How do I turn off HDD storage but leave the SSD operating?

[Ezzy-525]

I have 2 larger TB HDD's which I use for media storage and then another HDD for Programs and Games etc. and finally an SSD for the OS and small programs (browser etc.)

 

Is there a way to only switch off the media hard drives when they're not accessed and leave the smaller HDD with programs and the SSD on?

 

I know windows lets you turn off hard drives but I assume this is all of them?

[Unexas.]

1 minute ago, Ezzy-525 said:

I have 2 larger TB HDD's which I use for media storage and then another HDD for Programs and Games etc. and finally an SSD for the OS and small programs (browser etc.)

 

Is there a way to only switch off the media hard drives when they're not accessed and leave the smaller HDD with programs and the SSD on?

 

I know windows lets you turn off hard drives but I assume this is all of them?

Why?

[Mira Yurizaki]

There's a power setting in Windows to automatically turn off drives if they're not in use after some period of time.

[Ezzy-525]

1 minute ago, M.Yurizaki said:

There's a power setting in Windows to automatically turn off drives if they're not in use after some period of time.

That's the option in Windows I mentioned...for some reason I thought it would just switch all drives off...duh. Now that I look at it, it specifically mentions being inactive.

 

I knew I shouldn't have stayed up to watch the election...tiredness makes you ask stupid questions! 

[Litargirio]

Control Panel > Power Oettings > Change plan settings > Change advanced power settings

 

There is a an optoion that says "hard disk", where you can set it to turn off when it is inactive.

 

Though I wouldn't recommend doing this, since spinning the hard drive up and down often can cause it to wear out more quickly.

[NumLock21]

Drives can't never be turned off. They will continue to spin even when it's idle. Just leave it alone.

[Captain_WD]

16 hours ago, Ezzy-525 said:

~snip~

Hi there

 

What is the brand and the model of your drives? As the guys pointed out, there are power settings on your system that do that for you. Some drives have a built-in feature in their firmware that will put them in a stand-by mode and will spin them down after a short period of time. Other drives will spin down after a longer period of time. There are also applications that allow you to change that time but mind that this is not really recommended as it may both slow down your PC's performance (in case you need to access something on those drives) or increase the load/unload cycles of the drive itself. 

 

Is there a reason why you would want to do this? Is there any excessive noise coming from those drives?

 

Captain_WD. 

[Ezzy-525]

The drives aren't necessarily noisy, just that my tower is on the desk and the clicking can be annoying sometimes. I guess I'm just being pedantic.

[Captain_WD]

8 hours ago, Ezzy-525 said:

~snip~

Have you considered noise/vibration canceling mounts for those drives? 

If there's excessive clicking you may want to check those drives' health and see if everything is OK with the S.M.A.R.T. status. 

 

Let me know if you need help with that.

 

Captain_WD. 

[Ezzy-525]

8 hours ago, Captain_WD said:

~snip~

Thanks for that! I've recently just replaced my case with a BeQuiet! Silent Base 600 which comes with rubber drive mounts so the vibration isn't/shouldn't be an issue, and all the drives are showing as "GOOD" in CrystalDisk. (The SSD is brand new and is the only one that says "GOOD 100%", whereas the HDD's only say "GOOD").

 

[Ezzy-525]

8 hours ago, Captain_WD said:

~snip~

Thanks for that! I've recently just replaced my case with a BeQuiet! Silent Base 600 which comes with rubber drive mounts so the vibration isn't/shouldn't be an issue, and all the drives are showing as "GOOD" in CrystalDisk. (The SSD is brand new and is the only one that says "GOOD 100%", whereas the HDD's only say "GOOD").

 

[Captain_WD]

On 11.11.2016 г. at 6:44 PM, Ezzy-525 said:

~snip~

Tools that check the S.M.A.R.T. status usually figure out the health status of SSDs in percentages by checking how much of the TBW (the write limit) has been depleted (comparing it to the manufacturer set theoretical limit for the normalized values in the S.M.A.R.T. status) . Being a new drive with very little data written on it it is normal to be at 100%. Unlike SSDs, HDDs don't have write cycle limitations so you can't predict how much of its life is left and give an estimate. Let me know if you need more info on it. 

 

All your drives seem in great shape and health given their Power On hours.

 

Captain_WD. 

[Ezzy-525]

3 hours ago, Captain_WD said:

~snip~

Thanks for the help and the information mate. 

 

I've got to say, I surprised myself when I looked at those powered on hours!

[Captain_WD]

49 minutes ago, Ezzy-525 said:

~snip~

You are most welcome I'm happy to help with everything I can!

 

I wouldn't worry much about those hours as HDDs don't really have limited power-on hours or written data. I would still keep an eye on all S.M.A.R.T. statuses of the drives every months or so just to be on the safe side that you are aware if something starts to happen. 

 

Let me know if you need any other info

 

Captain_WD.