Random Technical Question about External Hard Drives

boobookitty · 2009-02-18, 05:01 PM

I'm working on some sites and so I am keeping my external hard drive (which contains a lot of content) plugged into my laptop most of the time, in fact forgot to unplug it last night when I went to bed.
OK so the random question of the day is:

Is it better to be plugging and un-plugging an external hard drive on a regular basis or to keep it plugged in for several days at a time until I am done with my project(s)?

I did look for a question like this but I didn't find anything, although the thread about the 3 year old daughter dropping the laptop over the balcony was funny (since it wasn't my laptop).

My cat once knocked over a chest of drawers on my glass-top desk and into my desktop computer and also knocked a glass end-table over that had my camera on it, and it bent the casing so that I had to send it in to Canon, and they couldn't fix it either, and so they just sold me a re-furbished one at a discounted price.

And yet she still lives...

Ok that was it, and please and TIA.

JK · 2009-02-18, 06:07 PM

I'd unplug it when it's not in use. I've got an external backup drive that I used to keep turned on. I left it on overnight once to do a backup and woke up in the morning to a fried power supply.

boobookitty · 2009-02-18, 06:48 PM

OK so thanks =)
I was worried about (eventually) doing something to the USB ports with plugging and unplugging. Does anyone know if that is anything to worry about or not?

cd34 · 2009-02-18, 11:43 PM

I think the power supply failure was coincidence. The power supply may have had poor ventiliation, a flaw, was running just on the edge of being in spec when they sold it and it just happened to break that one night.

As for plugging and unplugging USB, connectors have come a long way since the old 15 pin DIN type cables that were used to connect devices where the pins would bend or break. I don't think you would have any problem connecting and disconnecting the drive.

boobookitty · 2009-02-19, 07:36 AM

Ok well thanks for that information.
My mom told me that, and she took FORTRAN in college. Go figure..

GonZo · 2009-02-19, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boobookitty

Ok well thanks for that information.
My mom told me that, and she took FORTRAN in college. Go figure..

FUCK FORTRAN
FREE COBOL !!!!

And Ive dropped several of mine and plug em in when I need em. Runs like a tank.

tickler · 2009-02-19, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GonZo

FUCK FORTRAN
FREE COBOL !!!!

And Ive dropped several of mine and plug em in when I need em. Runs like a tank.

FORTRAN + COBOL = PL1

(Fortran in highschool, Cobol/Assembler/PL1 in college)

They are used all the time at one of my clients, and I've banged up a few myself. The client moves encrypted data around all the time between offices in different countries. It bugs the crap out of the customs guys because they will only work on the destination machines.

boobookitty · 2009-02-19, 01:41 PM

Thank you all for your responses.

I won't worry so much either way, but I'll try to remember to unplug it at least at night.

Wow, just looked them up on Wiki and both of them are still around.

SirMoby · 2009-02-20, 11:06 AM

Ac long as your do NOT BUY LACIE drives you should be just fine. 4 out of 4 failed during the warranty then 3 out of 4 of the replacement units failed. The 4th might have too if I still used it.

I have 8 external Seagate drives going pretty much 24/7. The only time I turn them off is to reboot everything about once a month.

It's better to leave them on actually. Most drive failures occur during power up if they only power up the odds of a failure drops.

SirMoby · 2009-02-20, 11:07 AM

I took FORTRAN and COBOL.

boobookitty · 2009-02-20, 12:34 PM

It's a SimpleTech - only 160 gb - they don't make them that small a capacity any more it seems, but it's cute as a button, about the size of my tarot deck...
It works great actually, and I was just looking at them now, can get a 320 gb for about 2/3 of the price I paid for this one ($99 for the 160, $69 for the 320)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822100050

MeatPounder · 2009-02-20, 02:19 PM

Fortran, cobol...oh the fun days!
Hell I used to be able to look at the keypunch cards and read them

Anyone remember the excitement and anticipation of bringing a huge box of data cards to the main frame and waiting for notification that they just ran your job, running down to the computer room and paging through 1200 pages out printout to see if your code worked?

Yup, the good old days for sure

nibbler · 2009-02-20, 04:03 PM

How about logging into the Univac mainframe thru your 3270 terminal at midnight and being the 117th person in the queue.

Oh Happy Days!

MeatPounder · 2009-02-20, 04:03 PM

Back on topic though, be careful on how you set up the usb drive access on your computer...as a system drive is faster transfer...but then you should disconnect the drive via the software rather then just unplugging it, for if you don't you "can" corrupt the drive. If you connect the usb drive as a hot swap device (normal for anything EXCEPT hard drives), the data transfer is a tad slower but you can then "just pull the plug" with no worries about data corruption.

boobookitty · 2009-02-20, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MeatPounder

Back on topic though, be careful on how you set up the usb drive access on your computer...as a system drive is faster transfer...but then you should disconnect the drive via the software rather then just unplugging it, for if you don't you "can" corrupt the drive. If you connect the usb drive as a hot swap device (normal for anything EXCEPT hard drives), the data transfer is a tad slower but you can then "just pull the plug" with no worries about data corruption.

