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Disconnecting a Portable Drive

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Tomorrow, 2.9.2017, if all goes well, I should be connecting my WD Passport 4TB Ext. Drive. External portable drives shouldn't be connected 24/7, and because this is a backup drive there's no need.

Is it preferred to remove the cable from the back of the computer, or the back of the drive?

Thanks in advance,

CotS

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As far as Windows and ATI go, it makes no difference.

If you connect and disconnect your usb cable enough over the the years, won't that losen up the fitting between the male and female connectors?

Thanks in advance,

CotS

I have never known any problems with USB connections failing or becoming loose etc and I am continually connecting and disconnecting USB devices on various machines, including some that are ancient in technology terms!

The worse USB connectors in my opinion are the new micro USB on mobile phones where the connectors are more and more fiddly with use.  

The original USB full size connectors and the mini USB connectors have never given a problem, probably due to the increased size and length of the plug and socket dimensions to allow stability and better contact.

Actually, I was thinking of my stationary recumbent bike. Unfortunately, a) it's corded, and b) it's been pulled out of it's socket - from the base of the bike, so many times, that in the middle of my exercising, not only will I lose all resistance, but the display panel will go dark, because, the female connector got stretched out over time from d/c'ing it from the bike.  If I was watching TV to pass the time, and hadn't noticed how far I had gone, (I bike to mileage, rather than time,) it could be anybody's guess where I left off.

So it was based on my history with my excersie bike, I asked....

My experience with my past 2 cell phones - and their connectors - they are still working, now that you mention it.

CotS

Crime of the Scene wrote:
If you connect and disconnect your usb cable enough over the the years, won't that losen up the fitting between the male and female connectors?

Famous quote from John A. Shedd: "A ship in harbor is safe — but that is not what ships are built for."

The point is, sure, if you don't connect and disconnect the drive, then the connectors will last forever, but then, what's the point of having the drive? The drive and the computer are designed to have the USB connection connected and disconnected thousands of times. Not doing so is like the people who insist that you should hardly ever reboot a PC, since it's during booting that the drive may fail. Freaks.

If you're concerned, then disconnect the drive end, as the external drive may cheaper to replace than the PC motherboard that contains the USB sockets. But, really, I don't think it matters.

There is another reason for occasionally disconnecting / reconnecting USB connectors - the action helps to clean the contacts in the plug and socket, much like I solve some intermittent issues by reseating cards or memory modules etc.

Contacts oxidise over time just by exposure to the air, removing and reinserting causes friction which helps to clean them.