If you’re worried about hard disk reliability, you should know that Western Digital produces some of the best HDDs, which also have a great lifespan. Hence, comes the question of the longevity of a WD Blue HDD.
The answer may be straightforward, but there are a lot of variables to take into account for a component’s lifespan.
As I used the identical Hard Disk Drive from WD for a long period of time. I’ll share my raw experience across the article.
What is The Maximum Lifespan of a WD Blue Hard Disk Drive?
In a nutshell, WD Blue can last for 4–6 years with heavy usage. And with proper care and usage, WD can last for 7–9 years. Officially, WD Blue has 2 years of warranty. But, it’s already proved by many users that WD Blue last far longer than that.
So, in a way, you could argue that having a lifespan of at least 4–6 years is kind of typical for WD Blue, and with some prudence, you could have an even longer lifespan.
However, our hard disk space may occasionally get fully occupied, or there may be power supply problems, and so forth. Your WD HDD’S lifespan may decrease or increase as a result of all this unsteady behaviors.
I have used my WD Blue for almost 8 years, and it still works. Yes, I am not going to lie. Sometimes it behaves differently, but still works. That’s the best part.
Here’s a complete guide on how to use SSD as cache for HDD.
What Affects The Life Expectancy of WD Blue Hard Disk?
HD, HGST, Toshiba and Seagate admittedly have the lowest failure rate, defined granting to critical research carry out by a cloud computing startup named Backblaze. That’s the reason this is popular among most of the user.
Hard drives made by WD maintain the same reputation. The annual failure rates, rather than the average lifespan of hard drives, are the subject of the considerable majority of studies on their dependability.
You can’t exactly say how long your WD Blue Hard Disk will last. But I will share some ideas and causes that will affect your WD Blues lifespan.
Here are the reasons that affect the life expectancy of a WD Blue HDD:
1. Power Supply Issue
An HDD is an electric device, so it needs adequate power to work properly. Most of the time, Hard Disk fails for a faulty power supply or frequent power cuts. Also, additional power outages and surges that are uncontrollable also harm your Storage life simultaneously.
You need to use Ups or Surge protectors to stop these issues. Also, make sure to use a good and adequate power supply, just not for your Hard Disk but also for other PC components. A good power supply can make your primary storage lifespan longer.
2. Extra Load on Disk Drive
It’s obvious that hard disk space will be populated within time to time. But keep in mind that if your hard disk drive stays populated for a longer period of time, that will create immense pressure to your WD Blue, and the life expectancy more likely will drop.
Also, power use like populating the Disk Space with heavy apps and games also puts it under pressure and drops the lifespan.
It’s not to mean that you don’t put media or games on your Storage. I am just saying give it some space also. With keeping some space, easily extend the lifespan of WD Blue HDD.
3. Power Up The PC at Short Intervals
Turning on/off your PC repeatedly will harm your storage. An HDD has a disk inside which spins when it needs to write or read data. So when turn on or off your disk drive, it starts turning and stops spinning.
And by the more extended period of time for the spinning it wears off little by little. That’s why, frequent start-ups and shutdowns cause your HDD to fail quickly. If you absolutely have to do it often, use the sleep or hibernation mode of the system.
4. Brand of Hard Disk Drive
It’s normal why choose a brand over something cheap or unknown. A brand holds the bigger picture of a product and gives a better idea about the pros and cons of a product.
As with durability and good value for money, WD produces some of the best storage choices for its customers. When purchasing pc parts our main concern is durability and performance and WD Blue covers both.
A well-reputed brand ensures a durable and well-performing product, and WD touches most of the checkboxes.
5. Overheating Issue
Have you ever opened an HDD’s metallic layer? You’ll notice a small disk that rotates while the power is on. A magnetic coating covers the spinning disk. When read or store data on hard disk, it needs to rotate. And thus it creates heat.
Your primary storage encounters substantial harm as a result of the overheating. Overheating cause various problem in PC parts. To increase the lifespan of your primary storage, It’s recommended to slightly cool down the CPU box interior environment.
