Storage Solutions Laptop HDD reliability at high altitudes

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

tsk1979

Explorer
I am planning a trip to Leh and will carry my laptop along. I am in a 4 wheeler, so protection from the elements is not an issue.
However I am told HDD can fail at high altitudes(15000 feet).,
I wanted to ask what if I always keep laptop in shut down condition, and only operate it in places where we do hotel stay(around 10000-11000 feet max)
Is there a risk to HDD at altitudes of 11000 feet etc., or only when one goes higher?
 
I believe you are Tanveer from T-BHP?

Anyways, coming to your query. This is the first time I have heard such a thing. Tried looking for details about it online but could not come up with any. If you know the model/make of the drive, its safest to get in touch with the manufacturer and inquire about it. I would not be too concerned about using the same at Leh/Ladakh as 10-14k feet is not at all high and I don't think any damage will be done to the drive, but, its better to be safe than sorry. Try to contact the manufacturer of the drive and find out and don't forget to post the response here for us also.
 
Thats why I suggested that you get in touch with the drive's manufacturer. They will be your best bet. Is the laptop in warranty? If it is, then you can contact the manufacturer and explain your situation. I am still sure that there should not be any issues!
 
Nope its not in warranty. I had changed HDD to western digital some time back.

I think I will write to WD and see whats status
 
Okay, I checked the manufacturer website.

It says non operating upto 40,000 feet, and operating upto 10,000 feet(3050m)

I will be going to places like Padum at 12,037 ft, and Leh itself is at 11,483ft

So using the laptop at 11500 ft be a problem? I am told there are cyber cafe's in leh, and I am sure they do not use specialized HDDs!
 
At altitude over 10000 feet the air pressure is notably low. The HDD is not really a sealed unit and has an open pore to allow movement of air. Due to the low pressure the head can crash onto the platter and destroy the drive.

100% avoid even booting at high levels. Best not to carry the laptop everywhere, use it only below the level mentioned.
 
Not sure about Altitude... but my iPod HDD had experienced a short death under sub-zero conditions in Leh. This was probably at 12000ft, on the way back from Tangste to Khardungla.

It worked absolutely fine earlier even at Khardungla pass, at 18000+ feet.

As for Laptop, we mostly used our laptop when at guest-houses, not on move. I think the highest point we used our laptop was probably 11,000 ft. But yeah, we were carrying it around everywhere, just weren't booting up everywhere.

You can read my Ladakh experience all here : http://yogi.eyeris.in/20090405/ladakh-chronicles-part-1-intro/
 
Short death. You mean temporary death? This could be due to battery loss at low temp.

I am worried about HDD crash.

Even the Leh city is around 1500 feet above the level mentioned by WD guys! I guess I will just purchase couple of more flash cards(4GB) rather than carrying laptop?
 
For all this interrogation happening, do remember to post some good pics (wallpaper quality :P ) of your trip!
 
@tsk1979: Nope... not battery... it showed me HDD error icon. Once we passed the Khardungla pass and were on mid-way to Leh town, iPod started working again. So it was definitely the HDD that stopped working.

Apart from that, it didn't give any issues in the entire trip. We used our laptop daily for dumping pics, in Leh town, Hunder, Tangste village and even in tents at Tso Moriri lake. So I think more than altitude, you should be careful in sub-zero conditions about your hard-drives.
 
So there you have it. Carry it everywhere. Just don't boot it off when you are on the move and you should be safe.

BTW, thanks for the information from the Western Digital website about the operating and non-operating altitude. Should be helpful.
 
For the information.. the laptop that we were carrying was Dell XPS M1210, with 80GB HDD (7200RPM SATA, I think the maker is Hitachi).
 
iGo said:
@tsk1979: Nope... not battery... it showed me HDD error icon. Once we passed the Khardungla pass and were on mid-way to Leh town, iPod started working again. So it was definitely the HDD that stopped working.

Apart from that, it didn't give any issues in the entire trip. We used our laptop daily for dumping pics, in Leh town, Hunder, Tangste village and even in tents at Tso Moriri lake. So I think more than altitude, you should be careful in sub-zero conditions about your hard-drives.
Click to expand...
Thanks that helps! I will keep laptop shutdown, and boot up only in the hotel room. Since I have 2 4GB cards, I may not need picture backup that often.
Only very few nights I will be in really high altitudes(Pangong/Tso Morori etc.,)
Nag1010 said:
Backup. Backup.
Can you boot off a pendrive and work off it?
SSD might work too--but expensive.
Click to expand...
I will carry DVDs and keep writing them also(2 DVDs for each picture batch) that should do the trick, right?
As for SSD, frightfully expensive. I could boot linux of pen drive and do HDD copy.
Or maybe I will buy 2 8GB Kingston Flash cards, and this should take care of around 2000 pics(along with 2 4GB cards I have!)
unni said:
What about issues due to condensation? Shouldn't we worry about that also?
Click to expand...
I will take care not to subject laptop to extreme temp variations
axeman said:
For all this interrogation happening, do remember to post some good pics (wallpaper quality :P ) of your trip!
Click to expand...
Hmmm, for now you can check out my gallery? Tanveer Singh (tanveer)'s photos
iGo said:
For the information.. the laptop that we were carrying was Dell XPS M1210, with 80GB HDD (7200RPM SATA, I think the maker is Hitachi).
Click to expand...
Thanks. I have an E1505 which came with 80GB hitchahi. I dumped that and put in 160GB Western Digital
 
Quote: Originally Posted by Nag1010

Backup. Backup.

Can you boot off a pendrive and work off it?

SSD might work too--but expensive.

I will carry DVDs and keep writing them also(2 DVDs for each picture batch) that should do the trick, right?

As for SSD, frightfully expensive. I could boot linux of pen drive and do HDD copy.

Or maybe I will buy 2 8GB Kingston Flash cards, and this should take care of around 2000 pics(along with 2 4GB cards I have!)

What I meant was remove the HDD from the laptop and boot off pendrives (8/16/32GB---based on your need). backup to another pendrive and DVD.

Once you are back on the plains, re-install HDD and ..........
 
One question.. Sorry if this sounds silly.

How do you use your laptops in planes??
Its much more than 15000ft in planes.

I think because they have air pressure maintained inside the aircraft. Correct me if I am wrong.
 
SumitB said:
BTW, thanks for the information from the Western Digital website about the operating and non-operating altitude. Should be helpful.
Click to expand...

I did not see the point of them mentioning non-operating altitude ?

Isn't the fact that you cannot safely use the HDD above 10,000 ft enough.
 
dpacmittal said:
One question.. Sorry if this sounds silly.

How do you use your laptops in planes??
Its much more than 15000ft in planes.

I think because they have air pressure maintained inside the aircraft. Correct me if I am wrong.
Click to expand...
In airplanes air pressure is maintained as an equivalent of 8000 ft altitude, so no issues.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom