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I have an external USB 3.0 HDD that I only use for weekly backups. I usually just leave the usb cable connected to the computer and plug it into the power socket when needed, do the backup, then eject it via Windows (10) and after a few minutes (I wait for it to go to sleep for a while - it usually doesn't stop spinning for many minutes) I unplug it only from the power (220V) but not from USB.

Will leaving the drive connected to USB affect it (or the PC) in any way? Does it know not to use the USB power at all to try to spin up? I'd imagine the USB doesn't supply enough power so it could technically damage the motherboard?

The reason I'm not also disconnecting the USB is because the drive is connected to a port on the back of the computer so I either have to get below the desk with a flashlight to find the right cable and port (when inserting...) or move a few boxes to get to the back of the drive and disconnect the flimsy micro-usb-B connector (the extra wide one).

dany123
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    *"the drive is connected to a port on the back of the computer"* -- I use USB extension cables to solve that issue. FWIW I'm in the habit of disconnecting the USB cable (see https://superuser.com/questions/1096796/when-unplugging-a-usb-external-hard-drive-is-it-safer-to-unplug-the-cable-from/1096858#1096858) mostly because that's the reverse order of the power-up procedure that I use (see https://superuser.com/questions/408930/cant-mount-old-ide-hdd-using-an-usb-adapter/409482#409482). – sawdust May 14 '20 at 21:13
  • Interesting, but why this part "the HDD must be spinning and ready (heads unlocked) before you plug in the USB cable at the PC"? – dany123 May 14 '20 at 23:15
  • The usb extension cable is a great ideea, thanks. That will fix the practical part of my question. – dany123 May 14 '20 at 23:16
  • *"why this part "the HDD must be spinning...before you plug in the USB cable""* -- In some setups (hardware + OS/drivers) the system did not bother to wait for the HDD to become ready. As soon as the USB connection was established the HDD was expected to be ready for a read/write command, or else the USB connection was reported as bad/failed. Powering up the drive *before* making the final USB connection ensured that the PC host would always see an operational and ready HDD. – sawdust May 15 '20 at 05:51
  • I see, so in regards to my question, you're suggesting I unplug both the USB and Power cables everytime? I've never had the problem you're mentioning though in Windows, maybe you had a faulty hdd/kernel in your case? I don't see why full hdd spin would be required to properly accept the connection. That would mean a HDD going into sleep to be disconnected from OS everytime. – dany123 May 15 '20 at 14:02

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