Hard Drive question

[Extract_Here]

I have two hdds 1 has winxp the other has 9.10. when im using karmic i dont want the other hard drive to be on and spinning the same when im on windows. I dont want to have to disconnect them from the power supply every time i dont want one of them on. So is there a way to turn one of them off without opening up the case?

thank you in advance

[warfacegod]

Unmount it.

[warfacegod]

Sorry, in Windows it's "Safely Remove Hardware..."

[tom.swartz07]

I have two hdds 1 has winxp the other has 9.10. when im using karmic i dont want the other hard drive to be on and spinning the same when im on windows. I dont want to have to disconnect them from the power supply every time i dont want one of them on. So is there a way to turn one of them off without opening up the case?

thank you in advance

Im not too sure about what you could do on the Windows level, perhaps just "safely remove" the drive -i.e. unmount it?


Of course, you could always do a casemod and add in a little power switch for your other drive!

[Extract_Here]

when im on ******* xp it doesnt even show the other hdd does that mean its not on?

[cascade9]

Nah, thats probably just XP has no idea what EXT3/4 is (or whatever filesystem you are using).

[tom.swartz07]

when im on ******* xp it doesnt even show the other hdd does that mean its not on?

I wouldnt go that far. It may not 'see' it, but im sure it knows that somethings there.

I forgot about the fact that Microsoft doesnt recognize ext filesystems.

Im afraid im out of solutions!
:bows out gracefully:

[Extract_Here]

Okay, do you think its bad that the other one stays up and running?

Also I have to change my boot order every time to decide which one to boot too. Is there a solution to that?

Is it possible that I could disable the other hdd in the bios and it wouldn't start up?

[tom.swartz07]

Okay, do you think its bad that the other one stays up and running?

Also I have to change my boot order every time to decide which one to boot too. Is there a solution to that?

Is it possible that I could disable the other hdd in the bios and it wouldn't start up?

It certainly shouldnt hurt the drive unless you pick up the whole case and dropkick it down a flight of stairs.

The drives are made to spin for a long time, and for the most part if the drive isnt being read from/written to it should go to slow spin or stop after a period of time.

[warfacegod]

Okay, do you think its bad that the other one stays up and running?

Also I have to change my boot order every time to decide which one to boot too. Is there a solution to that?

Is it possible that I could disable the other hdd in the bios and it wouldn't start up?

Aside from the power consumption, there isn't anything "bad" about letting it spin.

You'll need to be more specific about you second question.

You could disable it from the BIOS but if you wanted to use it again, you'd have to go back and enable it again. Not much of a solution.

In Windows, you can tell it to "Spin down discs when not in use". Frankly, I don't remember how to do that but it's probably in power management somewhere.