I've been having issues with my external WD 5TB hard drive showing a caution status in Crystal Disk, especially after some trouble opening a recently downloaded folder. I've had the drive for about 7 months, and I'm really worried because it's where I've stored all my academic files. I traveled internationally with it, and the trip was pretty rough—could that have caused the issue? Or could the downloaded files have been corrupted from the start? I'm planning to get a replacement, but it might take some time to save up again. Also, what do you think about switching to Seagate for my next drive? Lastly, is there any fix for this problem?
2 Answers
This might stem from a manufacturing defect rather than anything you did. There's a chance that the Current Pending sectors you're seeing are just temporary issues. They could either become reallocated or possibly return to normal. You can definitely keep using it while you figure things out, especially since you're planning to get backup drives anyway!
Are you using the drive in its native FAT32 format, or did you format it using Disk Utility? If you formatted it, you might want to switch to Journald HFS+. I have three of these drives and use them with Windows, MacOS, and Linux without issues, but formatting can make a difference. Just a thought!
Oh, I’ve just been using it as a regular external drive without any formatting changes since I got it.
Got it! So I can keep using it until there's a bigger issue? That's a relief, thanks!