“Is it OK to leave a portable external hard disk plugged in and active 24/7?”

(Answer requested by Diego Gerardo Velasco)

If the drive is simply on — fully powered up and spinning, even while it’s not needed — you’re wasting energy, and putting needless wear on the drive bearings. You’re also exposing the drive electronics to extra risk from electrical problems (spikes, surges, sags, etc.).

If the drive is set to sleep/suspend/spin-down after a reasonable amount of idle time, then the only downsides to leaving it plugged in are (1) a little more wear and energy use, compared to full power-off; and (2) a little more vulnerability to electrical problems.

The safest and most conservative option is to fully depower devices when they won’t be needed for a while.

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1 Reply to ““Is it OK to leave a portable external hard disk plugged in and active 24/7?””

  1. Ifmy SeaGate External HardDrive no longer seems to be able to copy any more data, how would I get inside of it to read it, if I wanted to?

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