New external hard drive. Should i unplug it when not in use ?

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salawow

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Jul 30, 2014
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Hello !

I just bought a new external hard drive, seagate backup plus 3to, which i will use for storage. I expect to have to acces it no more than twice a week. In order to preserve it's life, should i keep it unplugged and only plug it in when i need to acces it ? Or should i leave it plugged at all time ?

 
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nukemaster
Most of them will have a power switch, just shut it off when not in use(for the drive's lifespan this is the same as unplugging it.).

Unplugging(At the wall outlet side) is not a bad idea if you are worried about power surges, but even those depend on the kind of switch the card drive enclosure has. It takes a pretty good spike to jump in a normal switch(but many drives use electronics to switch in and off now).

I have 2 externals used for backup and they are off unless I am backing stuff up. They are connected to my UPS(that is also a surge protector.)
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nukemaster

nukemaster

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Most of them will have a power switch, just shut it off when not in use(for the drive's lifespan this is the same as unplugging it.).

Unplugging(At the wall outlet side) is not a bad idea if you are worried about power surges, but even those depend on the kind of switch the card drive enclosure has. It takes a pretty good spike to jump in a normal switch(but many drives use electronics to switch in and off now).

I have 2 externals used for backup and they are off unless I am backing stuff up. They are connected to my UPS(that is also a surge protector.)
 
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