Laptop 1TB + 3TB external HDD question?

[Kimshiyun]

Hi,
Here is the story:
There is a laptop with Windows7 64-bit that it is said that support up to 1TB internal HDD at max.
If I want to plug in:
2TB WD My Passport external HDD + 1TB WD Essential external HDD = 3TB. via USB 2.0 & 3.0 ports.

My question: I would like to know if the machine will recognize more than 1TB?
& then, will I be able to use my two external HDD(s) & the internal 1TB with a total of 4TB all at once without issue (errors)?

I appreciate the help.

 

[joex444]

They're USB drives. Motherboard doesn't need to know anything about them, that's the OS.

Also when laptops say 1TB maximum what they really mean is that when the manual was written the largest 2.5" hard drive was 1TB -- they were trying to say it supports all drives. Motherboards and hard drive controllers don't artificially introduce size limits, the previous limits were on IDE/PATA at 128GB -- a power of two, which suggests that it was an issue of the size being stored as a certain number of bits, an issue that's no longer the case anywhere because we have moved to such large numbers that the drive limits are something like 4EB now.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there, Kimshiyun!

I believe @joex444 explained it pretty accurately. You should be able to use multiple externals as long as the laptop is plugged via the AC adapter, otherwise, it's probably going to drain your battery pretty fast. However, keep in mind that portable hard drives like the WD My Passport are not supposed to be constantly plugged to the system and it's really advisable to do so. I'd strongly recommend you to keep multiple backups of your files stored in different locations (off-site as well). The transfer rate to the externals could also be a bit slow due to the number of HDDs plugged to the laptop's USB ports. You could also try using a USB hub. This is a device that expands a single USB port into several so that there are more ports available to connect devices to a host system (in your case the laptop).

Here's an article from our knowledge base that explains what could potentially be the consequences of Leaving an external hard drive powered on all the time.

Hope this was helpful. Keep us posted if you have more questions!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Kimshiyun]

Hey there, Kimshiyun!

... However, keep in mind that portable hard drives like the WD My Passport are not supposed to be constantly plugged to the system and it's really advisable to do so.

Keep us posted if you have more questions!
SuperSoph_WD

@Thanks joex4444, & @SuperSoph_WD for the replies.

@SuperSoph_WD, For sure if I plug the external USB HDD(s) I will use the AC cable, I just wanted to know to be sure in order to avoid conflicts or errors with the laptop.
And then, I don't usually plug the external USB HDD(s) all the time or for daily use. You can say I have plans to plug each of them individually only around: once each two~three months to backup some data & free space.
The WD Element I bought it recently. But I am not planing to plug both of them at the same time. I just wanted to ask to have an idea.

You said that the 2TB WD My Passport are not supposed to be constantly plugged to the system. So what about the WD Elements? Is it the same?

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there again, Kimshiyun!

If it's the portable version of the WD Elements, then yes. Usually, if you keep them constantly connected, they will power down (go into Standby/Sleep mode) after some time of inactivity. This reduces the power consumption, but it still depends on the OS settings if the HDD will go to sleep. While in Standby/Sleep mode, the hard drive is in a state of low energy consumption.

However, there is a potential threat for the data you backup on the portable drives. In case of a power surge or accidental shutting down of the system while the portable HDDs are still writing/reading data, could result in file system corruption (RAW) on the externals due to their unsafe power down. This will corrupt the data as well and require you to reformat the HDDs.

Here's an interesting thread from the community, you might find useful.

Best of luck and always make sure you got multiple backups off-site (Not connected to the laptop).

Hope I was able to answer your questions.
SuperSoph_WD