HOW to spin-down and external USB disc? Help.

[ayat101]

I've made up a nice 200 GB external hard disc in a USB 2 case. I just have one problem, when the thing is turned one, it stays ALWAYS on 😕 For one thing, I suspect this will deacrease the life of the hard drive. For another it makes noise. Since I want to keep the case plugged in to my system most of the time, I would like to install some driver/utility, or change some settings, that would spin the disc down as in normal power saving mode in a PC. So far the only way to do that is to switch it off with the physical power button, not near enough to what I need. CAN anyone help? I suspect this is a common problem 🙂 I hope there is a solutio to this somewhere out there.

 

[magomago]

i'm not sure either~ my 200gig external (WD hd i bought + external case i got from a friend) does the same thing, though i'm on firewire.... my pc is usually on 24/7 so i was wondering too about that

though oddly enough my hdd doesn't make a sound...what kinda drive you got?

 

[ayat101]

Sorry for the confusion 🙂

My hard drive does not make much of a sound, more like a very quite hum... I'd say within normal parameters 😉 However, I'm rather sensitive to all these computer peripherals all adding up to too much noise. I guess I'm more concerned about the way the hard drive is "under pressure" all the time, as the little noise there is can be eliminted by hiding it out of the way. I'm not sure if this applies to the modern hard drives, but I suspect that if I keep it on 24/7, this will reduce how long it will last... and I do not want my back up drive to fail sooner than the others.

 

[imported_Phil]

Leaving a hard disk on for, say, 12 hours, will be better for it than to spin it up and down multiple times during said 12 hours. The most stressful thing a drive motor can do is to spin the platters up, so you're better off leaving it on.

 

[Todd33]

I leave my external FW drive on even if the computer is off. There is no easy way to power it down other than unplugging it.

 

[Mark R]

Same problem with mine - despite the fact that the box for it says it supports USB power saving and shut down states.

I'm tempeted to modify the box and install a switch for the drive.

 

[Samsonid]

Leaving a hard disk on for, say, 12 hours, will be better for it than to spin it up and down multiple times during said 12 hours. The most stressful thing a drive motor can do is to spin the platters up, so you're better off leaving it on

The idea is to spin-up and then spin-down only once a day and only for ten minutes during the backup operation. The drive drive should not be wearing and tearing any other time.

I mean the backup drive needs to be as well preserved as possible. if my backup drive gets as worn out spinning as long as the main drive, then whats the point ?