Properly installing a HD

[ghidu]

I just want to know if mounting a HD screwless is a bad idea? I mean I have a case that supports only this type of mounting and the HDs aren't tight installed.
Isn't vibrations bad for a HD?

 

[Jiggz]

It shouldn't unless you travel with your HDD. If it's just on a desktop system then it shouldn't vibrate as much. HDD are tested to stand certain G-Force which is usually a very briskly shaking.

 

[ghidu]

Thanks for your reply Jiggz.
The reason I ask is that I replaced my previous HD (that was useless after clicking for a few months) with a new one that's clicking after only few days. On the old one I couldn't find any bad sector until it was too late so there is no way for me to check a dying HD.
I just wan't know if this is only a coincidence.

 

[birdpup]

Your instincts concerning this issue are correct. Disk drives should be securely fastened to the case to prevent any vibrations. The drive platters are spinning at an incredibly fast speed and the space tolerance between the spinning platters and the read/write head is incredibly small. Vibration in such a device is not a good thing.

I suggest to find a method to securely fasten your hard drive to the case, such as in the slots below the floppy drive. Purchasing a new case that will allow secure fastening of the hard drives will be cheaper than purchasing replacements hard drives. Additionally, your data will be more secure.

 

[homercles337]

Originally posted by: birdpup
Your instincts concerning this issue are correct. Disk drives should be securely fastened to the case to prevent any vibrations. The drive platters are spinning at an incredibly fast speed and the space tolerance between the spinning platters and the read/write head is incredibly small. Vibration in such a device is not a good thing.

I suggest to find a method to securely fasten your hard drive to the case, such as in the slots below the floppy drive. Purchasing a new case that will allow secure fastening of the hard drives will be cheaper than purchasing replacements hard drives. Additionally, your data will be more secure.

Bah, total nonsense. Screwless is fine. My last two cases have been screwless. This amounts to 4 years and 6 drives (3 per case) that never failed.

 

[Arsenik13]

I agree with homer. I've had hard drives just dangling in a case that have lasted 2+ years with no fails. As long as you're not shaking your case around while the computer is on, I see no problem.

 

[birdpup]

Originally posted by: homercles337

Originally posted by: birdpup
Your instincts concerning this issue are correct. Disk drives should be securely fastened to the case to prevent any vibrations. The drive platters are spinning at an incredibly fast speed and the space tolerance between the spinning platters and the read/write head is incredibly small. Vibration in such a device is not a good thing.

I suggest to find a method to securely fasten your hard drive to the case, such as in the slots below the floppy drive. Purchasing a new case that will allow secure fastening of the hard drives will be cheaper than purchasing replacements hard drives. Additionally, your data will be more secure.

Bah, total nonsense. Screwless is fine. My last two cases have been screwless. This amounts to 4 years and 6 drives (3 per case) that never failed.

Screwless may be fine depending on the quality of the case construction but I did not address this. The OP stated his drives are not securely attached, is concerned about vibration, and is on his second failing drive after only a few days.

Is this a coincidence as the OP asks? I think not.

 

[birdpup]

Another possibility for the failing drives may be dirty power.

How old is the wiring in the home?
What brand and wattage is the power supply unit?
Do you (OP) have a UPS backup battery with undervoltage (brownout) protection?

Power Supply 101

 

[birdpup]

It is possible different hard drive mounts may also fix the problem.
3 1/2" Hard Drive Mounting Kit

 

[CraKaJaX]

I used screwless mounts for both of my drives in RAID 0 for about a year, never had a problem.

 

[ghidu]

Originally posted by: birdpup
Another possibility for the failing drives may be dirty power.

How old is the wiring in the home?
What brand and wattage is the power supply unit?
Do you (OP) have a UPS backup battery with undervoltage (brownout) protection?

Power Supply 101

The case is an A-TOP Alien or so I thoght until I saw that A-TOP sells its cases without a PSU and I got one with a 600W. It was pretty expensive and since the exterior and interior looked exactly like A-TOP I bought it online. Anyway, here is a like to a review
Review A-TOP Alien Case
I don't have an UPS and the wiring is really old. Are you sure that a bad PSU can cause a mechanical failure in on my HD?

Originally posted by: birdpup
It is possible different hard drive mounts may also fix the problem.
3 1/2" Hard Drive Mounting Kit

I was looking for something similar, unfortunately they don't ship in my country and here I found a mounting kit that absorbs vibrations for 20$.

