Windows 8 Pro x64 won't shut off WD Hard Drive?

zachn

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Windows 8 Pro x64 won't shut off Hard Drive?

Hey guys,

I have a Crucial M4 128GB SSD as my main C drive and a WD 1TB Caviar Blue Platter drive as D which is secondary.

Since upgrading to 8 I've noticed that my drive won't shut itself off after X minutes as specified in the Power Options plan. I tried setting it to 1 minute, waited, and opened it again and it responded straight ahead. I remember that there was a delay in response time back in Windows 7.

Is it possible that Windows 8 is not powering off my drive? Or that 8 improved over 7 so much that it powers it on and responds back so quickly? Generally I wouldn't mind, but I don't like the fact that the drive is spinning all the time and could speed up its aging, also, it's noisy :)

Thanks for the help.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2500K
    Motherboard
    MSI Z77A-GD65
    Memory
    2x4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX680 Superclocked Signature 2
    Hard Drives
    SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB
    HDD: WD 4TB Caviar Black
    PSU
    Seasonic X-650
    Case
    Corsair Obsidian 650D
    Cooling
    Corsair H100i
I remember that there was a delay in response time back in Windows 7.

Did you have an SSD back in Win 7? If not, since there is no spinup time required for an SSD, I'm not sure how effective your test really is at this point.

Good luck.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
Hey,

Yes I did have the SSD with Win 7 as well.

The problem is not the SSD though, it's the WD HDD which doesn't seem to turn itself off...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2500K
    Motherboard
    MSI Z77A-GD65
    Memory
    2x4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX680 Superclocked Signature 2
    Hard Drives
    SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB
    HDD: WD 4TB Caviar Black
    PSU
    Seasonic X-650
    Case
    Corsair Obsidian 650D
    Cooling
    Corsair H100i
Can you give us a screenshot of the specific setting for that second hard drive?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
It's basically pretty simple, I'm using "High Performance" in the Power Options and I've set "Turn off Hard Disks after" to 1 minute and the drive doesn't seem to shut itself off, I wasn't aware that there's an option to separate the SSD from the HDD, as I understand this setting is global to all drives in the computer, right?I have to open the PC and touch the drive to see if it stops spinning, I can do that later as I'm not at home right now.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2500K
    Motherboard
    MSI Z77A-GD65
    Memory
    2x4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX680 Superclocked Signature 2
    Hard Drives
    SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB
    HDD: WD 4TB Caviar Black
    PSU
    Seasonic X-650
    Case
    Corsair Obsidian 650D
    Cooling
    Corsair H100i
I don't think its that simple and that's why I asked where you were looking. Specifically, that option say "turn off hard disk (not disks) so I am wondering if that was meant to include "all discs" and, if so, why isn't it expressed as a plural? Unfortunately, I am on a single drive computer right now and I have no way to test a system drive plus an additional SATA drive to see if it refers to both; however, I have my reservations about your interpretation so maybe someone else can chime in to confirm how their setup actually works. Good luck.

my2cents,
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
is your page file on your ssd or hdd? If it's on the hdd (maybe windows 8 moved it there) then your hdd will never spin down regardless of settings.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WIN 7 PRO x64, WIN 8.1 PRO x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7 4790K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Maximus VI Extreme
    Memory
    32GB(4x8GB) DDR3 Team Xtreem 2666 @ 2400 CL10 10-12-12-31
    Graphics Card(s)
    2x MSI GTX 780 Twin Frozr OC 3GB
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xonar Essence STX
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS PB278Q, HP 2311xi, UN46F7100AFXZA
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440p, 2x1080p
    Hard Drives
    256GB 840 PRO SSD
    10TB RAID 0 Array (Movies, Steam)
    6TB RAID 1 Array (Backups, Documents)
    3TB EXT Drive (Secure Backups)
    PSU
    Corsair AX760
    Case
    NZXT White Switch 810
    Cooling
    Block: XSPC Raystorm, RES/Pump: XSPC Bay res W/D5 Vario, RAD: XSPC RX360, 6xNF-F12's
    Keyboard
    Rosewill RK-9000 with MX Blue switches Logitech G15 Rev 2 (gutted for LCD)
    Mouse
    Logitech G400
    Browser
    Chrome
    Other Info
    I also own a Lenovo Y510p, and Yoga 2 Pro
No page file on the WD drive, it's completely clean in terms of system data. If I understand correctly after reading about drives, a drive will ALWAYS spin as long as it is connected to a power source. However, Windows is supposed to suspend it after X minutes as specified to preserve power. I do remember that in Win 7, it would take a few seconds for the drive to load but in Windows 8 this simply doesn't happen. So either the drive is suspended and boots back up REALLY quickly in 8 or it's just not being suspended.

