Drive has only few hours use, literally brand new and Windows 11 PC is reporting the following errors (over and over) when drive is put under high IO use:
An error was detected on device \Device\Harddisk2\DR78 during a paging operation.
USB hub/interface seems to be doing bus resets over and over as well, I keep hearing the USB disconnect and reconnect sounds over and over for example.
I have had other WD element drives that do not do this. This one looks, or sounds, like a lemon?
S.M.A.R.T. tests show nothing, no errors or issues. PC used, has no known issues, does not do this with other USB drives as noted above.
To troubleshoot your problem, ensure Windows and USB drivers are updated, check power management settings in Device Manager, and try connecting to different USB ports and cables. Test the drive on another PC to rule out issues with your computer. Use Western Digital’s diagnostic tools for a thorough check. If problems persist despite other drives working fine on your PC, contact support for a replacement. Backup any critical data immediately if possible.
Done all that… I am a 30 year career IT enterprise engineer. I know what I am dealing with, the drive is going back to the seller. I have used WD drivers for over 15 years, and I can tell you, the quality has declined the last few years, I used to have drives 7x24x365 that would last for years, now I am lucky if I get a drive that last 2 years. The older drives just lasted longer, period. Other manufacturers I have used, have similar results in recent years, although WD seems to be slightly better still. The total quality has changed, that is just a fact. As the number of producers of drives has declined, those still producing drives, seem to believe they own the market to the point the consumer is to be abused. Don’t even get me started about SMR vs. CMR, for example.
What is interesting, is SSD devices are developing a similar performance/quality curve, but has yet to have the massive shake out physical drive producers had a few years ago. But this will happen as well. The only benefit to consumers is the SSD sizes are staring to bite into the physical drive space, at the smaller capacities, this is a good thing for consumers, this will force physical drive quality back up. Until, the physical drives are finally retired/abandoned. But that is years of not a decade away at the highest capacities.
