Latest Y2K threat: Killer dust bunnies

Companies considering rebooting mission-critical computers to thwart Y2K problems could be shooting themselves in the foot.

The Systems Administration Networking and Security (SANS) Institute has issued a warning that shutting down hard drives that are normally run on a 24/7 basis could cripple the storage devices, rendering systems useless and compromising valuable data.

The danger stems from grunge buildup around a hard drive's slider assembly, which houses the read/write head. Grunge - a combination of lubricant and media particles - can cause the slider to stick to the Landing Zone, the area where it rests when the disk is not spinning. If the slider gets stuck, the hard drive could fail.

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