Question: I have lost many electronics that I keep unused for a long time before due to the near sea (high humidity area) area that I live in. I learned this the hard way, so in order to protect hard drives unused for long periods that I use as back up, I wrapped them using a cling film to be air tight and prevent moist air or dust to the hard drives. Then I heard hard drives need access to normal air pressure. I have three WD hard drives one external (My Passport 1 TB) two internals one is SATA the other is IDE, which I sealed for more than a month now. Is there a problem with sealing the hard drives that way, should I worry about the drives?
Answer: First of all “normal air pressure” and “air tight seal” are not mutually exclusive. Secondly “normal air pressure” requirement is just for the operating mode not for the storage. The bottom line is your drives are going to be fine. I mean if they fail – that won’t be because you stored them in an air tight container.