Needless to say, most external USB HD (with ide drive not usb drive in it) is sold with a power adapter.

I know you are supposed to first connect the Adapter-USB cable then the Adapter-power source cable.

I wonder what harm can it do if you disconnect the USB HD by unplugging the Adapter-USB cable rather than the Adapter-Power cable.

My neighbor complains that it is pain for her to have to bend down to reach the power strip located in the back of her bulky desk. She wants to know why it has to be the way the manufacturer told her.

TIA

i_XpUser

Hmmm... I can't see any reason why the order of unplugging makes any difference. My back-up drive is permanently plugged into the mains & I tend to turn it on (to let it 'settle') before plugging in the USB connector & I've never had any problems (though I don't think I've read the 'manual' that came with it either!!!!). Surely USB, being a bit of a 'catch-all' system of connecting, would not register any difference between the appliance of power as opposed to the insertion of the USB cable? - it just relies on a received signal, whatever instigated it.

"I know that I'm mad, I've always been mad"

I always plugged the USB last and unplugged it first and never had any problems. Of course I always notified the system before unplugging.

Where is that notice to do it the other way?

Do yourself a favor BACKUP!

Thanks guys..

ham - that's the way the manual (page 2 "Disconnecting the Drive" - article is PDF) told her to do.

The quiz here is are there any harm to just pull out the USB cable from the drive (of course after she "safely remove" it)?.

i_XpUser

That link didn't point to a manual, XpUser.

But all other USB devices can be disconnected by removing the USB cable, I don't see why a hard drive should be any different. I suspect that her manual is in error.

Do yourself a favor BACKUP!

To me connecting the power when the drive is already connected might tend to cause problems rather than the other way around. I wonder if she read it wrong.

Do yourself a favor BACKUP!

Doesn't the case have a power switch on it? Mine does. I have seen many posts here with USb drive file corruption. I think folks simply pull the plug without safely removing the device first. I simply safely remove and then shut off the power switch, leaving both cables connected.

The HD is Maxtor Basics 200GB. There is no power switch on the HD.

I suggested to her that she (1) stick with the order of disconnect to avoid any problem, and (2) purchase another power strip to ease shutting off the power to the HD without having to bend down behind the heavy desk.

i_XpUser

My external USB/Firewire caddie also has a power switch at the back, and all I do is switch it off when I'm not accessing the disk for an extended period of time, I very seldom yank the firewire plug.

And when I do yank it, I don't go through the "safe removal" rigmarole either, but I woiuld recommend configuring the disk for "write caching" so that it is optimized for unsafe removal at any time.

Good idea - thanks. Curious - did you build the caddy yourself? If not what brand/model is it that has its own power switch on the back?

i_XpUser

Sabertooth, the reason for the safe removal icon is so that if the external drive is in the process of writing you won't disconnect prematurely.

Yes axactly..that's what it was designed to do - sort of warn you. A drive prematurely disconnected often produce corrupted drive or RAW drive that is difficult if not impossible to correct.

i_XpUser

Hey XpUser,

Sorry I never got back until now, the caddie is a no name el-cheapo from fleabay & ofcourse it didn't come with the disk.

Thanks Saber :-)

i_XpUser