Hard drive spins when not in use?

idyllhands · 09-06-2008, 10:17 PM

Hi, my E: recently began making a grinding noise. The weird thing is that the noise happens even when it's not in use. Why is it spinning when it's not being used? Is there a way to turn off HDD that aren't in use? I want to maximize its lifetime by not pushing it too much..

PC eye · 09-06-2008, 10:38 PM

The power options settings found in the Control Panel can be set for seeing hard drives sleep after 20min. by looking in the advanced settings. In Vista that is included in 3 different power schemes where you can save a custom plan derived from either "balanced", "moderate", or "high performance".

seanspotatobiz · 09-06-2008, 11:13 PM

I was told that it was the switching on and off of the drive that causes the damage.

I suggest buying a new drive and backing up your data if possible. How old is the drive? You can download a free tool to examine the SMART data but I'm not sure what the program is called.

PC eye · 09-07-2008, 12:02 AM

Once any drive starts making noises whether grinding or hearing a slapping sound of heads on the way out it's soon to be bye bye time for the drive. It doesn't matter how old a drive is if it is seeing wear or a defect of some type except for the manufacturer's warranty.

The data and files on the drive are what you need to worry more about if unreplaceable. Here I always have everything set at never for immediate access even if away from the system for a good period of time.

The drives in recent years have their own idling process to an extent over what was seen back in the 90s where seeing things put into hibernation or standby was common practice. But once you start hearing things you know is on it's last leg.

idyllhands · 09-07-2008, 03:12 AM

The drive is probably over a year old. I backed up my data (it was my pictures drive).

The power settings for powering down my HDD is 30 minutes, but I still hear this thing grinding even when it has been days since I accessed the pictures on it.

PC eye · 09-07-2008, 04:09 AM

Foobarville likely at any time. Once you start hearing noises it's time for a replacement. You'll want to start backing things up from the drive either onto the primary host drive or removable media for the time being.

idyllhands · 09-12-2008, 02:43 AM

Just for reference, I figured out that the problem was the fan in front of the HDDs mount, and not the HDD itself, although it's making some pretty "un-fan-like" sounds. To determnie this, I used SeaTools DOS Version, made a boot disk and ran the "Acoustics Test," which will power down (ie..stop the spinning of) each HDD that you specify until you press a key. This is so that you can listen and pinpoint which drive (or in my case, fan) is making the noise.
I've been wanting a new case anyways =)

PC eye · 09-12-2008, 02:50 AM

The ole noisey fan complaint! When you get into a better made case you should find that the fans will be a lot quieter and less confusing for knowing what is making any new sounds then. At least your drive isn't toast for the time being.

09-06-2008, 10:17 PM	#1 (permalink)
idyllhands Silver Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 105	Hard drive spins when not in use? Hi, my E: recently began making a grinding noise. The weird thing is that the noise happens even when it's not in use. Why is it spinning when it's not being used? Is there a way to turn off HDD that aren't in use? I want to maximize its lifetime by not pushing it too much..

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09-06-2008, 10:38 PM	#2 (permalink)
PC eye banned Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 21,091	The power options settings found in the Control Panel can be set for seeing hard drives sleep after 20min. by looking in the advanced settings. In Vista that is included in 3 different power schemes where you can save a custom plan derived from either "balanced", "moderate", or "high performance".

09-06-2008, 11:13 PM	#3 (permalink)
seanspotatobiz New Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 8	I was told that it was the switching on and off of the drive that causes the damage. I suggest buying a new drive and backing up your data if possible. How old is the drive? You can download a free tool to examine the SMART data but I'm not sure what the program is called.

09-07-2008, 12:02 AM	#4 (permalink)
PC eye banned Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 21,091	Once any drive starts making noises whether grinding or hearing a slapping sound of heads on the way out it's soon to be bye bye time for the drive. It doesn't matter how old a drive is if it is seeing wear or a defect of some type except for the manufacturer's warranty. The data and files on the drive are what you need to worry more about if unreplaceable. Here I always have everything set at never for immediate access even if away from the system for a good period of time. The drives in recent years have their own idling process to an extent over what was seen back in the 90s where seeing things put into hibernation or standby was common practice. But once you start hearing things you know is on it's last leg.

09-07-2008, 03:12 AM	#5 (permalink)
idyllhands Silver Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 105	The drive is probably over a year old. I backed up my data (it was my pictures drive). The power settings for powering down my HDD is 30 minutes, but I still hear this thing grinding even when it has been days since I accessed the pictures on it.

09-07-2008, 04:09 AM	#6 (permalink)
PC eye banned Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 21,091	Foobarville likely at any time. Once you start hearing noises it's time for a replacement. You'll want to start backing things up from the drive either onto the primary host drive or removable media for the time being.

09-12-2008, 02:43 AM	#7 (permalink)
idyllhands Silver Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 105	Just for reference, I figured out that the problem was the fan in front of the HDDs mount, and not the HDD itself, although it's making some pretty "un-fan-like" sounds. To determnie this, I used SeaTools DOS Version, made a boot disk and ran the "Acoustics Test," which will power down (ie..stop the spinning of) each HDD that you specify until you press a key. This is so that you can listen and pinpoint which drive (or in my case, fan) is making the noise. I've been wanting a new case anyways =)

09-12-2008, 02:50 AM	#8 (permalink)
PC eye banned Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 21,091	The ole noisey fan complaint! When you get into a better made case you should find that the fans will be a lot quieter and less confusing for knowing what is making any new sounds then. At least your drive isn't toast for the time being.