6. Scan Disk Drive by CMD
By using CMD and conducting scans, you can seek issues with your hard drive. The core objective is to correctly identify the issue and solve it before it typically arises. These scans can also be used to properly diagnose and comprehend the behavior of your hard drive.
It must be performed because a hard drive frequently exhibits ordinary difficulties including partition troubles, file missing, and loss of control over a specific region. And by the time this issue becomes more critical, Storage’s lifespan has been shortened.
Follow these steps to run a scan with CMD:
- Search with keyword CMD from the windows search bar.
- Write chkdsk c:/r /f in the Command Prompt. (you need to change the c drive with other drives after each completing the scan)
- Tap on Enter to start the scan.
- Let your PC run the scan for issues and it will fix the issues itself.
Follow our easy step-by-step guide to fix internal Hard Disk keeps disconnecting.
How to Realize Your Hard Disk Drive is Failing
You may have a warranty, but nobody can make sure their Storage solutions will never fail. Even if you have warranty, it’s possible to lose your precious data. So, I suggest always stay a bit cautious about your precious and sensitive data.
Here are the symptoms to verify whether your hard disk drive failing or not:
1. Showing Blue Screen
If you encounter that your pc keeps failing, then there might be a chance that, your hard disk may fail. Also, if facing blue screen on start up, that’s may also be the cause for your hard disk drive is failing.
2. Long Beeping Sound on Startup
For permanent storage fail, the pc will sound a long beeping sound when trying to start it up. And if checked closely, you will find the hard disk drive is not making any spinning sound or stops spinning right after it starts.
3. Permanent Sluggish System
When using the computer, you may found that the browser instantly freezes for a couple of seconds. And then it’s came back to life. Merely opening every tab takes longer time than usual.
Furthermore, you can’t operate your machine for this lag and freezes. There might be some reason for causing this issue and disk drive issues is one of them.
Go and check our other article on can I use SSD and HDD at the same time.
SSD or HDD Which Have Longer Lifespan?
The first hard disk drive was build by IBM. And the model called IBM 350, which has a size of two refrigerators. The evolution of the every tech product is really immense in the last decade.
From the size of a refrigerator, it turns into a brick and comes to a point when it seems like a thick visiting card. And with time, the as the body size decreases, the reliability increases.
SSD or Solid-state drive are getting popular in the modern time. To a greater extent, there are dedicated slots to attach SSD’s to the motherboard. It has not many moving parts like HDD, thus it’s more reliable than HDD.
Furthermore, SSD are faster than hard disk drive and comes with many variations of sizes and capacities as like HDD.
SSD is more reliable than HDD. And the difference in the performance is practically day and night.
I have an old laptop for my office use. While using for day-to-day tasks, I encounter many difficulties like laggy performance. As soon as I change my HDD with an SSD, it starts running like new.
Check out our recent article on can SSD improve FPS.
FAQs
How long does a WD HDD last?
An external hard disk has an average lifespan of 3–5 years, assuming no substantial harm comes, based on the make, model, and storage conditions. If you implement an external drive to protect your data, you will probably replace it each few years to ensure the security of your data.
Can a hard drive last 10 years?
It is possible that all disk drives will fail before they reach the age of ten successful years. Or perhaps some of them live for twenty or thirty years. When some of them endure an incredibly extended time, calculating the average becomes difficult. A few anomalies can also throw off the average, making it less useful.
Is SSD lifespan longer than HDD?
An SSD has a significantly more extended lifespan than an HDD. While HDDs typically last 3–5 years, SSDs could last up to ten years or more. This is because SSDs do not have to the fact that SSDs do not possess any mechanical components, whereas External hard drives consist of turning disks that can wear out over time.
Final Thoughts
For a remarkably long period of time, WD Blue gives superior quality and reliable HDD solutions for us. It is still on the market, and, like before, it is beginning to adapt to modern times.
WD Blue HDD is one of the reliable products among the markets. There are many individuals who use WD Blue for 7–9 years. The average lifespan can be stated as 4–6 years, but it varies across from each other and their usage.
As my WD Blue is still survived the last 10 years. I don’t use it now, but I still store many of my precious data inside it.
