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My new laptop, a Lenovo IdeaPad 720, has a 256 GB SSD drive and a 1 TB mechanical drive (HDD). I'd like to be able to safely carry the laptop around while turned on, without taking the usual precautions associated with HDD machines, such as not tilting/moving the machine while on, etc.

Since I rarely need the extra capacity of the HDD, I've turned it off from the Device Manager in Windows 10. However, I cannot really hear the difference in the laptop's background noise, and am not sure whether the HDD's mechanical parts are now really all off, so that I can be confident that my now-SSD-only-laptop is no longer as sensitive to being rattled and carried around while on.

I would appreciate any thoughts about this, thank you!

z8080
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  • These days you're unlikely to hear the HDD unless the rest of the laptop is completely silent. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Feb 06 '18 at 19:41
  • Your concerns about HDDs were valid some 20-25 years ago. –  Feb 06 '18 at 19:51
  • Still, would you be convinced the HDD is now physically turned off just because I've disabled the corresponding drive from the Device Manager? If so, does it mean I can be as relaxed moving my laptop around as I'd have been had it just been an SSD-only laptop? – z8080 Feb 06 '18 at 19:51
  • @MichaelBay still, if there is a moving-parts mechanical HDD inside that is turned on, I would definitely not handle a laptop as freely as I would with an SSD-only one!? – z8080 Feb 06 '18 at 19:52

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Setting an internal hard disk to "Offline" will cause it to power down and stop spinning, although for it to completely stop spinning might take some seconds.

In servers that are built for it, this is one method for taking out a disk or replacing it without turning off the computer.

So the answer is "Yes" - it is highly likely that an offline disk is in the same state as when the computer is off. However, as for most such questions, a 100% sure answer is never possible.

harrymc
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