Ext. Hard Drive

**Twigs** · May 24th, 2005, 07:19 AM

Was wondering about my new Maxtor 3100 ext. HD. Should I keep it powered up when not in use. Will it decrease it's life time?

**ross.v** · May 24th, 2005, 07:30 AM

Well you can always try power conserve modes for hd and monitor life's longevity.

**AlienDyne** · May 24th, 2005, 07:39 AM

Agreed!
Disconnect the drive when not needed. If you can't do that, select a power scheme that turns off the drive after an amount of time it's not been used.

**TechZ** · May 24th, 2005, 09:01 AM

I use my external HD a few times a week, not more than once a day, so I put it on when needed, and off when not needed.

**Twigs** · May 24th, 2005, 09:36 AM

Originally Posted by AlienDyne

Agreed!
Disconnect the drive when not needed. If you can't do that, select a power scheme that turns off the drive after an amount of time it's not been used.

Can you select a power scheme for a External HD? If so how on my 98se.

**AlienDyne** · May 25th, 2005, 02:05 AM

You can't select a power scheme for each drive individually. You will have to set the period of inactivity you want to elapse before your HDDs turn off. If drive C: is active after that period, it remains on and the other drives which are inactive, turn off.
This settings can be modified under power options in the control panel.

**confus-ed** · May 25th, 2005, 04:47 AM

Awww just for the sake of arguement.. not agreed !

.. so I'll just go all confus-ed with the question ...

It's like lightbulbs !!!!! ...

If you leave a lightbulb on 'forever' it lasts longer as the most stressful moments are turning it on & off. It depends in this question whether we are talking about the unit as a whole or the drive platters ..

Drive platters will last much longer constantly spinning, as 'in theory' the most likely moments for any physical damage to the platter surface happening are during 'spin up' & 'spin down' (read turning on & off

). However of course an external diskdrive has other bits, as do all drive assemblies, most principally bearings which of course will wear out quicker the more you use them.

I reckon this is a 'six of one, 1/2 a dozen of another' ones, by turning a drive on & off you stress its power supply more & increase your potential spin up & down processes & thus risk physical damage to part of the drive, but you stop the spindle mechanism wearing as quickly through less use avoiding complete failure & save a little power ..

So from my deliberately confus-ed perspective it'd depend exactly what you mean by 'decrease it's life time' .. Constantly turning on & off, will increase your incidence of disk errors & 'bad sectors' (one bad sector in the mbr might be terminal - but usually you've got 'quite a few' to choose from, so chances are it won't be..), but 'always on' means more spin time & more spindle wear & more power.

**AlienDyne** · May 25th, 2005, 05:27 AM

I have to agree with the above theory. This is true and I've heard of it as well.
But in our case, it depends from the time period this HDD is used. For example, if I used an external HDD once a day, or once or twice a week, I wouldn't keep it always on. If the files on this drive are needed let's say once an hour, then I would keep it always on. Of course, you can't tell for sure whether or when the data on the drive is needed but if you don't use the drive for a long period you should disconnect it.

**TechZ** · May 25th, 2005, 06:59 AM

you can't tell for sure whether or when the data on the drive is needed but if you don't use the drive for a long period you should disconnect it.

MOST things are recommended that way, as i mentioned, turning off the drive works for me, as I know when and for how long (approx) i'm going to use it. BUt it all depends on your use and situation.