Windows 7 - How can I disable a hard drive temporarily?

Davogo · 11-05-2011

I have two internal 750GB HDs - one is partitioned to C (Windows) and the other D (data). The other is E and simply a mirror backup of D which I do once a day.

The problem is that the E drive goes to sleep after XX minutes but some applications or processes (e.g. Empty Recycle Bin) want to wake it up before they work, which means a delay of ~10 seconds as the E drive spins up - very annoying.

How can I temporarily disable the drive until I need it for the once a day backup?

Thanks.

whs · 11-05-2011

Just pull the power or sata wire.

Corazon · 11-05-2011

I'd rather go with the power wire - internal SATA connectors are too fragile to withstand constant plugging/unplugging.

You might consider putting the E: disk into an external enclosure - if you don't mind being limited to USB2.0 speeds. (or the hassle of adding an eSATA port to your PC)

Davogo · 11-05-2011

Crawling under a desk, opening the case and unplugging / plugging back in cables every day would be more annoying than the delay.

I hoped there would be some way to disable the drive from within Windows, but I've not found an answer by Googling.

whs · 11-05-2011

LOL, I can feel with you. I do that all the time. A while ago I was trying to find a software solution to that problem but gave up.

The external enclosure proposal that Corazon made is a good idea. I use that on my laptop, but there I have eSata and USB3 ports.

Davogo · 11-05-2011

That makes me feel a little better that it is not only me.

I already have an external HD for weekly backup and I don't really feel like pulling the E drive out just to solve this problem. It seems crazy this simple thing cannot be solved!

Vielen dank.

HammerHead · 11-05-2011

You can disable the disk in device manager. I am not sure how that would help with your concerns.

Corazon · 11-05-2011

Gern geschehen.

While there are ways to make the disk inaccessible in Windows, there's no way around powering/spinning it up every time you (re)boot your machine. That alone would be reason enough for me not to have it permanently attached inside the system.

MikeL · 02-05-2012

There does not seem to be a Windows solution to the question. Evidently MS thinks that no one ever puts more than one hdd in a computer or thinks you're so brain dead that you would try to disable the drive your OS is using.

essenbe · 02-05-2012

You can but a hot swap drive bay for little money. Find one with a power button on it and it will work like an external esata drive. Just turn it on when you need it.

something like SNT-125B Black 3.5" SATA Hard drive to 5.25" Bay SATA Mobile Rack Removable Hard drive kit

Windows 7 - How can I disable a hard drive temporarily?

How can I disable a hard drive temporarily? problems?