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Dropped Hard Drive... but it still works...

P

Policar

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 21, 2004
662
7
I was using my 2TB WD Essentials 2.5'' external drive and accidentally flung it from the desk while it was still on.

But the thing is.... it still works just as well as before. Have I shortened its lifespan or am I just lucky?

I'm going to buy a backup drive I guess, but should I retire this drive and replace it?
 
GoCubsGo

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,741
153
I would buy a backup drive and mirror it. You're lucky, probably. Not sure if you shortened the lifespan but when or if something happens, you can probably figure that it is due to the flinging of the drive from a desk.
 
wlossw

wlossw

macrumors 65816
May 9, 2012
1,110
1,165
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Policar said:
I was using my 2TB WD Essentials 2.5'' external drive and accidentally flung it from the desk while it was still on.

But the thing is.... it still works just as well as before. Have I shortened its lifespan or am I just lucky?

I'm going to buy a backup drive I guess, but should I retire this drive and replace it?
Click to expand...

some portable drives have sudden motion sensors that park the heads in the event of rapid movement... that could have helped?
 
N

Nemic

macrumors member
Mar 18, 2012
98
1
You are probably lucky and may not have damaged the drive at all, but there is perhaps no way to be totally sure of that.

I would make a backup of it for sure.

If the drive contains anything even slightly important to you then you should seriously consider having a minimum of TWO copies of the contents.

Hard drives are pretty cheap these days and the cost of doubling up on storage is a small price compared to the heartache of losing something important.
 
P

Policar

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 21, 2004
662
7
Nemic said:
You are probably lucky and may not have damaged the drive at all, but there is perhaps no way to be totally sure of that.

I would make a backup of it for sure.

If the drive contains anything even slightly important to you then you should seriously consider having a minimum of TWO copies of the contents.

Hard drives are pretty cheap these days and the cost of doubling up on storage is a small price compared to the heartache of losing something important.
Click to expand...

My read/write (it's a 2.5'' external drive) is 70MB/sec now... started around 100MB/sec when the disk was empty. (Now 1.5TB or 2TB are full.)

Is this a bad sign? I'm assuming it's from fragmentation, not from dropping it.

I guess I will order a back up. It's frustrating, I buy these drives to do unpaid work (I work in video) and by the time I end up buying all the hardware I need to do that work, I am paying thousands of dollars to do unpaid work!
 
N

Nemic

macrumors member
Mar 18, 2012
98
1
Fragmentation may be an issue. If a lot of data is being written and re-written and the drive is on the full side, then that may well slow it down a bit.

A simple rule of thumb is that all hard drives fail, it's just a question of when. Dropping the drive may have shortened it's lifespan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive_failure

It must be frustrating to be out of pocket for your work, but does that have to be the case? Perhaps the people who wants the work done can contribute to your costs?

However I would replace the drive for sure, and consider getting another one as backup. You can also use your dropped drive as a further backup. If the drive is getting filled up quickly, 4TB drives are available and are not that expensive. Have you considered getting a powered desktop drive? This would likely be faster than a 2.5" bus powered one (if that is what you have).
 
P

Policar

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 21, 2004
662
7
Nemic said:
Fragmentation may be an issue. If a lot of data is being written and re-written and the drive is on the full side, then that may well slow it down a bit.

A simple rule of thumb is that all hard drives fail, it's just a question of when. Dropping the drive may have shortened it's lifespan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive_failure

It must be frustrating to be out of pocket for your work, but does that have to be the case? Perhaps the people who wants the work done can contribute to your costs?

However I would replace the drive for sure, and consider getting another one as backup. You can also use your dropped drive as a further backup. If the drive is getting filled up quickly, 4TB drives are available and are not that expensive. Have you considered getting a powered desktop drive? This would likely be faster than a 2.5" bus powered one (if that is what you have).
Click to expand...

I use the 2.5'' drives because it's easiest to deliver to clients. I have a toaster so should probably buy a few 4TB 3.5'' drives for back up as they appear cheapest per GB.

If I asked clients to chip in to hardware costs, it wouldn't be unpaid work. When I agree to a contract, even a verbal one, I agree to it, for better or worse, but it is extremely expensive maintaining decent edit hardware for unpaid post work.
 
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