H20nly wrote:If you think that leaving a hard disk on doesn't cause wear and tear then you've got a "self regulating" engine in your car that needs to be on right now. Get out there and start your fucking car!
Piss on what the OS likes. If you loose your hard drive you'll be the one pissed on. Your O.S. can be reinstalled. Hard drives are measured by mean time to failure and are subject to wear and tear just like blenders, transmissions, and electric toothbrushes.
sorry, but you are wrong. it's the hard drive that does not like to be shut off! always leave your externals plugged in.
there is this thing called stiction.
harddrive platters have a thin lubricating surface which allows the heads to be very close to the platter, as the drive spins this surface is pulled to the edges of the platter
the issue happens when the drive heads are parked and this layer cools and hardens. you are left with a raised area around the edge of the harddrive which the heads cannot move past rendering the harddrive useless and dead.