[SOLVED] Extending lifetime of SATA hard disks

[Andrew_Werber]

A very long time ago, I read somewhere that keeping a computer on would extend the life of a hard disk. Is this still true? My disk is a Toshiba X300 8 Tb SATA 7200 RPM disk.

 

[siaan312]

Probably, but not that big an impact. Hard drives die at some point, they have moving parts, they are built that way.

When not plugged in to a computer for a couple of years, a drive could die because say the lubricants would seep out and stuff.
Having it plugged in and idle or spin up from time to time would help with that, but it would still die in time, because now it's spinning up and such.

 

[Karadjgne]

It was a theory, but one that cannot be proved or disproved. Nobody can say the exact lifespan of a hdd, ssd, nvme. Everyone experiences a difference in usage, trim amounts, optimization, Defrag etc.

For instance someone who uses a hdd, and only uses the same programs, never adding or deleting, will wear out the same paths faster than someone who uses more of the disk platters in different areas.

There's also engine theory, that starting an engine causes more wear on the rings that have lost oil in them due to gravity. With ssd/hdd same thing, startup procedures stress components more with loads and activity.

But with no way to accurately measure exact end-life, it's all a guess as to general expected lifespan.

Most ppl expect @ 5 years for a hdd before thinking about sector failures. Older SSDs didn't have controllers as good as later models and smaller sizes saw heavier usage comparatively in larger amounts as compared to larger size, newer SSDs, so mbtf is better with newer models.

 

[CountMike]

Possible failure time anywhere from now to never, so have a backup and don't de-fragment often.

 

[Andrew_Werber]

I thank all of you who responded to my question. Unfortunately, I don't see a way to split points between all the answers, so I picked the first answer as Best Answer.