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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
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

Was this answer helpful?

1 person found this answer helpful.
0 comments

164 additional answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2013-10-31T20:50:42+00:00

    Exact same problem here after update from 8 to 8.1. Every few minutes both my external drives power down at the same time and then back up again in another few minutes. NOT good for performance, USB ding dong sounds or the health of the drives. Exceptionally annoying. I have to Seagate drives, ont 2 TB and one 1 TB, the first one with USB 3.

    Will also try that temporary fix, but it's really too bad that there's a downgrade like this in the new version. So far, this problem and the "SecureBoot isn't configured correctly" one are the only two I've had. Windows 8 was zero problems so it tarnished the fresh Win feel a bit.

    Hoping for a real fix!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Deleted

    This answer has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The answer was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.

    Comments have been turned off. Learn more

  3. Anonymous
    2013-10-31T14:37:54+00:00

    I'm experiencing the same problem. The external hard drive is turned off after only 2 - 3 minutes of inactivity. This is really annoying. None of the proposals posted so far work for me. I did not have that problems with Windows 8.0.

    I can not even open and edit a file, the time I did my changes and want to save the file the device is already turned off and I have to wait for about 15 - 20 seconds for it to turn on again.

    And it also might not be very good for the lifetime of the device to start and stop every few minutes...

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2013-10-31T13:42:42+00:00

    Same problem here; External HD's worked fine on windows 8 but now spontaneously go to sleep under windows 8.1 after just 5-10 min. Tried all the fixes mentioned - no effect. Very annoying. Problem occurs with both western digital mypassport external HD's and buffalo ministation plus HD's. 

    Here is a simple work around that is working for me: I downloaded a video file from  youtube and put it on the external HD. Then I open a video player, in my case VLC, and set it to play the video in an infinite loop with the sound off.  Then I minimize the video player , or move the video player way off to the side and down, where it is just barely visible from the Desktop. Viola! The HD stays alive!

    Ridiculous for sure, but it works for me. Sure hope there is a permanent fix for this problem soon.

    Try this instead:

    http://nosleephd.codeplex.com/

    Seems to be working for most ppl, still a bit annoying though.

    Regards

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments