Member Avatar for twoyorkie

can I strip the WD Elements Desktop external hdd and use the hdd inside to fit to other NAS drive ???

  • 2 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 187 Views
  • 19 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by twoyorkie

Dani AI

Generated

Short answer: people do it ("shucking" an Elements) and it can save money, but there are specific checks and risks to accept before you buy just to strip the case. is right that the drives inside are often standard 3.5" SATA units, and ’s price point makes the idea attractive — however, confirm a few things first.

Checklist to follow before you buy or yank the drive

  • Confirm the enclosure’s encryption and warranty rules: WD’s support doc shows WD Elements Desktop (USB 3.0) is not hardware‑encrypted and the drive can be read outside the enclosure, but removing a drive from a single‑bay enclosure will void the warranty. (support-en.wd.com)
  • Verify the exact internal model (search the model number shown on the drive after opening, or check teardown/user reports beforehand). That lets you check whether the drive is CMR or SMR — SMR drives are cheap but can behave very poorly during RAID rebuilds and heavy write workloads. (forums.tomshardware.com)
  • Check physical and power fit (3.5" drives, mounting holes, NAS bay clearance, and that the NAS supports the drive’s power/rotation specs).

What to do after you remove the drive

  • Inspect the label for the true model number, then run SMART and a full surface/self‑test before trusting it in a NAS. Useful tools: CrystalDiskInfo (GUI) or smartctl from smartmontools (command examples below). (cristaldisk.com)
smartctl -i /dev/sdX
smartctl -t long /dev/sdX
smartctl -l selftest /dev/sdX

Recommendation

  • For a single‑disk archive or light use a shucked Elements drive is often fine. For multi‑bay NAS or RAID (where rebuild windows matter) use NAS‑rated drives (WD Red / Red Plus, IronWolf, etc.) that are firmware‑tuned for RAID and 24/7 operation. If warranty, predictable RAID behavior, or long‑term uptime matter, buy drives intended for NAS. (westerndigital.com)

Short caveat: shucking saves cash but trades formal warranty and predictable NAS behaviour for lower cost — verify model and test thoroughly before committing the drive to any important NAS array. (support-en.wd.com)

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for rch1231

Hello,

Generally speaking a hard drive is a hard drive no matter what packaging it has. The main things you have to watch out for are the interface (SATA, PATA, SCSI, SAS, Fiber-SCSI, etc.) Most external storage systems sold for home or small office use now a days are simply SATA drives in some sort of housing. Logically YES you should be able to pull the drive our of the unit and use it in another.

Member Avatar for twoyorkie

Thanks rch1231 it seems sense to buy an external drive and strip it because to buy a 7200 rpm sata drive bare costs from £110 upwards to £150 or so and I can get a WD external 7200 drive for £95 delivered...:)

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.