Disk Drive Sleep Question

I'm running Windows 10 and have a SSD + HDD combination of drives. The sleep time is set to 20 minutes. Can anyone tell me if the drives will wake up independently, as needed? In other words, I would like the HDD to stay asleep, unless specifically called upon, but the SSD to come ready with any activity.

I've tried some testing and Googling, but haven't come to any conclusion.
Thanks

 

No. When the computer wakes, the entire computer, including all internal drives, wakes at once.

It sounds like what you need is to install your hard drive into an external enclosure. Then connect and power it up when needed.

I use a docking station.

 

Hey Digerati,
Your suggestion of the external enclosure is a good one. Actually, I already have a USB 3 external for backup. It goes to sleep nicely after a period of inactivity. I'm not sure whether Windows 10 puts it to sleep after 20 minutes or it does it on it's own. Doesn't matter though.

What I really like, is the fact that it will stay asleep, even if I use Window Explorer to access the other internal drives. For the most part, it stays sleeping until I try to browse it. I have noticed that occasionally something else 'tickles' it and it does awaken.

Now if the internal HDD is behaving the same way, that would be perfect. Unfortunately, it's not as easy to see what's going on there as it is with the external. I'm keeping an eye on it though and I think I will soon have the answer!

Thanks for taking the time to respond!

 

I normally just turn it to never...On the sleep timers.Some times it will cause issues.

 

Wile,

That's exactly what I did this afternoon. There's way less wear and tear on the drive to just let it spin. Starting, stopping, loading and unloading are probably much worse for the drive. I read that this 'disk drive sleep' feature is intended primary for laptops, where battery charge is a concern. I'm using a desktop and the very small amount of power consumed is negligible.

Thanks

 

I can confirm that with Windows 10, once a hard drive goes to sleep (standby), it stays there until it is specifically called upon. And that is true even if other drives get a request of some kind and are active. Now this is just true for the hard drive sleep, NOT the entire computer going to sleep. That's a different story.

I have Smartmontools installed and through Googling, I discovered it is possible to check the drive status without disturbing it.

From the command line to check drive D:
smartctl -n standby D:
or
smartctl -n standby /dev/sdb

 

That may have been true 25 years ago but not today.

I don't know what you mean by loading and unloading. And stopping does not hurt anything.

Letting it run instead of "starting" dozens and dozens of times every day is probably better. But is that what's happening? Or does it just need to start once or twice a day, or even just a few times a week? In that case, the wear and tear of the constantly moving bearings is certainly more than if it just needs to spin up occasionally.

 

By loading and unloading, I was referring to the action of the heads when the drive goes to sleep (standby) or wakes up. Western digital has a feature called 'NoTouch Ramp Load Technology', which may reduce the chances of a head/disk crash.

By default, my sleep time was set to 20 minutes. So, I might be working with a document or file for some time. If it was longer than the 20 minutes, the drive would go to sleep an would need to spin up and come ready again. The simple solution was to just increase the 'wake' time, which I did.

FYI: I believe most modern hard drives now use 'hydrodynamic bearings'. That has eliminate the inherent problems with ball bearings. So, the heads are riding on a cushion of air (or helium) and the spindle on a cushion of fluid. It's all smooth!

 

All hard drives have this. When power is removed, the R/W head arm "parks" the heads over a designated "landing zone". The purpose is to protect the R/W head and data storage locations in the event the drive is physically knocked around. If the R/W head "bounces", it will not bounce on actual data storage locations on the platters, potentially damaging the heads and the platters.

You are talking two different things. All hard drives have two separate motors. Those bearings you speak of are used in the motor that spins the platters. That has nothing to do with how the R/W heads move and "float" or ride that air (or helium) cushion above the platters. The R/W arms are moved back and forth across the spinning platters with a different and special type of motor - a "stepper" motor.