New External Drive

hsehestedt · Jul 13, 2025

This is why I use a batch file called by Task Scheduler.

Scannerman · Jul 13, 2025

Joe Shades said:
No problem, appreciate the help. I connected the MY book drive I had damaged and it retained the APM settings but the elements does not. I am beginning to regret my purchase but the mybook did not have a 10TB option anymore. I should have bought an internal drive and replaced the 1TB secondary HDD that is in there now but have never replaced an internal drive before

Perhaps I should have paid closer attention. If at all possible I would see what I could do about getting a full refund for that drive. Western Digital MyBook is notorious for issues like this and likely among the worst external spinning backup drives on the retail market. I can almost 100% guarantee you that it is an SMR drive and these are known for consistently losing data and cratering. CMR drives, on the other hand, have a reputation for longevity. For this reason, among others, I don't buy Western Digital mechanical drives apart from "inheriting" them in used purchases which is next to never.

I'm not trying to be disrespectful but this is the voice of experience talking. I've been building and repairing PCs for 25 years now and unless there have been some drastic changes with Western Digital recently their external hard drives are a recipe for disaster. You're better off getting a reliable CMR Drive like an Iron Wolf or even a Toshiba X300 or an N300 particularly if you're using it in an NAS. These can be used in a separate enclosure if you wish. Western Digital makes great silicon for storage but their spinning rust, namely SMR, is a nightmare. Every now and then you will get an exceptional drive from them in this regard. This is the exception and the exception only proves the rule. I know more about MyBook than I want to: Bad bridges and bad hard drives.

Replacing a hard drive in a desktop is generally a straight forward process. There are many "how to" videos on YouTube illustrating how easy it is to swap out a hard drive in a desk top. Temperatures up to 55 ℃ with external drives are not uncommon because they commonly have no cooling solution apart from some open vents. This can be remedied by removing the drive from the encasement and transferring it to an enclosure that uses a fan. Otherwise you can expect those high temperatures that lead to a shorter life span for your spinner.

You may or may not get a different story from someone else here but I know from whence I speak. If your replacement drive is another Western Digital SMR drive and you can't return it then I'd advise cracking the enclosure and moving it some place where it can get ample cooling. If you can't do this then prepare to backup your backup, or, better yet, use it in an enclosure with a switch and only turn it on when you need to use it. I hope this helps.

Joe Shades · Jul 13, 2025

Scannerman said:
Perhaps I should have paid closer attention. If at all possible I would see what I could do about getting a full refund for that drive. Western Digital MyBook is notorious for issues like this and likely among the worst external spinning backup drives on the retail market. I can almost 100% guarantee you that it is an SMR drive and these are known for consistently losing data and cratering. CMR drives, on the other hand, have a reputation for longevity. For this reason, among others, I don't buy Western Digital mechanical drives apart from "inheriting" them in used purchases which is next to never.

I'm not trying to be disrespectful but this is the voice of experience talking. I've been building and repairing PCs for 25 years now and unless there have been some drastic changes with Western Digital recently their external hard drives are a recipe for disaster. You're better off getting a reliable CMR Drive like an Iron Wolf or even a Toshiba X300 or an N300 particularly if you're using it in an NAS. These can be used in a separate enclosure if you wish. Western Digital makes great silicon for storage but their spinning rust, namely SMR, is a nightmare. Every now and then you will get an exceptional drive from them in this regard. This is the exception and the exception only proves the rule. I know more about MyBook than I want to: Bad bridges and bad hard drives.

Replacing a hard drive in a desktop is generally a straight forward process. There are many "how to" videos on YouTube illustrating how easy it is to swap out a hard drive in a desk top. Temperatures up to 55 ℃ with external drives are not uncommon because they commonly have no cooling solution apart from some open vents. This can be remedied by removing the drive from the encasement and transferring it to an enclosure that uses a fan. Otherwise you can expect those high temperatures that lead to a shorter life span for your spinner.

