WD Blue 500GB Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6 Gb/s 16MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD5000AAKX

Works well

We have a Windows XP PC with 250GB hard drive that was getting full with photos and videos. We therefore ordered this inexpensive upgrade to triple the capacity to 750GB total. We ordered the same Western Digital Caviar Blue hard drive as the original since our old drive has been quite reliable over the past 4 years. [Western Digital also makes Green drives that are cooler and quieter, but supposedly not so reliable; and Black drives for gaming performance that we didn't need.] The new 500GB hard drive, as stated, is "bare". That means 2 cables are needed along with it - a data cable, and a power cable. We found this out by contacting Western Digital Tech Support who were quite helpful. We ordered these cables from amazon.com as well: B0001Y8UI4, and B00009YFTI. The ambition was to do this at home; but realized upon opening the PC box that it wasn't so easy - the connections were not easy to figure out including jumper to lower the speed of the new drive from 6Gb/s to 3Gb/s - that Western Digital had warned us about to be compatible with the older PC. Fortunately, a local computer repair shop agreed to do it for only $50 [the same components purchased from them would have been twice as much as amazon.com!] as opposed to Best Buy Geek Squad that wanted over $200 for the same labor. Now, the programs are on the old hard drive [C:] and the data is on this new drive [E:]. The hardware is not a problem; it is working fine as it should. The problem is with software handling the transition of the data. The document folders were an easy fix - change designation from C: to E: for each user. But some programs have been a pain: For example, iTunes had to be directed to E: drive and in the process of rebuilding its library, duplicated all files and also lost the playlists. It is now a headache to manually fix 200GB of iTunes library data since, as we all have experienced, there is no support when it comes to software [Help forums haven't responded]. But I believe we are good to go for another few years after this.

I usually don't have a problem with these when I use for backup only

Thanks Amazon for my 20 dollar promo.This was based on a previous order,but the A to Z policy took care of the problem.I have been using Western Digital drives for years.I've had only (1) drive fail over the years.RMA was easy.Cost 6 dollars to send back drive.Replacement works fine.I just bought a Black and Blue.Using the Blue 500 GB for just a boot drive,and the(1) TB for gaming.The Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB SATA III 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache are great for boot drives.I bought this here for 66 dollars with promo :)I dont need a large cache for a boot drive.This drive has SATA 6Gb/s support and my motherboard also supports this feature.I also picked up a WD BLK 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5 drive which compliments this drive perfectly,on the new 6Gb/s interfaceThis covers all my storage,warranty,and gaming needs until ssd prices stabilize.I was able to get both drives for 210 out the door with promo.Amazon rocks.New Egg and other popular venders should take note.Pricing and frustration free packaging makes Amazon my #1 choice.My specsAntec DF-85 Black Steel/ATX Full Tower Computer CaseASUS VH236HL-P Black 23" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor w/height & swivelGIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 AM3+ AMD 970 USB 3.0 ATX AMD MotherboardAMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz @ 3.8GHz w/1.35v on cpu-vcoreCooler Master Hyper 212 Plus w/2 fans Idle:24C-45CCorsair Vengeance Low Profile 8 GB PC3-12800 1600mhz 240-Pin DDR3 DualEVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB 1024 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 2DVI/Mini-HDMILogitech X-540 5.1 Surround Sound Speaker System with SubwooferCorsair Enthusiast Series 750-Watt 80 Plus Bronze(1)Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB SATA III 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache BOOT(1)Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" GAMING(2)Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"STORAGE(2) LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support

I love Disk drives SATA for storage. I love ssd for OS much faster. The photo above shows how long my hard drives been on for 1 is over 13 years old the other 2 about a year. No telling how long a disk drive will last if anyone says they can tell you they are lying. I took out my older one and replaced it because the hard drive i took out was causing long boots and slowing down searches on PC but it is still loaded with things I can still use if I want it is far from dead It is a tad newer than the 13 year old. I only buy them when they are cheap and on sale because no matter the review you could get a bad one ..in my case been lucky so far. I grabbed the 2 Blue western Digitals as back up so no telling how long they will last. No One can tell me that. Hopefully my next motherboard board will handle 2 ssd and 4 SATA...