Hard Drive - Turn Off Hard Disk After Idle or Never

Hey Brink:

I used to have a 1GB HDD connected when I originally installed the SSD, but just long enough to get my data off of it. Now the only hard drives I have are the internal Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD and an external Seagate 500 GB backup drive.

The problem is that if left unattended, the computer completely powers down after ~ 20 - 30 minutes and must be restarted by hitting the power button. Prior to this, all we had to do was shake the mouse and it would wake up to the logon screen.

All my power plan settings are configured as indicated, and both the mouse and keyboard are allowed to wake up the computer. Oddly, when I pull up Advanced Power settings I don't have the "Change settings that are currently unavailable" even though I ran powercfg.cpl as an administrator?

Lastly, for some reason I don't have the battery options as described, despite having a Cyberpower UPS installed and (apparently incorrectly) configured?

Brink:

Yes, the computer is set to go to sleep (hybrid) after 30 minutes. Hibernate is set to never. The display is set to turn off after 15 minutes (not that this setting has anything to do with what you and I are looking for).

When the sleep function was working properly, i.e. putting the computer to sleep after 30 min., a simple shake of the mouse or tap on the space bar would awaken it. Now - not so much...

I appreciate your persistence.

Brink:

Sorry it took me so long to reply. Too many hours at work.

I checked the BIOS settings and all ar as originally configured.

Given that we've checked everything is it safe to assume my Windows installation has been corrupted? (Unless you have other suggestions...)

Would "Reset this PC" to reinstall the OS be too drastic a move? If not, how can I do so with minimal needed reconfiguration afterwards? I've never done this since I've only had Windows 10 for a few months.

Thanks - Paul

ignatzatsonic said:

I assume it has to do with the fact that SSDs have no moving parts and therefore can't "spin down" to save power. They are either in use or not in use---on or off.

Brink said:

Yep, that would be why. :)

Alright, 10x guys! :) I was under the impression that 'Turn Off Hard Disk' affects SSDs as well, but I see you're suggesting the opposite.

This here (SSD W7 Power options? - The Corsair User Forums) suggests that 'in windows 7 under power settings the "turn off hard disk after _ minutes of inactivity" only applies to your primary drive. ALL other drives will spin down at some point regardless of what you change this setting to'.

This here (Power Settings Adjustment - Can You Get More Space Or Speed From Your SSD?) suggests that setting it to 0 i.e. never 'allows the SSD's idle garbage collection to operate, even when you're not in front of your computer'.

A few other sources I have that also back this claim. Where's the truth then?

If indeed the 'Turn Off Hard Disk' doesn't affect SSDs then what do I do on my laptop that has 2 slots with 1 being my OS SSD and the other being my storage HDD? What 'Turn Off Hard Disk' setting would make most sense for my HDD, being used only for storage?