Hard drive power saving

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mika Takala
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Mika Takala

Does Windows XP SP2 support hard drive power saving on hardware level or by
partition level? I want to know that if I have a hd in a computer without
any partitions that Windows recognizes, will Windows spin it down according
to the power saving settings?
 
How do you expect this to function?

Can you imagine only 1/3 of your hard disk rotating?

Power saving applies to a physical device [an entire hard drive] and not a
portion of it.

Unlike a motor vehicle engine, where fuel savings are managed by shutting
off fuel flow to one or more cylinders, one cannot cut of the energy to a
logial partition.
 
Mika Takala said:
Does Windows XP SP2 support hard drive power saving on hardware level or by
partition level? I want to know that if I have a hd in a computer without
any partitions that Windows recognizes, will Windows spin it down according
to the power saving settings?
Click to expand...
 
BAR said:
How do you expect this to function?

Can you imagine only 1/3 of your hard disk rotating?

Power saving applies to a physical device [an entire hard drive] and not a
portion of it.

Unlike a motor vehicle engine, where fuel savings are managed by shutting
off fuel flow to one or more cylinders, one cannot cut of the energy to a
logial partition.

:

Does Windows XP SP2 support hard drive power saving on hardware level or by
partition level? I want to know that if I have a hd in a computer without
any partitions that Windows recognizes, will Windows spin it down according
to the power saving settings?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

But that is not what he asked. He asked if he had another hard drive in
the computer that had partitions that XP did not recognise would that
specific hard drive spin down. He is not asking about a seperate
partitions on the XP drive.
 
Mika Takala said:
Does Windows XP SP2 support hard drive power saving on hardware level or by
partition level? I want to know that if I have a hd in a computer without
any partitions that Windows recognizes, will Windows spin it down according
to the power saving settings?


--
Mika Takala
note the invalidated reply-to address
Click to expand...

If you have a hard drive without a partition, you'll know it. (kidding) The power options should support spin down of multiple drives in the pc. Although, if there is a hard drive w\o a partition, i doubt it will be spinning anyway. If i'm correct, the extra drive won't spin until it is partitioned and in use.
 
no....it treats power saving to the hard drive device, not to individual
partitions. Because the computer system supplies power to the hard drive
(as a whole) not to individual partitions
 
In message <[email protected]> PCDaddy
If you have a hard drive without a partition, you'll know it. (kidding)
The power options should support spin down of multiple drives in the pc.
Although, if there is a hard drive w\o a partition, i doubt it will be
spinning anyway. If i'm correct, the extra drive won't spin until it
is partitioned and in use.
Click to expand...

How will the system know whether or not there are partitions until it
spins up the drive and checks? -- Once the drive is running (And most
spin up on power-on anyway), it will stay running until something turns
it off.

Settings Windows to shut down inactive drives will spin down drives
without partitions -- I tested to confirm :)
 
DevilsPGD said:
In message PCDaddy
wrote:

>
>Mika Takala Wrote:
>> Does Windows XP SP2 support hard drive power saving on hardware level or
>> by
>> partition level? I want to know that if I have a hd in a computer
>> without
>> any partitions that Windows recognizes, will Windows spin it down
>> according
>> to the power saving settings?
>>
>>
>> --
>> Mika Takala
>> note the invalidated reply-to address
>
>If you have a hard drive without a partition, you'll know it. (kidding)
>The power options should support spin down of multiple drives in the pc.
>Although, if there is a hard drive w\o a partition, i doubt it will be
>spinning anyway. If i'm correct, the extra drive won't spin until it
>is partitioned and in use.

How will the system know whether or not there are partitions until it
spins up the drive and checks? -- Once the drive is running (And most
spin up on power-on anyway), it will stay running until something turns
it off.

Settings Windows to shut down inactive drives will spin down drives
without partitions -- I tested to confirm :)


--
Q. How many Microsoft technicians does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. Three. Two to hold the ladder and one to hammer the bulb into a faucet.
Click to expand...

For one, i hope you don't run too many tests. For two i never said it didn't spin up for a check on boot. YOU assumed i did. for three, even when a partitioned drive wont spin up, a major factor is a partition problem. Look it up. for four, i just checked my non p samsung in my athlon and guess what braniac, it didn't stay SPUN. So before you think you know what you're saying, and trying to make others look like fools, read your Q&A and apply it to yourself. :)
 
Settings Windows to shut down inactive drives will spin down drives
without partitions -- I tested to confirm :)
Click to expand...

Thank you very much, you saved me that valuable testing time.
 
All drives are spun up at boot time - the BIOS does this and has nothing
to do with Windows. Unless you have a SCSI setup you can't alter spin-up
parameters on standats IDE disks.

All drives (partitioned or not) will stay running in Windows unless the
whole system goes into suspend or hibernate mode - you can't select
individual drives in the power options.

Some systems additionally have a BIOS settings that allows disks to turn
of after a period of inactivity - again this has nothing to do with
partitions.
 
