Keep the External HDD on?

[Washington]

I got the Western Digital My Book myself. I think you'll find that if you don't access it for a certain amount of time then it will put itself into a hibernate mode. Mine does after about 10 - 15 minutes of none use.

You can always just turn it off with the button on the front and I wouldn't compare it to a Maxtor drive. They do have a certain reputation for building drives that don't last that long.

 

[DJ-CHRIS1]

I got the Western Digital My Book myself. I think you'll find that if you don't access it for a certain amount of time then it will put itself into a hibernate mode. Mine does after about 10 - 15 minutes of none use.

You can always just turn it off with the button on the front and I wouldn't compare it to a Maxtor drive. They do have a certain reputation for building drives that don't last that long.

Not all drives go to sleep, my Maxtor and custom built drives will stay on forever.

 

[Lightning_Rider]

It probably won't hurt it if you keep the drive on. Hard drives undergo a lot of stress when they first start the disks spinning (at a cold boot), so if you turn the power on and off a lot, this could possibly shorten the lifespan of the drive if you do it often. But since you said you just use it for back ups once a week, I would keep it off/unplugged until you make your backup.

 

[G9]

It probably won't hurt it if you keep the drive on. Hard drives undergo a lot of stress when they first start the disks spinning (at a cold boot), so if you turn the power on and off a lot, this could possibly shorten the lifespan of the drive if you do it often. But since you said you just use it for back ups once a week, I would keep it off/unplugged until you make your backup.

You mean the cold boot occurs every time you turn your actual computer on and off? Or just keeping the hdd off until you need it? I need a consensus.

 

[G9]

Remember that I'm only using this drive once weekly. If no consensus is reached, I'll ask WD support for a recommendation.

 

[Kage]

You mean the cold boot occurs every time you turn your actual computer on and off? Or just keeping the hdd off until you need it? I need a consensus.

No, that'd just be if you turn your external hard drive on/off.

I wouldn't keep it on if you don't need it though, as its just using up power, and rising the energy bill, when it could just be left unplugged until you need it.

Cold boots wouldn't honestly damage a hard drive in the sense of the word that, you'll notice a massive difference in life. Modern hard drives should be equipped with ways to miinimize the fact of this.

Plus, I don't see completly why a cold boot should in any way damage a drive, except, its turning the motor from on to off/off to on, to start the disk spinning. Because the reader head itself turns off on and on anyway when your not using your computer for long periods.

 

[G9]

At using it once per week, I should leave it off until I need it, no?

 

[Kage]

Yes, I advise you leave it off until you need it on.

Just leaving it on, especially since you say its getting hot (and its in hot weather), probably wouldn't do it so much good anyway.

Turning it off and on every week, will in no way damage it over a long period of time.

I think its fully safe to.

 

[G9]

Alright... thanks, I've made my decision.

 

[Kage]

What was the decision?