Re: Switching Power of hard drives ON and Off

On Monday, 04 Apr 2005 08:46:46 -500, "Asimov"
<Asimov@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>"Vlad" bravely wrote to "All" (03 Apr 05 22:24:29)
> --- on the heady topic of "Re: Switching Power of hard drives ON and Off"
>
>This is an anecdote but my 1st year computer hardware teacher also
>worked as a researcher for an industrial think-tank and I had to go to
>his home once to deliver a late work assignment. While there he showed
>me his workbench and to my amazement his pc was a rat's on a table
>top. In front of it was a shelf of various harddrives with a switch
>under each. When the pc had finished booting he would turn off the
>particular HD switch and do whatever work or experiment. When he
>needed to save something he would turn the drive back on. The pc was
>still ON when he flipped the switch and the drive didn't miss a beat.
>It was very eye-opening.
>
>
Apparently Microsoft is working on this. It will be available on a new
Windows and is called" Power Manage something" and it will work on the
drives that are compatible with the scheme. They will get to work
after a few updates.
We can do it today with the drives connected to the USB port but as
you know they must be disabled before the power is switch OFF.
Regards

Vlad

> Vl> From: Vlad <Bla@xxxxxxx>
> Vl> Xref: aeinews sci.electronics.repair:44897
>
> Vl> From the discussions we had I conclude that installing a switch that
> Vl> powers ON and OFF the +5 and the +12 is a very safe way to operate,
> Vl> provided the switches are only operated when power is OFF.
>
> Vl> I have looked at my BIOS and I can't see any indication that will
> Vl> allowe me to power OFF any of my hard drives.
>
> Vl> Let's face it,computers are made as cheap as possible and reliability
> Vl> is expensive.
> Vl> A hard drive lasts longer if it isn't running.
>
> Vl> Thanks
>
> Vl> Vlad
>
>... That was a fascinating period of time for electronics

.

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