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Hard drive Upside Down?

T

The Fonz

Junior Member
I was installing a second hard drive to my computer and the only way I could get it to fit with the wiring was to install it upside down. The computer powers up and it works perfectly. I was just wondering if the hard drive being upside down causes performance issues or if it will shorten its life span? I doubt it will, but it never hurts to ask. Thanks.
 
No problem I have not found any position that has caused a problem, even on end or an the side is ok, after all how would it sit in an external enclosure?
 
The safest thing is to identify the model and manufacturer of the hard drive and check the drive maker's web site for mounting specifications. There used to be warnings about mounting drives in certain orientations, but I doubt that problem exists for most of today's drives. It never hurts to check.

Here's the FAQ for Western Digitals SATA drives:

"Mount the drive in the system:

The drive can be mounted in a standard 3.5" device bay. The drive can be mounted sideways, on end, or even upside down as long as the mounting screws are used properly. Use either the four bottom screws or four of the side mounting screws to support the drive. This will prevent vibration and provide additional electrical grounding."

A quick look at the specs for a Seagate Cheetah 10K SCSI drive shows mounting as:
"Vertical, horizontal, or top down mounting"
 
It doesn't really matter. The old rule of thumb was any position as long as it is consistent.
 
I've got a weird story. My Seagate 320GB 7200.10 has a very loud motor and it is unbearably annoying. Seagate tech support was giving me the run around so I was just messing with the drive and decided to flip it over so the label was faced down. The noise stopped completely!
 
Originally posted by: anandtechrocks
I've got a weird story..... to flip it over so the label was faced down. The noise stopped completely!
Click to expand...
Not a weird story. Bearings can't be equally effective in all orientations.
 
Originally posted by: RebateMonger
Originally posted by: anandtechrocks
I've got a weird story..... to flip it over so the label was faced down. The noise stopped completely!
Click to expand...
Not a weird story. Bearings can't be equally effective in all orientations.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! But, you'd think they would be most effective when oriented UP... 🙂
 
Either up or down is fine so long as you don't block the air vent hold. If something blocks it, the read head will eventually crash into the drive surface. Just never block that tiny hold. or never have it facing a dusty enviornment.
 
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