RE: Re: [OT] External Hard Disk

["Phil Harris" <phil@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Mal Lansell wrote:
> > I know about the "safely remove" thing, but I thought
that it's only
> > needed to prevent problems if you pull the plug while writing to
the
> > disk.  Since this is to be used as a media source, I should only
ever be
> > reading (unless doing maintenance), in which case a powering off
should
> > be safe.
> >
>
> If you pull the power on a spinning HD, you run the risk the head
> crashing on the platter...

For years now most drives have used the back EMF caused by the platters
spinning down to safely park the heads *BEFORE* the platters spin down
enough for the heads to land ... but yes, I would really, strongly suggest
that you never just power off drives or simply disconnect them without
allowing the host OS to shut them down properly.

Phil