I’m using Windows 7 - 32 bit and Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB states that its “ready for use as it is” on newer operating systems however when I go to “my computer” I cannot find the hard drive on my desktop.
I did get a message saying “WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0 ATA Device installed Ready to use” but its nowhere to be found.
Does this mean I need to go to “disk managment” and intilaize and format ? or maybe set jumpers or run the WDC allign?
I just want to use the WD20EARS as a secondary storage to backup all my data for safe keeping but I am worried after reading that it has failed diagnostic for many people. Is it a reliable HDD for just storage and backup or with an external enclosure? also do I need to intialize and format it for it to be detected in Windows 7?
Yes, you must go into Disk Management in order to “initialize,” “partition” and format the drive. Internal hard drives are NEVER delivered “formatted” because WDC never knows what operating system will be installed.
External drives are considered better backup option rather than having backup drive onboard. Also you can disconnect power & data cable on internal backup drive once you completed your backup.
Yes, you need to go to diskmanager and initialize, partition and format your drive. Pick 64K Allocation Unit Size when formatting for better performance. You don’t need to use WD align for Win7.
If your motherboard is only compatible with SATA 2 (3Gb/s) you may need use a jumper on pin 5 & 6 on HDD if it has a problem in auto speed sensing.
Thanks for all the help. I have given kudos to both of you.
Just a final question though, are these newer WD20EARS reliable for storage? I am going to store my entire lifes work of data on it incase any of my external hardrives were to fail. So a lot is riding on the WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0. If you guys believe that particualr model is unreliable I will quite happily purchase a Western Digital that has less known issues then the Green Cavier range but I need to know before I dump my entire collection of photos, movies, mp3’s and other work on to it.
I wouldn’t trust any new drive if I were you. Especially large ones. Always keep two backups instead of one and use products from two different makers if possible. It always good idea to keep a backup offline in a safe place. If you need real backup, use sync tool such as free MS SyncToy to produce mirror image of separate/choosen folders. So you have clear view of items that you have backed up.
I am also having problems with this drive and Windows 7 64 bit.
I installed the upgrade to windows after purchasing the had a week ago.
At first, I was able to access the drive in disk mangement the first time to partition it and format it then it stopped being detected in windows and disk management altogether.
I have 4 other drives in this system. 1 sata dvd, 2 IDE drives, 1 500GB seagate sata and this 2TB caviar green WD. .
For a while I was unable to see the new drive at all so I started switching cables and channels. when that didnt work I updated the bios on my MB. Immediately after that I was able to see the new drive in drive management so I started partitioning it again and it didnt even finish formatting the first partition before it disappeared again. Now Once again I cannot see it at all either in the bios or in windows.
I can see all the other drives.
It also makes alot of noise when it spins up. More than any of my other drives.
Ideas? Has anyone seen drives just disappear on them like this?
That must be annoying, I hope someone here can resolve your problem, Im curious to hear why that happened.
I also want to ask… if I place the 2 TB HDD that I just formated internally into an external enclosure and use it through a usb connection will I need to format it again? is there any other likely issues to occur from placing internal into an external enclosure after formating ?
If possible try using on another PC or you can use an external USB enclosure to test your drive. I am suspecting hardware fault on your drive. You can either return the drive(s) to vender or contact WD support for warranty replacement. Again, if there’s a possibility, try to get a different model.
You don’t need to format again if you partition and format a drive within Disk Manager. But keep in mind that not all the external enclosures are 2TB friendly. (Some old units may not see your 2TB drive)
Please, help me! I have 64bit Windows 7 SP1 on PC with Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3 motherboard, Seagate ST3500320AS and WD20EARS drives. I use WD20EARS for about 3 month but yesterday I’ve installed new updates for Windows and now OS doesn’t see it. WD20EARS drive is present in BIOS and driver is working normally in the Control Panel. But in the Storage Control it is showed as “dynamic” drive and empty. There is I have many important data and don’t want to format it. I’ve removed installed new updates but it was useless. What can I do to make it working again?