Thanks guys for your input, it's appreciated

 

[birdpup]

Originally posted by: ghidu
Power Supply 101

The case is an A-TOP Alien or so I thoght until I saw that A-TOP sells its cases without a PSU and I got one with a 600W. It was pretty expensive and since the exterior and interior looked exactly like A-TOP I bought it online. Anyway, here is a like to a review
Review A-TOP Alien Case
I don't have an UPS and the wiring is really old. Are you sure that a bad PSU can cause a mechanical failure in on my HD?
[/quote]

Yes, "dirty" power can certainly physically damage a hard drive. In fact, the hard drive is typically the first sign of trouble in the situation of unclean power. The electrical power to the home can cause irregularities if the PSU is of lower quality. A battery backup helps to regulate the power supplied to the system in a way the computer PSU's are not designed to handle. High quality PSU's tend to further extend their capabilities into the area of power line regulation than the lower quality PSU's will.

An elite troubleshooter on this forum, mechBgon, has found that when people experience problems and ask for system help on this forum, many times their problem is a cheap or failing power supply. Often, when people replace their power supply, their system problems disappear.

 

[ghidu]

Originally posted by: birdpup

Originally posted by: ghidu
Power Supply 101

The case is an A-TOP Alien or so I thoght until I saw that A-TOP sells its cases without a PSU and I got one with a 600W. It was pretty expensive and since the exterior and interior looked exactly like A-TOP I bought it online. Anyway, here is a like to a review
Review A-TOP Alien Case
I don't have an UPS and the wiring is really old. Are you sure that a bad PSU can cause a mechanical failure in on my HD?

Yes, "dirty" power can certainly physically damage a hard drive. In fact, the hard drive is typically the first sign of trouble in the situation of unclean power. The electrical power to the home can cause irregularities if the PSU is of lower quality. A battery backup helps to regulate the power supplied to the system in a way the computer PSU's are not designed to handle. High quality PSU's tend to further extend their capabilities into the area of power line regulation than the lower quality PSU's will.

An elite troubleshooter on this forum, mechBgon, has found that when people experience problems and ask for system help on this forum, many times their problem is a cheap or failing power supply. Often, when people replace their power supply, their system problems disappear.[/quote]

So if I get a good PSU all my HD clicking will dissapear? Or the disk is on its way out anyway? What do you recommend as a good quality PSU?

 

[GEC]

Hi All
Look at this from a different angle. We all know HDD run hot. By screwing the HDD to the case, the case becomes a HEAT SINK for the HDD. I have observed a temperature drop after mounting the HDD solid , all four screws, in the case. Any addtional cooling on a hot component is good and its free.
GEC

 

[birdpup]

Originally posted by: ghidu

Originally posted by: birdpup
Power Supply 101

Yes, "dirty" power can certainly physically damage a hard drive. In fact, the hard drive is typically the first sign of trouble in the situation of unclean power. The electrical power to the home can cause irregularities if the PSU is of lower quality. A battery backup helps to regulate the power supplied to the system in a way the computer PSU's are not designed to handle. High quality PSU's tend to further extend their capabilities into the area of power line regulation than the lower quality PSU's will.

An elite troubleshooter on this forum, mechBgon, has found that when people experience problems and ask for system help on this forum, many times their problem is a cheap or failing power supply. Often, when people replace their power supply, their system problems disappear.

So if I get a good PSU all my HD clicking will dissapear? Or the disk is on its way out anyway? What do you recommend as a good quality PSU?

I do not know if obtaining a good PSU would eliminate current clicking sounds or other problems with any current hard drives. Hard drives currently in the system may be fine after a PSU replacement or they may be permanently damaged, this is something I am not able to determine, either on your system or my own.

I do know that a UPS battery backup (with undervoltage, brownout, line regulation and protection) allows a lower quality PSU to power a system without problems. The combination of a UPS with a high quality PSU will virtually eliminate potential electrical power problems for a system, resulting in few, if any, hardware malfunctions.

For power supply recommendations, I am not the best person in this regard. But I have read other forum poster's statements declaring certain brands good and bad.

Best: PCP&C, Seasonic (but very expensive)
High Standard: OCZ
Standard: Fortron, Sparkle, Antec, Enermax, Superflower, X-Clio

Any of these brands are perfect for any system.

Dual 12V power lines (rails) work well if you have two 12V connectors on the motherboard. Dual 12V rails are cheaper to manufacture, so they should not be more expensive than a single 12V rail.

Ensure you have the appropriate motherboard connections for the PSU that may be selected. Some PSU's have two 12V rails, 20 or 24 pin connections, or an extra 4 pin connection.

You would need a minimum of 18 amps on the 12V rail. More if you have a high powered video card. If you have a low end system, 16-18amps would probably work fine, if you have a UPS battery. 18 amps or more is better.