I know that the setting says disk and not "disks" plural, but it said the same in 7 and it did work back then. Does anyone know if WD drives have their own power management cycles within the drive that overlook windows settings?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2500K
    Motherboard
    MSI Z77A-GD65
    Memory
    2x4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX680 Superclocked Signature 2
    Hard Drives
    SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB
    HDD: WD 4TB Caviar Black
    PSU
    Seasonic X-650
    Case
    Corsair Obsidian 650D
    Cooling
    Corsair H100i
I know that the setting says disk and not "disks" plural, but it said the same in 7 and it did work back then.

Wish I could test it for you but the only rig I have, with two SATA drives installed, is running 8.1 but mine are both SSDs. Anyway, you seem like an informed individual so, if no one responds with a fix for your issue, then please post back when you find the solution. Good luck.

my2cents
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
Will do. Hope someone can assist over here as well :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2500K
    Motherboard
    MSI Z77A-GD65
    Memory
    2x4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX680 Superclocked Signature 2
    Hard Drives
    SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB
    HDD: WD 4TB Caviar Black
    PSU
    Seasonic X-650
    Case
    Corsair Obsidian 650D
    Cooling
    Corsair H100i
it doesn't cut power it tells the drive to park it self as in park the heads and stop spinning, the os always knows its there though. you can check whats its doing with the performance monitor and see if it is always being hammered by some program keeping it from being inactive long enough to spin down. EDIT: you need the resource monitor sorry it can be opened from the performance one though.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WIN 7 PRO x64, WIN 8.1 PRO x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7 4790K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Maximus VI Extreme
    Memory
    32GB(4x8GB) DDR3 Team Xtreem 2666 @ 2400 CL10 10-12-12-31
    Graphics Card(s)
    2x MSI GTX 780 Twin Frozr OC 3GB
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xonar Essence STX
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS PB278Q, HP 2311xi, UN46F7100AFXZA
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440p, 2x1080p
    Hard Drives
    256GB 840 PRO SSD
    10TB RAID 0 Array (Movies, Steam)
    6TB RAID 1 Array (Backups, Documents)
    3TB EXT Drive (Secure Backups)
    PSU
    Corsair AX760
    Case
    NZXT White Switch 810
    Cooling
    Block: XSPC Raystorm, RES/Pump: XSPC Bay res W/D5 Vario, RAD: XSPC RX360, 6xNF-F12's
    Keyboard
    Rosewill RK-9000 with MX Blue switches Logitech G15 Rev 2 (gutted for LCD)
    Mouse
    Logitech G400
    Browser
    Chrome
    Other Info
    I also own a Lenovo Y510p, and Yoga 2 Pro

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
Checked the Resources Monitor, it shows the drive on 0% active so nothing's actually working there, but it's always spinning. I think WD has its own power management system which turns off the drive after a specific amount of time. What I'll do tonight is leave the PC on overnight and in the morning I'll try to access the D drive and see if the drive starts spinning or not...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2500K
    Motherboard
    MSI Z77A-GD65
    Memory
    2x4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX680 Superclocked Signature 2
    Hard Drives
    SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB
    HDD: WD 4TB Caviar Black
    PSU
    Seasonic X-650
    Case
    Corsair Obsidian 650D
    Cooling
    Corsair H100i
I don't think blues have that power management built-in like the greens do. But good luck.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WIN 7 PRO x64, WIN 8.1 PRO x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7 4790K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Maximus VI Extreme
    Memory
    32GB(4x8GB) DDR3 Team Xtreem 2666 @ 2400 CL10 10-12-12-31
    Graphics Card(s)
    2x MSI GTX 780 Twin Frozr OC 3GB
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xonar Essence STX
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS PB278Q, HP 2311xi, UN46F7100AFXZA
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440p, 2x1080p
    Hard Drives
    256GB 840 PRO SSD
    10TB RAID 0 Array (Movies, Steam)
    6TB RAID 1 Array (Backups, Documents)
    3TB EXT Drive (Secure Backups)
    PSU
    Corsair AX760
    Case
    NZXT White Switch 810
    Cooling
    Block: XSPC Raystorm, RES/Pump: XSPC Bay res W/D5 Vario, RAD: XSPC RX360, 6xNF-F12's
    Keyboard
    Rosewill RK-9000 with MX Blue switches Logitech G15 Rev 2 (gutted for LCD)
    Mouse
    Logitech G400
    Browser
    Chrome
    Other Info
    I also own a Lenovo Y510p, and Yoga 2 Pro
Will check and update.

On a side note, thinking of upgrading my 1TB blue to a new drive. Was thinking of getting a 3TB Black.

