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Unplugging External Drives when Powered ON

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I have an external USB drive that saves my Acronis backups, full on Monday and incrementals on Weds, Fri and Sunday. all evenings.

I recently read that it's not good practice to leave drives plugged in in case there is a power surge. Can I ask if I would be better off unplugging the drive and only having it plugged in when I know a backup is due?

I'm also not sure if I can unplug the drive without first turning off the PC. Looking on the Safely Eject Hardware bit on the Taskbar, I can see three USB devices but the drive that takes my Acronis backups is "greyed out".

As always, any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

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I recently read that it's not good practice to leave drives plugged in in case there is a power surge. Can I ask if I would be better off unplugging the drive and only having it plugged in when I know a backup is due?

Mike, get yourself either a surge protected extension lead to connect your drive power leads to, or else invest in a UPS system which includes both surge protection and also would give a period of time to allow your computer to shutdown more gracefully than just losing power.

I have used combinations of the above for many years, going back to when I had an IBM PS/2 model 80 where I lost 2 internal SCSI disk drives following a power cut / surge.

Now, my main computer equipment is connected to a UPS and other devices are plugged into surge protection extension sockets.

Thank you Steve.UPS is something I'd not heard of until you mentioned it. I had a quick look on Amazon but there were so many types I hadn't a clue where to start. I'm not even sure of their physical sizes.

Again a pointer in the right direction would be a great help.

Mike, I have one of the CyberPower BRIC UPS models which sits under my main computer desk.

See Amazon: CyberPower BR1000ELCD-UK BRICs Series, 1000VA/600W, 6 UK Outlets (3 Surge only, 3 UPS and Surge), 1 USB Charging Port, AVR, Brick Format

Mine was bought 2 years back from another UK company at the time, but looks very similar to the one shown in the link above.  You would need to look at the appropriate models for your own country plug types.  The UK uses the 3 pin type shown in my link which wouldn't work for Europe or the US etc.

I have had older APC UPS boxes prior to changing to using CyberPower.  It is mainly a protection mechanism rather than a solution for any real lasting power outages!  Commercial UPS systems are significantly more expensive than those intended for home use.

Steve I used the same or similar model UPS for many years.

There are some more extreme protection such as surge protection at what used to be called a fuse box, but now has circuite breakers. I have surge protection on each phase coming into the house. Some of the more sophisticated solar power systems include storage batteries that incorporate surge protection. 

Ian