MyBook Essential 3TB drive help

Hello,

I have a MyBook Essential 3TB Ext. HDD with USB 3.0 which I have had for a little over a month that has operated problem-free when I got the “Failure To Properly Remove Device” box on my Mac. I’m sure it is the USB 3.0 connector because it does not fit very securely in the port on the enclosure and all I did was slightly bump that connector while it was powered on to my computer and it gave me the error. I have come to expect nothing but quality from WD so this is likely a poor design feature of the USB 3.0 cable.

I may need to get a new enclosure for my HDD and I have no idea which ones are compatible or how to ascertain that from the components. I just need some help in determining the correct one.

Did you try customer service? Sometimes they send new cables.

Joe

As far as I can tell there is nothing wrong with the cable, it is not bent or damaged. Even when I first plugged it in to the unit, the cable did not fit very firmly on the USB 3.0 port in the enclosure. The smaller size of the USB 3.0 connector as compared to a USB 2.0 cable seems to be completely different.

Is it possible WD would send me a new enclosure if I sent the old one to them?

Thread moved to WD External Drives: My Book for PC.

Unfortunately, Western Digital does not repair or change the enclosure of an external drive when it is sent to WD, instead, another drive will be provided. 

If your drive is under warranty, please see:

Answer ID 8: How can I replace a product under warranty?

Unfortunately, the serial sticker on the back of the unit appears to be gone or missing. I called BestBuy, where I purchased this hard drive from, and they said to contact WD about it. I just wanted to know ahead of time if I will be able to get a replacement for this external HDD because of this issue.

Sorry to bump this post, but it is related to my problem.

Since I can’t get the drive replaced, I was wondering if anybody knows of an enclosure that will accept a 3TB drive. I’ve asked around with no success.

I installed the WD 3TB Caviar Green HDD in a Vantec NST-300SU 3.5 inch SATA to USB 2.0 enclosure but I get the initialize dialog box. I have over 2.1TB of data already in the drive and I cannot afford a new 3TB. Is there any way I can update the drive or something?

If you’re using a SmartWare drive, then you won’t be able to put it in another enclosure.  The drive has hardware encryption, which means that the data is encrypted whether you have a password active, or not.  How is it that you cannot replace the drive?  Did someone from WD say that to you?  Also, if you can put the drive back into the original case, can you get another USB cable and see if that works?  Because it still could be just the cable.  Especially since you said it was loose in the first place.