Spin Down External Drive on Shutdown

[news]

Hi All,

I've got a firewire external drive which spins down happily after 15
minutes (or whatever I set in Power Management) but the trouble is it
spins up again when I shut the computer down, leaving me with a noise
in the corner of an otherwise-silent room.

Is there any way to make the drive spin down when I shut down windows
(XP Pro)?

Thanks a lot,
Adam

 

[news]

Is there any way to make the [external] drive spin down when I shut down windows
(XP Pro)?

Any ideas?

Adam

 

[R. McCarty]

Not natively with Windows XP. Unfortunately, many external
drives ( USB ) do not have a power toggle switch or if they do
it's located on the back. By default XP sets the Root Hub to go
to a Low Power state but cannot control the drive itself.

Power setup gets complicated with all the peripherals users have
today. Personally, I have a power distribution unit fed from my
UPS. Once I power off the PC, I can turn off the distribution
unit which turns off all the peripherals except the Broadband &
Router which is on it's own UPS and stays on 24-7.

Power distribution & cabling is still a big mess/hassle for most
desktop setups.

Is there any way to make the [external] drive spin down when I shut down
windows
(XP Pro)?

Any ideas?

Adam

 

[news]

Hi,

Not natively with Windows XP. Unfortunately, many external
drives ( USB ) do not have a power toggle switch or if they do
it's located on the back.

Yes, my (firewire) drive has a switch on the back which is a pain to
get at.

By default XP sets the Root Hub to go
to a Low Power state but cannot control the drive itself.

Huh - it seems a shame that XP can spin down the drive while the
computer is turned on, but doesn't do the same just before powering
down!

Power setup gets complicated with all the peripherals users have
today. Personally, I have a power distribution unit fed from my
UPS. Once I power off the PC, I can turn off the distribution
unit

OK, thanks, someone else has suggested running the drive direct from
the power supply in the computer, which I might investigate.

Thanks for the help,
Adam

 

[Rock]

Hi,



Yes, my (firewire) drive has a switch on the back which is a pain to
get at.



Huh - it seems a shame that XP can spin down the drive while the
computer is turned on, but doesn't do the same just before powering
down!



OK, thanks, someone else has suggested running the drive direct from
the power supply in the computer, which I might investigate.

Make sure the power supply has enough capacity to take the extra load.