How strong is a HDD

Question

I got a new hdd, I ended up scratching it (my case has alot of holes that are sharp) I'm not sure if i messed up anything, do you guys think it damaged the outlet? What does the outlet do anyway? I didn't plug anything in there but i'm not sure if this would effect me in the long run. (the red circle is where it got scratched)

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consider checking out SMART tools or other diagnostics http://askubuntu.com/questions/20393/how-do-i-interpret-hdd-s-m-a-r-t-results?rq=1 — belacqua, Aug 12 '14 at 00:20
SuperUser.com is probably a better place to ask hardware-related questions. — TSJNachos117, Aug 12 '14 at 01:14

Volker Siegel · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-12T00:27:02.767

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Hard disks are special in these ways:

They do not like to collide with hard and heavy things.
They really do noy like hitting anything at all while they are running.

Otherwise, they are just devices you should better not pour coffee on, and better not touch if you have electrostatic charge on you.

So: the hard disk does not care how you scratch the outside.

edited Aug 12 '14 at 00:27

answered Aug 12 '14 at 00:16

Volker Siegel

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Even the pins on the outside? – Deathstroke Aug 12 '14 at 00:23
As long as you can bend them back, more or less straight, pins of that size are no problem. They are used with small caps that connect two of them each, called 'jumper'. – Volker Siegel Aug 12 '14 at 00:26
so in other words even if pins are scratched up it'll still be very usable with no troubles in the long run? – Deathstroke Aug 12 '14 at 00:33

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 11 '14 at 22:40

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There will probably be no damage to it. But it's impossible to tell just from that picture. In general, you're more likely to damage a drive from impact (shaking the stuff inside) then from scratches to the outside.

answered Aug 11 '14 at 22:40

Cris Holdorph

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 11 '14 at 22:43

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Scratches on the outside case of a hard drive won't hurt it. The "outlet" is a set of jumper pins used to change the electronic state of the drive circuitry. You usually don't need to mess with them for a typical computer configuration. You can check the documentation for the drive at the manufacturer's website if you want to know what the function of each jumper is.

answered Aug 11 '14 at 22:43

Chicodoodoo

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so even if it got scratched its fine? and i shouldn't worry about scratches on it in general? – Deathstroke Aug 12 '14 at 00:08
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Right! As long as you do not hit it, it does not care. (Hitting includes situations like when the earth suddenly hits a dropping hard disk, of course.) – Volker Siegel Aug 12 '14 at 00:35

How strong is a HDD

3 Answers3