How long do the WD Black drives take to copy across under 2TB of Game files ? Days?

First… I spent half an hour trying to create an account… (annoying for everyone else also trying to communicate on a hundred forums globally)… only to discover that WD registration said I already had an account here with this e-mail (I have previous WD Black drives (WD Black 1Tb 18-months ago) … but I forgot my password… and had to go through that issue also (my e-mail was reported as being already registered here at WD [even though it says I just joined today]) … anyway… frustration aside…

I never contacted here about the 2Tb WD Black last year either (as it runs great); now on my 3rd WD Drive (4Tb WD Black)…which I may have a slight issue about…

WD Black 4Tb (4003) model.

  1. Its listed as a SCSI Drive in my W8.1 System. I cant find anything about it being SCSI in the WD Website literiture.

Is it a SCSI Drive and if so, do I need SCSI Drivers?

  1. I am trying to copy files from a fairly full 2Gb WD Black drive and its taking MANY MANY HOURS to copy/clone across to the 4TB drive using the WD propriorory software.

Is this time it takes normal? … via a Haswell i7 rig with 16Gb RAM Asus Z87 Sabetooth computer running a fully updated Windows 8.1 on a Samsung V-Nand SSD?

How many hours/days will it take, as the transfer box seems to have been frozen at 39% 39% 57% for over 5 hours.

Or is it possible its frozen for life? :neutral_face:

Also… The WD4003FZEX I bought is listed in Windows System Properties as a WDC WD40 03FZEX-00Z4SA0 SCSI

So … not sure if the software appearing frozen is an issue to do with Drive recognition or something…

That said… the Drive is slightly hot to the touch and seems to be spinning… (its in a clone box connected to USB3)

Am I worrying over nothing?

Should I have connected it internally and copied across that way?

Or…

Welcome to the Community.

It is possible for the hard drive not to be fully compatible with the USB 3.0 external case you are currently using. Do you encounter the same behavior when the device is connected directly into a SATA port in your system?

Using Google’s calculator …

(2 TB) / (100 MB per second) = 5.6 hours

http://www.google.com/search?q=2+TB+/+(100+MB+per+second)

The External case is a Hard Drive cloner. It is designed to clone all hard drives (including SSD`s).

I have cloned other WD Hard drives with it no problem.

Well; it started at 3pm yesterday and its 6.45 a.m. today so, the WD calculation seems a bit out, being as this mornings readings are 41% 41% 65%.

So, (as I had put a message on this [WD] Site some 5 or 6 hours after the clone started…), in (around) a further NINE or TEN Hours the cloning has gone up by 2%.

And anything else I have copied across the same port and to the same box has naver had such an issue.

At this rate… it has a full 7+ Days day and night cloning to finish the simple task.

:mansad:

Its a GPT Partition.

I`m pretty sure I prepared it correctly (no issues in MS Drive management or EaseUS), Just as I have preparred drives to copy &/or clone to for almost twenty years.

Edit:

The first ~half~ of the clone happened within a couple of minutes (and being as the drives are a 2Tb copying to a 4Tb), could it be cloning/copying is happening Backwards or something?

 I have not noticed such a change in copy speed ever before.

So it completed in something not far under 24 hours.

Into the PC it goes…

EDIT

Somehow it has the other half of the drive unusable (possibly/probably due to stopping the clone after a few hours yesterday when it appeared frozen…)?

Windows 8.1 Pro did not `see that half of the drive and gave me no options to turn it into anything or wipe it or nothing.

So, currently I am having to use EaseUS to “WIPE” the unused half of the drive in an attempt to turn it into something that can become a partition.

Another drag that takes ages.

:neutral_face:

(2 TB) / (24 hours) = 23 MB per second

That’s a typical USB 2.0 speed.

I suspect that if you run a HD Tune read benchmark against the USB drive, you will probably see a flat line.

Heyyy thanks…

USB2…

That does kind of make sense (even though when I started the transfer, it blazed to 40% of copy within the first few minutes…[which made me think I was connected to USB3]); as for some reason modern PC`s have both USB3 and USB2 on them internally.

Its probably why I asked if I should have tried copying via internal SATA cables… (as on this PC, the internal USB connections are not color-coded en-route to/from the case front USB ports [so could be crossed]).

Being logical, I would have thought all new~ish USB ports would be USB3 with USB2 backward auto-switching capability.

Maybe someone will invent a cheap USB doo-hicky to light-up which USB port type yours is providing (1, 2 or 3); (just like a tester for CPU`s). If I was in inventor I would invent one… along with a thousand other ideas.

Anyway a futher for or five hours have passed to get to 60% of the other half of the drive being wiped while it is in stalled in SATA 6Gb/sec. :confounded:

 Its like queuing up at the post office on pension day in the UK… :stuck_out_tongue:

So, after many many hours of effort over days of time I discover 1.64Tb is compeletly inaccessbile. :cry:

There were no files on a partition that did not exist; and neither Windows 8.1 Pro nor EaseUS can find a way to do anything with 1.64Tb of this 4Tb drive; even after a Drive wipe of that unallocated partition. :cry:

Its like it doesn`t exist, but the rest of the drive does. :cry:

I guess its RMA time…

The maximum sustained data transfer rate for the WD4003FZEX is 171 MB/s:

WD Black Series Spec Sheet:
http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/SpecSheet/ENG/2879-771434.pdf

You say that the 2TB Black “blazed to 40% of copy within the first few minutes”. Now 40% of 2TB is 800GB. Assuming that the 2TB Black can transfer data at the same rate as the 4TB drive …

800 GB / (171 MB/sec) = 1.3 hours

That’s a lot more than a “few minutes”.

As for wiping the drive, I have no idea why you thought this was necessary.

Lastly, you say that you can’t “find a way to do anything with 1.64Tb of this 4Tb drive”. That’s because you have cloned an MBR partitioned drive to your new 4TB drive. MBR partitions are limited to 2TiB.

(4 TB) - (2 TiB) = 1.64 TiB

The only way to see the full capacity of your new drive would be to partition it in GPT mode.

ISTM that it’s time you did some reading.

The maximum sustained data transfer rate for the WD4003FZEX is 171 MB/s:

WD Black Series Spec Sheet:
(http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/SpecSheet/ENG/2879-771434.pdf)

You say that the 2TB Black “blazed to 40% of copy within the first few minutes”. Now 40% of 2TB is 800GB. Assuming that the 2TB Black can transfer data at the same rate as the 4TB drive …

800 GB / (171 MB/sec) = 1.3 hours

That’s a lot more than a “few minutes”.

The Software provided by WD and run on this i7 Haswell computer took a few minutes to show a 40% transfer rate in a few minutes. 

I did have switched on the Asus high-speed USB 3 transfer software. I do not benefit from telling you anything other than what the software indicated to me. I also pointed it out to my wife a number of times.

If your software gives inaccurate information to customers, I suggest you take that up with your management.

Note;

I have at least two other WD Black drives which have given me no problems in use since they were released. And at least half-a-dozen other WD drives which have given me no problems over the years.

As for wiping the drive, I have no idea why you thought this was necessary.

The transfer/clone failed again and again and again and again and again.

It is logical to wipe the drive and start afresh.

If you do not understand how customers deal with such situations, then you may be in the wrong job.

Lastly, you say that you can’t “find a way to do anything with 1.64Tb of this 4Tb drive”. That’s because you have cloned an MBR partitioned drive to your new 4TB drive. MBR partitions are limited to 2TiB.

(4 TB) - (2 TiB) = 1.64 TiB

The only way to see the full capacity of your new drive would be to partition it in GPT mode.

ISTM that it’s time you did some reading.

In case you do not read too well. I pointed out that the 1.64Tb could not be acessed to be partioned as a drive of any type; whether MBR or GPT. All I did was format the drive as the Windows 8.1 x64 program automated it; which is all any average customer would do.

If you are so careless as to not understand that customers are not mind readers (about MBR GPT [etcetera~ ad infinitum]); and if you do not understand that if customers NEED any such mysterious secretive ADDTIONAL information that will allow us to make proper use of such drives in typical Windows 8/Haswell computers, then that is your fault for not providing it in the INSTRUCTIONS; not ours. 

We buy 4Tb drives with the view that we are able to access and use it (AS ADVERTISED). We dont want to spend our days researching your job for you. Provide the information in the box with the product. I am not billing you for that advice.

Do you buy flat-pack furniture and ask for them to leave out the instructions?

As for partitioning in GPT mode; there is no need. It was successfully returned; and we bought something else.

You also ASSUME the drive was not partitioned to GPT But I DO NOT SEE ANYWHERE WHERE I STATE THAT THE existing WD Black (2Tb) drive WAS PARTITIONED IN ANYTHING OTHER THAN GPT. Do you? Kindly point it out if you are not just being presumptuous.

Oh…

I notice in “Computer Management” “Disk Management” that there is no option to convert the 2Tb WD Black to GPT which indicates it is already GPT. I have the option to convert it to a dynamic disk though… 

The Samsung 500Gb VNand on which Windows 8.1 Pro also indicates that it is running as GPT in the same way.  

We the customers are not mind readers.

Good day to you.

Please dont be [Deleted]
fzabkar is a costumer like you just trying to help…

And he is a great technician too

Thanks for all the work over the years fzabkar

Hello,

Please guys lets tone it down a little, We are just here to try to help each other.