 

[ghidu]

Originally posted by: GEC
Hi All
Look at this from a different angle. We all know HDD run hot. By screwing the HDD to the case, the case becomes a HEAT SINK for the HDD. I have observed a temperature drop after mounting the HDD solid , all four screws, in the case. Any addtional cooling on a hot component is good and its free.
GEC

I will try to install the HD in the lower slots where I have 2 fans blowing. The thing is the A-TOP is constucted in a way that it's very dificult to close the case with the HDs installed in the lower slots.

Originally posted by: birdpup

I do not know if obtaining a good PSU would eliminate current clicking sounds or other problems with any current hard drives. Hard drives currently in the system may be fine after a PSU replacement or they may be permanently damaged, this is something I am not able to determine, either on your system or my own.

I do know that a UPS battery backup (with undervoltage, brownout, line regulation and protection) allows a lower quality PSU to power a system without problems. The combination of a UPS with a high quality PSU will virtually eliminate potential electrical power problems for a system, resulting in few, if any, hardware malfunctions.

For power supply recommendations, I am not the best person in this regard. But I have read other forum poster's statements declaring certain brands good and bad.

Best: PCP&C, Seasonic (but very expensive)
High Standard: OCZ
Standard: Fortron, Sparkle, Antec, Enermax, Superflower, X-Clio

Any of these brands are perfect for any system.

Dual 12V power lines (rails) work well if you have two 12V connectors on the motherboard. Dual 12V rails are cheaper to manufacture, so they should not be more expensive than a single 12V rail.

Ensure you have the appropriate motherboard connections for the PSU that may be selected. Some PSU's have two 12V rails, 20 or 24 pin connections, or an extra 4 pin connection.

You would need a minimum of 18 amps on the 12V rail. More if you have a high powered video card. If you have a low end system, 16-18amps would probably work fine, if you have a UPS battery. 18 amps or more is better.

My current PSU is rated 28A or more and the PC runs fine (I'm gamming alot).
I'll look into getting a new PSU and a new case maybe.

 

[birdpup]

Originally posted by: ghidu
My current PSU is rated 28A or more and the PC runs fine (I'm gamming alot).
I'll look into getting a new PSU and a new case maybe.

With 28amps, the PSU should be fine but I am not certain. Look elsewhere for the problems before replacing a 28amp PSU.

I assume this 28 amps is on the 12V rail.

 

[redhatlinux]

I seem to remember that in the past, IBM had issues with screwless, not from the point of vibration, its not a big deal but the fact that the screww into the case provided a 'solid' path to ground. Static build up inside a drive spinning at 7200rpm is pretty high. I recall that either IBM or WD had a tip about adding the screw to the case.

 

[Oyeve]

Why take a chance? HDs are dirt cheap but data is not. I suggest possibly wedging some rubber to tighten the looseness.

 

[corkyg]

I have used Velcro in some instances - no problems. Grounding is easy - just connect a ground wire (by thumb screw) between the drive and the case. Actually, the Velcro fastening damped most of the drive's vibration - that is not an issue.

 

[Jiggz]

Alright, lets take a look on some of the most common "screwless" hdd. External hdd enlcosure for one are screwless. Sure the back fo the enclosure has two screws but not the darn hdd. But no one has to blame screwless design as the source of hdd failure. CD Rom/DVD external enclosures are the same but yet no complaints about them failing because they are screwless. And come to think of it, these screwless hdd ext enclosures do more travelling or moving compare to those mounted screwless on desktop cases. What do you say?

 

[ghidu]

Originally posted by: birdpup

Originally posted by: ghidu
My current PSU is rated 28A or more and the PC runs fine (I'm gamming alot).
I'll look into getting a new PSU and a new case maybe.

With 28amps, the PSU should be fine but I am not certain. Look elsewhere for the problems before replacing a 28amp PSU.

I assume this 28 amps is on the 12V rail.

Yes, 28A on 12V

Originally posted by: redhatlinux
I seem to remember that in the past, IBM had issues with screwless, not from the point of vibration, its not a big deal but the fact that the screww into the case provided a 'solid' path to ground. Static build up inside a drive spinning at 7200rpm is pretty high. I recall that either IBM or WD had a tip about adding the screw to the case.

Originally posted by: corkyg
I have used Velcro in some instances - no problems. Grounding is easy - just connect a ground wire (by thumb screw) between the drive and the case. Actually, the Velcro fastening damped most of the drive's vibration - that is not an issue.

I guess I could connect the HD with a wire to the chasis.
I've never heard of Velcro...

Thanks everyone for your advice.