Keep external harddrive plugged in?

[Danaldinho]

Hey,

I just bought an external harddrive for my iMac. I am wondering can I just place all of my work on the external harddrive and then unplug it? Or should I keep it plugged in to my iMac all the time?

The reason I bought it was so I can transfer work between my iMac and laptop, and so I can backup my work every month. But now I have been reading that I should keep it plugged in to my iMac whenever am I using it.

So anyone have any better knowledge for me? Can I just plug it in when I want to use it, or should I keep it plugged in all the time?

Thanks

[lloydcommoder]

Plug it in when you need to use it!

[okapy]

If you are more concerned about saving some electricity unplug it, if you prefer a little bit more of convenience to having it available when you need leave it plugged.

There is not technical reasons to do it either way.

[ScriptMan]

Originally Posted by okapy

If you are more concerned about saving some electricity unplug it, if you prefer a little bit more of convenience to having it available when you need leave it plugged.

There is not technical reasons to do it either way.

Really? What about wear and tear on the unit? The risk of a power surge? Just sitting there in the way to get bumped around or knocked to the floor?

[okapy]

Originally Posted by ScriptMan

Really? What about wear and tear on the unit? The risk of a power surge? Just sitting there in the way to get bumped around or knocked to the floor?

The chances of unplugged and stored somewhere harddrive of getting bumped around are the same.

Modern harddrives are not dying because of tear and wear. They are dying because they are getting old. Harddrive is getting old with the same speed no matter if it's plugged or not.

[ScriptMan]

I have a couple of never used, 15 year old ones, still sealed in the factory static pack, in the basement if you would like to test that theory. The last one I installed worked just like a new one.

[Nealrm]

It's really not the age that kills the unit, it more along the lines that they don't meet the current specs or size requirement. In general it not the unit spinning the disk that goes out it the electronics or the head. Each time you read or Write to the drive there is a small chance it will go out. At some point the percentages catch up to you.

If you are using it to transfer file, I would go a more direct route and use an in-home network. For backup I would use the Carbinate service. Both together will run you about the same as a external hard-drive and you would have the benefit of off site storage.

[StevenPayales]

I don't believe it that HDDs now will get tear off because of power surge. Plug it into your surge protector and keep it plugged in all the time. I've been doing it with my 1TB External Drive and its working very well until now.

[ceekeigh]

Better to unplug it if you're not using it. Not only it saves energy, avoid fast wear & tear, it also avoid slowness on your system. As whenever your system would boot up, it would read all the files on your external hardrive.

[c5c1lia]

Why to keep it plugged when you don't use it all the time? And i heard that to give more life to the external devices like USB drives, we should not plug them all the time (if we're not actively using it all the time).

[seenBEST]

Yes you can keep it plugged in all the time, just make sure you have a good backup.

[Dreamrage]

Originally Posted by seenBEST

Yes you can keep it plugged in all the time, just make sure you have a good backup.

hmmmm. Why would you need a backup of an external hard drive, when that is the main reason people actually buy externals?

[carlhenson]

I have an external hard drive and I plug it in when I need to use it and plug it out when I'm done.

Everything is fine until the computer is getting problem in reading the external drive. It seems that the constant on and off the drive is taking its toll. I don't know what really happened but the drive just become useless taking all the data in it.

[sam789]

It depends upon whether you plugged it in or not. But i think its unnecessary to always plugged it in.

[jaydeee]

I just plug my removable drive when I need it.
But I also believe that HDD this time is more advanced to tolerate further issues.

[ChrisTrack]

I keep mine near my desk but plug it in only when I need it. The good thing is I can keep it plugged in but off, so I only have to plug in the usb.

But I would keep it unplugged unless you have a switch

[joejoe]

I unplug mine after use as it 'gets in the way' otherwise. Just be sure to 'eject' it before unplugging to ensure no data is lost or corrupted.

[diggo]

not always a solution, but what I have is a secondary power outlet under the desk with an on/off switch - the phone charger, printer and external drive are powered from it - and staying off centrally when none is in use. just my 2c...

[paulkingston]

always make a backup of external hard drive and than unplug it because it increased security. no need to keep it plugged in because it will reduce its life and may damage the mechanical parts of the harddisk

[PhilZco]

I personally keep mine plugged in all the time, because i use it on a daily basis, whether its keeping my files freshly backed up, or accessing it to watch a movie. Technically if u don't use it, its better to have it be unplugged, but i personally don't see a big difference in keeping it plugged in.