Auto Turn on/off WD MyBook 500GB external hardrive

[Jacob]

I would like to know if there is a way to turn on/off my Western
Digital MyBook USB external hard drive automatically (scheduled)
without shutting down the PC it's plugged into? It has a button for
manually turning on and off, and it automatically turns on and off with
the PC. I use it mainly for backups on a PC that runs non-stop. It
would be nice if I could schedule it to turn on once a week to perform
a backup and then shut off when it was done. If there was some kind of
batch file that would do it, I could have my backup software run the
"turn on" batch file before it started backing up and then run the
"turn off" batch file to shut it down. I don't like to leave it
running all the time because of heat and mileage. I'm not sure if that
is justified, but I'm curious anyway. thanks.

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Western Digital Knowledgebase
http://tinyurl.com/4x2fh

 

[Jacob]

Thanks for the link, but I did not find the info I was looking for.

 

[George Bashore]

Did you see this part?
Western Digital recommends that external hard drives be powered off when not
in use, although it is safe to leave a hard drive running continuously. The
hard drive should be placed away from any electronic devices and in a well
ventilated area to allow airflow to the hard drive.

If you backup only once a week, it seems like a lot of trouble to have it
programmable shut down the external hd.

That said, here is a link that might interest you.
http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?kbid=311272

 

[Ted Zieglar]

How about the section where you can ask Western Digital a question?

 

[Jacob]

So it appears that it is NOT good to keep it on continuously as I
thought. I would like to not have to remember to turn on the hard
drive weekly and then turn it off when it is finished. I know it's not
that much trouble but, I am a busy person..and forgetful too. Plus I
may want to backup more important files more frequently.

I have not figured out how to use that Devcon program yet. I'm not
sure if that will do the trick, or if I have the knowledge to figure it
out, but I will give it a shot. thanks.

 

[Jacob]

I think I understand how to use Devcon now. But I since I do not have
access to my home computer, I have no way to see if "removing" the
external hard drive will cause it to shutdown or not. I am not sure
how it knows when to startup and shutdown with the PC. That would be
helpful to know. I assume it is getting a signal from the USB port. It
may be necessary to remove and restart the particular USB port that it
si plugged into. Is that possible? does that make sense?