Western Digital My Book 3TB- what are the rps speeds?

[branskyj]

Hey guys,

I lucked out recently and bought cheaply a Western Digital My Book 3TB external hard drive.
I was wondering about some things:

1. What is the disk inside in terms of speed? 7200 rps, 5400 rps or something else? I checked the official website ( I read the product overview and user manual) but the only thing I dug out was the disk model- WDBFJK0030HBK-EESN for the 3TB version. I checked the web for that model but couldn't find any mention about the speeds of the hard drive...only that it supports USB 3.0 and 2.0
2. Is there a test/ software that I can use which will tell me what RPS am I getting out of the disk?
3. If I decided to break the enclosure, get the disk out of it and then use it as a normal internal hard drive for my PC- would it work? I am not too fussed about the warranty, I just need to know if Western Digital prevents that kind of "initiative" somehow...
4. What is a good software to check a disk for possible errors ( bad sectors, etc.)?

Apologies for the many questions, just want to get it right.
Also- will post the same topic on another web-site. If I find any good answers I will report back here.

Many thanks.

 

[Yakk]

I've always seen 5400 drives in those enclosures. My last one was a 4TB WD blue.

You can use it without the enclosure as a standard drive, but you will have to reformat it.

 

[branskyj]

Thanks a lot for the info, Yakk. By the way- I don't have the hard drive yet- it has been shipped to me, currently waiting for it.

Was your last one My Book too?
And why the reformatting- what if I started using it as an external, stored some data on it and then took it out of the enclosure and plugged it in as a normal hard drive- would it not be recognised by the OS?

Many thanks.

 

[Yakk]

I'd have to look up why exactly, but they come preformated with a few WD utilities and aren't recognized by Windows when plugged in directly so you have to reformat them.

 

[branskyj]

Much appreciated, Yakk.

Any ideas about what's the best software to use to check for bad sectors? Does Western Digital have it's own? Anyone?

 

[Elixer]

Use CrystalDiskinfo to look at SMART info.
As for checking for bad sectors, just do a full format, not a quick format.
Some of these units have hardware encryption, so, yeah, if you are going to remove it, then format it.

 

[branskyj]

Use CrystalDiskinfo to look at SMART info.
As for checking for bad sectors, just do a full format, not a quick format.
Some of these units have hardware encryption, so, yeah, if you are going to remove it, then format it.

Thanks Elixer
just downloaded CrystalDiskinfo and checked my current hard drives- it gave me accurate RPS readings. As soon as I receive my external WD I will test it too.
As for doing a full format- are you saying that will fix possible bad sectors? I thought bad sectors were supposed to be marked as "bad" so that data will never be written on them. My knowledge on the subject is from over 20 years ago..
I just recently got curious about stuff like that.

Again- thank you.

 

[Valantar]

7200 rps, 5400 rps

Nitpicking, but those would be the fastest hard drives known to man. Not to mention that the platters would probably shatter from the sheer momentum caused by those rotation speeds. And they'd likely use 100-200W or more. I think the term you're looking for is rpm.

 

[branskyj]

Nitpicking, but those would be the fastest hard drives known to man. Not to mention that the platters would probably shatter from the sheer momentum caused by those rotation speeds. And they'd likely use 100-200W or more. I think the term you're looking for is rpm.

Wow, how did I get that wrong?
RPS would really be impressive

 

[Valantar]

Wow, how did I get that wrong?
RPS would really be impressive

Yep. The fastest Dremel I could find spins at 35000rpm, or 583rps. And that rotates ~1.5" disks with very low mass, while being rated at 1.8A at 120V (roughly 210W). As such, I can't really imagine the power required to spin 4-5-6 3.5" disks with a lot higher mass at ~10x that speed

Oh, and the noise! Oh my god. That would be awful. I'd still love to see/hear one, though!

 

[branskyj]

OK, so apparently the the disk inside is really 5400 rpm.
Man, I wish it was 5400 rps

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[Elixer]

Thanks Elixer
just downloaded CrystalDiskinfo and checked my current hard drives- it gave me accurate RPS readings. As soon as I receive my external WD I will test it too.
As for doing a full format- are you saying that will fix possible bad sectors? I thought bad sectors were supposed to be marked as "bad" so that data will never be written on them. My knowledge on the subject is from over 20 years ago..
I just recently got curious about stuff like that.

Again- thank you.

No, nothing can fix bad sectors*, however, doing a full format usually finds issues faster than just plugging it in and using it via quick format.

HD's lifespan is shaped like a bell curve, they die within the first few months, so, it is better to stress them now, rather than later.

*I mean, yeah, the HD will remap the bad sectors, but, usually, once it starts having bad sectors there is no way back from that, and it is better to just get a new HD at that point.