turning off/on hardrive - keepin' it quiet

teainthesahara

teainthesahara

New member
Hey y'all;

I've got 2 hard drives installed in my Win XP, PIV machine. One harddrive gets used for WAV file storage. I use the computer for non-audio stuff too, so i find that sometimes 2 drives (plus a installed jaz drive) always running gets a little noisy. Is there anyway i can turn one of the hard drives (the 'storage' one) on and off as needed? Like set it up so it times out after so many minutes without use? If there is a way to do this, is it easily reversable (so i can get full use of that drive without time outs)?

Thanks,

T
 
I know one that guys do is use an external firewire or USB enclosure. They just unmount the drive and turn it off when not in use. You can make hard drives spin down after a specified number of minute of non-usage in Windows Control Panel -> Power Options, but I'm not sure if it spins back up with general aomputer activity or hard drive activity specifically...
 
Thanks Sklathill - i was thinking about getting one of those enclosures for a more permanent backup solution...as CDR's can go bad in a few years.

A related question - is it better for the hardrive to stay spinning once it's turned on for the day, or does having it shut on and off with the 'power save' mode take it's toll on the drive?

Oh, and how do you folks quiet down the fan (assuming you cant move your computer anywhere). Do you just build an enclosure for the PC, or are their other solutions?
 
In terms of longevity, leaving it ON all the time will increase its lifetime considerably. This is due to the warmth of the case preventing moisture from condensing on critical parts, corroding them which leads to early failure.
 
I find the harddrives are the quietest moving parts in my PC. The CD-ROm when it spins up is the loudest, and the fans are considerably louder than the harddrives as well. Maybe your hard drives are old? The newer models (the last 2 years or so) have been extremely quiet.
 
Thanks for the perpectives guys.
Both of my drives are new, but one of them is an older model (WD 400EB - 5400rpm). I got it for my portable multitracker, only to find out later that the thing needed a damn mod before you could use it....stupid fostex......anyhow, i threw it in my computer...maybe that drive is the culprit; i might try swapping it out for a new one and using it as storage.

Cheers,
T
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top