Accidentally installed SSD with my PC powered on

[Segundoh]

I forgot I left my PC on overnight while running a memory test (so it wasn’t even in sleep mode), and I accidentally installed a NVME SSD while it was on. Is it possible I damaged anything like the SSD or any other parts? The PC seems to be booting up fine at least, and I’m able to boot into that SSD. Could this degrade the performance of any of my parts though?

Build: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/fpfDLs

 

[P4-630]

I just bought a second, very cheap SSD for a Windows backup

It seems your backups aren't that important....

 

[Segundoh]

It seems your backups aren't that important....

That’s true haha. I’m just using it to save my Windows settings and all since I’ve made so many changes to it, but I don’t have any important files or anything; I can always just redo my Windows settings though it’ll be annoying. I still hope I didn’t damage it or anything else since I was being stupid and all though lol.

 

[P4-630]

That’s true haha. I’m just using it to save my Windows settings and all since I’ve made so many changes to it, but I don’t have any important files or anything; I can always just redo my Windows settings though it’ll be annoying. I still hope I didn’t damage it or anything else since I was being stupid and all though lol.

If it's working fine now, you seemed to have dodged the bullet one more time....

 

[lemonadesoda]

If it's working fine now, you seemed to have dodged the bullet one more time....

@Segundoh is playing a game of Russian roulette

 

[Segundoh]

If it's working fine now, you seemed to have dodged the bullet one more time....

Next time, I’m leaving my monitor on if I’m running a memory test lol. I left it off so I could sleep so my PC wasn’t even in sleep mode, but, well, I learned my lesson now. You’re right, I definitely dodged another bullet here.

@Segundoh is playing a game of Russian roulette

It’s an unintentional game of Russian roulette, but that still qualifies as one lol.

 

[Kodehawa]

It’s an unintentional game of Russian roulette, but that still qualifies as one lol.

Reminds me of that one Youtuber that removes and adds parts from a running system for the lolz

 

[caroline!]

How come you don't realise the computer is on the moment you grab the case? like, the power LED is on, you open up the case and the fans are spinning.
At least for me it's common sense to remove all the cables before working on my computer.

Hot swap is a thing, but not for M.2 drives lol

 

[damric]

You aren't even trying until you have done it with a CPU.

 

[A Computer Guy]

You aren't even trying until you have done it with a CPU.

I saw a video on that about a month ago. There is someone who just does that "what if" kind of stuff with PC's.

 

[Segundoh]

Reminds me of that one Youtuber that removes and adds parts from a running system for the lolz

I watched his video and some other videos like that, and that’s relieving. If they can remove their GPU or RAM without breaking them, I should be fine then though I definitely won’t do it again lol.

How come you don't realise the computer is on the moment you grab the case? like, the power LED is on, you open up the case and the fans are spinning.
At least for me it's common sense to remove all the cables before working on my computer.

Hot swap is a thing, but not for M.2 drives lol

Yeah I was just being dumb and completely e missed the LED and the fans. I was also half asleep since I just woke up, so I should not do that again when I’m feeling tired lol. I typically remove all the cables, but I forgot this tile cause of that. I’ll be more careful in the future for sure.

You aren't even trying until you have done it with a CPU.

That video I watched where he took out the CPU was definitely interesting… and it was still even working after he put it back in.

I saw a video on that about a month ago. There is someone who just does that "what if" kind of stuff with PC's.

Definitely entertaining videos which make me feel a bit better about my PC’s health lol.

 

[caroline!]

I watched his video and some other videos like that, and that’s relieving. If they can remove their GPU or RAM without breaking them, I should be fine then though I definitely won’t do it again lol.

But have you watched this classic?

 

[Kodehawa]

But have you watched this classic?

Ah yes, the old days without thermal shutdowns.

 

[damric]

I saw a video on that about a month ago. There is someone who just does that "what if" kind of stuff with PC's.

I've done it twice on accident where I was changing CPUs on a test bench for HWBOT runs and forgot to turn off the PSU. Both times as soon as I dropped the new CPU in the board immediately booted up on its own without pressing the power button, no cooler or anything like oops. Immediately powered it off from the PSU and put the cooler on and they worked fine afterwards.

Now graphics cards I've done hot swaps when doing flash recovery and that's scary and I don't think I would ever do that again even though it worked fine.

 

[natr0n]

ALways unplug pc before working on it.

