HDD Thrashing?

[sw_freak64]

Hey guys, i just got a very odd hardware/software question. I am heavily into beta testing so my hard drive takes alot of thrashing between loding and unloading programs/ OS....2 words "UBER FRAG!" Does this cause long term harm to the hard drive? The reason why i ask is i have Vista RC1 and realy, realy like it..i just dont believe it is compatable with WoW b/c the screen freezes when you log on...i dunno, mabe not enough RAM...So realy this is a hardware/software question but i like you hardware guys better!

 

[Greg]

Fragmenting doesn't have any effect on the physical drive, it is just on the filesystem

Just back up your important data if you think you are putting excessive wear on the HDD (you should back up once in a while anyway).

 

[Nitestick]

well fragmentation doesn't directly damage a HDD but over time it does increase damage done due to the fact the HDD head had to move a lot more which shortens it's life span.

 

[sw_freak64]

So how much is too much when it comes to changing OS?

 

[Disillusion]

Fragmenting doesn't have any effect on the physical drive, it is just on the filesystem

Yeah, shitty filesystems like NTFS and FAT will do that.

 

[Nitestick]

agreed, EXT3 FS>NTFS

it really should not be a significant problem though i think. it is a kind of noticeable effect but one of those "well it does happen.....but who cares" kind of things.

 

[j12]

just back up ur important files. or periodically back up all the files.