I took out the hard drive from My Cloud exclosure because I gave up on it. I would like to use the hard drive as an external back up drive. I am not techie–that’s probably why I gave up on the My Cloud. However, I do want to use the hard drive as a simple backup drive. What enclosure do I need to use it as a backup and is there anything I have to do beside plug it in when it’s in the enclosure.
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I hear you & I’m walking away from my EX4 too. I’m hoping to move data from my WD 4T drives today (using a 3.5’ external enclosure) to a SSD, reformat them, install them in my desktop and then write back to them.
I’ve been f’ing with my EX4, Windows 10 settings (e.g. Windows features, credentials, network settings, mapping etc.) for several days. The EX4 (+ WD’s software, proposed fixes etc.) just ■■■■. Practically, I’m afraid the EX4 and Windows 10 just aren’t compatible, WD knows it and they’re just not willing to acknowledge it. I welcome their continued help, but don’t expect they’ll solve the problem.
I’ll look for another NAS solution later, but it WILL NOT BE A WD PRODUCT. WD should stick to HDD/SDD drives and leave the NAS world to others.
3rd party USB enclosures are in my experience “plug and play” i have several of them.
The important thing to know is what Hard drive capacity the enclosure supports … all my old enclosures only support up to 2TB … my newer ones support up to 4TB
I have a 4 TB. Would I search for the enclosure by listing WD red hard drive 4 TB? Do I need any other information to ensure I get the right enclosure? Thank you for the reply!
3rd party enclosures are color blind and are brand apathetic and as long as it’s a standard SATA interface they’ll take any brand or type of hard drive. (my 4TB 3rd enclosure i can fit 3.5" , 2.5" hard drives … have put standard hard drives in it (red ,green, blue, purple and any brand etc), Hybrid SSD 3.5" hard drives in it and 2.5" laptop and SSD hard drives in it.
All work fine …and the enclosure i have is a cheap $20 and works fine with Windows 7
Just search for USB Enclosure 4TB supported.
Simplecom and Orico brand enclosures cheap and work fine … i have several of them. Only negative is they are plastic casing and have no fans … they are good for backup purposes/jobs, but for 24/7 always “on” operation … they can get hot/warm (leave the enclosure cover off)
Thank you for your help. I will get this ordered.