I don't understand what you are saying? (too technical for me sorry)
When I get ready to unplug the external drive I unclick on the little icon thingy and a window comes up that asks me do I want to unplug now, and then it thinks a minute and usually the computer eight-ball comes up "yes, it is well-advised" or something like that. If it says "noooo your

will turn green and rot off, don't unplug!" it's usually because I still have my photo editing software up, and some pics from the external drive still up and so on...
If that is not what you are talking about please let me know but dumb it down a bit lol.

MeatPounder · 2009-02-20, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boobookitty

I don't understand what you are saying? (too technical for me sorry)
When I get ready to unplug the external drive I unclick on the little icon thingy and a window comes up that asks me do I want to unplug now, and then it thinks a minute and usually the computer eight-ball comes up "yes, it is well-advised" or something like that. If it says "noooo your

will turn green and rot off, don't unplug!" it's usually because I still have my photo editing software up, and some pics from the external drive still up and so on...
If that is not what you are talking about please let me know but dumb it down a bit lol.

Yup that is correct with hard drives...use the software to disconnect first

With most usb devices (mice, keyboards, phones not in hard drive mode, web cams, etc) you can simply unplug it...hot swap really

(at least with windows, not sure about macs and linux boxes but most likely similar)

Cleo · 2009-02-20, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MeatPounder

use the software to disconnect first

With most usb devices (mice, keyboards, phones not in hard drive mode, web cams, etc) you can simply unplug it...hot swap really

(at least with windows, not sure about macs and linux boxes but most likely similar)

Yeah the same with Macs.

boobookitty · 2009-02-20, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MeatPounder

Yup that is correct with hard drives...use the software to disconnect first

With most usb devices (mice, keyboards, phones not in hard drive mode, web cams, etc) you can simply unplug it...hot swap really

(at least with windows, not sure about macs and linux boxes but most likely similar)

Ok thank you

Actually I wouldn't have known that to begin with except it came in the external hard drive directions so it is good advice.

RedCherry · 2009-02-23, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirMoby

I took FORTRAN and COBOL.

So did I, and PASCAL and BASIC, back before Virtual Basic, lol. And my first program I wrote in college was for a keypunch device, and the computers in the lab were PDP-1170s with no screens.

Do I remember any of them? hell no, lol. But I had how to read programs drilled into me, so I can look at PHP and others and figure out what they are doing and hack them.

Back on topic, I had two different external drives that both failed, so I'm not a big fan of them. But that was about 4 years ago, so I'm figuring the technology is a lot better. Then again, I fail a C drive about once a year, so it might be just me.

boobookitty · 2009-02-23, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedCherry

So did I, and PASCAL and BASIC, back before Virtual Basic, lol. And my first program I wrote in college was for a keypunch device, and the computers in the lab were PDP-1170s with no screens.

Do I remember any of them? hell no, lol. But I had how to read programs drilled into me, so I can look at PHP and others and figure out what they are doing and hack them.

Back on topic, I had two different external drives that both failed, so I'm not a big fan of them. But that was about 4 years ago, so I'm figuring the technology is a lot better. Then again, I fail a C drive about once a year, so it might be just me.

Yeah I hear ya.. I took calculus, matrices, and differential equations my first two years of college. I couldn't integrate an equation now if you put a gun to my head lol...
As far as the C drives - woah..
The laptop I am on atm has been rode hard and put up wet for the last 3 years - I use it 10 to 14 hours a day most days and it's still limping along. I do have a new laptop on order, with Vista OS

but it does have 4 gb RAM so I am looking forward to that

hony · 2009-02-23, 08:31 PM

I had two external drives fail on me on the same day a few weeks back. These are the external backup devices which I have on a rotation schedule via the bank vault. Never worked out why but I suspect bad earthing on the power supply as later I found the plug for the power supply was loose. I don't know much EE but I remember reading that two devices connected together which have differing ground voltages can be a problem.

Back off topic -- did any of you actually *USE* COBOL? I wrote a lot of lines of that at my first few jobs -- and yes it is very much still around, "ObjectCOBOL" was the last one I wrote in professionally!