All drives are spun up at boot time - the BIOS does this and has nothing
to do with Windows. Unless you have a SCSI setup you can't alter spin-up
parameters on standats IDE disks.

All drives (partitioned or not) will stay running in Windows unless the
whole system goes into suspend or hibernate mode - you can't select
individual drives in the power options.
Click to expand...

On an individual drive basis, no. However, you can set Windows to "Turn
off hard disks" after a period of time.

This will affect all disks on the system. If you set it to 15 minutes,
then any drive which is idle for 15 minutes will be shut down.

Since a drive without any partitions will be idle virtually all the time
(unless you're running some disk tools that are accessing the drive)
 
aus said:
All drives are spun up at boot time - the BIOS does this and has nothing
to do with Windows. Unless you have a SCSI setup you can't alter spin-up
parameters on standats IDE disks.

All drives (partitioned or not) will stay running in Windows unless the
whole system goes into suspend or hibernate mode - you can't select
individual drives in the power options.

Some systems additionally have a BIOS settings that allows disks to turn
of after a period of inactivity - again this has nothing to do with
partitions.



PCDaddy wrote:
> Mika Takala Wrote:
>
>>Does Windows XP SP2 support hard drive power saving on hardware level or
>>by
>>partition level? I want to know that if I have a hd in a computer
>>without
>>any partitions that Windows recognizes, will Windows spin it down
>>according
>>to the power saving settings?
>>
>>
>>--
>>Mika Takala
>>note the invalidated reply-to address
>
>
> If you have a hard drive without a partition, you'll know it. (kidding)
> The power options should support spin down of multiple drives in the pc.
> Although, if there is a hard drive w\o a partition, i doubt it will be
> spinning anyway. If i'm correct, the extra drive won't spin until it
> is partitioned and in use.
>
>
Click to expand...
Where did you learn to read? yikes! no one said about altering parameters, simply that windows will shut down disks in power options. And NO not in all systems will the hard drive stay spinning if there is no partition.I have one to prove it. Did i say you can select individual drives???I said M-U-L-T-I-P-L-E .
And yes, partitions do have to do with some hds not spinning up. Search the net, look through windows newsgroups, read a book, you will find it. A couple of points are arguable but you didn't make any on what i wrote. GEEEEZ.
 
I dont think I have tested this - and its probably not 100% predictable.

e.g. If a second unpartitioned drive is inactive in itself but there is
a slave device on the IDE channel (e.g. CD) then its controller runs the
secondary drive so will it spin up on a CD access? You'd have to test to
be sure.

Also the SMART power down settings interact with windows settings on
some setups so Im not sure things are as simple as they appear.

I take your point about the power down settings - though this will
indeed shutdown all your inactive drives, ever the Windows drive if you
are idle for a while, which you may not want. Selecting an individual
drive would be ideal - this may be possible in the SMART settings on the
drive - again its something you'd need to test.

In previous years it was advised not to use HDD power down settings on a
desktop as it can wear the head load mechanism - but I think that isnt
relevant now.
 
Power down modes on hard disk are related to drive access time-outs when
the system sends a specific sleep mode command. It has *nothing* to do
with partitions. If you have some fantasy information from comics or
pizza boxes then quote it here.

Just think about your home made ideas before posting - how could the
system tell if any disk had a partition without actually spinning it up?
Maybe it has a note on a bit of paper somewhere? doh!

You dont have a system that doesn't spin drives up - all non SCSI PCs
spin all drives up unless you have manually disabled the drive and the
BIOS immediately supplies a sleep mode command. What is the
PC/drive/BIOS you are using?
 
aus said:
Power down modes on hard disk are related to drive access time-outs when
the system sends a specific sleep mode command. It has *nothing* to do
with partitions. If you have some fantasy information from comics or
pizza boxes then quote it here.

Just think about your home made ideas before posting - how could the
system tell if any disk had a partition without actually spinning it up?
Maybe it has a note on a bit of paper somewhere? doh!

You dont have a system that doesn't spin drives up - all non SCSI PCs
spin all drives up unless you have manually disabled the drive and the
BIOS immediately supplies a sleep mode command. What is the
PC/drive/BIOS you are using?



