A disc drive control device maintains power to its circuits after a manual power source switch is opened for a time sufficient to assure that the read/write head of a hard disc drive is moved to its shipping zone. This is accomplished with a bypass device for maintaining power to the hard disc drive until the head is properly stowed in its shipping position after the operator turns off the power switch. Further, a detecting circuit prevents the disc drive from hanging up when the operator turns power on again before the head movement is completed. A timer turns off the power bypass device a short time after the power source switch is turned off, if, for any reason, the power bypass fails to be shut down as a normal result of the completed movement of the read/write head to the shipping position.