HDD hot swap

[Alberto]

Hi all.
I have a "hot swap" bay for a removable HDD, every time I change the HDD,
while the system is running,
windows losts the disk and I have to reboot the system.
Is it possible to avoid this ? and how .....

Thanks

Alberto

 

[Pez D Spencer]

this might make me sound dumb, but, just for clarification, how many
hard drives do you have in use at a time?

 

[gerryR]

if you go to disk management (right click my computer--> manage--> disk
management) after you replace the drive and choose Action and rescan drive
and refreash, maybe that will bring them up?

hth
gerryR

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi all.
I have a "hot swap" bay for a removable HDD, every time I change the
HDD, while the system is running,
windows losts the disk and I have to reboot the system.
Is it possible to avoid this ? and how .....

Is this an IDE drive bay? My understanding is that these are *not* suitable
for hot swapping, and you can damage the drive by doing this. Swapping
should be done while powered off.

 

[Plato]

I have a "hot swap" bay for a removable HDD, every time I change the HDD,
while the system is running,
windows losts the disk and I have to reboot the system.
Is it possible to avoid this ? and how .....

Learn to use hot swap correctly.

 

[John Jay Smith]

only if you are using a serial ata drive or one with a USB connection should
you attempt to hot swap...

if you try that with an IDE you may destroy your drive or motherboard or
both


--
Kenny - www.ComputerBoom.com

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

-Arthur C. Clarke

 

[Alberto]

Just for all ...
I have 3 HDD

2 SATA HDD ( 1 for boot and 1 for data)
1 IDE HDD removable

My config :

P4 3.2 Ghz prescot
MB ASUS P4P800-SE
2GB RAM
ATI )6000 XT AGP ideo card

 

[John Jay Smith]

is the removable in a tray that goes in your computer case or is it in an
external case
with a SATA or USB wire?

If its in a removable tray like the image here:
http://www.backup-for-workgroups.com/images/removable/installation6.jpg

then dont hot swap it like that...or BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!

--
Kenny - www.ComputerBoom.com

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

-Arthur C. Clarke

 

[philo]

is the removable in a tray that goes in your computer case or is it in an
external case
with a SATA or USB wire?

If its in a removable tray like the image here:
http://www.backup-for-workgroups.com/images/removable/installation6.jpg

then dont hot swap it like that...or BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!

That's what I was thinking too...
though there are servers that use hot-swap caddies...
they use ultra-wide scsi drives...
and my guess is the OP does not have any such thing

 

[paulmd]

Is this an IDE drive bay? My understanding is that these are *not* suitable
for hot swapping, and you can damage the drive by doing this. Swapping
should be done while powered off.

There are some of these that ARE hot swapable. But if it doesn't say it
is, then it isn't.

http://www.granitedigital.com/catalog/indx_ide.htm

http://www.aberdeeninc.com/ABCATG/MI611.HTM

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=531307&CatId=285

 

[gs]

if you do have a truly hot swappable drive and the right device driver, you
should be able to click the remove hardware icon in the notification are.

That will allow you to remove the drive safely. If you have open files or
explorer on the drive, it will warn you. Of course, if you ignore that, your
windows can still crash or you could lose data.
Btw don't place any data or program you need to start up windows in the
removable drive, or your window will hang on startup

 

[philo]

if you do have a truly hot swappable drive and the right device driver, you
should be able to click the remove hardware icon in the notification are.

That will allow you to remove the drive safely. If you have open files or
explorer on the drive, it will warn you. Of course, if you ignore that, your
windows can still crash or you could lose data.
Btw don't place any data or program you need to start up windows in the
removable drive, or your window will hang on startup

That's OK for an external USB drive...
but *not* to be used with one on an IDE channel!

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

There are some of these that ARE hot swapable. But if it doesn't say
it is, then it isn't.

I don't claim to be an expert on this, and I may be wrong, but my
understanding of how these work is that if they re IDE, they are essentially
all the same, and hot swapping is always a dangerous thing to do, regardless
of what the manufacturer says.

External USB devices are, of course, a diffferent matter.

 

[Manny Borges]

To the best of my knowledge IDE is simply not hot swappable.

But lets say it is, for arguments sake.

In all the hot swap systems I have encountered, there is typically a
software program that runs on the system that will give you the disk status
and can be used to perform different maintenance and utility functions.

These hot swap bays also typically have status lights to indicate if a drive
is on line, rebuilding, offline, etc.

Did this bay come with any of these item?

--
Manny Borges
MCSE NT4-2003 (+ Security)
MCT, Certified Cheese Master

There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who do understand binary
and those who don't.