Internal storage-only hdd in desktop seems to power up and power down at random intervals (Windows).

droj

droj

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As above - the drive is only for my archive of image files and serves no other function. When the computer's on but the drive in question isn't being accessed (and I have no image programmes or files open), I periodically hear a sound as if it's powering up (which implies that at some stage it has also powered down). I'm familiar with hdd sounds generally and am sure that this is what's happening, and the separate system drive is an ssd, thus silent. Neither can the sound be confused with fan noises.

This also happened with a previous hdd in the same situation. I wonder if such behaviour can prejudice the drive's lifespan, compared with it being on all the time when the machine itself is on (let's say for 8hrs a day). That's the main question.

(I'd assumed perhaps naively that such behaviour was baked into the drive's firmware, but it's just occurred to me to look into Windows' power-management settings. I think it can be altered?)

Any views from the experts?
 
Probably background jobs causing the drive to spin up.

Essentially theres no point worrying about drive lifespan. It's stated as an average figure by manufacturers as they can fail after 1 day or several years. That's why you have backups, because all drives mechanical and solid state WILL fail sooner or later.
 
neil_g said:
Probably background jobs causing the drive to spin up.

Essentially theres no point worrying about drive lifespan. It's stated as an average figure by manufacturers as they can fail after 1 day or several years. That's why you have backups, because all drives mechanical and solid state WILL fail sooner or later.
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Thanks Neil. But what background jobs, for instance? I mean, it's fairly frequent. And the question was - is repeated spinning-up worse for a drive than just being on all the time?
 
droj said:
Thanks Neil. But what background jobs, for instance? I mean, it's fairly frequent. And the question was - is repeated spinning-up worse for a drive than just being on all the time?
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Windows will read DLL files when it needs them. They are a part of programs that are not loaded into memory until needed. Also, many programs will use scratch files on your hard drive if ram is getting full - basically using the hard drive as extra ram.
 
john.margetts said:
Windows will read DLL files when it needs them. They are a part of programs that are not loaded into memory until needed. Also, many programs will use scratch files on your hard drive if ram is getting full - basically using the hard drive as extra ram.
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The disc has no programmes on it, John, just files .... and I have ram aplenty ....
 
droj said:
Thanks Neil. But what background jobs, for instance? I mean, it's fairly frequent. And the question was - is repeated spinning-up worse for a drive than just being on all the time?
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Windows background maintenance, search indexing, anti virus etc etc, if you have shortcuts to files on that disk thatll also do it when you open a screen or program (recently used) with those on if I remember rightly.
 
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