I have an external USB hard disk attached most of the time, but it spins continuously whether I am using it or not. I can dismount the drive and switch it off manually, but this is a hassle.
The normal power management within Windows 2000 can be set to power off my internal disk after some period of inactivity, but this has no effect on my external disk.
I want to find some utility or W2K tweak that will enable me to power off my external USB disk. I don't mind if this needs to be activated 'on demand' by my clicking a button, or automatically after a period of inactivity.
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I dont exactly know if 2000 has such a button. if there is, just follow Fahimabids answer. if there isnt, follow this post:
Go inside the configuration screen and press hardware. It will open a dialog box with the hardware currently installed on the system. if it ISNT there, look in the taps op the dialog box that popped up, and look for the hardware list (im not behind an WIN2000 pc now, so i cant tell 100 pct sure where this button is) If you find the external drive, double click on it. You will now see the hardwares properties. On the first screen there should be a pull down menu qith the option: Enable hardware selected. Change this to: Disable hardware. Windows will now disable the external drive and will finish all current processes to it, making sure it doesnt become corrupt. You can now safely take it out.
If you want to enable it in later,just plug it in again (if its plug and play). If not, hut down your PC, connect it and restart windows. Windows should now find the USB drive again, and will automaticly enable it
Thanks for the suggestions so far, but they all appear to require that I manually switch off the disk.
What I am looking for is a software-driven process that stops the disk from spinning, while keeping it 'on-line' (ie. installed and enabled) for future operations, like the normal power management options will do for an internal disk.
There must be some kind of command string that can be sent to the disk controller that says something like: "Complete all pending operations and then stop spinning.". When the next disk operation request is sent to the disk, it starts spinning, again, like when my internal disks wake up automatically under normal power management options.
If such an option exists at all, it's likely to be device specific, where "device" in this context is the external USB-to-IDE controller. For this to be used, the USB drive enclosure would have to come with a utility to enable and manage this feature. If it didn't (and I am not sure if any do), you are probably out of luck. As far as I know, there is no "standard", device independent support for this.
In case the author doesnt react, i would suggest a split between fahimabid FalconHawk and Watzman. Fahimabid for writing down the system icon, myself for the system options way, and Watzman for writing down the device specific code.
I think we gave the solutions that are possible, thus answered the question.
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by: -Leo-Posted on 2005-04-04 at 02:43:50ID: 13696083
You have to switch it off manually. I have been looking for the same solution for my Maxtor 300 Gb but alas ...