Western Digital10TB Elements Desktop External Hard Drive, USB 3.0 external hard drive for plug-and-play storage - WDBWLG0100HBK-NESN

Western Digital 8TB Elements Desktop is a great external hard drive. Purchased WD 8TB Elements to backup my computer system. When I received the product, it was easy to install by following on screen instructions, it came with WD software to begin transferring my data immediately. Instead, I chose WD Acronis True Image software, which offers the ability to: Back up operating systems, applications, settings and individual files on Windows and macOS. Everything worked well together and there was no data loss on my windows 10 backup. The WD elements drive sits on my desktop and acts as add-on-storage to my computer. The WD 8TB is portable and is incredibly fast, taking 1hr 30min to back up my computer. WD 8TB Desktop External Hard Disk Drive-3.5 Inch, USB 3.0 with Automatic Backup, 256 Bit AES Hardware Encryption, Password Protection, Compatible with Windows & Mac, Portable HDD. Highly recommend Western Digital 8TB Elements Desktop because easy to use, reliable, fast transfer of data, and provides peace of mind.

I got the 20 TB model. It's a solid unit, a little bulkier and heavier than a grab-and-go, but it's worth the heft. I was surprised how fast it was across a USB 3. I managed to move a massive amount of data in about the same time it took to transfer the identical amount between two internal drives.I don't notice any read/write noise. Also, it doesn't put off any heat worth mentioning. I think this is a big data storage solution that's fast enough to co-function as a NAS, or personal cloud, and it's a real value. I recommend it.

This is my 4th WD Elements drive and two of them have over 20,000 hours of use (and still going) so I have been impressed with their durability. This 20 TB drives keeps the same enclosure design and USB 3 interface as my previous WD drives. Setup with my Windows 11 desktop was literally plug and play. Note that you only get 18 TB of formatted space. Some say its because of '1000' vs. '1024' bytes per K, but I did the calculation and by that argument I should have gotten over 19 TB. Note that almost every disk drive has less usable space than what is advertised so I wasn't too shocked there.When I connected and started transferring files, I noticed two things: 1) There is a lot of head seeking noise (thumps, clicks) that was common with disks years ago and not present with my older WD drives (which are very quiet) and 2) The transfer speeds are faster than my older drives, which stands to reason as this is a 7200 RPM drive. The latter spec was not mentioned in the Amazon product description but I discovered by using Crystal Disk Info. This was a pleasant surprise.

Using as a 4T backup. Wouldn't mount so troubleshooting online suggested it was the cable. I switched it with different external drive cable I already own and it was just fine

I cannot recommend WD HDD enough. I've still got a 1TB that's over 13 years old that still works. I probably have 21 external drives in use at any given time and I have 2 in the box just waiting to join the bank.I have had little failure or corruption issues over the years with WD. The two that did fail, all of the data was recoverable and one of the failures was a user issue and I was able to resolve that issue and the drive is still in use today.As far as this latest 20 TB drive is concerned, it is functioning beautifully in conjunction with 2 other drives on my Plex Server.You can read other reviews that give the exact specs and speeds but I will say I get consistently fast Up and Down speeds and will continue to recommended WD drives.

I bought the Western Digital Elements 18TB external hard drive about 9 months ago, and so far it's been a flawless experience. Installation was an absolute breeze: Plug in the USB 3.0 connector to your computer, plug in the power, and it should be instantly ready to go. No formatting or initialization necessary. It will automatically select the next drive letter for itself. It really could not be any easier.After 9 months, I've learned to live with a few small annoyances I've noticed. These are things that really don't bother me, but may bother others, so I'll mention them.1. When it does its self-maintenance, or first spins up after being in sleep mode, it makes a bit of noise. It's not loud and it's not often. It's kind of a brief vibration noise, and from what I've read, all external hard drives make this noise. If this is bothersome, I suppose I would recommend disconnecting the drive between uses, but again, for me this has not been even slightly a bothersome noise, and I barely notice it anymore.2. When I want to download something or access something from the drive, I have to wait about 20 seconds for the drive to start up and spin up to speed, which can be slightly annoying. I attempted to go into Windows (I am using Windows 11 by the way) settings and change it so that the drive never goes to sleep, but it goes to sleep in spite of changing that setting, so I'm thinking that something on the drive itself is putting it to sleep to preserve longevity.But other than those two things, I can't think of anything that might annoy someone. The drive still shows up as healthy. Every file I have accessed from the drive is still pristine, and all the games I have stored there still install just fine, so it is doing its job without any loss of data. Also data transfer speeds have been excellent, far better than I expected.