PC Hard Boot & Hard Drive Stress

In the 1990's I read that IBM recommended that when a PC is hard booted (powered off by pressing and holding the Power-On Button) followed by the PC being powered back on, there should be a waiting period of at least 30 seconds before powering back on the PC.

The reason that this was recomended is to allow time for the hard drive to stop spinning before the PC is powered back on. IBM was saying that this prevented the hard drive from being shocked by suddenly being powered on when the hard drive is spinning down.

Is it best to allow at least 30 seconds before powering back on the PC or does it really matter?

Thanks in Advance.

 

Unless your hard drives are more than 10 years old, this guideline is no longer applicable. To tell you the truth, I had never heard of the suggestive "waiting period" before and I have been working with computers since 1972.

 

Never heard of it.

 

Yes It's true!, but It's Not solely because of the Hard drive Spin down time, It's Also to free up the Circuitry, Pressing and Holding down the Power Button is completely different than using the Shut Down from the Start Menu. Sudden Start/Stop's Will cause Short Circuits, Therefore Allowing time for the Circuitry to Bypass The System saves Data Loss As an example, There maybe times whan you remove the Power Cable from your PC, Yet still see a Motherboard light Illuminated for up to 10- 20 seconds afterwards!, This is because the System has not bypassed, and Current is still flowing through your System

 

I have had several computers over the years and all of them were turned off if not going to be needed in 2 hours or more. I also removed the power with the surge strip at night.

The HDDs except in one case have outlasted the computers they were installed in. The old 486 machine was killed by a leaking rechargeable CMOS battery damaging the motherboard without any warning. I still have the HDD and it still worked the last time I had a computer that supported IDE / PATA interface.

Had a 20Gig HDD can't remember if it was a Toshiba or Hatachi that had a known defect with the chips on the controller board. It still lasted 3 years.

I always looked at leaving a computer on similar to leaving a car idling in the driveway.

Things have changed some over the years now computers more reliably suspend or hibernate reducing wear and tear on HDDs but it all may be a moot point with SSDs.

rrrh1 (arch1)