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I'm wondering if there is any harm (e.g risk of data loss) in changing the device in my optical bay (e.g. from optical drive to HDD), while my operating system (BSD, Linux or Windows) is running? I would of course unmount the HDD or SSD in the optical bay, before removing it.

I am asking generally for all kind of systems, but I am using a Lenovo T430. My OS is in the first drive, not the one in the bay.

karel
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jumpingwires
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2 Answers2

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Correction. Not all consumer pcs are capable of hot swapping drives.

Regardless, I recommend turning off your computer anytime you're adding or taking components out. You don't want to short circuit anything while you're working on your pc. Yes hardware is alot more resistant to static electricity and much more, but why take the chance. Typically when hard drives are hot swapped, they're in enclosures or servers that make it really easy to swap out.

On windows computers, you'll have to go to Disk Management and make sure to initialize hdd otherwise it will not show up in windows explorer or have a drive letter assigned to it.

StoicM
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    Hot swap is only supported if the sata driver supports it, most consumer pc's do not support hot swap. – Moab Feb 21 '19 at 21:55
  • Gotcha @ Moab So just turn off your personal computer and call it a day. :) – StoicM Feb 21 '19 at 21:58
  • I think systems should be designed with short-circuit prevention in mind, and I am willing to take the Chance (after I made a backup). I like your answer but as @ndocds mentioned, shouldn't all SATA devices be hot swappable? – jumpingwires Feb 21 '19 at 22:20
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SATA is advertised as "Hot Swappable" and is done in an enterprise environment all the time. Older operating systems won't recognize the drive some times. You cannot swap your primary drive that your OS is running on.

ndocds
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  • I didn't know of the feature "hot swappable" and that this is used all the time in production. Thank you! – jumpingwires Feb 21 '19 at 22:22
  • You can purchase items such as: Just ensure you dismount the drive. I use a SATA external enclosure to hot swap drives at home all the time. At work my server has 4 hot swappable bays https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Duplicator-Function-EC-HD2B/dp/B0759567JT/ref=sr_1_7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1550788627&sr=1-7&keywords=SATA+Hard+Drive+Docking+Station – ndocds Feb 21 '19 at 22:38
  • Thanks. I didn't know I needed this, but I felt that something was missing :`-) – jumpingwires Feb 21 '19 at 22:47