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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.
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.
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.
Follow the instruction on this page to find the VID/PID: 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
The VID/PID is on the parent of the USBSTOR device.
-Eliyas
Hi!! life savior!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
I gave up on this a long time ago and live with yet another Windows annoyance. How about a discussion telling where to unsubscribe from this thread. I clicked on a link but see nothing related.
Thanks
tim
Is anyone still looking at this ?
I have had a Lenovo TP Yoga with W8.1 for a month and a half. I had added a m2 SATA ssd for my OS but found my computer kept on crashing even when I was working on it. I realised this was because my computer would suddenly "not see" the M2 ssd (and hence the OS). This problem was solved simply - but drastically - by re-starting my computer. I realised it was almost certainly a power issue as the HW stood up to everything I could throw at it. Somehow that doesn't seem to happen much now (though it does occasionally)
Instead what IS happening - i think when I haven't used disk or touchscreen or mouse for a while (just typing or reading) - is my usb ports all turn off together, which means mouse AND external HDD AND (internal USB) touchscreen all stop working together. The only solution is to restart the computer.
I have tried all the Power Option solutions (HDD on always, Disable USB power saving etc.) and the Device Manager Power management options both in Human Interface and USB controllers - they don't work.
I am presuming the Registry fix is unlikely to work for me as the April 2014 update is already installed on my computer. Has anyone successfully used the Registry fix AFTER the 2014/04 update ?
Any further news on this problem ?
I had an old computer with W8.1 which worked flawlessly and I had always been a staunch defender of W8, but this takes me back to the bad old days. Why can't you deactivate this aggressive powering off ???
I've given up on it and optimistically look forward to Windows 10 with a small glimmer of hope.
