If you leave USB3 HDD attached permanently will it get corrupted?

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Batman

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#205418 12-Nov-2016 12:09

Just wondering. I'm very afraid of these things suddenly getting corrupted for no reason ... but is leaving it permanently attached to a computer one of the causes?

nathan

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#1668477 12-Nov-2016 12:10

No

But it can't be corrupted if it's not spinning

But it can fail in other ways

I'd worry about something else :)

Batman

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#1668482 12-Nov-2016 12:13

I was thinking of ripping it apart and attaching it to the sata cable in the desktop but I don't like to destroy things.

gzt

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#1668505 12-Nov-2016 12:58

I'm not really sure. To some extent it depends what you do with it. If there are files constantly open and or a lot of writing then obviously there is some risk if the USB goes down. If it is mainly bulk storage then risk is lower. Beyond that it's reliant on the quality of the enclosure and the operating system conditions.

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#1668506 12-Nov-2016 13:00

joker97:
I was thinking of ripping it apart and attaching it to the sata cable in the desktop but I don't like to destroy things.

That may not work anyway. Some drives are specific to an enclosure. Google your drive model and find someone did it to avoid a time waste.

timmmay

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#1668522 12-Nov-2016 13:35

All hard drives fail. If you leave it spinning it may wear out. If you store it unused it may fail. If you use it occasionally it may wear out or fail. They key here is a good backup strategy. If it's backed up well then do whatever you want with it, up to and including entering a hard drive throwing competition.

Athlonite

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#1668554 12-Nov-2016 14:23

joker97:

I was thinking of ripping it apart and attaching it to the sata cable in the desktop but I don't like to destroy things.

You may find the USB connector is part of the drive electronics and has no SATA port I have two WD 2.5" USB3.0 HDD's 1x 500GB has an USB to SATA adaptor the other one is an 1TB 2.5" USB3.0 HDD and the USB connector is part of the HDD's circuit board and no SATA port so be careful

Sideface

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#1668566 12-Nov-2016 14:39

timmmay:

All hard drives fail. If you leave it spinning it may wear out. If you store it unused it may fail. If you use it occasionally it may wear out or fail. They key here is a good backup strategy. If it's backed up well then do whatever you want with it, up to and including entering a hard drive throwing competition.

I was recently horrified to discover that a non-technical fiend of mine has left a mains-powered USB2 external hard drive running non-stop for 7 years, attached to his entry-level 7-year-old PC.

Both worked perfectly.

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timmmay

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#1668570 12-Nov-2016 14:45

Sideface:

I was recently horrified to discover that a non-technical fiend of mine has left a mains-powered USB2 external hard drive running non-stop for 7 years, attached to his entry-level 7-year-old PC.

Both worked perfectly.

It will fail. The only question is when.

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#1668594 12-Nov-2016 15:17

timmmay:

Sideface:

I was recently horrified to discover that a non-technical fiend of mine has left a mains-powered USB2 external hard drive running non-stop for 7 years, attached to his entry-level 7-year-old PC.

Both worked perfectly.

It will fail. The only question is when.

Agreed. He now has a shiny new RAID 1 NAS enclosure.

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Batman

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#1668624 12-Nov-2016 15:53

Athlonite:

joker97:

I was thinking of ripping it apart and attaching it to the sata cable in the desktop but I don't like to destroy things.

You may find the USB connector is part of the drive electronics and has no SATA port I have two WD 2.5" USB3.0 HDD's 1x 500GB has an USB to SATA adaptor the other one is an 1TB 2.5" USB3.0 HDD and the USB connector is part of the HDD's circuit board and no SATA port so be careful

Ah I wondered about that too. Ok will use it like a plug and play. It's a 2nd layer backup so maybe store it elsewhere too.