2009-02-18, 05:01 PM	#1
boobookitty A woman is like beer. They look good, they smell good, and you'd step over your own mother just to get one! Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 51	Random Technical Question about External Hard Drives I'm working on some sites and so I am keeping my external hard drive (which contains a lot of content) plugged into my laptop most of the time, in fact forgot to unplug it last night when I went to bed. OK so the random question of the day is: Is it better to be plugging and un-plugging an external hard drive on a regular basis or to keep it plugged in for several days at a time until I am done with my project(s)? I did look for a question like this but I didn't find anything, although the thread about the 3 year old daughter dropping the laptop over the balcony was funny (since it wasn't my laptop). My cat once knocked over a chest of drawers on my glass-top desk and into my desktop computer and also knocked a glass end-table over that had my camera on it, and it bent the casing so that I had to send it in to Canon, and they couldn't fix it either, and so they just sold me a re-furbished one at a discounted price. And yet she still lives... Ok that was it, and please and TIA.

2009-02-18, 06:07 PM	#2
JK Well you know boys, a nuclear reactor is a lot like women. You just have to read the manual and press the right button Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 157	I'd unplug it when it's not in use. I've got an external backup drive that I used to keep turned on. I left it on overnight once to do a backup and woke up in the morning to a fried power supply. __________________ To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems

2009-02-18, 11:43 PM	#4
cd34 a.k.a. Sparky Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: West Palm Beach, FL, USA Posts: 2,396	I think the power supply failure was coincidence. The power supply may have had poor ventiliation, a flaw, was running just on the edge of being in spec when they sold it and it just happened to break that one night. As for plugging and unplugging USB, connectors have come a long way since the old 15 pin DIN type cables that were used to connect devices where the pins would bend or break. I don't think you would have any problem connecting and disconnecting the drive. __________________ SnapReplay.com a different way to share photos - iPhone & Android

2009-02-20, 11:06 AM	#9
SirMoby Jim? I heard he's a dirty pornographer. Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 2,706	Ac long as your do NOT BUY LACIE drives you should be just fine. 4 out of 4 failed during the warranty then 3 out of 4 of the replacement units failed. The 4th might have too if I still used it. I have 8 external Seagate drives going pretty much 24/7. The only time I turn them off is to reboot everything about once a month. It's better to leave them on actually. Most drive failures occur during power up if they only power up the odds of a failure drops. __________________ Make Serious Money With Hungarian Honeys From NS Cash

2009-02-20, 11:07 AM	#10
SirMoby Jim? I heard he's a dirty pornographer. Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 2,706	I took FORTRAN and COBOL. __________________ Make Serious Money With Hungarian Honeys From NS Cash

2009-02-18, 06:48 PM	#3
boobookitty A woman is like beer. They look good, they smell good, and you'd step over your own mother just to get one! Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 51	OK so thanks =) I was worried about (eventually) doing something to the USB ports with plugging and unplugging. Does anyone know if that is anything to worry about or not?

2009-02-19, 07:36 AM	#5
boobookitty A woman is like beer. They look good, they smell good, and you'd step over your own mother just to get one! Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 51	Ok well thanks for that information. My mom told me that, and she took FORTRAN in college. Go figure..

2009-02-19, 01:41 PM	#8
boobookitty A woman is like beer. They look good, they smell good, and you'd step over your own mother just to get one! Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 51	Thank you all for your responses. I won't worry so much either way, but I'll try to remember to unplug it at least at night. Wow, just looked them up on Wiki and both of them are still around.

2009-02-20, 12:34 PM	#11
boobookitty A woman is like beer. They look good, they smell good, and you'd step over your own mother just to get one! Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 51	It's a SimpleTech - only 160 gb - they don't make them that small a capacity any more it seems, but it's cute as a button, about the size of my tarot deck... It works great actually, and I was just looking at them now, can get a 320 gb for about 2/3 of the price I paid for this one ($99 for the 160, $69 for the 320) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822100050

2009-02-20, 02:19 PM	#12
MeatPounder Women might be able to fake orgasms But men can fake whole relationships Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Fort Lauderdale, Fl Posts: 2,408	Fortran, cobol...oh the fun days! Hell I used to be able to look at the keypunch cards and read them Anyone remember the excitement and anticipation of bringing a huge box of data cards to the main frame and waiting for notification that they just ran your job, running down to the computer room and paging through 1200 pages out printout to see if your code worked? Yup, the good old days for sure

2009-02-20, 04:03 PM	#13
nibbler Trying is the first step towards failure Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 122	How about logging into the Univac mainframe thru your 3270 terminal at midnight and being the 117th person in the queue. Oh Happy Days!

2009-02-23, 08:31 PM	#21
hony If something's hard to do, then it's not worth doing Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 249	I had two external drives fail on me on the same day a few weeks back. These are the external backup devices which I have on a rotation schedule via the bank vault. Never worked out why but I suspect bad earthing on the power supply as later I found the plug for the power supply was loose. I don't know much EE but I remember reading that two devices connected together which have differing ground voltages can be a problem. Back off topic -- did any of you actually USE COBOL? I wrote a lot of lines of that at my first few jobs -- and yes it is very much still around, "ObjectCOBOL" was the last one I wrote in professionally! __________________ $$$ Webcam programs that earn for me -- YMMV $$$