Common question

WD External and Portable SSD External SSD for Windows
1

Hello? I’m WD My passport ultra metal user.
Here’s what I want to know.

  1. Does external hard drives have life expectancy?
  2. Perhaps, isn’t it a good idea to defragment your external hard drive frequently?
  3. Can you tell me how to use the external hard drive for a long time?

It may be a simple question, but please give me a good answer.
I hope you understand my question.

Have a nice day.

2

Yes, nothing lasts forever … but on average 3 to 5 years (but i have hard drives older than that … a few Western Digitals about 10 years old)

I would not recommend defraging fequently (if at all) … and doing that will definately shorten the life expectancy

Don’t drop it, Don’t bump and move it (especially when it’s powered on), Don’t Expose it to heat or moisture, Plenty of ventilation, Keep it away from strong magnetic fields, Always safely remove it from your PC (to prevent data corruption)… and the most important advice …

Always keep at least 1 Backup (best to have 2) of your data (family photos, movies, music etc) on another Hard Drive(s) in case one dies.

I have my Movies/TV Shows all identical copies on 3 Separate Hard Drives. eg. Movies are on a 4TB My Passport Ultra … backed up on x2 WD Elements 4TB Hard Drives.

Electronics is fickle … one day everything can work fine, the next day it can die … and usually there is no warning when it’s about to.

3

Thank you for your good answer!!
Have a nice day!