I just got my Toshiba 500GB external hard drive in the mail today and I'm super psyched. So naturally I don't want to damage it. How long at a time should I keep it connected?
For flash drives I would keep mine connected all day, but obviously I can't do this with external HD's as the disk inside it actually spins constantly. I want mine to last a long time so what do you guys recommend?
EDIT: I'm an idiot, I forgot to mention it is a PORTABLE external hard drive, not the desktop ones that are meant to be kept on at all times.
Answer
Why can't you keep it connected all the time? Most modern hard drives will put themselves into 'sleep' if they are not used often to reduce the power consumption and increase the life of the drive.
Modern hard drives are designed to sleep after a certain period of inactivity. This is to conserve energy and is also considered by some to increase the useful life of the drive by reducing wear. In standby mode, the hard drive is in a state of low energy consumption and its platters have ceased to sleep
Depending on the settings of the operating system, the hard drive would automatically go to sleep after a period of inactivity, and thus increasing the lifespan of the drive.
After all, the hard drive inside your computer stays plugged in the whole time, so why should an external one differ?
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