Leaving your External HD plugged in 24/7

[3lite]

Is this bad? Does it really shorten the lifespan of your harddrive? Or does it make no difference?

Also, do I need to eject it in finder before turning off the macbook or no?

Thanks.

[justperry]

Don't think it will damage the HD, I have an external HD and it automatically "shuts" down after a while, if I click on it after lets say an hour our so when it sleeps it takes 5-10 seconds to awake.

[firedept]

Not quite sure if it shortens the life of them, but I run mine 24/7 and have no problems. I have one that has been on for 4 years except for maybe 2 or 3 times being briefly shut off.

If you are planning on unplugging it from the macbook, then I would eject before I shut down. If leaving plugged in, then no.

[JohnnyComeLatly]

I've had externals run for 24-7 for years without issue. Your HD inside most computers do it just fine.

That said, I've had a WD external on a Pc for 6 years withou fault, a FireWire ext HD on my iMac for almost 5 years without fault and a USB on my MBP for about 3 years. All 24-7.

[JoshMKB24]

I'm sure its fine if you do leave it on, but I always unplug mine or shut them down. Back in 04 I had a 40GB HD, big in those days........crash on me and I wasn't able to recover any of it. I know HD technology has definitely improved, but it scarred me for life I never shut down my computers, and have not really had any problems, so I can't imagine leaving a HD on would be much worse.

[Xgm541]

I've had a 1tb WD external running for 1 and a half years now nonstop connected to a router that acts as network storage. Havent had any problems yet.

[praktical]

Remember your HD is only active when data is being accessed. Other than that it exists in a standby mode so.

[robvas]

Probably best to leave it turned off - because external HD's are notorious for crapping out randomly. I leave mine on all day, though.

[F1 Fan]

Originally Posted by firedept

If you are planning on unplugging it from the macbook, then I would eject before I shut down.

If you're shutting down your computer won't the OS eject it as part of the shut down procedure?

[wolfpuppies3]

I run three external HDDs with my MB Pro all day long, eject them and shut the computer down each evening and repeat the cycle. Never a hing of a problem.

[firedept]

Originally Posted by F1 Fan

If you're shutting down your computer won't the OS eject it as part of the shut down procedure?

Some external hdd's require being shutdown before you turn the computer off. My G-Tech's & LaCie both state in the instructions to eject before shutting off computer. Not sure if all external hdd's are the same, but I err on the safe side. I do know that shutting down your computer should eject everything but why take the chance when it only takes a second to eject it.

[justperry]

Originally Posted by firedept

Some external hdd's require being shutdown before you turn the computer off. My G-Tech's & LaCie both state in the instructions to eject before shutting off computer. Not sure if all external hdd's are the same, but I err on the safe side. I do know that shutting down your computer should eject everything but why take the chance when it only takes a second to eject it.

And this is of course nonsense if you boot of the drive.

I never do and never ever had any problem.

And,AFAIK drives don't get ejected at all on shutdown, my external FW drive clicks when my mac shuts down, same sound as when it gets into sleep if it's not used for a while.

[F1 Fan]

Originally Posted by firedept

Some external hdd's require being shutdown before you turn the computer off.

Hmm... better check mine then!