Any special method to shutting down an external hard drive?

S

sn1ckers

New Member
I just bought an external enclosure and put my extar storage hard drive in it (so that I can use it on both my laptop and desktop). The only supplied material was a registration card and a intructions manual (no how to properly use stuff). It connects in one of two ways to a computer (either with an E-sata cable or with a regular usb). It also has it's own power adapter (like most?). Now is there any special method to shutting it down? I know I should probably shut it down in the start bar (only available if connected via usb). Should I just disconnect the cable? Or should I manually shut it off with the power switch on the device's back panel?

Thanks. I have never worked with external hard drives before.
 
I just flip the power switch on mine. I don't disconnect or anything. As long as it's not in the middle of anything, it shouldn't hurt it one bit.
 
Worst case, you'd get currupt data, or maybe just loose whatever you were writing. I doubt you'd loose everything on the drive.
 
Never used on with an e-sata cable but with a USB I always remove it using that 'safely remove hardware' within Windows. Better to be safe than sorry in my opinion.
 
I have 3 different external HD's and I have never had any problems with loss of data from disconnecting using the above methods. I myself use the disconnecting hardware through windows, but on occasion have had to pull the usb cable or turn the drive off to make the HD disengage.
 
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