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: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2014-11-29T19:58:27+00:00

    I think we've been abandoned by Microsoft. There obviously to busy building Windows 10.

    You mean Windows 9?  I've heard something about 9.  Anything would be better than 8.1.  Thanks God for Classic Shell.  I did see an app a while ago before I rebooted (now I lost it) about an app for keeping your external hard drive awake by pinging it or something every few minutes.  It's a shame that one has to use software to correct Windows OS.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2014-11-29T19:47:37+00:00

    I think we've been abandoned by Microsoft. There obviously to busy building Windows 10.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2014-11-29T19:04:29+00:00

    Is there another way to fix this?

    Where do you get help with this since there are no further responses here.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2014-11-24T12:26:18+00:00

    Is there another way to fix this?  I do not understand the numbers for the PID and VID for Fantom Green Drive 2TB GD2000U3 nor how to use the Registry fix. My right two 3.0 USB ports work on my ASUS Laptop, but the external drives disconnects occasionally and is constantly going to sleep while I'm working on it..  It seems to have no problem waking up, I'm just afraid I'm going to wear out the drive as I work on it a lot plus the constant delay.

    My left two USB Ports are unreliable as they constantly disconnect while working.  ASUS would not fix my machine under warranty so I've never been able to use them.  Not sure if it's hardware or drivers but I tried reinstalling the drivers (I think) but made no difference.

    Thanks for any help. Hopefully I can come back to this as I keep getting an error that this page is unavailable.

    Tim

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments