Power down USB drives

  • Thread starter Thread starter mcp6453
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mcp6453

If I attach an external USB hard drive to a computer, will it typically
power down after a period of non-use on its own, or is there a way that
I can cause it to do so? One of my XP computers is designated as a
server on my home network. It would be great to be able to access the
content archived on my USB drives, but I sure don't want to leave them
running all the time.
 
Previously mcp6453 said:
If I attach an external USB hard drive to a computer, will it typically
power down after a period of non-use on its own, or is there a way that
I can cause it to do so? One of my XP computers is designated as a
server on my home network. It would be great to be able to access the
content archived on my USB drives, but I sure don't want to leave them
running all the time.
Click to expand...

You cannot send a command to power them down. AFAIK the way to do it
is to get a disk that can power itself down and set it to do so,
while connected via (S)ATA.

Arno
 
mcp6453 said:
If I attach an external USB hard drive to a computer, will it typically
power down after a period of non-use on its own, or is there a way that I
can cause it to do so?
Click to expand...

I have USB enclosures that spin down the drives after a preset period of
non-activity, but I don't think it's a common feature and these are not
regular enclosures (multi-drive cases that support JBOD spanning).
 
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