 

[GerKNG]

It seems your backups aren't that important....

they are all more or less standard ICs from the 4-5 big manufacturers.

Is it possible I damaged anything like the SSD or any other parts?

Normally not.
i've "hotplugged" (power and data) so many SSDs in my life and it never damaged them in any way.

 

[droid-I]

hotplug, that is just asking for trouble in the long run. SATA hotplug is of course one preventing thing for drives to not take a hit, but believe that was not the OP case.
It can not be too difficult to power down&unplug/PSU power switch a system before tinkering with drives etc. And why in the world is it at all necessary "hotplug" internal drives in home use?

 

[A Computer Guy]

hotplug, that is just asking for trouble in the long run. SATA hotplug is of course one preventing thing for drives to not take a hit, but believe that was not the OP case.
It can not be too difficult to power down&unplug/PSU power switch a system before tinkering with drives etc. And why in the world is it at all necessary "hotplug" internal drives in home use?

eSATA

 

[80251]

eSATA isn't it a dead std. now? I actually liked eSATA it was great for external, back-up HDD's

I have an external SSD plugged into a port on top of my case that protrudes about 4" from the case. Twice I've accidentally hit this SSD dislodging it while the PC was powered on. The result in both cases was the much older backup BIOS being automatically loaded and all BIOS settings being lost (incl. any saved BIOS settings). The SSD was unaffected (an old Samsung 850 Pro 128 GiB).

 

[Mussels]

But have you watched this classic?

The best part of that video is showing that old CPU's used to crash at under 40C, according to their info
WE GET AMBIENTS HIGHER THAN THAT HERE.


And yeah, it's not great to install something like a PCI-E device while the PC is running, but SATA devices (even m.2) are technically hotpluggable

ALways unplug pc before working on it.

Thats less safe

You should flip the PSU switch off but leave it connected so you have an earth

 

[LabRat 891]

While you probably do not have proper 'hot-swap' support, m.2s only use 3.3V, and 'the spec' does support hot-swap. ESD-damage would be my concern, and if it it's working @TM, there's decent-chance it's okay*.
(also, I've accidentally uninstalled and installed RAM in a powered-on system before. Neither the RAM or mobo were damaged. I don't recommend it, though)

*okay, in pedantic-reality: ESD can 'degrade' ICs, triggering a later premature failure.
Related: while the TSA says otherwise, X-rays will also cause a similar kind of 'cumulative angstrom-scale degradation' of ICs. (proof: articles about RAM and IC manufacturers are having to 'address' damage from X-ray microcircuit inspection)
semi-jokingly: if I had to regularly use air travel for business, I'd probably be putting lead and graphene/pyro-graphite foil around my SSD in my laptop.
As long as the shape looks correct, it shouldn't raise too many flags. Bonus points if you manage to get the TSA to make you take the maintenance panel off. I actually had this happen long-ago (when guests could accompany passengers to the gate). Friend of mine took home his gaming desktop after visiting for the Summer. They explosives-swabbed the entire inside and out of his PC. Thankfully, there was no damage when he got home.

 

[Segundoh]

But have you watched this classic?

Ah yes, the old days without thermal shutdowns.

I haven’t seen that before, that’s definitely amazing lol. I’m definitely never doing that for sure.

Now graphics cards I've done hot swaps when doing flash recovery and that's scary and I don't think I would ever do that again even though it worked fine.

So it’s fine to hotswap even a GPU and a CPU… I suppose it’d be fine this one time for a SSD too then though that’s all up to chance, really.

ALways unplug pc before working on it.

I’ve definitely learned my lesson. I’ll do that every time now.

Normally not.
i've "hotplugged" (power and data) so many SSDs in my life and it never damaged them in any way.

That’s good to hear. I’m not planning on doing it again, but it’s nice to know that it hasn’t caused you any issues.

hotplug, that is just asking for trouble in the long run. SATA hotplug is of course one preventing thing for drives to not take a hit, but believe that was not the OP case.
It can not be too difficult to power down&unplug/PSU power switch a system before tinkering with drives etc. And why in the world is it at all necessary "hotplug" internal drives in home use?

