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I am connecting 1-2 hard drives via E-SATA. Using Windows, is there an option to force "shutting down" that hard drive (until it is needed again)?

Dave
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kluka
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  • If you close all connections (Explorer windows etc.) I'm fairly sure Windows will power down any drives it's not actively using – ChrisF Nov 26 '12 at 12:59
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    @ChrisF - but doesn't the motor still run in hard drive ... Klyonrad, why do you want this? Typically I think hard drives fail due to multiple read/write processes, not just it being on per-se. The only suggestion to complete this is to have a separate box for each external hard drive with a built in power button (so not via Windows) – Dave Nov 26 '12 at 13:05
  • @DaveRook - I don't know to be honest. But on my machine I get definite "power down" and "power up" noises when I don't access one of the internal drives for a while. – ChrisF Nov 26 '12 at 13:07
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    I wonder if it means it can be controlled via a more specialist Windows Power Option software. @Klyonrad, Google power options for Windows: Look at http://revosleep.realspooky.de/ – Dave Nov 26 '12 at 13:09
  • @DaveRook actually there is not a real "need" for this because the hard drive turns off rather quickly as I just realized, but I am just curious. For the rare case that by random the hard drive got turned on and you're watching something and are seriously annoyed by the noise... – kluka Nov 26 '12 at 13:14
  • @klyonrad But this should only occur when the drive is being accessed; Drives don't spin up for no reason unless faulty may be (or a virus scan in the backround is running). – Dave Nov 26 '12 at 13:16
  • @DaveRook - do they not also spin up for SMART update? So, the drive may be idle for system needs, but SMART still seeks updates to the drive health. – Carl B Nov 26 '12 at 16:28

7 Answers7

10

What you're looking for is to 'spin down' a drive. Here is a similar question.

If you want to disable drives with the command line, you can use DevCon:

devcon disable <hardware id>

Using the device manager:

Right click on disk > disable

Community
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siebz0r
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https://www.meinfach.net/revosleep/

or

http://hddscan.com/

Personally I prefer revosleep

Or juts set offline/Online state on diskmgr

enter image description here

user956584
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You can't do it with Windows directly - the only option you have is through power options but typically this turns off all hard drives at once - there is some specialist power option software (I won't link as links become outdated, just use a search engine).

Or, as you're using e-sata I assume this is external - you could get external sata boxes with power buttons but as per my comments I think the powering up and down would cause more damage than leaving a disc idle.

FYI typically even by disabling the disc in Device Manager does not stop it from using power nor from spinning. If it has power, it is on!

Dave
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I have 20 hard drives connected to my server. I've been looking as well, and what I've come up with is using esp8266 with relays to turn them off and on with the power. I'm now looking at having the server let the user know over the network when the drives are powered on and ready to use.

So far so good. I can control the hard drives, Now I'm working on the com. between the esp8266 and the server. When I'm done I'm going to post it on GitHub.

I know it will be slow, but it will save the hard drives big time. The hard drives in the server are for long time storage. This will allow me to use a smaller power supply to run everything.

This is what the hard drive setup looks like so far.

   RELAY 1
1 Movies 1 4T
2 Movies 2 4T
   RELAY 2
3 Shows 1  4T
4 shows 2  4T
5 Shows 3  4T
   RELAY 3
6 Education & Programs 3T
   RELAY 4
7 Movies 1 Backup 2T
8 Movies 2 Backup 2T
9 Movies 3 Backup 2T
   RELAY 5
10 Shows 1 Backup 2T
11 Shows 2 Backup 2T
12 Shows 3 Backup 2T
   RELAY 6
13 education & Programs backup 2T,1T,750g,250g,250g,320g.
   RELAY 7
 Turn server on/off
   RELAY 8
 RESET SERVER
karel
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perry
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You can do it in 2 ways :

  1. Using the RUN command type "diskmgmt.msc" (without quotes) and right click the desired disk and set OFFLINE. Now you may poweroff or eject the e-sata hdd.

  2. Using command prompt, type diskpart > list disk >

Select the desired disk using "sel disk X" Now switch off the disk using "offline disk"

You can use the same way to switch ON the disk later using "online disk".

Toto
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feather
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HDDSCAN > Select HDD > Tools > Features > Spindle Control

啊HA
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  • Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers [in the help center](/help/how-to-answer). – Community Oct 17 '22 at 20:48
  • How does one obtain HDDSCAN ? Are you affiliated with it. – Rohit Gupta Oct 17 '22 at 21:24
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Under the power settings you can set the turn off harddisk time.
This is for all harddrives connected to the PC.
If one harddrive is inactive for the selected period of time it will be deactivated
and reactivated when needed.

gnomix
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  • Yeah, I know about the automatic turn-off power management. However this applies to all hard drives and not a specific one. – kluka Nov 26 '12 at 13:11