You may or may not get a different story from someone else here but I know from whence I speak. If your replacement drive is another Western Digital SMR drive and you can't return it then I'd advise cracking the enclosure and moving it some place where it can get ample cooling. If you can't do this then prepare to backup your backup, or, better yet, use it in an enclosure with a switch and only turn it on when you need to use it. I hope this helps.

The my book i have was great for 5 years. Only after dropping it had it given me problems. This drive I bought is an elements. If I do send this back what is a good program to wipe the drive

cheaterslick · Jul 13, 2025

Scannerman said:
... ..., or, better yet, use it in an enclosure with a switch and only turn it on when you need to use it. I hope this helps.

Or if you have a number of 10 year old MyBooks without built-in power switches (like I do), I hooked them all up to it's own power strip and use the power strip to fire them all up when I need to use them.

I don't leave them powered on all the time, which is probably why they've lasted this long.

Scannerman · Jul 13, 2025

Joe Shades said:
The my book i have was great for 5 years. Only after dropping it had it given me problems. This drive I bought is an elements. If I do send this back what is a good program to wipe the drive

Odds are the drive was already on its last legs when you dropped it. There's a huge variety of freeware you can use to wipe hard drives. If you purchased the drive from Amazon and show them pictures sometimes you're not required to return the physical drive but I suppose that only applies to replacement. As for wiping the drive I prefer to use MiniTool Partition Wizard but there are other apps out there that do just as well.

Cheaterslick likely has the best suggestion. You want to be able to air gap your drive when you're not using it. For future reference I recommend looking up the differences between shingled drives and CMR drives if you plan on running mechanical hard drives in the future. Hey, I could be completely wrong and you could have fluked out in the spinner lottery but since you're already having issues with it . . . Well, it's your call.

cheaterslick · Jul 13, 2025

@Joe Shades

I've never looked at MyBooks as the equivalent of server drives. I turn them off when they not being used. I use some of them more for cold storage than anything else. Others I turn on and off more frequently, but I never leave any of them on 24/7. I'm under no illusions a consumer drive will hold up in the long run doing that.

If you need an external HD to be on all the time, then I would look elsewhere for one, maybe one of the ones @Scannerman suggested in post #22

Joe Shades · Jul 13, 2025

Looks like in device manager under power management, allow this computer to turn off device was checked even though in power optiionsi had it set to never turn off hard drives, this is why the APM settings are not staying the way I set it seems

antspants · Jul 13, 2025

Joe Shades said:
No problem, appreciate the help. I connected the MY book drive I had damaged and it retained the APM settings but the elements does not. I am beginning to regret my purchase but the mybook did not have a 10TB option anymore. I should have bought an internal drive and replaced the 1TB secondary HDD that is in there now but have never replaced an internal drive before

I read that you can remove the drive from that casing and use it as an internal. Something to look into?
Warranty will be void though.

Also

There are scripts you could probably run at startup via scheduler to disable APM.

It’s early, so here’s what the Artificial Idiot says:

How to Keep APM Off or Set Automatically

1. Use CrystalDiskInfo with Auto APM Set

Open CrystalDiskInfo.
Go to: Function → Advanced Feature → APM Control → Set it to 192.
Then: Function → Resident and Function → Startup (to run at Windows login).
This way, CDI will automatically reapply your preferred APM value when Windows boots.

2. Use WD KitFox or Similar Scripted Tools

WD KitFox can automate APM settings via service or scheduled task.
Configure it to set your preferred APM (e.g., 192 or 255) at boot or periodically.
Make sure it’s running in the background or as a scheduled task with admin rights.

3. Create a Task Scheduler Script

If you're comfortable with scripting:

Code:

smartctl -s apm,off /dev/sdX

(replace /dev/sdX with your actual drive path)
Schedule it to run on startup via Windows Task Scheduler.

4. Shuck the Drive (Advanced Option)

If you want full firmware and power control, you could remove the drive from the WD enclosure and connect it via SATA internally or with a better enclosure.
Note: This voids warranty and should only be done if you’re comfortable with hardware.

antspants · Jul 13, 2025

Joe Shades said:
Looks like in device manager under power management, allow this computer to turn off device was checked even though in power optiionsi had it set to never turn off hard drives, this is why the APM settings are not staying the way I set it seems

Like I said:

WD external drives (like the WD Elements 10TB) often do not retain APM settings across:

System reboots
Sleep/wake cycles
USB re-plugging
Power loss to the drive

This is because the APM setting is not persistent in the drive’s firmware — it's a volatile setting, meaning:

APM must be reapplied every time the drive is powered up.

