Windows 7: how long usually a hard drive last ?

I use WD blacks for my desktop builds. No need of saving power here.
My current build had a bad drive out of the box (failed immediately). The RMA replacement and it's twin brother have been going strong since - not a problem.

Take your pic and hope.

Both are lower speed units with an eye-opening percentage of bad reviews on Newegg--if you care to give any credence to them. 20 to 30 percent one star out of five, the last I looked. Who knows how much of it is due to bad handling and shipping as opposed to manufacturing defects.

WD customer support personnel posting in response to those bad reviews claim that ALL WD drives are tested at the factory, but I'd doubt it's more than a cursory test to see if it powers up and spins.

I'm not sure green and red differ at all other than in firmware. The red is allegedly designed for NAS use but works fine in a standard PC.

The green is typically a bit cheaper.

I've had a 1.5 TB green for 5 years and have not had any issues. I need to replace it within 6 months or so and keep hoping the reviews will improve. I don't expect that to happen. I'm vaguely thinking about Toshiba or whatever the cheapest alternative is, thinking that since it's all pretty much a crap shoot, you may as well go with the lowest up-front cost and cross your fingers.

hehe ty , i think i'll have it tested at the store first before i buy it ... i dont really want any trouble :)

Whatever drive you buy, I'd suggest getting 2 of them. One to use in your computer and one for backups. At the very least, keep your critical data backed up regularly.

Having the store test it before you buy it won't guarantee that it will last any longer than any other drive once you have it in your system and start using it.

For internal storage permanently installed in a computer I prefer the Blacks. They cost more, but they are fast and the five year warranty suggests they will last longer (and the warranty means you will be out less money if it does fail early). The Blues are also good—in fact, the 1TB Blue is a bit faster than the Blacks—but the maximum size for the Blues is 1TB (Blacks go up to 4TB).

I prefer the Greens for external storage only. Since they won't run as much, they should last as long as the Blacks and they do cost less.

ty all for the suggestions :) i think i'll go with black ...