a new drive and make a new copy

*knowing nod*

Same BS comments on every re-certified WD thread. If you don't want to buy one then move along, there is a market for them and people do buy them. Ridicule all you want.

It is good to hear both sides if you can be bothered to sift through the waffle:-))
I must disagree though - this is way "better than nothing" - I know several people including myself that have these re-certified drives and all have performed as good as any new one.

You joined yesterday and that is your first comment - have a great life:-))
To all the buyers of this drive - enjoy - great purchase:-))

I think thats unfair. I have benefitted from the discussion that happens here and its valuable to hear both sides , whether there's merit or not.
everyone will decide for themselves depending on the information they have and thier own circumstances.

I think if this is all you can afford then it's still better than nothing.

If you can afford the additional cash I would always recommend getting the retail product with the proper warranty.

Thank you for your extensive analysis and report of the reliability and longevity of this product based on your sample of one. And you accuse others of waffle - just lol.

I bought a 6tb one a while ago and it has performed flawlessly. So many people spout so much waffle on here:-(

cracking deal. had a recertified 3tb version of this running for just over a year that my server backs up to 3 times a week. still running nicely.

I got one a year ago but foolishly didn't get 2 at the same time as I wanted to test it first and have been waiting ever since to get another one. Like yours, mine has been fine.

They seem to have a bit more stock this time.

Got this last time they were in stock for about half an hour! Had it about 4 months now, just used for backups, no issues at all, very happy I went with this :smiley:

He is a wolf of course! He wouldn't post if he was a sheep!!

Now whether he votes for purchasing the drive or against is anyones guess as his analogy is ... poor (for a wolf)

Just change the idle time to use these greens in NAS.

Thanks OP, ordered to use as a back up

Wolves & Sheep are animals

so please expand :smiley:

...and also what are you...a wolf or a sheep? :sunglasses:

I ordered 2. I don't see what the fuss is all about. I will mirror them for redundancy, therefore, why spend £220 on one red 6TB when I can have two!
Reds are false economy for general home users who just want to store things and will not be using them in a NAS 24/7.

By the way, this is after me purchasing a Western Digital Red last week and it failed during initial testing in my WD EX2 Ultra NAS Enclosure.
I think all hard drives have a general failure rate of around 1% or less within first 12 months. Yes the red's will last longer if they pass the 12 month mark and are used 24/7 but they cost twice as much.
My mac book pro has a 512GB Samsung SSD which has been going for 3/4 years now and I run so many read/write cycles (torrents, downloading etc.) that I expected it to fail after the first year, but its still going strong and showing no signs of failure. Hard drives are a mixed bunch, some will fail, others will keep going for 10 years.

The world is filled with basically two kinds of people. Wolves and Sheep. These recertified HD threads always highlight this beautifully.

yeah, think i will do that for now - as in just buy one of these 6TB re-certified drive, as can't justify getting 2 at the mo & then build my trust for re-certified drives with time :smiley:

much obliged for your advice and time :smile:

Wow...some ppl do know their stuff...very educative and it all makes perfect sense, especially the bit about not connecting both drives to the same machine at the same time :smiley:

appreciated and thank you very much for you time :smile:

So use the 6TB to back up the 4TB. As time goes by you will have more faith in the 6TB and then maybe even buy a 2nd 6TB to back up the 1st. You could even cycle in the 4TB to back up most or just the essential stuff say once every 3 moths say.

Usually always - right. The manufacturer doesn't seem to agree with you offering a miserable 6 month warranty on recertified products instead of 3 years for the same product new. That is what puts me off WD recertified products, WD has no faith in them why should I?

Everyone has their own opinions on backups but if I were you I'd either leave the spare 1TB for non critical data (for me that's films, tv series that I've downloaded and not bothered if I lost them) or use it for a third backup of your really critical data and start getting your back up disks in pairs so they contain the same set of data ie buy 2 of these now.

The chances of 2 hard disks failing at the same time are remote to very slim even if they are both recertified. As pointed out by @MMW above recertified HDs are 100% tested as opposed to new HDs which will only receive a batch test ie one is occasionally pulled from the manufacturing run and checked. The recertifying is done in a WD factory and not some bloke on ebay with a soldering iron and a bit of Windolene to remove his fingerprints from the case!

As for backing, up never connect both disks up at the same time to the same machine to minimise the risk. So you copy your original data to disk 1, unplug after verifying the data, copy original data to disk 2, verify and disconnect. In the worst case a power failure from the fusebox tripping could wipeout both disks if they are mid usage so your next purchase will be a UPS to reduce the chances of a power failure! :smile:

That's it in it's simplest form but you can automate it with software and extra hardware if your data justifies it.

Backup all your backups!

Ordered. I wouldn't use a recertified drive as a boot drive, but this is nice cheap storage for backing up all the other smaller drives to.

