SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO IMPROVE CONSUMER PRODUCT RELIABILITY AND LIFETIME OF A HARD DISK DRIVE BY REDUCING ITS ACTIVITY

摘要

The present invention is directed towards reducing hard disk drive (HDD) activity by reducing the activity of an internal time shift buffer (TSB). The HDD may be included in a digital host communications terminal (DHCT). The TSB can switch between buffering a high definition quality to a standard definition quality of a streaming program. Additionally, the TSB can be disabled to prevent buffering of the streaming program. The reduced buffering of the TSB is determined by several factors including the temperature of the HDD, the health of the HDD, a set-up menu including TSB options, and/or whether there is a high definition television connected to the DHCT.