Properly hot-swapping?

[rflcptr]

I'm running my drives on an ICH10R.

- AHCI is enabled.
- Intel Matrix Storage Manager installed.
- OS is Win7 64-bit

Going to be short with this, what should I do to safely remove a drive? Thanks!

 

[ToddW2]

I have an external eSATA setup I just power it down pull out the drive plug in new drive power on... works fine.

I`m sure I could leave it on and unplug the drive and plug a new one in too. I just power it down (since they are mechanical) and let them slow before removing them to pro-long life, or so I think that's what I am doing! L O L: )

 

[keenan]

Use the Windows safely disconnect widget. Then yank the drive...

 

[rflcptr]

Use the Windows safely disconnect widget. Then yank the drive...

Hmm, no such widget visible. Will Device Manager + uninstall do the trick?

 

[keenan]

Ah yeah, most drivers assume that 'internal' SATA ports are not hotplug and tell Windows that the disk is not removable.

Go into Disk Management instead and right click on the drive (ie. Disk 1, not the partition) and choose 'Offline'. Then pull it. I imagine that removing it in Device Manager would work too.

There's not really any risk to the hardware, just your data, gotta make Windows commit any cached writes.

 

[rflcptr]

Yep, appreciate the help!

 

[InvisiBill]

Using HotSwap! makes things really easy.