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
    2014-08-07T14:38:14+00:00

    Thanks, I will try the Seagate tools tonight, I am not under warranty but this drive is not even 1 year old. If it turns out to be a bad sector or bad drive I will not be buying a Seagate again. This was my first.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-08-07T14:24:02+00:00

    Hi, I had the same issue days ago. I had a Seagate 2Tb External HD and it was dismounting all the time with no apparent reason. Even after trying every procedure I found on forums and even downgrade to Windows 7, the issue persisted. So I contacted Seagate and they recommended me to download Seatools software: http://m.seagate.com/support/downloads/seatools/ and run the "long test". After a couple of hours the diagnostic showed that my drive had the Bad Sector (block) problem. This could be an software or a hardware issue and that´s what is causing this much trouble. If you run the test and get this result I recommend:

    Hope you find the solution, even if it´s not the same as mine.

    Obs.: Sorry poor  English.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-08-07T14:02:55+00:00

    I have a very similar issue, I am running Windows 8.1 and I have a Seagate 1.5 External drive connected by 3.0 USB. The drive will unmount and sleep when not in use but the drives are still be available under "This PC". So I can still wake them and access files. I can't seem to figure out why it will mount and unmount on its own but the sound is very annoying. Seems to disconnect then reconnect at will. I have tried the following.

        •    Uninstalled 3.0 usb drivers and restarted computer. Drivers reinstalled on their own.

        •    Power Management for USB drives - Disabled Selective Suspend.

        •    Disk Drive Power Options - Never sleep

        •    External Disk Drive - Enabled Cache Writing

        •    Tried to update drivers for Seagate and USB but Windows says I am current

        •    Power Management unchecked "Allow Computer to Put this Drive to Sleep, etc"

    Seems like one of these would keep it from dismounting and remounting.

    I don't mind it going to sleep if it is still accessible and is going to keep the drive from wearing out faster but the sound intermittently going off is driving me batty. There also seems to be no real rhyme or reason to the mount and unmount.

    I could just remove the sound for a drive dismounting and mounting but that seems like a very lazy work around and ignoring the real issue.

    Anyone have any ideas that I have not already tried?

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-07-22T15:57:23+00:00

    I have had the same problem with my Seagate Expansions.Just go to power options and then change the Usb settings to disabled  (power options usb selective suspend).It Worked for me.My disks never go to sleep.( I don't know if anyone solved the problem.I haven't read all the pages I just wanted to help :)

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