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Hard Drive Isolation Method

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davedamon2000

n00b
Joined
Jan 15, 2006
Messages
18
High there. I've had an idea, but I'm not sure how valid or sensible it is. Basically, I had a secondary HDD on my computer, just for back ups in case of a crash of virus. Now it was working fine, i was backing up regulary. But then the dreaded happened. I got a virus, but even though I hadn't put any infected files on the back up drive, it was still infect. I think it was because the drive was always connected and powered up with my main drive, hence the virus was free to move. Now this is my idea to prevent that in the future.

I was thinking about putting a switch on the +5v line of the HDD molex. This switch would be on the off position unless I wanted to back up files, but only after a virus scan. In order to back up, I would turn off my computer, flick the switch into the on position and boot up. With the HDD powered up as normal, I could back up. Then I could shut down, turn off the power, thus isolating the drive again from viruses and start up as normal. Would that work and, appart from the risk of knocking the switch, would it pose any hazards?

Many thanks
 
You should be fine, although I recommend having a double throw switch that shuts of both the 12v and the 5v.

Simply because, without the 5v circuit, I dont think drives are capable of powering themselves down, which of course increases in-use time, and decreases drive lifetime.

I did this for an Sata laptop drive (only had 5v) but with a keyed switch in order to keep certain... files... Away from prying eyes. Sata can be hotswapped (at least with the card I was using) therefore I was able to disconnect-reconnect at will.

Have you considered doing this to a USB drive instead? One that could be turned on/off with the OS still booted?
 
I did think about a USB drive enclosure, along with getting a removable HDD. But that worked out as more expensive. I'm on a tight budget and thought it would be a great use for a switch I recently won off ebay (search for 140031990365). As I only have one switch, would it be better to put it in the 12v or 5v line?
thanks
 
I wouldn't recommend having to choose one. You could go to Radio Shack and get a double pole switch for a buck or two.

Another thing to consider is whether your HDD is SATA or IDE. You cannot just turn the power to an IDE drive on and off with windows running. SATA ok, but you'd actually have to shut down windows to turn your IDE drive on or off.

IDE drives are not "hot swappable".

I did this for an Sata laptop drive (only had 5v) but with a keyed switch in order to keep certain... files... Away from prying eyes. Sata can be hotswapped (at least with the card I was using) therefore I was able to disconnect-reconnect at will.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I didn't read that quote before I posted.
 
If this is an IDE drive I really wouldn't recommend doing this. I've tried to run hard drive and optical drives with the molex unplugged but the ribbon plugged in. And most IDE controllers don't like that. They seemed to see a "ghost" of the drive it's plugged into, but couldn't communicate with it and caused the system to hang waiting for the hdd to respond.
 
The only "proper" way to isolate a HDD is to hold it in reset, by raising pin 1 high. The drive has to electrically disconnect itself from the bus if you do that.

To do this, you'll have to isolate pin 1 on the drive and tie it to +5V through a 10K resistor. To enable the drive, connect it to pin 1 on the cable.
 
I've used a single switch to control both the 12V and 5V lines on a hard drive before with a similar objective, and had no problems. Windows handled the appearing/disappearing drive just fine. I was, of course, only toggling the switch when the computer was off. I say go for it--molex extension cables are cheap, and DPDT switches are cheap, and you're not gonna blow up anything by trying...as long as you don't cross any wires...
 
in 10 years I havn't gotten a virus... and the only virus scanner I run is trendmicro's online one every now and then. The point is, are you sure it's a virus or is it something else? How are you getting these things so often that you back up your data in case of virus instead of in case of HDD failure?
 
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