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Can I remove an IDE DVD Optical Drive while my PC is turned on?

Casheti

Casheti

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Just wondering, because I have many reasons I don't want to turn off my computer, but I really need to swap drives. Anybody know if this is possible?
 
yes

Not recommended but I have done it.

I switch out PCI cards in the server at work all the time with never turning it off. My boss flipped out the first time he seen me do it LOL.

After you switch it out refresh device manager to get it to install Casheti.
 
yes you can just use hardware manager to remove it first. u can also add drives while hot if yur psu supports it.
 
You just wanna make sure the drive isn't being read/written.
 
if u remove it in device manager first it takes care of that. plus flushes buffers and everything.
 
I've heard of guys frying fans and motherboards while trying to connect them while the power was on. I don't know if this is truely safe, but I would be concerned about creating an arc while removing or attaching the drives' power. Data cables should be OK, because i think the voltage/amperage is low enough.

What reasons would you have for not wanting to power down the system?
 
you might be able to remove it, but how are you gonna enable the new drive? doesnt ide initiallizes in the bios?
 
I can't turn off cos I'm converting some stuff, and downloading, and I wanna burn some DVD's too...but this burner sucks fucking ass.

I thought it was better than my last one but every movie I've burnt from this one never works.

I guess I'll have to wait until it's all done.

Thanks for the mega fast responses.
 
you wont get fried. as stated refresh device manager to find new device.
i do it cuz im lazy and like having long up times
fans, pci cards. cd drives, hard drives. about the only thing u cant hot swap in a desktop is the ram and cpu. absolutly do not statik shock anything while its running though.

also some psu's dont like having devices plugged in while running and they will auto power down.
 
I have done it too.



The BIOS hands over control to Windows after the hardware boot is complete.
 
The hardware is never made to be hotpluggable, so it isn't exactly safe. I would highly recommend shutting down the system.
 
i thought sata drives were hotpluggable?
 
lol

you might be able to. of course, you may not be able to actually use it while you are taking it out. RSIK OF ELECTRICAL SHOCK IF YOU TAKE IT OUT
 
DanTheBanjoman said:
The hardware is never made to be hotpluggable, so it isn't exactly safe. I would highly recommend shutting down the system.
Click to expand...

I agree you're just asking for trouble... you won't find any manufacture posting in their manual .. sure go ahead just plug it in while the system is running ..
 
actually most interfaces. ide and pci do hav hotpluggable built in to the standard. its not advertised cuz users are idiots though. scsi, and other server interfaces do advertise it as hopefully idiots arent working on yur servers.

the old isa was a big no no to try and hotplug.
 
ktr said:
yes, they are...

including scsi, usb, & firewire...(and maybe more)
Click to expand...

Not all SCSI devices are hotpluggable, 68p connectors for example aren't made to be hotplugged even though it can be done. It's why they made SCA. It's not really an issue if the software side can handle it or that the hardware supports it, the connectors simply aren't made for it. And converting doesn't take too long, it's worth waiting for it to finish just to be on the safe side.
 
Chicken.
 
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