Can you Install a hard drive upside down?

Answer 1

Yes, you can, says WD : # Secure the hard drive:

WD drives will function normally whether they are mounted sideways or upside down (any X, Y, Z orientation). Of course, the physical design of your system may limit the positions in which the drive can be mounted. However, in all cases, you should mount the drive with all four screws for good grounding. Also ensure that there is enough air space around the drive for adequate air flow, and avoid mounting the drive near sources of excessive heat (such as some CPUs).

# If securing the hard drive in a 3.5-inch drive bay, Secure the Western Digital hard drive in an available drive bay (typically adjacent to the floppy disk drive) using the four mounting screws provided. Mounting brackets are not required.

NOTE: For proper grounding, be sure to use all four screws.

# If securing the hard drive in a 5.25-inch drive bay, you will first need to install 5.25-inch mounting brackets in order to properly mount the hard drive. If you do not have mounting brackets contact your system manufacturer or your local computer dealer for availability of mounting hardware. Source: Following :http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=946&p_created=1049900289&p_sid=j6_ojcyj&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9Niw2JnBfcHJvZHM9MjI3LDkxJnBfY2F0cz0wJnBfcHY9Mi45MSZwX2N2PSZwX3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPWFuc3dlcnMuc2VhcmNoX25sJnBfcGFnZT0xJnBfc2VhcmNoX3RleHQ9bW91bnQ!&p_li=&p_topview=1Written by Frans Van der Linden PS. A quick search into the support pages of either Maxtor, or Samsung, are less convincing concerning this issue, but Western Digital is firm with their harddisks!