Using a hard disk that isn’t screwed down securely?

Avoriaz

Might I risk damaging a hard disk if I don’t attach it securely using the four screw holes or is there so little vibration that it is unlikely to be a problem?

I regularly swap 3.5 inch and 2.5 inch hard disks around in various devices: mainly Sky+ but also in a Media Player and external disk caddys. I have various 2.5 to 3.5 disks adapters and PATA to SATA adapters so I can use non standard disks in any device. I can put a 2.5 SATA disk in Sky+ which is designed for 3.5 PATA and it will work just fine.

When I use a 2.5 disk in Sky+ I just lay it on the thermally padded platform as there are no screw holes for that size disk. Heat isn’t a problem as I use the Sky+ box without a lid. I have a 3rd party fan controller and heat never builds up. I blow any accumulated dust out of it occasionally to prevent a build up.

I often don’t use the 4 screws when I use a 3.5 disk. I just gently rest it on the heat pads. So much easier than messing around with the brackets.

I have been doing this for a few years with Sky+ and other devices without any problems but it did occur to me today that I might be pushing my luck and vibration will kill my disks earlier than normal. I doubt that as I can barely feel any vibration when the disks are running but I would welcome comments and opinions.

Altahost

All HDDs these days are made with some shock resistance. My PC is the same. HDDs dangling out of everywhere because I do a lot of recovery and backup.

Have to say you need to be careful but for myself I wouldnt use all four screws.

I have seen HDD clips which are twist lock, these hold the drive in place but 2 twists and its out. Thermaltake use them in all towers.

Vibration will be within the shock tollerances. Assuming we are not talking richter scale measuremnts here

scottishblondie

I wouldn't worry as long as they are resting on something stable and not bouncing about all over the place.

Even the drives I have in my tower permanently don't have all 4 screws in them. I usually go with 2, just to stop them moving about.

cit_k

I would not worry about it, as long as the drives are not able to be knocked and go sliding off onto the floor (for example). The drives themselves should be perfectly fine to run without being screwed down.
Screwing down has 2 advantages, the obvious one, stopping them falling out of or off things, and secondly, it ensures close contact with what they are attached to helping to transfer heat away from the drive.

Hard drives are cheap now anyway, and you should not be relying on them to store anything important (ie nothing you dont have a backup up for) so its no great deal when they do die, which they can do at any time.

I have seen a great many hard drives that have died, but have never had one die on me personally, no matter how much I abuse them. Usually, its software that causes the problems, or more specifically microsoft....

kwikbreaks

The only time I'd be concerned is if moving the actual device itself as a hard drive banging about loose inside might damage something else.

Gaffer tape is your friend

elvch01

I agree with all the above and have used combinations of screws & tape to acheiev the desired results with few ill effects

cit_k

elvch01 wrote: »

I agree with all the above and have used combinations of screws & tape to acheiev the desired results with few ill effects

So did the founder of playboy

JasX

yes will be fine, in fact modern PC cases come with a special shock proof hard disk compartment where the drive is screwed into a small box thats then 'suspended' on rubber dampers leaving the drive free to happily vibrate in its own system mechanically decoupled from the big chunk of metal around it to avoid getting damaged if the case gets knocked/dropped.

kwikbreaks

I think those rubber mounts are more to do with cutting down on noise than for protecting the drive. They certainly do that anyway.

pendulum

When I got my first job in a computer shop I was always told all the screws should be used not just to keep the drive secure in the bay and to cut vibration but for grounding reasons as well. Not sure how true that is, but its good practice to use all 4 screws. (That doesn't mean I always do though ).

Nilrem

kwikbreaks wrote: »

I think those rubber mounts are more to do with cutting down on noise than for protecting the drive. They certainly do that anyway.

Aye the rubber mounts are purely to do with noise reduction (basically stopping metal on metal contact, and absorbing vibration), which they do extremely well - I've not had either of my recent cases that use rubber washers for noise reduction have the resonating side panel noise that used to drive me nuts with most of my old cases (even good quality ones).

Personally as long as the drive is secure so it can't move on it's own it should be ok, but you do risk it being noisier if it's not screwed down as it's a little freer to vibrate as it spins.