Windows 7 Setting power saving features for specific drives

[izaktaylor]

Because of an issue with an external drive, i have to not allow the power saving feature for hard drives. Apparently my external (LaCie) doesn't support power saving and when W7 enacts the mode the drive stalls. The problem being i have a total of 6 hard drives. I'd like the others to power save as appropriate.

Is there a way to set the power save mode for each drive individually? Thank you kindly.

 

[zvit]

what is the drive model and make. Manufactures usually have tools to manage each drive separately, including power save modes.

 

[izaktaylor]

The external drive is a LaCie Q2 External 2TB drive. I don't see any specific tools listed that would allow what your suggesting (although it would be nice if that was the case).


LaCie - LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Disk

My internal Hard Drives are all Western Digital in various sizes. Im not sure what their specific models are at this time unfortunately.

 

[zvit]

This seems to be the one that should do it. I don't have that drive so I can't test it.
Link Removed due to 404 Error

 

[izaktaylor]

Thank you. Im not sure why the LaCie tech support didn't mention this. Im on my 5th drive in a year and a half just from warranty replacements. Lame.

 

[izaktaylor]

I tried that software, but it doesn't recognize my drive for some reason. From reading descriptions i dont think it has an option for my specific situation anyways. :/ thanks though, im hoping there is still a solution out there.

 

[zvit]

Try contacting tech support:
Link Removed due to 404 Error (You have to sign up).

 

[izaktaylor]

I currently have an open ticket with LaCie tech support. They have basically told me the problem is with the OS and not with the drive, even though its the drive is having compatibility issues with power save. They open acknoleged that the power save was incompatible on some LaCie products and less openly made clear that they wouldn't offer support in that regard.

Kind of a pisser. :S

 

[zvit]

Ok, if it's a Windows issue, I can try to help but will have to ask that you explain again since I didn't understand the problem %100.

Because of an issue with an external drive, i have to not allow the power saving feature for hard drives.

Is the issue the power save issue? If not, what issue so you have with an external drive that makes you have to deal with power save?

Apparently my external (LaCie) doesn't support power saving and when W7 enacts the mode the drive stalls.

If it doesn't support it, how is Windows "enacting" the mode? I don't know what "enacts" means. Please explain this whole line.

The problem being i have a total of 6 hard drives. I'd like the others to power save as appropriate.

Are all 6 of them LaCie? I don't understand how many need power and how many don't and which companies do and which don't.

Is there a way to set the power save mode for each drive individually? Thank you kindly.

 

[izaktaylor]

I'd be happy to clarify. I have 5 internal drives (western digital) and 1 external (lacie) drive. By default, the power save mode in windows 7 causes a drive to power down if its been inactive for 20 minutes. You can find this in the power saving options of the control panel. This lacie drive is incompatible with this Power Save feature apparently. After about 20 minutes the OS tries to power down the drive (by default) but the drive doesn't know what to do, so it dismounts and sort of 'stalls'. I cant access it when this happens. I have to shut down the drive, then my pc, and then start them again together.

My temporary solution is to essentially deactivate the hard drive power save all together. It worked in the sense that i can continue to access the lacie drive without it disconnecting on its own. The problem with this is that now none of my drives will power down when they have been idle, just like the Lacie.

To sum it all up; Is there a way to set the power save mode for each drive individually. I want the Lacie to never power save and the other internal drives to power save when appropriate so they are not constantly running.

 

[zvit]

Here are some programs but please read the whole post because it's not really advised.

There is a program that can do this but it is for XP
SpeedswitchXP

This is also for Vista so it might work with win7
revoSleep

There's really no point on doing it except on laptops, to save some battery. HDD's were meant to be always spinning.

Turning a HD on and off that many times will probably be more detrimental to it in the long run. similar to the argument as to whether or not to turn your PC on and off every day or just leave it running.

When a HDD is on, but not reading or writing then all its doing is the "disks" are spinning. Therefore only the motor is working. A normal HDD fails the PCB's or read/write heads gets old or damaged, not the motor. Its just best to leave it running.

The best way to do this would be to put each of these discs in an external box, and turn them on only when needed.

Unless you have a very old HDD I wouldn't worry, now new drives have no problem taking many on/off cycles daily, in fact it can even last longer..... If you are leaving your computer for a very long time and don't plan to use it, turning your drives off will save you energy and it is safe for your drives...... If you are leaving your PC to go have dinner and come back an hour later, you might as well keep it on. I don't see any danger to a hard drive if it goes through a couple of on/off cycles. Now I am referring to an otherwise HEALTHY HDD. If your HDD has motor problems, mechanical problems or on the way to failing soon, that may be another story.

If you're worry about too much stress on the computer, I think you can turn off the computer when you go to sleep.

 

[izaktaylor]

Thank you for the links, i think i understand what you mean. In my situation, i need to leave my pc on during the day (about 8 hours) but because have so many drives i'd like the non-essential ones to power down on there own when not being used. This wouldn't be an issue if it wasn't for this basted LaCie drive with eSata that can't power down properly.

Oh well. Thank you for your help.