Question Questions hdd buy and heads hdd / PC power off automatically power on

[classicaran]

1) On AliExpress, many brands and models of 2.5" and 3.5" HDDs are sold. I believe they are generally used, but most or all of them show 0 hours or very few hours of use and good health in CrystalDiskInfo. What do they change? Do they also modify, disable/enable functions of the original firmware, or even replace the original firmware with modified firmware?
2) I use a 2.5" HDD + USB 3.0 enclosure. When I run the Windows 10/11 command "Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media in tray windows" after the drive letter F: disappears and my hand hits the enclosure, causing it to move on the table, will the heads and arms of this 2.5" HDD touch and scratch the platters?
my models hdds 2.5" is old Seagate ST500LM030, WD10JPVX-08JC3T5, HGST HTS541010A99E662

 

[classicaran]

Yesterday my PC turned on automatically during the night, it only happened once. I'm not sure, but I think the power to the house was turned off for a few minutes more in moment pc power off. My setup: i5 3470, 16GB DDR3 RAM, ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0 motherboard, Corsair CX power supply, Radeon R7 360p graphics card.

In my case, the PC was already turned off when the power went out. Is it normal for the power to come back on and the PC to turn on automatically?

@Bot

 

[Sorrento]

The rotation of the platters is similar as if you hold and spin a bicycle wheel vertically its difficult to twist it is inertia/angular movement - I have two 3.5 inch drives salvaged from my PC's & 3.5 TB that fit into a caddy, I use for backups, even after safely removing them from Windows sometimes the platters are still spinning & when I remove them from the caddy the spinning of the platters is very obvious & you cant turn turn the drive easily as it still has a twisting force inside it, its more apparent with the larger platters on a 3.5 inch (heavier platters) at 7500 than on a smaller drive, it does NO Harm, the platters are held in place by bearings & I have never had an issue in moving any hard drive when its running or after running.

Its why you don't fall off a bicycle or motorcycle & why a spinning top stays vertical - I would not buy used hard drives, I never have so I'm not sure how they fix used hard drives but if they do the info is unreliable!

 

[cruelsister]

1). Don't ever buy a used HD (never, ever). One never knows what "tweaks" were added to the Firmware.
2). No, you can be a bit rough with a HD enclosure as long as the HD is properly secured in it.
3). No, the system should not have powered on by itself if it was Shut Off. Someone or Something had do power it on (my money is on the Shadow People).

 

[Sorrento]

Maybe if you had a power cut & the inrush current on restore maybe???? Maybe, perhaps??? could have caused a PC to start, its never happened to me in decades but after an outage though the inrush current can be many times from normal whether 220/115 volts though small amperage, especially if idiots are running your grid? I doubt it very much, though I've seen 6000/12000 volt transformers disintegrate after an outage.

 

[Bot]

1) On AliExpress, many brands and models of 2.5" and 3.5" HDDs are sold. I believe they are generally used, but most or all of them show 0 hours or very few hours of use and good health in CrystalDiskInfo. What do they change? Do they also modify, disable/enable functions of the original firmware, or even replace the original firmware with modified firmware?
2) I use a 2.5" HDD + USB 3.0 enclosure. When I run the Windows 10/11 command "Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media in tray windows" after the drive letter F: disappears and my hand hits the enclosure, causing it to move on the table, will the heads and arms of this 2.5" HDD touch and scratch the platters?
my models hdds 2.5" is old Seagate ST500LM030, WD10JPVX-08JC3T5, HGST HTS541010A99E662

Hello,

1. About AliExpress HDDs showing 0 hours and “perfect” SMART data


Most of the 2.5" and 3.5" HDDs sold there are refurbished drives pulled from servers, laptops, or external enclosures. Sellers commonly use tools to reset or alter SMART data so the drives appear new. This can include:


• Resetting Power-On Hours
• Clearing or masking Reallocated/Pending sectors
• Rewriting parts of the firmware modules
• Disabling certain SMART warnings
• Swapping donor boards


They generally do not replace the entire firmware, but they do modify enough of it to hide defects. Because of this, SMART results on these drives are not trustworthy. If reliability matters, avoid used HDDs from AliExpress.


2. Moving a 2.5" HDD enclosure after using “Safely Remove Hardware”


You are safe. Once Windows ejects the drive:


• The heads park
• The platters spin down
• The drive enters standby


A light bump or sliding the enclosure on the desk will not scratch the platters. Modern laptop drives, including your ST500LM030, WD10JPVX, and HGST model, have automatic head-parking systems designed exactly for this. Only a strong shock during active read/write could cause trouble.


3. PC powering on by itself after a power outage


If the system was fully shut down before the outage, it should normally stay off. There are three likely explanations:


a) BIOS Power Recovery Setting
On ASRock boards, in the BIOS under Power Management, there is an option like:


• Restore on AC/Power Loss
• AC Back
• After Power Loss


If this is set to “On” or “Last State”, the PC will turn on as soon as power returns.


b) Power-on surge after the outage
A sudden voltage return can sometimes send a short trigger signal to the PSU. Rare, but possible, especially with older power supplies.


c) Wake-on-USB / Wake-on-LAN
If enabled, a device like a USB dongle or network card can trigger a wake event when power comes back.


Check the BIOS option first. If you set it to “Off” and disable wake events, the problem should not repeat.