OK To Lay Tower Horizontally?

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use_a_hammer

I have an older computer and I want to lay the tower horizontally is
this OK? It doesn't have a CD tray just a slot so loading a disc isn't
a problem. Will the HDD and the CD drive work correctly if the tower
is on it's side?

TIA
 
I have an older computer and I want to lay the tower horizontally is
this OK? It doesn't have a CD tray just a slot so loading a disc isn't
a problem. Will the HDD and the CD drive work correctly if the tower
is on it's side?
Click to expand...

It should. Years ago I can remember that it was recommended to format a
hard drive in the orientation it would going to be used. I found that
advice dubious then, and have heard it for a long time.
 
In message <[email protected]>
I have an older computer and I want to lay the tower horizontally is
this OK? It doesn't have a CD tray just a slot so loading a disc isn't
a problem. Will the HDD and the CD drive work correctly if the tower
is on it's side?
Click to expand...

In general it's not an issue, although some systems rely on heat rising
to maintain proper cooling.
 
Anyone else have a comment before I new desk that requires the tower
to lie hor?
Click to expand...

Only two things you really need to watch for...

One is the CD drive. A slot load should be OK. Most trays are also OK as
then have tabs that hold the disk in the tray.

The second is that you lie it on it's right side (looking from the front).
If you put it on it's left side you end up with the motherboard upside down,
with the CPU heatsink "dangling" so to speak. With everything "upside down"
it makes it a lot easier to jar the PC and break the heatsink mounts. It
also doesn't help cooling the PC in general.
 
Only two things you really need to watch for...

One is the CD drive. A slot load should be OK. Most trays are also OK as
then have tabs that hold the disk in the tray.

The second is that you lie it on it's right side (looking from the front).
If you put it on it's left side you end up with the motherboard upside down,
with the CPU heatsink "dangling" so to speak. With everything "upside down"
it makes it a lot easier to jar the PC and break the heatsink mounts. It
also doesn't help cooling the PC in general.
Click to expand...

Thanks, my "plan" is to have it lying on it's right side.

That way everything is on the bottom, and heat transfer shouldn't be a
problem.

And if it does stop working, I blew up a $100 computer...at the most.
No info that needs to be saved.
 
It should. Years ago I can remember that it was recommended to format a
hard drive in the orientation it would going to be used. I found that
advice dubious then, and have heard it for a long time.
Click to expand...


In theory, yes it's better to format in same orientation.
This is because any amount of play in the mechanical
components (bearings) will settle into an orientation based
on gravity.

In practice, as mechanical tolerances became better and
better, it became less and less of a factor. Today, the
importance is low enough it may never matter, but has anyone
done enough study of this to know that several years of wear
later a drive would read as well if formatted in a different
orientation? Certainly mechanical wear is a factor at some
point. We can't really know until extensive study was
undertaken, but all else being equal it should be safer to
format in same orientation, moreso the older the drive gets.
 
In message <[email protected]> kony
In theory, yes it's better to format in same orientation.
This is because any amount of play in the mechanical
components (bearings) will settle into an orientation based
on gravity.
Click to expand...

If you were laying down tracks in a true low level format, sure. Modern
drives cannot be low level formatted after purchase so it's moot.

A OS format will do nothing at all. Luckily, thanks to the ultra tight
(vs the era where low level formatting was needed) tolerances, most
modern drives adjust the head positions dynamically to account for the
"track drift" problems of yesteryore.
 
In message <[email protected]> kony


If you were laying down tracks in a true low level format, sure. Modern
drives cannot be low level formatted after purchase so it's moot.

A OS format will do nothing at all. Luckily, thanks to the ultra tight
(vs the era where low level formatting was needed) tolerances, most
modern drives adjust the head positions dynamically to account for the
"track drift" problems of yesteryore.
Click to expand...

Yes, today's tolerances make it irrelevant for moderate-term
use. That still does not resolve what will happen at the
end of a drive's life, when tolerances are not so great
anymore.

To be sure, we'd have to have relevant testing.
 
In message <[email protected]> kony
Yes, today's tolerances make it irrelevant for moderate-term
use. That still does not resolve what will happen at the
end of a drive's life, when tolerances are not so great
anymore.
Click to expand...

You misunderstand -- Today's tolerances are too restrictive to assume
the head will always be able to find the right track

As a result, modern drives contain additional components which are
designed to adjust based on factors like temperature (which will cause
the arm which holds the heads to get shorter or longer), or gravity.

As a result, something like orientation is fairly trivial to
accommodate.
 
In message <[email protected]> kony


You misunderstand -- Today's tolerances are too restrictive to assume
the head will always be able to find the right track

As a result, modern drives contain additional components which are
designed to adjust based on factors like temperature (which will cause
the arm which holds the heads to get shorter or longer), or gravity.

As a result, something like orientation is fairly trivial to
accommodate.
Click to expand...

Yes, drives do as you wrote, but it does not account for
rotational errors due to mechanical wear which eventually
make the drive unreadable. The question is whether the
point of unreadability, will come as soon or not.
 
Grinder said:
It should. Years ago I can remember that it was recommended to format a
hard drive in the orientation it would going to be used. I found that
advice dubious then, and have heard it for a long time.
Click to expand...


AFAIK that advice was just for those old MFM drives...
the machine should work fine, no matter what the orientation...
I've seen a number of machines that could be converted from a horizontal to
vertical configuration...
IIRC, Compaq had some that were easily converted
 
I have an older computer and I want to lay the tower horizontally is
this OK? It doesn't have a CD tray just a slot so loading a disc isn't
a problem. Will the HDD and the CD drive work correctly if the tower
is on it's side?
Click to expand...

In theory, yes it's ok. You may have a problem tho putting a CD in the
CDrom drive and getting it to work properly.
 
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