Disable Hard Disk Drive Turns Off or Hibernates/Sleeps into Power Saving Mode in Vista
Windows Vista comes with three preset built-in default power plans (in earlier Windows operating system known as power schemes). These 3 default power plans are “High Performance” which maximizes system performance and responsiveness, “Power Saver” which saves power by reducing system performance and “Balanced” which achieve a balance between the two by offering full performance during active use and saves power when computer is idle or inactivity state. Whichever power plan you selected to enable, the hard disk drive will be turned off after long period of inactivity or idle.
HDD drive in Vista system will be turned off (it’s actually not hibernation as there is no memory state, instead, the whole hard disk is shutdown and cut off from power) in order to conserve and save power or electricity. The downsize and disadvantage of this power saving feature is that when users want to access and read a idle turned off hard disk drive, the access is not immediate as the drive needs to recover from sleep mode. Usually, users will hear a loud noise generated from sudden start moving of hard disk’s mechanical part, while access to hard disk starts only after a few seconds.
If you don’t mind to pay a little bit more for your electricity bill and don’t bother the heat of continuously running hard disk, you can disable the ability of hard disk to turn itself off to sleep. To disable power saving feature on hard disk, follow this step:
- Open Control Panel.
- Click System and Maintenance link.
- Click on Power Options link.
- Under the “Preferred plans” section, click on Change plan settings link of the power plan selected.
- Click on Change advanced power settings link at the bottom.
- Expand the Hard Disk tree branch.
- Expand the Turn off hard disk after.
- Click on Settings. Users require to enter a value in minutes to indicate how long after idling the harddisk will be turned off. To disable turning off or sleep mode, change the value to Never by pressing on “down arrow”. Alternatively, simply enter 0 into the box.
- Press OK when done.
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October 18th, 2009 13:01
Thx,works on win7 64
September 3rd, 2009 19:24
Works sweet even on WIn 7
June 6th, 2009 02:37
THANKS! This post is notably clear. It may not solve my problem (with an eSATA drive), but it certainly cuts through the annoying dumbed-down-ness of Vista.
February 3rd, 2009 12:43
I turned every power option, including the advance options to “never” and I still have my Vista Home laptop shut completley down after a period of 4-5 hours. It is not just going into sleep mode….. it just shuts down and I lose everything.
I understand that many people like the security of having sleep mode or power save, but is there any way to keep this thing on for an extended period of time? Does it need to go into sleep mode to keep from shutting completley off?
Thanks
October 2nd, 2008 06:10
i installed a second 500gb hdd in my gateway gm5457e and i don’t want it to run all the time (power up), only when I need it (like for music and pictures). is there any way to do this through windows vista home premium??? rhonda1@live.com
March 14th, 2008 20:05
Thank you for that! I thought I had a malfunctioning hard drive till I suddenly thought of the option Vista is doing it, this cleared it up completely:)