Technical Reason:

WD’s USB-to-SATA bridge (used inside Elements enclosures) doesn’t store or enforce user APM changes permanently.
The drive firmware resets to its default APM level (usually 128 or even 96) on every power cycle.
Disabling APM (setting it to 192, 255 or 254) is only active during that session unless something re-applies it automatically.

Joe Shades · Jul 13, 2025

antspants said:
Like I said:

WD external drives (like the WD Elements 10TB) often do not retain APM settings across:

System reboots

Sleep/wake cycles

USB re-plugging

Power loss to the drive

This is because the APM setting is not persistent in the drive’s firmware — it's a volatile setting, meaning:

Technical Reason:

WD’s USB-to-SATA bridge (used inside Elements enclosures) doesn’t store or enforce user APM changes permanently.

The drive firmware resets to its default APM level (usually 128 or even 96) on every power cycle.

Disabling APM (setting it to 192, 255 or 254) is only active during that session unless something re-applies it automatically.

Problem it keeps resetting without power cycling the PC and whats worse is my power on count was 20 a few hours ago, now it is 24, it is starting and stopping

antspants said:
Like I said:

WD external drives (like the WD Elements 10TB) often do not retain APM settings across:

System reboots

Sleep/wake cycles

USB re-plugging

Power loss to the drive

This is because the APM setting is not persistent in the drive’s firmware — it's a volatile setting, meaning:

Technical Reason:

WD’s USB-to-SATA bridge (used inside Elements enclosures) doesn’t store or enforce user APM changes permanently.

The drive firmware resets to its default APM level (usually 128 or even 96) on every power cycle.

Disabling APM (setting it to 192, 255 or 254) is only active during that session unless something re-applies it automatically.

Even without system reboot It keeps going back to 128 then shuts down after awhile, looks like my only options are leave it as is and if the drive fails in the next two years it is under warranty or do that write to drive thing

Scannerman · Jul 13, 2025

As I stated earlier (in so many words) those bridges are bad. Seagate made slightly better external backup drives. I think they were called Backup Plus. At least these drives would "remember" what they were set to. Sometimes they remember too efficiently lol lol. I think I still have a few of those kicking around but I keep them switched off until needed. Budget backup drives are almost always SMR and this alone can and often does present problems down the road.

Shucking the drive usually works if you're wanting to use APM. Two of my daughters have RAID 1 built from shucked drives that were rescued from recycling when the bridges burned out on them and the original owners just tossed them. I just gave them military grade wipes and put them in RAID and viola! Three years later one of the drives failed and I replaced it with an identical drive compliments of Amazon. No hitches on the rewrite, no data lost. Just a thought.

Joe Shades · Jul 14, 2025

I downloaded NOSLEEPHD and every 5 minutes it writes to the drive, the drive no longer shuts down and is at 45C so for now problem solved, thanks for the help

hader · Aug 24, 2025

You also have to look inside the BIOS. There should be also a section called APM Configuration. (Not that exiting) Also with your motherboard you can install some suit that also controls power management. It is wise to leave APM on if you want a long lifespan for your drive. Don't think that the firmware is responsible for it's behavior. Why then the option for controlling APM in the BIOS, Suite and Windows if it's fixed.

You can use SMARTHDD to see some values about Automatic Acoustic Management (AAM) and Advanced Power Management (APM) current settings and (if you buy the software) adjust it.

In the past Windows was able to influence the spindle down time, now it can't. An WD utility can like; Western Digital Support | Western Digital..

New External Drive

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How to Keep APM Off or Set Automatically​

1. Use CrystalDiskInfo with Auto APM Set​

2. Use WD KitFox or Similar Scripted Tools​

3. Create a Task Scheduler Script​

4. Shuck the Drive (Advanced Option)​

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