Drives and Drive Media
Startup and Reference Guide—Part 2 5–3
Caring for Drives and Drive Media
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CAUTION: To prevent damage to the notebook or a drive and loss
of work:
■ Do not remove the internal hard drive except for repair or
replacement. For instructions, see the“Replacing the Internal Hard
Drive” section later in this chapter.
■ Electrostatic discharge can damage electronic components.
To prevent electrostatic damage to the notebook or a drive, follow
these 2 precautions: (1) Discharge yourself from static electricity
before handling a drive by touching a grounded metal object and
(2) Avoid touching the connectors on a drive. For more information
about preventing electrostatic damage, refer on the Documentation
Library CD to the Regulatory and Safety Notices guide,
“Electrostatic Discharge” section.
■ Excessive force can damage drive connectors. When you insert a
drive, use only enough force to seat the drive.
■ Handle a drive carefully. Do not drop it.
■ Avoid exposing a hard drive or a diskette to devices with magnetic
fields. Products with magnetic fields include video and audio tape
erasure products, monitors, and speakers. Security devices with
magnetic fields include airport walk-through devices and security
wands. The airport security devices that check carry-on luggage,
usually while it is placed on a conveyor belt, use x-rays instead of
magnetism and will not damage a hard drive or a diskette.
■ Do not spray a drive with cleaners.
■ Avoid exposing a drive to liquids or temperature extremes.
■ If you mail a drive, ship it in packaging that protects it from shock,
vibration, extreme temperatures, and high humidity. Label the
package “FRAGILE.”
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CAUTION: To prevent damage to drive media:
■ Do not open the metal shutter of a diskette or touch the disk within
the diskette case.
■ Do not expose a diskette to a strong magnetic field, such as the
security field used by a walk-through security device or a handheld
security wand.
■ Clean a CD or DVD only with a disc cleaning kit, available from
most electronics retailers.
CPQ-311245-001.book Page 3 Tuesday, April 1, 2003 3:55 PM
