Tin foil on back of new hard drive?

Hello all, Im new so please be gentle. I received my new hard drive today and opened the package to see sticky tin foil on back of hard drive. Do I need to remove this before I install and install Windows 10 or is it meant to be there and I should leave it alone? Thanks in advanced…

I’d say if it is placed on drive securely and carefully, it is intended to be there. Drives have metal shields on them sometimes to protect components from damage and shield for magnetic and electrical interference. I never remember needing to remove anything like this, but if I did it would have had a label saying “remove this sticker”, and it does not sound like yours says anything. So leave it alone.

Thank You Mike for your quick reply. No it does not say remove this. I have bought lots of hard drives in my time and I have never seen this tin foil thing on any hard drives thats why I was asking. The only other thing I may think of is, Wont this tin foil thing block heat? Good question but, Im gonna leave this alone and go ahead in install and re-install windows 10…Thanks Again!!!

I can’t say that I’ve EVER seen this on any WD-branded drives.

Exactly which model drive do you have?

One thing I’d be worried about is that it’s not new – that it came out of something else where a shield was required.

Your best course of action is to contact WD Support about this and ask them your questions.

Tony is right. This sound like the drive is not new. It seems like the drive was using for EMI testing. I know because I did this kind of test before required some tin foil.