Is this bad for my HDD??

[sleepypost]

Hey gang,

My HDD as some of you know broke down a few days ago. Since then I have been extremely paranoid that this one will break too if I don't treat it with absolute care... My question is this: Is it good to turn the computer (and thus the HDD) off at night or is it best to leave it running 24/7?

IBM warns that 24/7 usage of the Deskstar drive will cause problems, I also heard that turning the HDD on and off is a bad idea due to header damage...

[sleepypost]

oh, i have a western digital 80 gb SE (downgraded from the discontinued (and broken) wd 100 gb SE)..

[ServerX]

Leavin the harddisk running on 24hrs a day might not cause any harm to you hard drive if you have a good colling system or hard drive fan and turning on and off your hard drive is not a very good idea from what i know

[kissfan]

This is an old argument that has raged on for years now.

I think it's more a matter of personal choice, but there are good arguments for and against.

FOR: Leaving All Powered Up.

Components are stressed more when you power up, more than at any other time.

You have immediate access to all your system in a matter of about a second.


AGAINST:

You will reach the MTBF (mean time between failures) sooner as the components are in constant use.

You start with a fresh boot of the OS everytime, giving you a clean slate and refreshed system.



These are just some of the arguments, I am sure that many of the peeps here will have their own views.

My preference, leave it on 24/7, only power down when I am going to be away for more than 24hrs.

[Confused]

I'm in the Kissfan camp on this one. My original PC that my wife now uses has been running 24/7 except when we are going to be away for a extended period of time for 4 and half years now. It has a IBM 9G drive.

Mine has been running 24/7 for 18 months now except in same case of extended absences.

The only arguments I can come up with to power down is the savings on electricity and the fact you get a clean system each day.
Chas

[HAL9000]

All three of my PC's run 24/7.. although upgraded many times during this time frame, they have been running that way since 1997.

[sleepypost]

ok thanks guys, but what about in terms of the HDD wear and tear?

[kissfan]

Never really noticed any difference.

Usually I use Seagate or Maxtor drives and it has never been an issue, use good HD health techniques and that seems to do the trick.

Have had an old seagate 1.2G running for 5 years no sweat.

[glc]

I'm in the 24/7 camp, I feel that the heating/cooling and spinup/spindown cycles are more harmful than constant running.

[sleepypost]

do you guys feel that turning a PC on and off 5 times within a five minute interval could have caused any permanent damage to a HDD? (i waited ten seconds between each reboot).

[milkman4_hi_r]

what about sleeping your computer? how does that come into play? i turn mine on and off all the time.... maybe i should change my life style lol

[sleepypost]

I think sleeping the PC is turning the HDD off, so that would be the same wear and tear on your HDD as if you were rebooting.

[Panama Red]

Found the following answer in Western Digital's knowledge base. Still makes it a personal choice, seems to me.

Question
Should I turn off the computer system or leave it on when I am not using it?

Answer
The initial power-on process is generally harder on the internal components of a drive than spinning for extended periods. However, Western Digital drives are designed to handle either scenario. Most users outgrow their drive before repeated turning on and off becomes a problem. Turning on the drive a few times per day is considered normal usage and should not pose any problems. If a drive is turned on and off excessively on a daily basis, this could affect its longevity.

[sleepypost]

Thats the answer I was looking for, thanks Panama Red (and eveyone else)!

[mike breck]

I've always switched my PC off at night and the old Seagate HDs in my P2450 (which I took from my P200) are still running fine.

Although I probably agree that switching it on and off once a day produces more wear and tear - I just like powering everything off at night and be damned.

Different strokes for different folks.

[MonkeyBlitch]

So if i leave my pc on all day becuase I use it at different hours the hardware will last longer and is better than turning thw power on all the time... is this correct?

[glc]

If you want to turn the PC off at night, in my opinion the best thing to do is once you boot it up in the morning, leave it on till you are done with it and are going to bed.

[MonkeyBlitch]

Alright thanks.