[drcarl]

I would like to know if it is best to check or uncheck the box in the Energy Saver preference panel that says Put the hard disk to sleep when possible. I was told that having your hard disk spin up and down increases the possibility of writing errors on the disk.

[bradoesch]

I don't think there's a definite answer for this one, it's similar to the shutdown or leave on your computer question.
I would recommend putting the computer to sleep if you won't be using it for say, an hour or more. I never liked the constant spinning up and spinning down of my FireWire drive so I set it to never spin down.

[Agent69]

Personally, I don't ever spin down the hard drive. I don't mind powering off the monitor but I hate waiting for a hard disk to spin up.

[Ric_D]

A couple of weeks ago, I selected the hard drive sleep option in the Energy Saver preferences on my flat panel iMac. I can't tell any difference. That tells me that either (a) it doesn't work, or (b) it works so well that it's not noticeable.

Ric

Originally posted by drcarl:
I would like to know if it is best to check or uncheck the box in the Energy Saver preference panel that says Put the hard disk to sleep when possible. I was told that having your hard disk spin up and down increases the possibility of writing errors on the disk.

[Anomalous]

I always spin down my HD, and I've never had a problem. I think it is actually better for the disk because it places less wear on it. It saves a little electricity too.

[Mohammed Al-Sabah]

yeah would be good to have it sleeping if its not being used for a while ... but like others said waiting for it to spin sucks