"Optimize for quick removal": How To Set Disc's Policy?

[(PeteCresswell)]

I've got a SATA disc that I access through a slide-in bay - i.e.
It can be removed from the bay through the front of the PC.

It's a backup disc and I rotate a half-dozen discs through that
bay day-after-day.

I'd like to set the drive/bay so that there is no caching and the
drive can just be removed without going through the USB "Remove"
dialog (which isn't available anyhow for this device).

But in My Computer | {disc} | Properties | Hardware | {disc} |
Properties | Policies, "Write caching and Safe Removal" is
totally grayed-out/disabled. viz: http://tinyurl.com/47mg96w

Is there a way around this? Or is maybe some magic going on
with the removable bay that there is no need to disable caching
and the UI is just a little confused?

 

[VanguardLH]

I've got a SATA disc that I access through a slide-in bay - i.e.
It can be removed from the bay through the front of the PC.

It's a backup disc and I rotate a half-dozen discs through that
bay day-after-day.

I'd like to set the drive/bay so that there is no caching and the
drive can just be removed without going through the USB "Remove"
dialog (which isn't available anyhow for this device).

But in My Computer | {disc} | Properties | Hardware | {disc} |
Properties | Policies, "Write caching and Safe Removal" is
totally grayed-out/disabled. viz: http://tinyurl.com/47mg96w

Is there a way around this? Or is maybe some magic going on
with the removable bay that there is no need to disable caching
and the UI is just a little confused?

You want write caching disabled (so there is no buffering of data in the
hard drive before all of it eventually gets written). The property of
the device shows write caching is disabled. You already have what you
want. The device is already seen as a removable device.

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

viz: http://tinyurl.com/47mg96w

You want write caching disabled (so there is no buffering of data in the
hard drive before all of it eventually gets written). The property of
the device shows write caching is disabled. You already have what you
want. The device is already seen as a removable device.

Thanks.

That's what I was hoping - but the "Optimize for performance"
radio button being checked was causing some cognitive dissonance
on my end. I expected "Optimize for quick removal" tb checked
instead - the whole dialog page being disabled notwithstanding...

 

[Patok]

That's not true. It clearly says "this setting *enables* write caching".

Thanks.

That's what I was hoping - but the "Optimize for performance"
radio button being checked was causing some cognitive dissonance
on my end. I expected "Optimize for quick removal" tb checked
instead - the whole dialog page being disabled notwithstanding...

You have a point - it is *not* optimized for quick removal. It would probably
be OK to unplug it even the way it is, as long as there is no activity on the
drive - writes are fast, even when cached. As long as it is a data backup only
drive, and has no system restore enabled on it, it should be fine.

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Patok:
I like it.... -)

 

[VanguardLH]

That's not true. It clearly says "this setting *enables* write caching".

It may not be enabled depending on the driver used for the device. The
OP might have a mobo that has 2 different SATA controllers, like some
Gigabyte mobos that have Gigabyte's controller for a couple SATA ports
and an Intel controller for half a dozen SATA ports. You would need
drivers for both if you use both. Some may support RAID. The SATA
drives may be handled as SCSI devices. The OP never mentioned if the
controllers to which the drives are connected are reported in
devmgmt.msc as Serial SATA or SCSI controllers or whose drivers they are
using.

Notice in the image provided by the OP that the policies for the
selected device have it handled as a SCSI device. No image was shown of
the expanded category and device list under each category from the main
window of Device Manager. Maybe there is no SATA category listed.
Maybe all the devices are attached to controllers that are categorized
as SCSI devices.

The OP didn't mention which mobo (brand and model) he has. He didn't
mention if he is using the Windows embedded drivers or if he installed
storage drivers from the mobo maker (or if they were rolled in with the
chipset packaged drivers for the mobo). He didn't mention to which SATA
ports the drives were connected (in case there are different controllers
on the mobo). What category of controller to which the drive is
connected and which driver is used will determine what options are
available for that setup.

 

[Uwe Sieber]

Yes, these option are available for USB drives only,
so the write cache is active here.

There is a tool similar to the Windows safely remove
hardware facility:
http://mt-naka.com/hotswap/index_enu.htm

Or my command line tool RemoveDrive:
http://www.uwe-sieber.de/drivetools.html


Uwe