External Docking stations

[CobalTicz]

i bought two external drives and both have a power switch on the back i was wondering if im supposed to leave it on all the time or turn if off after use one is an icy dock blizzard and the other is a wd elements so should i leave them on or turn them off when the xbox/pc is off

[roberto++]

turn off when pc/xbox is off or when you do not need to access the data. otherwise the drive is constantly spinning which is wearing down the already limited life cycle of the hard drive.

 

if the power switch is a push on/off rather than a flip switch on/off, would unplug the power instead to prolong the life of the button.

 

i bought two external drives and both have a power switch on the back i was wondering if im supposed to leave it on all the time or turn if off after use one is an icy dock blizzard and the other is a wd elements so should i leave them on or turn them off when the xbox/pc is off

[DigitalHermit]

Not too sure with the Icy dock, but the WD Elements does spin down after a certain amount of down time and completely stops spinning when it detects that the USB is disconnected from the host system. It'll be safer to turn off the drives when not in use to prevent unnecessary mechanical wear.