What do you guys think?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2500K
    Motherboard
    MSI Z77A-GD65
    Memory
    2x4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX680 Superclocked Signature 2
    Hard Drives
    SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB
    HDD: WD 4TB Caviar Black
    PSU
    Seasonic X-650
    Case
    Corsair Obsidian 650D
    Cooling
    Corsair H100i
I did read somewhere, maybe in here, that Win 8 did not like WD HDD's.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    pc specialist made to order
    CPU
    Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4790 (3.6GHz) 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    ASUS® H81M-PLUS: Micro-ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
    Memory
    16GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 750 Ti - DVI, mHDMI, VGA - 3D Vision Ready
    Sound Card
    ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    iiyama 24 inch flat screen
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    1TB 3.5" SEAGATE SSHD, SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM (64MB + 8GB SSD CACHE)

    2TB Seagate SATA HDD

    500Gb SATA docked
    Case
    In Win Turbo
    Cooling
    Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
    Keyboard
    microsoft mutlimedia keyboard
    Mouse
    logitech corded
    Internet Speed
    152mb
    Browser
    FF, IE11
    Antivirus
    AVG Internet Security 2015
    Other Info
    16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW

    10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Ok, this is a pickle.

My friend has the exact same board as me and the exact same Caviar Blue HDD.

We let his PC on overnight and then accessed the disk and you could clearly hear it spin up, which means it's working fine.

I have tried the same thing on my computer but, it doesn't work! Left it on overnight and accessed it in the morning, there was no spin up sound. I pressed my ear as close to the drive as I could.

The only difference between us is that he's using Windows 8.1 and I'm using 8. I'm holding off the upgrade as I have a new Samsung 840 Pro SSD coming next week.

I'm clueless!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2500K
    Motherboard
    MSI Z77A-GD65
    Memory
    2x4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX680 Superclocked Signature 2
    Hard Drives
    SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB
    HDD: WD 4TB Caviar Black
    PSU
    Seasonic X-650
    Case
    Corsair Obsidian 650D
    Cooling
    Corsair H100i
Update: Found the root cause!

It seems that the drive will not spin down when the SATA controller is set to AHCI mode. When I changed the mode to IDE, presto, the drive stops spinning exactly after the time I set in Windows and spins back up when accessed.

However, in Windows 7, the mode was set to AHCI and I clearly remember that it worked so I have no idea why it is not spinning in AHCI mode. I can leave it on IDE mode but I'd be losing out on speed won't I? Is it critical for a secondary HDD to be set to AHCI?

If anyone has some info to share on this I'd love to hear.

Thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2500K
    Motherboard
    MSI Z77A-GD65
    Memory
    2x4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX680 Superclocked Signature 2
    Hard Drives
    SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB
    HDD: WD 4TB Caviar Black
    PSU
    Seasonic X-650
    Case
    Corsair Obsidian 650D
    Cooling
    Corsair H100i
Your ssd will perform better in ahci and it allows hot swapping, just make sure it is still using TRIM if your using ide mode. what is your motherboard? you might be having some intel/amd power drivers preventing the spin-down.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WIN 7 PRO x64, WIN 8.1 PRO x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7 4790K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Maximus VI Extreme
    Memory
    32GB(4x8GB) DDR3 Team Xtreem 2666 @ 2400 CL10 10-12-12-31
    Graphics Card(s)
    2x MSI GTX 780 Twin Frozr OC 3GB
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xonar Essence STX
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS PB278Q, HP 2311xi, UN46F7100AFXZA
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440p, 2x1080p
    Hard Drives
    256GB 840 PRO SSD
    10TB RAID 0 Array (Movies, Steam)
    6TB RAID 1 Array (Backups, Documents)
    3TB EXT Drive (Secure Backups)
    PSU
    Corsair AX760
    Case
    NZXT White Switch 810
    Cooling
    Block: XSPC Raystorm, RES/Pump: XSPC Bay res W/D5 Vario, RAD: XSPC RX360, 6xNF-F12's
    Keyboard
    Rosewill RK-9000 with MX Blue switches Logitech G15 Rev 2 (gutted for LCD)
    Mouse
    Logitech G400
    Browser
    Chrome
    Other Info
    I also own a Lenovo Y510p, and Yoga 2 Pro
What I did was connect the WD drive to the external SATA controller and switched that to IDE, I can't change the SSD to IDE because Windows won't boot obviously.

My motherboard is MSI Z77A-GD65, I have tried installing Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver but that caused some startup issues on my PC, the startup would hang for like 40 seconds, tried changing the service to Automatic from Automatic (Delayed) and still didn't help. I then uninstalled it and installed an earlier version which didn't cause startup issues but it keeps saying in the Taskbar "Intel RST service is not running". Only after 2-3 minutes it suddenly starts running and there's a Green check mark on the taskbar icon. Not sure why it is delayed?

By the time I finished with all that it was pretty late and I didn't have the patience to start testing the spin down thing, so I'll check that today. But it puzzles me why the RST service takes so long to be activated. And also, there are no settings you could set there in order to spin down drives...

Anyway, is there anything else I can perhaps try?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2500K
    Motherboard
    MSI Z77A-GD65
    Memory
    2x4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX680 Superclocked Signature 2
    Hard Drives
    SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB
    HDD: WD 4TB Caviar Black
    PSU
    Seasonic X-650
    Case
    Corsair Obsidian 650D
    Cooling
    Corsair H100i
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