I'm making a "do-it-yourself" move of approximately 1900 miles.  I'll
be packing my computer myself.  Does my computer's hard drive, CD-ROM
drive, or DVD Read/Write drive need to be "docked" for the move? Thank
you.

Hi sc7066,

In the old days (80's?) you did have to lock down the transports on CD
Drives prior to shipping, usually done with a plastic tab inserted to
keep the drive (or laser) from moving in transport. No longer a
requirement. And Hard Drives once upon a time required a command to
park the heads that is also no longer needed as heads will auto-park.
So, unless your system is very old, you should have no problem. Just
be sure to remove any CD's or DVD's from your drive prior to packing.

A quick search for this, shows the following:

Teachers.net
http://teachers.net/mentors/comptech/topic4218/7.30.03.20.52.35.html

Eons ago (in computer hardware evolution terms) I faintly 
recall that there was a specific action that users had to take 
to "park" the drive if the machine was going to be moved. It 
prevented the drive head from randomly jigging across the drive 
surface and destroying data - not to mention the drie itself. 
I don't recall if this was on an Apple incarnation or a PC 
product.

All drives, AFAIK, now perform this transparent action 
automagically.

Western Digital addresses it in this PDF file:
http://www.wdc.com/en/library/eide/php-615.pdf

This is little if any other additional information on this on the
Internet as these are legacy features that are no longer needed due to
advances in technology. I know of no modern system that ships with
concerns in this area any longer.


Search strategy:

park OR parking +hard drive OR CD-rom
CD-rom +transporting OR moving OR locking OR parking

I trust my research has answered this question for you. If a link
above should fail to work or anything require further explanation or
research, please do post a Request for Clarification prior to rating
the answer and closing the question and I will be pleased to assist
further.

Regards,

-=clouseau=-

Thank you, Clouseau-ag!  My computer was purchased new in 1999.