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Devil_kin1 OP t1_ixytixl wrote

Reply to comment by KremlinHoosegaffer in ELI5 why do you need to turn of hard drives to unplug them instead of just unplugging them by Devil_kin1

Could you write this dumber please

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KremlinHoosegaffer t1_ixytv9i wrote

If you unplug a hard drive while computer is on, electricity from your clothes/rug/pets could zap it and break it.

Don't need to turn off a hard drive which is impossible. Delete anything on it if moving to another computer. If not, don't worry.

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RhynoD t1_ixyzcif wrote

There is a zero percent chance that you will build up enough static electricity to destroy a thumb drive. They are tested to withstand much higher zaps than you can generate without special equipment.

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KremlinHoosegaffer t1_ixyzqr9 wrote

I'm talking about hard drives not thumb drives. Those that require sata cables and clip into your motherboard.

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RhynoD t1_ixz0b8g wrote

All of the components in your PC are tested against static electricity.

If your drive is plugged in, it's grounded and any stray charge will pass harmlessly through the case and never touch any of the electronics inside.

If it is not plugged in, there is no path to ground and the charge will not pass through the drive at all.

If you pulled off the case, you are already doing something dumb and likely to damage your drive regardless of any static charge. Even so, the amount of charge you'll get from a mild static discharge is unlikely to damage any components. At most you might corrupt a couple of bits of data, but honestly even that is unlikely.

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