How to keep HDD off till i need it to spin up.

[Wayfall]

Hi Community

I have a powerful computer and i prefer it to stay quiet which is does till i have this problem.

The SSD in the system is for the OS and i have a Western caviar digital HDD for my games. I have set the power setting for the HDD to turn it off after 5 minutes so when i finish a game it turns off.

The problem is that it is randomly spinning up when i'm not using it. I have checked the resource manager and the only files being read are from the C drive (the SSD is drive C, HDD is drive E and the SSD reserve is Drive D)

What is causing my HDD to randomly spin up when i do not need it, is it because there are steam game on it and steam keeps checking?

 

[Wayfall]

I have been monitoring the HDD and this pops up in resource monitor when it spins:

E:\$LogFile (NTFS Volume Log)

Can i stop this or am i going to have to keep the HDD on all the time?

 

[USAFRet]

Just because you're not using it doesn't mean the system isn't using it.
Is it really that loud?

Maybe some vibration suppression washers or something.

 

[Wayfall]

The HDD only has games installed on it, nothing else. So why would it use it when I haven't loaded one of them up?

 

[USAFRet]

The HDD only has games installed on it, nothing else. So why would it use it when I haven't loaded one of them up?

Indexing, possibly?

 

[Wayfall]

The HDD only has games installed on it, nothing else. So why would it use it when I haven't loaded one of them up?

Indexing, possibly?

Indexing?

 

[USAFRet]

The HDD only has games installed on it, nothing else. So why would it use it when I haven't loaded one of them up?

Indexing, possibly?

Indexing?

 

[Wayfall]

Yes but what is this?

 

[USAFRet]

Yes but what is this?

Creates an Index of files on the drive, to speed up when you search for something.
http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/208927-what-happens-if-i-disable-indexing.html

 

[Wayfall]

If this disables search then it would only be for the HDD right, I can still search stuff on the SSD still correct?

 

[USAFRet]

If this disables search then it would only be for the HDD right, I can still search stuff on the SSD still correct?

Yes.
And I'm not saying it is indexing...just that this is a possibility.

 

[ArtPog]

Hi Community

I have a powerful computer and i prefer it to stay quiet which is does till i have this problem.

The SSD in the system is for the OS and i have a Western caviar digital HDD for my games. I have set the power setting for the HDD to turn it off after 5 minutes so when i finish a game it turns off.

The problem is that it is randomly spinning up when i'm not using it. I have checked the resource manager and the only files being read are from the C drive (the SSD is drive C, HDD is drive E and the SSD reserve is Drive D)

What is causing my HDD to randomly spin up when i do not need it, is it because there are steam game on it and steam keeps checking?

Frankly I don't understand why it would be of any significant concern to you that your secondary HDD is "spinning up" when it is not being directly utilized by you, the user. Whatever normal activity is being generated by the OS affecting the secondary drive is trifling and has no bearing on the health/life of the disk.

So as long as the "noise" generated by the drive is not particularly onerous to you and no system problems have been experienced by you, and there's no reason to believe the disk is otherwise defective, it's hard to see how this disk "spinning up" should be of any concern to you.

But if it is...

You might want to consider a mobile rack to house a removable HDD (or SSD). I'm assuming, of course, you're working with a desktop PC and have a vacant exterior 5 1/4" drive bay to mount this type of device.

We've been equipping our PCs with one, two, or more mobile racks for a good many years now and wouldn't build a PC without at least one. The beauty of the mobile rack in your situation is that the secondary drive is both physically & electronically isolated from the system according to YOUR option. A simple ON-OFF power switch on the rack is all it takes. And you can accomplish this connection/disconnection "on-the-fly" from the comfort of your computer chair.

The mobile rack we presently use is...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817995104

(While it's designed for a 3.5" HDD it's easily modified for a 2.5" SSD). Installation is a simple process, virtually identical to installing an optical drive.