PCDaddy wrote:
> aus Wrote:
>
>>All drives are spun up at boot time - the BIOS does this and has nothing
>>to do with Windows. Unless you have a SCSI setup you can't alter
>>spin-up
>>parameters on standats IDE disks.
>>
>>All drives (partitioned or not) will stay running in Windows unless the
>>whole system goes into suspend or hibernate mode - you can't select
>>individual drives in the power options.
>>
>>Some systems additionally have a BIOS settings that allows disks to
>>turn
>>of after a period of inactivity - again this has nothing to do with
>>partitions.
>>
>>
>>
>>PCDaddy wrote:
>>
>>>Mika Takala Wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Does Windows XP SP2 support hard drive power saving on hardware level
>>
>>or
>>
>>>>by
>>>>partition level? I want to know that if I have a hd in a computer
>>>>without
>>>>any partitions that Windows recognizes, will Windows spin it down
>>>>according
>>>>to the power saving settings?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>--
>>>>Mika Takala
>>>>note the invalidated reply-to address
>>>
>>>
>>>If you have a hard drive without a partition, you'll know it.
>>
>>(kidding)
>>
>>>The power options should support spin down of multiple drives in the
>>
>>pc.
>>
>>>Although, if there is a hard drive w\o a partition, i doubt it will
>>
>>be
>>
>>>spinning anyway. If i'm correct, the extra drive won't spin until it
>>>is partitioned and in use.
>>>
>>>
>
> Where did you learn to read? yikes! no one said about altering
> parameters, simply that windows will shut down disks in power options.
> And NO not in all systems will the hard drive stay spinning if there is
> no partition.I have one to prove it. Did i say you can select individual
> drives???I said M-U-L-T-I-P-L-E .
> And yes, partitions do have to do with some hds not spinning up. Search
> the net, look through windows newsgroups, read a book, you will find it.
> A couple of points are arguable but you didn't make any on what i wrote.
> GEEEEZ.
>
>
Click to expand...
Once again, another person who can't read! This is amazing! As I said at the top, All hard drives spin up at start, if no partition is found it will NOT stay spinning when there is nothing to read! Who are YOU to tell me about home made ideas when you don't even know that a non partition hard drive will not stay spinning? I will post my fantasies when you learn how to read them!
 
Read your posts:

*"Although, if there is a hard drive w\o a partition, i doubt it will be
spinning anyway. If i'm correct, the extra drive won't spin until it
is partitioned and in use."* (thi is incorrect - also called 'wrong')

and you also said

*"And yes, partitions do have to do with some hds not spinning up."*
(also wrong)

but you just said

*"As I said at the top, All hard drives spin up at start"* - umm, where
is that bit exactly?


I've never seen someone actually decide to change what they said in a
newsgroup - hint: its printed for everyone to read.


Please post any references you have re. partitions and disk entering
idle mode, as you say:

*"And yes, partitions do have to do with some hds not spinning up.
Searchthe net, look through windows newsgroups, read a book, you will
find it."*

Post these references, as you have many I'm sure. Go ahead, don't wait.
Please do. We are all in a rush, as are you.
 
I meant the top of the first page, when i stated...(For two i never said it didn't spin up for a check on boot. YOU assumed i did.) So once again, go ahead and make yourself feel better thinking you have some godly knowlege. Just because someone is a smart @$$, doesn't mean they have a brain. I emailed maxtor and western digital, I was told that in some systems the disk will not spin after no partition is found. Just like any posting site, even if someone is wrong there is always someone to try and step on them but luckily (i don't care) i think it's funny. There are many technicians that are wrong every day. Well gotta go, I have to watch the next episode of AUS Almighty!
 
Mika Takala said:
Does Windows XP SP2 support hard drive power saving on hardware level or by
partition level? I want to know that if I have a hd in a computer without
any partitions that Windows recognizes, will Windows spin it down according
to the power saving settings?
Click to expand...
 
Mika Takala said:
Does Windows XP SP2 support hard drive power saving on hardware level or by
partition level? I want to know that if I have a hd in a computer without
any partitions that Windows recognizes, will Windows spin it down according
to the power saving settings?
Click to expand...
 
PCDaddy said:
For one, i hope you don't run too many tests. For two i never said it
didn't spin up for a check on boot. YOU assumed i did. for three, even
when a partitioned drive wont spin up, a major factor is a partition
problem. Look it up. for four, i just checked my non p samsung in my
athlon and guess what braniac, it didn't stay SPUN. So before you
think
you know what you're saying, and trying to make others look like
fools,
read your Q&A and apply it to yourself. :)
Click to expand...


Sorry, PCDaddy, but most of us here aren't psychic (or pyscho) so we can
only go by what you actually said, and often not much divining effort is
employed in figuring out what unmentioned information you may assume in
your statements that you don't tell us. There is what you said and what
you meant to say.

What you said: "if there is a hard drive w\o a partition, i doubt it
will be
spinning anyway."
What you meant to say: "if there is a hard drive w\o a partition, i
doubt it will REMAIN
spinning"
Whether the drive remains spinning depends on the power options. I
don't recall the BIOS power saving options or those in Windows where you
can differentiate between drives, so you apply the same power saving
options to all drives.

What you said: "the extra drive won't spin until it is partitioned and
in use."
What you meant to say: "the extra drive won't REMAIN spinNING UNLESS it
is partitioned and in use.

So, with the guessed assumptions of what you meant to include in your
statements, sure, you're correct in what you meant to say. I drew the
same conclusion as DevilsPGD regarding your statements. Maybe you were
correct. DevilsPGD is correct. So it sounds like you simply corrected
your post by claiming everyone should know what you meant to say.
 
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