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Blogs Why the hard disk light needs to die

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Tim S, 24 Feb 2009.

  1. Tim S

    Tim S OG

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  2. Fod

    Fod what is the cheesecake?

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    people still plug in their hdd leds?

    if it annoys you so much, open the case and yank the mobo header connector. or, y'know, write a thousand-word column - hey, i don't presume to know which one took more time :rolleyes:
     
  3. DougEdey

    DougEdey I pwn all your storage

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    woah woah woah, the hard drive light is very useful, it tells you whether your computer has actually crashed or whether it's just thinking about crashing! Also, on most PCs I've found it's integrated into the reset switch as well. During installation of software - application or OS it lets you know if something is FUBAR or if there's an issue with the copy process.

    On my laptop I barely see it do anything now because it's out of my eyeline.

    I wouldn't say "kill it" I'd say disconnect it or allow it to be a user option in BIOS
     
  4. Fod

    Fod what is the cheesecake?

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    you know, i've never relied on HDD activity to tell me whether a process had died or my system has hung. i usually use the numlock check to see if it's totally hung, and use process explorer to see if an activity needs to be turfed.
     
  5. badders

    badders Neuken in de Keuken

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    Well Fod And Doug have pretty much summed up all I was going to say.

    ^^^ What they said.
     
  6. GFC

    GFC What's a Dremel?

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    I agree 100%. There's no longer any use from it.
    BTW: I have my own turned off ages ago.
     
  7. wyx087

    wyx087 Homeworld 3 is happening!!

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    power light also need to die, it's too bright and pointless. your screen will be on if the computer is turned on, your screen is off if the computer is turned off. simple as that.

    personally, i think both lights are redundant. that's why i unplugged power light to my P182 because it lights up my room at night. the HDD light is behind the doors (Antec saw it 3 years ago) so no one can see it.

    like Fod, i use Caps Lock or Num Lock to test whether the system has hang as a whole, when C+A+Del doesn't work.
     
  8. Da_Rude_Baboon

    Da_Rude_Baboon What the?

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    The HDD light should stay as it lets me know my POS computer at work is actually doing something while i stare at a blue background and white cursor as it logs in.
     
  9. Fod

    Fod what is the cheesecake?

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    shrug, power LED is useful to me. i often leave my machine turned on with monitor off, plus my desktop mobo flashes the LED to let me know it's asleep rather than just off. if the LED is too bright, go the ghetto route of colouring the bulb in with black marker, then putting it back into its housing - i've done this with all the gear in my living room. gives a glow subtle enough to see in dimmed lighting but not too strong to be distracting.

    of course, having an LED is more important when you've built a silent system. it's probably somewhat less useful when your machine sounds like a jet engine when on.
     
  10. steveo_mcg

    steveo_mcg What's a Dremel?

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    I find it very helpful on the wifes laptop it takes and age to start up and is pretty much unusable while the background proccess are loading ie while the hd light is flickering once it pretty much stops i start to load apps.

    I wonder how there utility will change when we move fully to flash media since we will have no audible indication of drive use but will it matter?

    As for power lights i would vote to keep them to the point when ever i have made a custom case i've added them they are very useful for boxes on standby or silent boxes to see when you've accidentally left them on.
     
  11. digitaldave

    digitaldave What's a Dremel?

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    I like my HDD light, this column made me realise just how much i like it, so today after work I will make a hdd light mod for my macbook :)
     
  12. Omertron

    Omertron What's a Dremel?

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    Really, a HDD light irritates you about a PC? I think it's slightly more deep rooted than that.
    Perhaps you hate the fact that the PC mouse has at least double the number of buttons that your Mac Diety (SJ) dictates.

    Perhaps there is also the issue that the case has screws and you can upgrade what's inside it? After all you're not allowed to upgrade the macbook.

    Perhaps it's because, despite everything, the PC is a better machine?

    If it's none of those, open the case and unplug the light. If, being a mac user you are scared of screw drivers, perhaps you could get a grown up to do it for you?
    [/tongue in cheek]
     
  13. Fod

    Fod what is the cheesecake?

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    .... wtf are you smoking :eyebrow::duh:

    the macbook is a laptop. i'd like to see you upgrade more than the ram and hard drive in any dell without ripping it to pieces - which is precisely what the macbook has as upgradable parts. there's nothing about not being 'allowed' to upgrade - apple document dismantling the machines to replace parts that a consumer is able to.

    there are many mac users who - gasp! - have windows machines too, and use, and like them both. leave your stereotypes at the door, please.

    now leave this place, child.

    disclaimer: i am aware you have a [/tongue in cheek] at the end of that, however there were so many layers of sarcasm in that post that it's difficult to identify just what bit you were referring to, so i'm assuming a worst case of just the last bit. otherwise, apologies.
     
  14. Krikkit

    Krikkit All glory to the hypnotoad! Super Moderator

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    Personally I quite like the HDD light. A perfect example of using it was playing the Empire:TW demo, if it was doing serious loading instead of just sitting around, there'd be more HDD activity instead of 30-45 seconds of nothing.
     
  15. Fod

    Fod what is the cheesecake?

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    typically i rely on looking at the screen for that. there's normally something called a 'loading bar'.

    i know, i'm such a luddite.
     
  16. wyx087

    wyx087 Homeworld 3 is happening!!

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    even if the system is built as quiet as possible, you will still have other lights to indecate the ON status, eg, NumLock on keyboard, Mouse light.
     
  17. Psytek

    Psytek What's a Dremel?

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    I stopped paying attention to my HDD LED a long time ago. For one thing, I have 3 hard drives, and I have no way of knowing which one is being accessed when the HDD light blinks.
     
  18. Krikkit

    Krikkit All glory to the hypnotoad! Super Moderator

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    The only thing that's less reliable than a loading bar is a graph in the daily mail.
     
  19. steveo_mcg

    steveo_mcg What's a Dremel?

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    How about a release date from valve?
     
  20. phuzz

    phuzz This is a title

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    As an IT geek I do find the dell laptops at work easier to work with than the apples, but partly that's what I'm used to.
    Dells are easier to upgrade though, one big screw to open a hatch = direct access to memory vs remove battery, remove lots of screws, pry memory out etc...

    just saying is all...
     
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