Storage: Leaving External Hard Drives On Always--Is this risky?
Leaving External Hard Drives On Always--Is this risky?
by anonymuse - 12/12/05 3:46 PMI often read that people turn their external hard drives on and off for only when they need them.
Are external hard drives (in general) constructed only to work like this, or is it okay to leave them on all the time (as well as they are well-ventilated and have an internal fan)?
Sometimes I leave my external hard drive (Maxtor and/or WD) on for a few days at a time so I can upload a torrent of a DVD of the kiddos to the grandparents. Am I putting myself at risk?
On or Off
by VAPCMD - 12/12/05 11:05 PM In reply to: Leaving External Hard Drives On Always--Is this risky? by anonymuseI leave my PC on 24/7 (protected by a good UPS) but my external HDDs ...I power them on and off as needed. They are certainly more susceptible to damage if they're dropped or fall over while running. From the info I see posted in this forum...the enclosures do not seem to be very durable.
VAPCMD
harddrives...
by jackintucson
- 12/13/05 10:54 AM
In reply to: Leaving External Hard Drives On Always--Is this risky? by anonymuse
Today's drives are built to withstand 24/7 usage. Some do and some don't. New school says do.
and life goes on...
Jack
External HDD...leave 'um or off
by VAPCMD - 12/17/05 5:57 PM In reply to: harddrives... by jackintucson
Perhaps today's drives are more durable. Based on posts here and elsewhere about external hard drive failures ...it appears the enclosures themselves are more commonly identified as the culprit.
VAPCMD
leaving an external hd on or off
by glennlee - 12/13/05 2:58 PM In reply to: Leaving External Hard Drives On Always--Is this risky? by anonymuseI use my external hd for backup storage (music files, picture files) plus a backup image of my system file (Acronis True Image) to use to restore the system in the event of a catastrophe. A lightening strike, or sudden power surge, could be a catastrophe taking the main hd and the external hd disc down at the same time. If my external hd is off, I have that margin of safety. Turning the external hd disc on and off for occasional use is not a biggie. Just be sure to sure to use the ''safe to remove external device'' icon on the task bar to make sure all files are closed when you disconnect the external hard drive and shut its power down.
Safely Remove Hardware
by topnotch - 12/17/05 6:23 AM In reply to: leaving an external hd on or off by glennleeEverytime I click on ''safe to remove external device'' I get an error message that it is busy and to try again latter.
Thats the same Screen i get. !
by Crash_of_1943 - 12/17/05 8:39 AM In reply to: Safely Remove Hardware by topnotchI have tryed to Safely Remove the External Hard Drive...But like you I also get the same screen ever time...and "HELP" I want to safely Shut my External Hard Drive down.
Hard Drives Disc's all SPIN Around on Ball Bearings and in the same Lube...some bearings might last for years....some not! depends on the bearings and the oil....and each can or will Break Down in Due Time.....i want mine to last a long long time.
Thanks all
Crash in Kansas.
Removing hardware
by wizardsorcerer0 - 12/17/05 3:38 PM In reply to: Safely Remove Hardware by topnotchYou may have left files open on the drive. Example, if you "zip" files and winzip (or whatever) is still open, it won't let you shut down. Likewise if you are in any application such as WORD, and you have saved your file to the drive, but have not closed WORD, or at least closed the file itself, you won't be able to shut down the drive.
Select a different directory, then remove
by PicMan - 12/18/05 8:56 AM In reply to: Safely Remove Hardware by topnotchI always got the same message too. It's very misleading. In Windows Explorer, simply select a different folder, so that Windows Explorer isn't showing you the list of files on your drive. Then you won't get a warning when you try to shut down the drive.
Select a different directory, then remove
by VAPCMD - 12/18/05 12:35 PM In reply to: Select a different directory, then remove by PicManI've had the sa,e problem . . mainly with JUMP drives, THUMB drives, etc.
I've saved the file(s) and closed the applicable programs and selected other drives or partitions but nonetheless, I sometimes get ....'cannot close blah blah blah' ... or whatever the message. After trying this several times . . I just unplug which generates the Windows Unsafe Removal Message. I have this happen at home as well as work and rarely have I had any problem with the file or files on the USB drive.
Be nice to get this resolved but I don't have much hope of that happening any time soon.
VAPCMD
Just unplug it! NOT!
by anonymuse - 12/18/05 1:54 PM In reply to: Select a different directory, then remove by VAPCMDFrom my experience, files I put on a jump drive are usually highly critical. Don't just unplug it. If I had to choose between powering down or just pulling it, I'd definitely power down.
Error message
by topnotch - 12/18/05 7:42 PM In reply to: Just unplug it! NOT! by anonymuseI have tried closing all programs, switching directories, ect. I power down seemingly without any problems. It is in my bedroom and the fan makes alot of noise if I forgot to shut down. Apparently from reading these other posts some drives don't have a power switch.
How to safely remove hardware -a possable solution ??
by scorpious - 1/10/06 2:25 PM In reply to: Safely Remove Hardware by topnotchI think the reason some of you get an error message is because you have selected write caching on the disk which i believe is the reason you have that message as there is an option for quick removal which should stop that ,but don't quote me on it...lol...
click on
"my computer"
right click the ext drive and then click on properties
click on the "hardware tab" then click on the properties of that popup then click the policies tab,the rest is self explanatory
External HD on or off
by drdavare - 1/10/06 6:03 PM In reply to: leaving an external hd on or off by glennleeI fully agree with Glennlee and would like to congratulate him for the right answer which should satisfy all. I am also using external harddisk for the last 3-4 years following the same procedure.
Dr Davare
Risky to d/l DVD torrents, I guess, but otherwise
by googey10 - 12/16/05 5:21 AM In reply to: Leaving External Hard Drives On Always--Is this risky? by anonymuseI'm certain that for the drives themselves it's better to leave them running all the time. Heads crash when started, or the electronics are murdered by the sudden power surge. Of course, if you do have power outages, spikes or surges (I don't, didn't have one single power outage or any electrical problem in the 15 years I live in the same place), you could end up with a bunch of fried chips. This summer I didn't switch off my computers during the six weeks I spent abroad (forgot to).
I had a few drive crashes, but only with brand - new drives (easy to replace), and with lots of old drives - but only during the powering-on cycle. OK, it drives the electricity bill up and /or drains the batteries, but the first thing I do when I get to a laptop is to disable the power saving features for the HD.
Now if any consumer product would still be allowing for a very nice gradual spin - up, as old SCSI drives did, or had surge protection built in, I would be a happy person. Having to trash the occassional DVD player or VCR just because these things don't even have a power switch and love to go poof as soon as you move them to the next room drives me mad. Yes, a DVD player is a dirt cheap thing, often cheaper than the (retail, non torrented) DVDisc, but still - why can't the Chinese raise the price by 50 cent and build in a switch?
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