Hard Disk Drive Myths Debunked Rev. 3.0

**MIG-31** · May 26, 2008, 01:24 PM

This guide was written in response to the numerous fallacies about the hard disk drive that are still being propagated in many discussions.

As you read through this guide, you may think that some of these myths may have been made up. We wished it was true. We collected these from discussions we heard or read over time.
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Source: TechARP

Matth · May 26, 2008, 11:46 PM

A fair chunk of myths date back to ye olde stepper motor drives when:
The lack of autopark meant that unexpected powerdowns could drop the heads on the surface.
The lack of dynamic tracking, meant that some tracking drift could occur between horizontal and vertical (the format vertical to use vertical myth).

As for wear and tear issues, the newer drive failures I have seen, have tended to begin with bad sectors growing in the middle of the drive, the MFT area in NTFS. Even though the heads do not make contact, there could be some fluid friction from the airflow. I also recall a series of mainframe hard drives that were prone to problems if the heads were allowed to dwell constantly over the same track - most modern drives use what is termed a "wear levelling" algorithm to wander the heads when idle.

May 26, 2008, 01:24 PM	#1
MIG-31 HardwareHeaven News Mod Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Nottingham,UK Posts: 56,854 Rep Power: 471 System Specs	Hard Disk Drive Myths Debunked Rev. 3.0 This guide was written in response to the numerous fallacies about the hard disk drive that are still being propagated in many discussions. As you read through this guide, you may think that some of these myths may have been made up. We wished it was true. We collected these from discussions we heard or read over time. ____________ Source: TechARP __________________ Please Post Your News Submissions Here

May 26, 2008, 11:46 PM	#2
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,426 Rep Power: 93 System Specs	A fair chunk of myths date back to ye olde stepper motor drives when: The lack of autopark meant that unexpected powerdowns could drop the heads on the surface. The lack of dynamic tracking, meant that some tracking drift could occur between horizontal and vertical (the format vertical to use vertical myth). As for wear and tear issues, the newer drive failures I have seen, have tended to begin with bad sectors growing in the middle of the drive, the MFT area in NTFS. Even though the heads do not make contact, there could be some fluid friction from the airflow. I also recall a series of mainframe hard drives that were prone to problems if the heads were allowed to dwell constantly over the same track - most modern drives use what is termed a "wear levelling" algorithm to wander the heads when idle. __________________ Mary had a little lamb, Her father shot it dead Now Mary takes her lamb to school, Between two crusts of bread