Is my drive safe?

[Smoblikat]

So my new 2TB just came in and I transferred all my data from my current one over to it. I then removed the drive letter, will this prevent programs and viruses from accessing it? I really dont want to have to unplug it and plug it in every time i want to add more files.

 

[Elixer]

Safe from what normal programs trying to access it ? Yeah.
Safe from malware ? That depends on how low level it is written.
Safe for all your files ? Not unless you have a backup, and multiple backups if you really want to be safe.

 

[KingFatty]

Is there any good way to 'disable' one hard drive, but still use another?

I'm thinking of a system with an SSD you want to keep active, and a HDD for media and other archival files you want to keep safe.

To my knowledge, you'd have to physically unplug the drive, but any other ideas for selectively disabling the spinning hard drive?

I like the idea of removing the drive letter from the HDD like Smoblikat has done, but any other ways? Does the HDD keep on spinning and generate heat/eat into its lifespan when the drive letter is removed?

 

[Anteaus]

Please delete

 

[kbp]

Is there any good way to 'disable' one hard drive, but still use another?

I'm thinking of a system with an SSD you want to keep active, and a HDD for media and other archival files you want to keep safe.

To my knowledge, you'd have to physically unplug the drive, but any other ideas for selectively disabling the spinning hard drive?

I like the idea of removing the drive letter from the HDD like Smoblikat has done, but any other ways? Does the HDD keep on spinning and generate heat/eat into its lifespan when the drive letter is removed?

Device manager / disk drives - uninstall.
ReInstall - device manager / disk drives - reinstall then refresh.

 

[Smoblikat]

Device manager / disk drives - uninstall.
ReInstall - device manager / disk drives - reinstall then refresh.

GENIUS!!

Will windows require a format after re-installing it though?

 

[Smoblikat]

Safe from what normal programs trying to access it ? Yeah.
Safe from malware ? That depends on how low level it is written.
Safe for all your files ? Not unless you have a backup, and multiple backups if you really want to be safe.

this drive IS my backup, so I want it safe.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

If it's attached to the computer, it's only safe to a certain extent, no matter what games you play with it.

 

[KingFatty]

Device manager / disk drives - uninstall.
ReInstall - device manager / disk drives - reinstall then refresh.

Would the uninstall survive a reboot? Or would the drive be reinstalled automatically when you reboot windows?

 

[greenhawk]

Is there any good way to 'disable' one hard drive, but still use another?

I like the idea of removing the drive letter from the HDD like Smoblikat has done, but any other ways?

Does the HDD keep on spinning and generate heat/eat into its lifespan when the drive letter is removed?

1) not properly without removing power. Some drive bays allow the individual drive to be powered off (normally when about to pull the drive, but can use it anytime if not an OS/Boot drive

2) does not really help greatly as smart software can get around it. It is common to be able to access a drive without a drive letter with drive utilites so programming it is probably not that hard. Though the other side is that drives can be mounted as folders, so not needing their own drive letter for programs to access it.

3) it will keep using power as it has power attached. It will spin up with the computer and only drives that have a idel mode (like green drives) will then slow down at some point. But if you are running some disk programs like a anti virus program, it might be able to access the drive anyway, even without a drive letter, so no powering down of the drive.

 

[Smoblikat]

1) not properly without removing power. Some drive bays allow the individual drive to be powered off (normally when about to pull the drive, but can use it anytime if not an OS/Boot drive

2) does not really help greatly as smart software can get around it. It is common to be able to access a drive without a drive letter with drive utilites so programming it is probably not that hard. Though the other side is that drives can be mounted as folders, so not needing their own drive letter for programs to access it.

3) it will keep using power as it has power attached. It will spin up with the computer and only drives that have a idel mode (like green drives) will then slow down at some point. But if you are running some disk programs like a anti virus program, it might be able to access the drive anyway, even without a drive letter, so no powering down of the drive.

I have a green drive, its the drive im talking about. So if I removed teh drive letter that should help a little (though it makes sense that it wont prevent anything since HDtune accesses drives without letters), will my drive shut itself down after a while?

 

[nanaki333]

install truecrypt and make it encrypted. mount > move/copy data > dismount

this way the partition stays offline AND it's encrypted.

 

[rickon66]

I have installed Antec easy sata drive bays on my computers so I can simply slide in an sata drive and use it just like in internal drive as needed. It is even hot swappable under Win7.

 

[razel]

Would the uninstall survive a reboot? Or would the drive be reinstalled automatically when you reboot windows?

It will reinstall on reboot, however, you can 'disable' instead of 'uninstall'. It will stay disabled even after reboot.

 

[kbp]

^ Sorry.....Ment to say disable instead of uninstall. And yes it will stay disabled on reboot as "razel" posted.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Keep the power off, if you demand security and data integrity. Everything else is just a "gimmick".

 

[Smoblikat]

Keep the power off, if you demand security and data integrity. Everything else is just a "gimmick".

I would love to, but I dont have any hot swap bays and I dont feel like going behind my motherboard tray to plug the power in every time I need to write to the drive. I think ill just disable it. Thanks again everyone.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I would love to, but I dont have any hot swap bays and I dont feel like going behind my motherboard tray to plug the power in every time I need to write to the drive. I think ill just disable it. Thanks again everyone.

With it being disabled, it will still go thru needless power cycles. Don't you have External SATA at the back?

 

[rickon66]

I would love to, but I dont have any hot swap bays and I dont feel like going behind my motherboard tray to plug the power in every time I need to write to the drive. I think ill just disable it. Thanks again everyone.

See post #11 - Antec EASY SATA only $19.99 at Fry's, small price for peace of mind.

 

[Burner27]

Put it in an external enclosure and turn it on when you need it. Turn it off and store it safely somewhere when not needed.

 

[greenhawk]

Keep the power off, if you demand security and data integrity. Everything else is just a "gimmick".

taking power from it works for the security and data integrity, but without it being away from the computer, fire and theft will still result in data loss OP.

 

[Skiprudder]

If you want something that fits inside your case, but still has a physical power switch that you can turn on and off, how about something like this?
http://salestores.com/byteccbt125e01.html

 

[Magic Carpet]

taking power from it works for the security and data integrity, but without it being away from the computer, fire and theft will still result in data loss OP.

That's actually, very true. Ideally, you'd store it off-site in a safe deposit / etc.

It's another "security versus convenience" dilemma, company policy must clearly cover these issues to avoid confusion and most importantly, data loss.