Inquiry RE Old WD Passport Ultra External Drive

[Frank-0-Video]

Just within the past few days I elected to retire a WD Passport Ultra External Drive that has been in use since 2013, and is still working well. The original setup files are dated 2013.

The drive supports USB 3.0, as well as 2.0, both of which are older standards. It has a usable storage capacity of 1.81 terabytes (out of 2.00 TB).

I have successfully transferred all personal data over to a newer WD external drive, whose setup files have 2025 dates.

I have also copied over the 2013 drive's setup files. I am thinking about re-formatting the older drive, copying the setup files back over, and then passing it on to an old job acquaintance.

Question -- After eleven plus years, can the older drive be expected to continue performing well, or should I consider permanently retiring it?? Are there some special self-diagnostic tests that can be performed to determine if it can still be used.

Thanx-A-Lotte, Frank-0-Video

[cholla]

I use Hard Disk Sentinel .
The trial version is fairly limited in function.
If you watch for it you can get a full version free.
Check on sharewareonsale & giveawayoftheday.

I have had the full pro version many years so I can not say if the trial version will do what you want.

[ProWo]

CrystalDiskInfo
https://sourceforge.net/projects/crystaldiskinfo/

[The_Doman]

Question -- After eleven plus years, can the older drive be expected to continue performing well, or should I consider permanently retiring it?? Are there some special self-diagnostic tests that can be performed to determine if it can still be used.

Well that is with all HDD drives, you never know when they are going to fail.
I have here also a collection of some very old WD elements (3.5" USB2) and newer 2.5" drives, some i bought used, all working fine still.
Western Digital also has their own tool WD Drive Utilities
Western Digital: Software Downloads

I have successfully transferred all personal data over to a newer WD external drive, whose setup files have 2025 dates.

Why not keeping it as extra backup?
Having your personal/important files on only one HDD is no backup.

[Frank-0-Video]

Having your personal/important files on only one HDD is no backup.

Just So You Know -- I will be investing in extra external drives during the coming year, as needed and as my budget allows.

Thanks for the Western Digital Software Links.

I have one question regarding the "Erase and Format" feature. The instructions clearly show how to select the Erase option, but they are somewhat vague on what happens when you approve the selection -- does it just erase existing data, or does it erase -AND- re-format the drive ???

A simple clarifying answer will be appreciated. Thanx-A-Lotte.

[cholla]

I do not have the Western Digital software.
I probably did at one time.
This is from the WD website:
https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detailweb/a_id/50396#subject3

The instruction indicate: erase -AND- re-format the drive
If it did not reformat why would it need the format to be selected.
It should erase the entire drive not just existing Data.

Windows can also format a drive & I believe this erases it also.
I use Acronis backup software for erase & format.

[jagabo]

I have one question regarding the "Erase and Format" feature.

Formatting a drive doesn't erase the data, it only erases the directory structure. It's like erasing the table of contents in a book, the text is still on rest of the pages. You want to securely "wipe" the drive. That means overwriting all the data on the platters with junk. That will take several hours on a 2TB drive.

[usually_quiet]

I think I used the free program DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke) the last time I needed to wipe a hard drive. It is only intended for HDDs and not recommended for SSDs. It is hosted on Sourceforge.

[The_Doman]

I have one question regarding the "Erase and Format" feature. The instructions clearly show how to select the Erase option, but they are somewhat vague on what happens when you approve the selection -- does it just erase existing data, or does it erase -AND- re-format the drive ???

It has been a long time since i used the WD utilities on my drives but yes it should erase the whole drive aka "Zero Filling".
This is useful to erase private data or solve problems with the drive itself like "soft bad sectors" for example from unexpected power outage during writes.
You can accomplish the same with various tools like the ones here already named or this one for example:
Lowvel: History of Low Level Format
Initializing/partitioning/formatting is only the last step after performing a zero fill.
But you can do that yourself using Windows disk management.

Possible informative topic if you have to decide between exFAT and NTFS:
Management of > 4TB HDDs (exFAT,NTFS and GPT)

[cholla]

I have one question regarding the "Erase and Format" feature.

Formatting a drive doesn't erase the data, it only erases the directory structure. It's like erasing the table of contents in a book, the text is still on rest of the pages. You want to securely "wipe" the drive. That means overwriting all the data on the platters with junk. That will take several hours on a 2TB drive.

A Windows "quick format" does not wipe a hard drive; it only deletes the file table, making the data appear gone but still recoverable. A "full format" (by unchecking the "quick format" box) overwrites all sectors with zeros, which is a more thorough wipe.

If you do not have any information on the drive you are concerned about the FBI or other law enforcement forensically checking a drive.
The overwrite is not that necessary.
That being said with Acronis I usually use the 3 times ovewrite setting.
It goes up to the Peter Gutmann 35 times overwrite. Which is overkill in most cases.
If you ever use the Peter Gutmann I hope you have several days to let it complete on a 2TB or larger drive.

CCleaner also has a drive wiping feature.
I have never used it to wipe a drive.
I have used it to overwrite free space & it seemed to work OK.
I do not know if it also formats a drive.
Windows can do that.

[The_Doman]

That being said with Acronis I usually use the 3 times ovewrite setting.
It goes up to the Peter Gutmann 35 times overwrite. Which is overkill in most cases.
If you ever use the Peter Gutmann I hope you have several days to let it complete on a 2TB or larger drive.

Google: Is one pass overwrite enough?

[cholla]

@ The_Doman,
I have had good results with the 3 times overwrite.
So I will continue to use this for HDD.
I can do a single pass with Acronis or CCleaner.
I believe the Windows full format is a single pass also.

SSD the best remondation is use the drive manufacturers software to erase & format the SSD drive.