I have two identical Samsung SSD 4TB drives (don't know the model number) that I use for backups. I'd like to have them plugged in all the time - but, it seems that if they're not used right away, they get disconnected. Is this normal? Is there a way I can have them ready to go all the time? Thank you.
The first thing to try is to make sure Windows is not allowed to shut down hard drives automatically.
Go to Control Panel > Power Options
Under your Current Plan > click: Change Plan Settings
click: Change Advanced Power Settings
Expand + Hard Disk > Turn Off Hard Disk After > Setting (Minutes): set to zero (0) - will say: Never
OK > Restart PC
See if that gives you the behavior you want.
Note: this setting is OK if your system is a desktop plugged into power plug. You would want to consider keeping this setting if your PC is a laptop running on battery power, as it will drain the level down more quickly. If the laptop is always plugged in to the power supply/charger and always on then keeping this setting would also be OK.
Since these are USB connected external drives (I assume) you could also try (same Power Options > Advanced section)
USB Settings > USB Selective Suspend Setting > Setting: Disabled
Thank you. One more question: Is it OK to have the drives (not SSDs - traditional hard drives) always on? Will it hurt my drives or make them fail earlier? Any other problems I might be creating?
zero problems.
That question is a can of worms - and an endless forum debate.
Some people say that running spinning hard drives constantly extends their life because the spin-up cycle when the system starts is "hard" on the drive.
Other people say that the life cycle of a spinning drive is dependent (among other things) on hours or use, and the amount of heat it is subject to (how long it is on).
Other people say that both of these other opinions are nonsense and it doesn't matter either way.
There is more than enough confirmation on the interwebs to support any one of the theories.
In any event you will generally only get the opinion of any one individual and their experience over their life with their PCs.
I turn my PCs OFF when I'm not using them, and I have never had a hard drive failure (other than DOA units on new builds) and some of my working hard drives are over 10 years old.
THEREFORE - you must always shut down your hard drives to make them last a long time.
Which is total BS.
Someone will be along shortly to contradict this!
I appreciate your opinion!!! How can I be sure my spinning drives are not spinning when they're not in use? I'm assuming that, just because they're plugged in, they don't spin all the time. Thanks.......
Well, there are always exceptions, but in general if a spinning hard disk drive is internal, it is spinning as long as the PC is on. One obvious exception is that you have the settings mentioned above set to power the drive down after some period of inactivity.
For external spinning hard disk drives it is generally the same thing. If the drive is plugged in (either a Portable Drive with just USB, or a Desktop Drive with USB and a power supply) then the device is on and the hard drive is spinning. If the unit has an indicator light then you can assume that if the light is on then the disk is spinning.
Again, if the OS or the particular external drive is set to power it down after some inactivity then that would be an exception.
FYI: The first method didn't work - but the second method (disabling the USB Selective Suspend Setting) DID work. Thanks so much!!!!!!
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OK, the indicator lights are on (external USB drives) and, by touch, it feels like they are spinning. My objective is to backup my OS on a regular basis without plugging in the drives each time Macrium Reflect is set to run. I'm using Windows Scheduler to do this. I wish there was a way to start the drives spinning when they're called upon to run the backup. Is this possible? Thank you.
Last edited by Nisko; 12 Aug 2020 at 16:22.
I don't know. Never tried it.
I think it would be something you could experiment with. See if Macrium, when it runs automatically to backup to one of those external drives, will bring it out of 'sleep' mode.
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