I recently installed Piriform Speccy, and at first just thought it kind of cute.
A closer eye has proved alarming, especially where my HDDs are concerned. Speccy has shown temperatures of over 50ºC, and a warning for the 50º to 55º temperature range.
It has been a very hot summer here, and even at startup the temperatures are in the order of 33º (about the ambient at the time), and it takes less than 2 hours before at least one of the 4 drives to exceed 50º.
So the question is how hot can a HDD safely run, and is it possible to install an extra fan in the tower to improve air circulation? Or even take the side off the box?
I am going to shut down now as a precaution, and will check back when the temperature drops a bit.

Optimately (is that a valid word??) temps "should be" in the 4* degrees C range. 5* C is considered on the hot side. Hard disks generally are not in a direct "cooling zone" like the CPU. They're cooled just with overall enclosure cooling. (Laptop or Desktop.)

Ensure all enclosure vents are free of dust buildup (include the CPU here).

Taking the side off actually reduces cooling. The air should be "directed" via the air ports. An open enclosure can actually cause heat build up. The machine is designed for proper cooling with all panels etc installed.

Hi Dan,
And many thanks for that info.
After a prolonged run only one HDD is consistently in the 5* range, and that is the oldest of the four.
I suspect it may be showing its age, how can I tell if it is likely to bite the dust? Apart from the overheating aspect, which we already know.
All the vents are clear, and the fans working. I clean computers for a living so I attend to my own as a sort of busman's holiday on a fairly frequent basis.
Once again I am going to shutdown for safety's sake, so will check in later.
Thanks again

"... how can I tell if it is likely to bite the dust?"

If a hard disk is starting to run "hot", I'd back up the data and start shopping for a replacement.

Hi Dan,
I thought you might say that, sort of come to the same conclusion myself.
In the short term, due to little work and fewer $ atm, is disconnecting the drive (from the power supply, and motherboard) a viable way of preventing data loss until I have a few more $ for a replacement? I know I would have no access to the data if I followed that course, but as a short term measure would it work?

Yes. Not running it will keep further wear from it until you're ready to transfer data to a good drive.

Hi Dan,
I have acted preemptively, and possibly prematurely, and removed the drive, I can copy data to a new drive via a SATA/IDE to usb adapter, when/if I get a new drive.
The reason for me saying prematurely is that within 40 minutes of restarting (it was shut down for about 2 hours) the computer after removing the drive Speccy showed another drive running at over 50º. (And it is heating up quickly as I write this, from 42 to 44º). It is damn hot hear atm, but not that hot.
So the question now becomes how reliable is Speccy? I have a good opinion of Piriform apps generally, but is this one up to the same mark as CCleaner?
The other question mark is now whether the fan is working at its optimum. It spins up when the computer is started but I have know way of knowing if it is running at its best (it is not overly noisy, and doesn't vibrate), the computer is just over 4 years old, and does, or did, get a fair bit of use.
It is beginning to look like a shop job, but is there any other diagnostic that I can use to determine if the HDDs are running hot, or if the fan is working like it should?

My (main) machine is running at 44 Deg C (Seagate 350 GB (OS drive)) and 45 Deg C (Western Digital 1TB (data drive)). Mine will "burst" up to 56 Deg C during a defrag. I still hold that temps in the 5x C range are a bit hot. I don't mean to be an alarmist on this. I just feel that temps always in the above 5x C range are a bit warm. Speccy only "reads" what the machine sensors reports.

I can't find anything regarding temperatures in CCleaner (Ver. 3.04.1389).

If system/CPU fans are clean and running "freely" (no dust buildup clogging or slowing it down) fans are generally good unless they just reach burnout and just stop.

all you have to do is you have to smash it with the hammer or put it in microwave

That's real good advice for a Help Forum. {NOT!}

Do you have anything constructive to add to the topic?