WD no longer make Greens. They now just use the Blues. If this is a returned drive, it is possible its a Green.

It is a single Green 6TB drive.

Neither. WD Green's were all PMR drives.

i have a 3TB Desktop external drive that is now full since 2mths ago, so bought a 4TB Seagate Backup Plus portable to replace it and now all data on the 3TB is now backed up on the 4TB Seagate portable with 1TB spare for new data, but the 4TB does not have a backup (living dangerously i know as the extra 1TB data has no backup anywhere else), so thinking of buying one of these 6TB as a backup of data on the 4TB...but a bit worried that it's rectified, is this a good idea?

No he doesn't buy recertified is usually always better if you want a product that lasts longer.

I have a recertified 4tb drive which I've been using as a NAS for 8 months. It's quiet and hasn't failed.
One thing to bear in mind is the indexing software can cripple the read / write speeds leading to buffering when streaming large video files. This can be managed of you're comfortable using ssh and openmediavault can be installed with a little leg work.

Ultimately, you're getting a lot of storage for the money from a respected brand, the cloud features are just a bonus.

This is a good buy, and can be PART of your backup strategy (as it is for me). The greatest data losses are probably due to people not realising after the “event” (failure) that the last backup was six months ago, the older you get time seems to move faster so this is more likely. Far better to spend £100 on this than not to backup, if you can afford buy two and replicate your backup, yes the price is that good.

just to reiterate everyone elses point as well, since I lost my main HD and lost significant amounts of stuff, including family photos from.my phone when my SD card died, I cannot emphasise regular backups done twice. keep one drive outside your home in case the backups aren't available due to something that happened at your house.
this would be the minimum level of backup , if you skimp on this, I promise you will only ever make this mistake once!.
I would say always factor the cost of a backup solution when you buy a PC and consider part of your PC ecosystem.

as for recertified, depends on your appetite for risk and budget.

In my case since all my family photos and videos are on my NAS, I would be more than devastated should i incur any loss.

I learnt the hard way. please do not skimp on backups.

also kids.. don't do drugs...

Buying a "recertified" hard drive for use with valuable data is not a sensible buying decision let alone a hot deal.

I wouldn't risk it with a recertified HDD. I would go for a brand new drive with less storage if that was my budget.

I have worked in IT for nearly 30 years. Buying things like this aint a good idea if its your main storage. But if you are using this as a backup of something that exists elsewhere then, I guess its ok.

What's inside this? Is it the red and drive?

Thank you Darkroom bought 2 of them, need to upgrade my 4TB's but this means no more kids for me as when the wife sees the bill she will kick the life out of my balls, so thx

All1

Heat added

I ordered two, the discount is per order not per drive.

I ordered two, the discount is per order not per drive.

Sorry ALV426. I misread your post. I thought you were saying that hard drives were not a backup solution.

So what in you opinion is a viable backup solution!? Floppies? Or do you suggest that we back up to clouds? What do you think the servers that the cloud uses back up onto?

Any idea which drive this is? Helium? Shingled recording?

And obviously you always need two: one for the backup.

Great deal but unfortunately a terrible e-commerce site, I had similar issues to those that bubblegum had, both paypal and cc directly did not work giving me various errors and loops in the site. I now see "new" recertified 6TB drives listed at a lower price (£99) without using the code although they are not in stock yet, so flagging for others benefit as I've given up with their site now!

To.. to what should I be backing up?

An excellent find, thanks for posting!

Heat for the deal! Under £20/TB is a the price point I'll buy at! I want this, but I'm going go for an Xbox One instead.
I do have to laugh at comments in here - a hard drive (no matter how many you have) is not a backup solution...

How well will this work for backing up purposes?

Thanks for this. I've always steered clear of these hard drives after reading about such issues despite seeing some pretty decent deals in the past. Feel a bit of a sucker now!

Aren't these the drives that have password protected enclosures that prevent you accessing your hard drive data if the enclosure ever fails? Your hard drive could be absolutely fine but inaccessible due to a faulty enclosure?

Ordered, thanks Darkroom.

are re-certifieds actually good?

Ordered, thanks Darkroom.

Ordered - thanks Darkroom.

What's your opinion on the my cloud mirror drives ..
the description says 6tb so would that be two 3tb drives. Just wanting something I can access with my phone when I'm away. What do you guys think ?

they appear to be wd green drives.

they would be fine for plugging in and doing a backup and then switched off.

but for my use which is a media server via a NAS, I would be cautious and get wd reds.

even though I have used wd greens in my nas for 5 years ! I would not. want to do that again.

is it single drive or double?
also we red?
also can I take the drive out and use in my synology nas? or is it a usb interface


cheers

Finally got it working, ordered Thanks

I keep getting authorisation failed

Looks like a good deal. +1

Heated, great price for this amount of storage. This deal will get a bunch of recertified drive naysayers but ignore em, this is hot!