Windows 8.1 causes external hard drives to auto-sleep?

Anonymous
2013-10-27T07:38:58+00:00

My 2 external hard drives are always active as I have disabled auto sleep. I didn't have this problem way since Windows 7, but after upgrading to Windows 8.1 from Windows 8, my 2 external hard drives will automatically went to sleep around 10 minutes of inactivity. I have tried the power options, device manager options, but to no avail. Any help? Thanks. 

I'm using NoSleepHD as a temporary fix but I hope there's a permanent fix for this.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2013-11-01T15:32:42+00:00

Thanks for the trace. We will analyze and get back to you. We published a blog on this yesterday to bring awareness and get help from the community to root-cause the issue. We think this is all due to suspending the device when idle which we never used to do in previous OSes. We will find out if this turns out to be something else.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/usbcoreblog/archive/2013/11/01/help-after-installing-windows-8-1-my-usb-drive-disappears-or-file-transfers-stop-unexpectedly-r-a-post-title.aspx

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-10-28T04:05:26+00:00

    Hi,

    What is the make and model of the external hard drive?

    You may try these steps if not yet tried:

    a. Press Windows key + X and select Device Manager.

    b. In Device Manager, under Universal Serial Bus Controllers, double-click on the 1st Root Hub.

    c. Go to the Power tab to see if the drive is connected to it. If not, try the next Root Hub. If so, click the Power Management tab. Uncheck the box that says: "allow computer to turn off this device to save power".

    Check if that helps.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-09-10T03:19:43+00:00

    Man this is happening to me, trying to find ways to recover. I have a 3T Seagate which was working fine on Win 10.  Having issues and reformatted my computer hard drive, which restored it back to Win 8.1. Shortly after that my external started acting up, it would start up, spin for a few sec and automatically shut down.  Looking for help on how to resolve. I don't know if the refrigerator trick will help it. My research also show that it may be the hard drive board, they are not that expensive. 

    If I find a system that work, will update.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-11-05T20:13:24+00:00

    I have now got the reghack to work, I took the drive out and put another drive in, renamed the Lacie drive tried the reghack and this time it has worked. This was the 4th time I did it. I have no explanation why it has worked this time

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-10-28T10:20:00+00:00

    Thanks. I had this problem too. My drive is Seagate Expansion 4TB. Tried your suggested solution too but unfortunately it didn't work.

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