spin down second drive when not needed?

[tiki2k]

I have two HDs in my computer, the second being used strictly as backup
media.
Is there a way to spin it up only for use which occurs maybe once every two
days because it's a specially noisy drive.

Thanks for your suggestions.

 

[JAX]

Have you thought about getting an external USB box to put the drive in? That
way, you simply plug it in when needed.

JAX

 

[tiki2k]

Yes I did. I thought if possible to eliminate another ext peripheral and
simplify things a bit.
So I guess that's not possible w/ XP?

 

[JAX]

I don't know if it's possible or not. The external box suggestion was just
an idea.

JAX

 

[R. McCarty]

You might use Disk Management and the "Change or Remove a
drive letter". Remove the letter assignment and that might dismount
the volume from use.

 

[JAX]

That occurred to me, but I have never put it to the test.

Cheers, JAX

 

[tiki2k]

Will that automatically spin it down? Because the disk will be spinning from
boot up right?
Or do I need to specify to turn off HD under the Power Mgmt Settings?

 

[R. McCarty]

Removing Drive letter probably won't work, as the IDE
channel it's on will still be accessing the drive. Probably
it's not feasible to idle out a drive if other components on
the channel are active.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

Yes I did. I thought if possible to eliminate another ext peripheral
and simplify things a bit.
So I guess that's not possible w/ XP?

I would urge you to consider a suggestion like JAX's. Backup to a
second non-removable hard drive as you're doing leaves you
susceptible to simultaneous loss of the original and backup to
many of the most common dangers: severe power glitches, nearby
lightning strikes, virus attacks, even theft of the computer.

In my view, secure backup needs to be on removable media, and not
kept in the computer. For really secure backup (needed, for
example, if the life of your business depends on your data) you
should have multiple generations of backup, and at least one of
those generations should be stored off-site.

My computer isn't used for business, but my personal backup
scheme uses two identical removable hard drives, which fit into a
sleeve installed in the computer. I alternate between the two,
and use Drive Image to make a complete copy of the primary drive.

 

[tiki2k]

Thanks all. I'll probably then invest in usb cases or a rack so I can swap
trays.

 

[Christian]

Is there a power mgt in control panel where you can set time for devices to
work. Or you could click on the drive in device manger and disable it.

 

[JAX]

I also have backups on CD's. They are updated from time to time, of course
to new CD's. The chance of me losing anything of value is very slim.

JAX