I have an old WD 750GB MY BOOK which is FAT 32. I also had another one the same which failed last year.
Am I ok still using it or should I start using a smaller external I have, which is newer and NTFS?
I have Windows 10 version 20H2
No reason why you can't reformat the My Book to NTFS.
Even better, delete the partition(s), and recreate an NTFS single partition (that will get rid of any WD cr4pware that came with the drive)
How old is it - is it USB 2 or USB 3?
External HDD can fail at any time ... or go on for years and years and years. Or not. Quite often (with enclosed drives like My Book) it's not the drive that gives up, but the enclosure (I've had several over the years, broke open the case, put the drive in an new case and continued on)
Partition : you need to go into the Control panel > Admin Tools > Computer management > Disk management. Identify the drive, right-click (MAKE SURE YOU GET THE RIGHT DRIVE !!!) > Delete volume.
When completed, right-click again to make sure there no extended volumes to also be deleted
When finished, right-click > New Simple Volume > Next etc etc > follow the prompts > make sure you select NTFS (instead of FAT32) when prompted > Next, Next, etc until done.
Thanks will try that
I had just thought that with the other one just stopping working, they only lasted so long.
Maybe it might make it faster, as its slow to wake up.
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Hi idgat
Thanks for the help.
I did what you said and it worked great! Just transfering some files back on it now
Also gave it a new name & icon so thanks
If it is slow to wake up, it might have some Bad Sectors at the beginning of the drive.
Download Disk Genius in my signature. Select your drive. Go up to the Toolbar to Disk/View or Repair Bad Sectors/Start Verify. This will take some time. If all of the boxes are Blue, the drive is healthy. If any of the boxes are Amber, the drive has some life left but it will fail sooner or later. If there are any boxes that are RED then the drive is beginning to fail, replace ASAP.
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