Yes, I was talking about a NVME SSD. I definitely won’t hot swap it again for sure. There’s no need for me to do that, at least. I’ll be sure to power it down and unplug it and all.

eSATA

That’s definitely interesting. I haven’t heard about that before

eSATA isn't it a dead std. now? I actually liked eSATA it was great for external, back-up HDD's

I have an external SSD plugged into a port on top of my case that protrudes about 4" from the case. Twice I've accidentally hit this SSD dislodging it while the PC was powered on. The result in both cases was the much older backup BIOS being automatically loaded and all BIOS settings being lost (incl. any saved BIOS settings). The SSD was unaffected (an old Samsung 850 Pro 128 GiB).

It seems SSDs are pretty durable then although I’m sure SATA SSDs are more durable than NVME SSDs. That definitely makes me feel better about messing up this one.

The best part of that video is showing that old CPU's used to crash at under 40C, according to their info
WE GET AMBIENTS HIGHER THAN THAT HERE.
And yeah, it's not great to install something like a PCI-E device while the PC is running, but SATA devices (even m.2) are technically hotpluggable

You should flip the PSU switch off but leave it connected so you have an earth

That’s interesting that they are hotpluggable at all although my mobo definitely does not support that. And I can’t believe CPUs used to have temps that low… times have changed for sure. And oh, so that’s a better way to ground myself and all? I’ll be sure to do that in the future then. Hopefully I didn’t damage anything by unplugging it and all.

While you probably do not have proper 'hot-swap' support, m.2s only use 3.3V, and 'the spec' does support hot-swap. ESD-damage would be my concern, and if it it's working @TM, there's decent-chance it's okay*.
(also, I've accidentally uninstalled and installed RAM in a powered-on system before. Neither the RAM or mobo were damaged. I don't recommend it, though)

*okay, in pedantic-reality: ESD can 'degrade' ICs, triggering a later premature failure.

Yeah, I don’t see anything about that for my mobo, so it probably does not have it. Hopefully that low voltage means there’s less of a risk that ESD will damage them though. What does @TM mean too? And, I see, so it’s unlikely that it might fail later, but it can happen…

so RAM is also “technically” hotswappable though definitely not by design. It’s makes me feel better to know that everything can technically be hotswapped without damage if you’re lucky, and I hopefully got lucky here.

if I ever bring my PC on a plane, I’m definitely covering it in lead as you said, but, damn, I would not like the TSA to be searching my PC like that… your friend was definitely lucky that his PC was not damaged.

 

[LabRat 891]

Yeah, I don’t see anything about that for my mobo, so it probably does not have it. Hopefully that low voltage means there’s less of a risk that ESD will damage them though. What does @TM mean too? And, I see, so it’s unlikely that it might fail later, but it can happen…

so RAM is also “technically” hotswappable though definitely not by design. It’s makes me feel better to know that everything can technically be hotswapped without damage if you’re lucky, and I hopefully got lucky here.

if I ever bring my PC on a plane, I’m definitely covering it in lead as you said, but, damn, I would not like the TSA to be searching my PC like that… your friend was definitely lucky that his PC was not damaged.

@ = At
T = The
M = Moment
(At The Moment)
ATM means Automated Teller Machine, and are often PC's underneath. So when 'talking tech', I just avoid the old T9-shorthand of 'ATM'. (T9 stands for Text on 9 keys. AlsoKnownAs 'how all the adults texted when they were kids')

The low operating voltage is more related to 'power spike' when connecting / disconnecting 'load' to 'power'. Ever unplugged an incandescent lamp from the wall while it's on? It arcs. Same w/ a DC Car Battery.

RAM isn't meant to be, but the 'tecnically hot-swappable nature' has been a 'vector of attack' proposed for 'espionage work'. Years back, it was fairly commonly known that it was technically possible to 'cryo-freeze' RAM and pull data directly out of it for a few seconds-to-minutes w/ extremely specialized tools and hardware. (Neat, but largely useless knowledge.)

If traveling, you have to pre-accept all of your personal rights 'effectively null'. This is exactly why I turned down EVEN PURSUING a 'traveling tech job'.

 

[damric]

This thread reminds me of one of the biggest electronics fuckups I've ever been a part of. It was back in 2001 on a warship, while on deployment, and involving rod control for a nuclear reactor, but this story deserves its own thread.

 

[Kodehawa]

This thread reminds me of one of the biggest electronics fuckups I've ever been a part of. It was back in 2001 on a warship, while on deployment, and involving rod control for a nuclear reactor, but this story deserves its own thread.

Now have a desire to read said story