External HDD

[hondaf17]

So for Christmas I got the Antec MX-1 external enclosure. I popped by 160 GB HDD in there and put my new 1TB WD Caviar Black into my rig. I've set up Vista to automatically back-up files I chose on a weekly basis.

The MX-1 has a on/off switch on the back. It's connected to my PC via E-Sata. I'm wondering when I can turn "off" my enclosure. Will turning it off while my system is running cause problems? Is there any way I safely "power-down" my External HDD before just flipping it off???

TYIA,

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,

eSATA is not the same as USB in all instances; it depends on your controller quite a bit. Some controllers with eSATA will treat the drive as an internal drive merely connected another way, and thus, cannot be turned off in the traditional way that you think. I use a lot of eSATA drives, so I use a 3rd party software that is better than what Windows provides for safely removing drives from the system (and even hotswapping if you want). The thing is, Vista does a lot of activity on a disk, especially if it has lots of files, so turning it off without removing it from the system and ending services from accessing it is a quick way to mess it up.

Here's what I use to manage it all:

HotSwap!

It's a very light handy application that works great in Vista. It'll work for any drive you connect. It'll safely remove the hardware, regardless of Windows giving you the option (kinda like how USB drives give you that option; some eSATA controllers/software will enable that too, but not always--this software I linked is for those times when it's not working automatically like that). So in short, think of it as a manual way to "automatically remove" some hardware (drives) when you want to. Perfect for eSATA management.

Once your eSATA drive is `safely removed' you can power it off without damage or data loss.

Very best,

 

[California Roll]

All of my external eSATA drives can be safely disconnected first by using the "Safely Remove Hardware" option in the taskbar. I shut them off after doing that. It took some effort to get it working but it was worth it.

 

[hondaf17]

Originally posted by: MalVeauX
Heya,

eSATA is not the same as USB in all instances; it depends on your controller quite a bit. Some controllers with eSATA will treat the drive as an internal drive merely connected another way, and thus, cannot be turned off in the traditional way that you think. I use a lot of eSATA drives, so I use a 3rd party software that is better than what Windows provides for safely removing drives from the system (and even hotswapping if you want). The thing is, Vista does a lot of activity on a disk, especially if it has lots of files, so turning it off without removing it from the system and ending services from accessing it is a quick way to mess it up.

Here's what I use to manage it all:

HotSwap!

It's a very light handy application that works great in Vista. It'll work for any drive you connect. It'll safely remove the hardware, regardless of Windows giving you the option (kinda like how USB drives give you that option; some eSATA controllers/software will enable that too, but not always--this software I linked is for those times when it's not working automatically like that). So in short, think of it as a manual way to "automatically remove" some hardware (drives) when you want to. Perfect for eSATA management.

Once your eSATA drive is `safely removed' you can power it off without damage or data loss.

Very best,

Thanks a lot man, HotSwap works great. Windows doesn't automatically give me the option to safely remove hardware, so HotSwap was exactly what I was asking about and needed. I only plug my External HDD in once a week for my auto back-up but this enables me to safely shut it down once backup is complete. Thanks

PS - only thing is whenever I restart Vista HotSwap runs and then I get a security pop-up from Vista claiming that the certificate or something cannot be validated/confirmed....run into that???