Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ginosko!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!gatech!ncsuvx!shumv1!unkydave
From: unkydave@shumv1.uucp (David Bank)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: COBOL, power cycles, and hard disks
Keywords: COBOL for PCs, acceptable power cycling, manual disk parking
Message-ID: <4267@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu>
Date: 22 Oct 89 07:28:42 GMT
References: <4005@cbnewsc.ATT.COM>
Sender: news@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu
Reply-To: unkydave@shumv1.ncsu.edu (David Bank)
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Organization: NCSU Computing Center
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    DISCLAIMER: This is ** NOT ** a flame

    Piece of advice to Olaf Henjum. When next you meet these people
telling you these things about PCs, don;t let them sell you any
bridges.


    Over time, frequent flipping power on and off CAN take its
toll on the PC's power supply on/off switch. It is just like any
other moving part and is subject to wear. As is the power supply
itself. Spikes and momentary power-up surges can cause component
degredation and that, combined with age, can make them fail.
    So yes, eventually these parts will fail. Is it likely to
damage your computer's innards in any way?? I'd be more worried
about the dust collecting in there.

    So...the PC/AT auto-parks hard drives on power-off. Gee, I
bet the people at IBM would be interested to know that. Sorry,
the sarcasm just slipped.
    Auto-parking is a function of the HARD DISK itself. PC/XTs
can have auto-parking hard drives or not. Same for PC/ATs. It all
depends on the hard disk. Check with the manufacturer to find
out. Generally speaking, RLL drives are intrinsically auto-park,
while most MFM drives are not.

    Next time you see these people, Olaf, tell 'em Unky Dave
said they don't know what in the hell they're talking about.
And that IS a flame (but not at you).

Unky Dave
unkydave@shumv1.ncsu.edu