# Placing a hard drive on its side



## bleecher (Nov 28, 2007)

I just bought this external hard drive ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136022 ) and am wondering if it is okay to lay it down on its side while I'm using it.  Some people have told me that I shouldn't do this, but I have no idea.

Also, do you guys have any tips on how to preserve the life of the external hard drive?


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## JC316 (Nov 28, 2007)

I don't see why you couldn't lay it on it's side, it should be fine.


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## JousteR (Nov 28, 2007)

bleecher said:


> I just bought this external hard drive ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136022 ) and am wondering if it is okay to lay it down on its side while I'm using it.  Some people have told me that I shouldn't do this, but I have no idea.
> 
> Also, do you guys have any tips on how to preserve the life of the external hard drive?



Most of the external H/D's come with a stand for side use..
I shouldnt see why you can't man..?


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## hat (Nov 28, 2007)

You should be ableto lay it on whatever side you want, as long as it's not on when you are moving it.


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## Mussels (Nov 28, 2007)

its just more likely to fall over. no more than that.


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## lemonadesoda (Nov 28, 2007)

The reason why most of these devices are upright mounted is due to cooling.  There is a small fan at the top to exit hot air that rises.

If you put it on the side the cooling performance will not be as good.  This MAY cause problems esp. high use/summer/hot environments.
Some NAS devices are passively cooled. Check out the FREECOM "network drive". This is just one example. There are others.

http://www.freecom.com/ecproduct_detail.asp?ID=3402&CatID=8020&sCatID=1146195&ssCatID=1146196

http://www.freecom.com/ecproduct_detail.asp?ID=3705&CatID=8020&sCatID=1146195&ssCatID=1147759

Their metal cases are good... they get quite warm... and conduct the heat OUT of the case, unlike plastic cases, that insulate, and REQUIRE an effective fan to remove the heat.


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## newtekie1 (Nov 28, 2007)

I didn't think the MyBook series was actively cooled.  My friends 160GB certainly wasn't, and it overheated because of it.  I ended up tearing it apart for him and mounting the drive internally so it wouldn't fry.


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## PVTCaboose1337 (Nov 28, 2007)

The thing is with this, I have done it for years on my computer, and on some of the older Dell P4 series, the HD is vertical.  It is bad for it, but my PIII still runs fine with it like that.


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## bleecher (Nov 29, 2007)

Thanks for the responses.  I just have one more question.

The western digital manual says that to turn off the drive I should click the safely Remove Hardware icon in the system tray, select safely remove USB Mass Storage Drive, and when when a message is displayed that it is safe to remove the drive, press the power button to turn the drive off.

However, when I select safely remove USB Mass Storage Drive, the message is displayed and my drive automatically turns off (the lit green circle turns off and I hear the drive stop spinning) Does this mean that I don't actually have to click the power button before I disconnect the drive?


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## keakar (Nov 29, 2007)

the only position that i would avoid for your hdd is laying flat with the top side facing down, i have heard it wasnt good to mount a hard drive in that position but putting it on its side or standing up on end is fine to do providing it doesnt interfere with cooling issues. 

its ok to remove the external drive as long as the drive is not processing data it is safe to remove.

only problem comes if its still doing something when you unplug it, then files can be lost or the data can get corrupted on the drive and maybe it could somehow mess with data on your systems hdd.

it would be like turning off your computer in the middle of a program update.


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## aximbigfan (Nov 29, 2007)

NO!

The Wd Mybook is induction cooled. It is designed to have one side facing up. If you lay it on its side hot air has no where to escape.

The wd manual says specifically not to do that. 

You may lay any other hdd on its side though.

chris


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## bleecher (Nov 29, 2007)

The instruction manual doesn't say anything about not laying the hard drive on its side.  Also the hard drive came with small circular "stickers" (don't know the term) to provide a more stable base.  These stickers fit perfectly into four holes on either side of the case.  I'm guessing that it's alright.


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## Mussels (Nov 29, 2007)

it is safe for it to be on its side or upside down. The drives are designed to go 'the normal way' because thats the 'safest' way - when the drive loses power, gravity assists the spring, taking the read head aaway from the drive platter. upside down, it merely has to rely on teh spring, giving it an extre 0.0001% chance of failing.

Also as i said, its easier to knock over! thats my only concern with vertical drives.


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## aximbigfan (Nov 29, 2007)

bleecher said:


> The instruction manual doesn't say anything about not laying the hard drive on its side.  Also the hard drive came with small circular "stickers" (don't know the term) to provide a more stable base.  These stickers fit perfectly into four holes on either side of the case.  I'm guessing that it's alright.



hmm...

I delt with one of the earlier generation of those drives, and they said not to put them on their side do to the way the vents were layed out. 

I guess they changed that in the laster editions.

Chris


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## lemonadesoda (Nov 29, 2007)

I think they changed the design because so many people dont RTFM and so many devices were failing.


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