Swap file not allowing drive to sleep?

[spoduke]

Here's my dilemma. Same old story. What do with the the swap file on my SSD. It's a new OCZ Agility 3 with updated firmware. I also have an older Crucial SSD where I'd like to implement the same strategy.

I'm debating putting my swap file on the HD to get it off the SSD but I'd like the hard drives to spin down when not in use. One box will be a media center PC that will be always on and having hard drives constantly spinning seems like overkill.

If I put a swap file on the HD, will that drive ever go into sleep mode? I'm guessing no. Right now, I'm leaning towards small swap file on the SSDs say (512 to 2048). It'll also be easier to deal with if I ever decided to swap out or rearrange the HDS.

Thoughts?

 

[TanyaC]

Putting the swap file on a HDD will not stop your computer sleeping. What stops it sleeping are constant access to either memory or any type of drive (SSD or HDD), or network access.

Some programs, like MSN Live, steam, online games etc that are constantly doing stuff often will keep a computer awake.

I have an OCZ SSD. I have 8gb RAM and a 1TB HDD.

My computer is set to go to sleep in 10 mins, monitor goes off in 3. When I moved my swap file to my HDD (and there was no compelling need to with 8GB RAM), it made not the slighest difference. The computer still goes to sleep.

There are even some programs I can leave running, like jdownloader, and the computer will go to sleep.

Some green drives are designed to use less power and will spin down when not in use. These are typically slower rpm drives, like 5400rpm. You will notice a pause when trying access data on drives that have spun down as it takes several seconds for them to spin up again.

You can also make some adjustments in control panel power options, <power plan>, advanced settings.

hth