Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think!husc6!m2c!wpi!jayvana
From: jayvana@wpi.wpi.edu (Jay van Achterberg)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: SCSI Saver Improvement Requests
Message-ID: <8482@wpi.wpi.edu>
Date: 17 Feb 90 22:05:01 GMT
References: <8370@wpi.wpi.edu>
Reply-To: jayvana@wpi.wpi.edu (Jay van Achterberg)
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester ,MA
Lines: 26

The following is a reply I got to my suggestions about SCSI Saver
improvements:

ONG_AC@jhuvms.hcf.jhu.edu (Albert C. Ong) writes:
> Subject: SCSI Saver improvements
>	I like your suggestions for improving SCSI Saver.
>	One question I have is, does unmounting the HD by dragging the
> hard drive icon into the trash do anything to prolong the life span of the
> drive?
>	If you could post this question to the net, I'd be thankful.
> I can't post reliably from my accounts.  Thanks.

Unmounting a hard disk doesn't do anything to the physical hardware of the
hard disk (give or take a little more reading and writing prior to unmounting
it).  All it does is make the computer forget about the hard disk, while the
disk keeps on spinning with the heads keep floating over your data.  In fact,
if the hard disk is your system disk, unmounting shouldn't be possible
(right?), because the Mac won't let itself forget about the system disk.

An INIT like SCSI Saver will help protect your hardware, though.  What I
initially downloaded it for was in hope that I could put my printer on the
same table as my hard disk, and whenever I went to print something, I could
park my hard disk heads so the vibration of the printer wouldn't damage the
hard drive.  (I have since moved the printer to another table.)

					-Jay (jayvana@wpi.wpi.edu)