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Although the basic handling of a hard drive doesn't involve anything complicated the failure to stick to the rules can cause damage that may stop the drive from working. Despite this not being any kind of mysterious subject I find that whenever I receive one, delivered to me, it is clear that someone the other end hasn't got much of a clue; I get it in a sealed anti-static wrapper (blackish plastic bag) but without any suitable packing to protect it from knocks and bumps during transit. That is a caution to you to consider rejecting a drive that isn't packaged properly and also to make sure that you yourself don't make the same kind of mistake, I, perhaps foolishly, have accepted these badly packed drives but I should add that they don't seem to have suffered any damage.
This is hardly an esoteric subject and you can visit any drive manufacturer's web site and read what they advise for the handling of their own products or you can find any number of articles in computer magazines and computing web sites that all repeat the same basic message.
When you handle a drive you can damage it by the physical handling - mechanical damage, and you can damage it by electrostatic discharge most often just called 'static' (short for 'static electricity' which in turn is short for 'electrostatic electricity'). Both risks can be avoided if you take certain precautions.
First of all 'earth' or 'ground' yourself so that you are not charged electrostatically. You must also avoid moving in any way that can produce a charge. You don't need to buy one of the wrist straps but you do need to think about this and adopt a method. In the UK the electrical mains sockets - what people call 'plug sockets' - have an earth connection. With the socket switched OFF you can safetly make a connection to this with a couple of cautions. The way I do it is to use a small screwdriver - you will need one when you come to installing or swapping the drive so that's a handy object to use.
Then I use the earth pin of any plug, plugged in to a nearby socket but withdrawn so there is a gap big enough to slide the screwdriver so it touches the earth pin. Before trying that you should also touch the wall with your hand or some other surface that can drain any charge you may have, otherwise, if you have a charge when you touch a good earth such as using my method, then you will feel it and you have probably experienced that at some time in your life so you know what I mean. If you are unclear about any of that then don't do it.
Remember, walking around or moving while wearing certain fabrics can charge you up all over again so the discharge will be wasted effort. This is a very basic and limited caution. For fuller advice do a search and find something that suits you. Don't just ignore it.
Physical damage can be caused by a physical shock to the drive so don't knock it and don't subject it to any sudden jarring. Also you need to avoid pressing on the casing. Handle it fairly gently.
Do not touch the pins or the printed circuit board. Handle it by it's frame only.
Think of the way you handle your prize CDs and DVDs, by the edge, not the surface. Similarly with the hard drive, by the outer edges of the frame. You can lay it in your hand safely but not so that the printed circuit board is touching your skin.
In handling you are trying to avoid physical damage by knocks or pressure and to avoid electrostatic damage by discharge to the electrical parts.
This is meant as a very brief piece of advice and depending on how much you now understand you may wish to do some more reading so that you are in no doubt about how to handle your hard drive.
If you buy a drive ready housed, perhaps to avoid any of this, then bear in mind that you will still need to know this when you come to either testing the results of cloning or in the event that you need that cloned drive to be swapped permanently.
By Paul E. Coughlin
SaneThinking.com
9 June 2008
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