Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!pacbell.com!ucsd!usc!nic.csu.net!beach.csulb.edu!sichermn
From: sichermn@beach.csulb.edu (Jeff Sicherman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: Re: Can a CompuAdd 386 be kept on its side safely?
Keywords: pc,compuadd
Message-ID: <1991Jan27.050920.18115@beach.csulb.edu>
Date: 27 Jan 91 05:09:20 GMT
References: <2777@speedy.mcnc.org> <1991Jan24.164501.10232@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu>
Distribution: usa
Organization: Cal State Long Beach
Lines: 29

In article <1991Jan24.164501.10232@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu> smsmith@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Stephen M. Smith) writes:
>In article <2777@speedy.mcnc.org> ge@mcnc.org (George Entenman) writes:
>>
>>A friend of mine bought a stand to keep her CompuAdd 386 on its
>>side, thereby saving desk space.  When the CompuAdd service person
>>saw it, however, he said that it made him uneasy to see that.  He
>>recommended that she keep the computer flat on her desk.
>>Who is right?  Will disk drives malfunction when turned on their side?
>>Does heat fail to disperse?  Etc?
>
>Normally it is OK to set a unit on its side, provided that you low-level
>format the hard drive in its new position (make sure you back up your
>disk first!).  The reason you need to low-level format the drive is
>that gravity is acting differently on the heads, and they will no longer
>coincide exactly with the previous sector markers.  Reformatting the
>drive will write the sector markers in relation to the way the heads
>in their new position will move.
>
>Be sure your friend checks her HD manual to see if there are any 
>caveats about vertical mounting of her HD.
>

    is it likely that this reformatting can be done by one of the
non-destructive reformatters (with reformatting forced rather than
conditional only on errors). Of course the backup should still be 
done first in case it doesn't successfully read in this position
but it could save the restore step.

Jeff Sicherman