Good day. I very recently bought a 14TB WD Elements Desktop (WDBWLG0140HBK-NESN) that is connected to my PC (WIN11 24H2). The device turns on when I turn on the PC and turns off when I shut my PC down, which is the behavior I prefer for my particular use.
However, I’m a little concerned about how the disk powers off when I shut down the PC.
As soon as the computers fully shuts down, the disk suddenly stops, and there’s an audible whirling sound before coming to a complete halt.
I recorded a short video (link) to better illustrate the situation. (sorry for the background noise. It was pouring)
I just wanted to know if this way of stopping and turning off is normal, and I’m not inadvertently causing unnecessary wear and/or damage to the disk.
Coming from a WD MyPassport, I’m used to the disk to take a few seconds before going into an idle state and subsequently shut down after a few minutes, always very quietly.
For the record, on my first “shut down” attempt, I ejected the disk first and turned off the computer afterwards. However, when I did, 1) The disk never actually turned off (the white LED remained blinking, and 2) upon turning on the PC again, the disk was not recognized. I had to disconnect it from the AC and plug it back in (which is something that I would like to avoid having to do *every* time I want to use the HDD, especially when is clearly still on!).
To reiterate, I’m ok with the disk turning off automatically when I shut down my PC, I’m just a bit concerned about how it does it.
There is no need to eject the drive unless you plan to actually disconnect it. Ejecting ensures there are no open files on the drive and flushes any pending write caches to the drive. You would do this if you wanted to transfers files from one PC to another using the Passport.
As Cat0w suggests, you should read your manual to understand how to care for your drive and maximize it’s use.
What you’re hearing with your WD Elements 14TB desktop drive is totally normal. Unlike My Passport drives that spin down slowly and quietly, these big desktop drives usually stop almost instantly when power cuts, which is why you get that brief whirling sound as it comes to a halt. That short spin-down doesn’t hurt the drive—it’s built to handle it. The issue with the LED staying on and the drive not being recognized happens if you eject it before shutdown, so it’s usually better to just let it power off with your PC. Overall, if you’re fine with it shutting down automatically, there’s nothing to worry about in terms of wear or damage.
