External HDD problem

hdmi · Aug 21, 2024

Windows 11 User said:
I made a mistake. I thought that Window setting regarded USB devices but it actually concerns the internal HDD/SSD and the files I need are on the internal SSD and not on the external SSD, even if I can get them working if they're on the latter, on an USB flash drive or on microSD card connected via USB adapter (both connected to the PC) but then they might sleep when being used (as well as on the internal SSD, I guess).

No, the "Turn off hard disk after" setting in the Power Plan does not apply to SSDs. It only applies to HDDs. For USB devices, there also exists a separate setting in the Power Plan. This setting can be found under USB Settings ➜ USB selective suspend.

Windows 11 User said:
Isn't there a way to prevent the internal HDD from sleeping just by using Windows settings?

If the internal Idle Timer of the HDD is enabled by factory default, then no, there is no way to prevent the HDD from falling asleep just by using Windows settings. That's why KeepAliveHD was invented. It might still be possible to disable the internal Idle Timer of the HDD each time after it gets re-enabled like I said, i.e. by using HDDScan each time after this happens, but not all HDDs that have the internal Idle Timer enabled by factory default let you disable it. A lot of them don't let you disable it, but KeepAliveHD should still work on all of them, i.e., regardless of the fact that a lot of them don't let you disable it. If it cannot be disabled, it means that neither HDDScan for Windows nor hdparm on Linux can be used to disable it, as it simply means that nothing can be used to disable it, but then, this doesn't stop KeepAliveHD from still letting you achieve your goal [of preventing your HDD from falling asleep].

Windows 11 User · Aug 21, 2024

hdmi said:
No, the "Turn off hard disk after" setting in the Power Plan does not apply to SSDs. It only applies to HDDs. For USB devices, there also exists a separate setting in the Power Plan. This setting can be found under USB Settings ➜ USB selective suspend.

If the internal Idle Timer of the HDD is enabled by factory default, then no, there is no way to prevent the HDD from falling asleep just by using Windows settings. That's why KeepAliveHD was invented. It might still be possible to disable the internal Idle Timer of the HDD each time after it gets re-enabled like I said, i.e. by using HDDScan each time after this happens, but not all HDDs that have the internal Idle Timer enabled by factory default let you disable it. A lot of them don't let you disable it, but KeepAliveHD should still work on all of them, i.e., regardless of the fact that a lot of them don't let you disable it. If it cannot be disabled, it means that neither HDDScan for Windows nor hdparm on Linux can be used to disable it, as it simply means that nothing can be used to disable it, but then, this doesn't stop KeepAliveHD from still letting you achieve your goal [of preventing your HDD from falling asleep].

And what does that "Turn off hard disk after" setting actually do and where did you see it only applies to HDDs (I guess)? I think I didn't try changing the USB selective suspend setting when wanting to prevent the external HDD from sleeping.

Windows 11 User · Aug 21, 2024

I can't find any "USB Settings" in the power plan.

hdmi · Aug 21, 2024

Windows 11 User said:
I can't find any "USB Settings" in the power plan.

1. Run this command from an elevated command prompt:

powercfg -attributes 2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3 48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226 -ATTRIB_HIDE

2. Reboot.

Hopefully this will unhide the "USB settings" section and the "USB selective suspend setting" in it.

Windows 11 User · Aug 21, 2024

hdmi said:
1. Run this command from an elevated command prompt:

powercfg -attributes 2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3 48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226 -ATTRIB_HIDE
2. Reboot.

Hopefully this will unhide the "USB settings" section and the "USB selective suspend setting" in it.

It's odd having to do that every time to recover this setting.

Windows 11 User · Aug 21, 2024

hdmi said:
1. Run this command from an elevated command prompt:

powercfg -attributes 2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3 48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226 -ATTRIB_HIDE
2. Reboot.

Hopefully this will unhide the "USB settings" section and the "USB selective suspend setting" in it.

Didn't work.

hdmi · Aug 22, 2024

Windows 11 User said:
It's odd having to do that every time to recover this setting.

A lot of the advanced power settings these days are hidden by default because too many users were being overwhelmed and messing up the power plan as a result of confusion.

Windows 11 User said:
Didn't work.

To check if the registry value [that is used to hide/unhide this specific power setting] exists in Windows registry, run:

Code:

reg query HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3\48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226 /v Attributes

If this setting is unhidden, then the output of this command should give you this:

Code:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3\48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226
    Attributes    REG_DWORD    0x0

Windows 11 User · Aug 22, 2024

hdmi said:
A lot of the advanced power settings these days are hidden by default because too many users were being overwhelmed and messing up the power plan as a result of confusion.

To check if the registry value [that is used to hide/unhide this specific power setting] exists in Windows registry, run:

Code:

reg query HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3\48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226 /v Attributes

If this setting is unhidden, then the output of this command should give you this:

Code:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3\48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226 Attributes REG_DWORD 0x0

It gave me that but I still don't have the setting.

hdmi · Aug 23, 2024

Windows 11 User said:
It gave me that but I still don't have the setting.

Aside from running the usual dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth and sfc /scannow commands to check for and automatically fix problems with the Windows image and corrupted system files, you could try to create a new power plan (and select that power plan to see if it has the "USB settings" section with the "USB selective suspend setting" in it). Could be that your power plan(s) got corrupted somehow, and that this can be fixed by resetting the power plan(s).

If you still can't seem to get this fixed after you already tried all these possible solutions, cou can try to repair Windows with an in-place upgrade, but also keep in mind that doing this will reset some of Windows settings back to their default (although most of them will not be reset back to their default).

I don't know what else you could try to fix this; I have never encountered any problems with the power plans on any of my computers. Maybe create a new thread about this specific problem, of being not able to unhide this power setting?

Windows 11 User · Aug 23, 2024

hdmi said:
Aside from running the usual dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth and sfc /scannow commands to check for and automatically fix problems with the Windows image and corrupted system files, you could try to create a new power plan (and select that power plan to see if it has the "USB settings" section with the "USB selective suspend setting" in it). Could be that your power plan(s) got corrupted somehow, and that this can be fixed by resetting the power plan(s).

If you still can't seem to get this fixed after you already tried all these possible solutions, cou can try to repair Windows with an in-place upgrade, but also keep in mind that doing this will reset some of Windows settings back to their default (although most of them will not be reset back to their default).

I don't know what else you could try to fix this; I have never encountered any problems with the power plans on any of my computers. Maybe create a new thread about this specific problem, of being not able to unhide this power setting?

I did multiple clean installs and that setting still doesn't appear.

hdmi · Aug 23, 2024

Windows 11 User said:
I did multiple clean installs and that setting still doesn't appear.

Looks like I made a mistake. The command to unhide this setting is this:

Code:

reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3\48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226 /v Attributes /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f

Sorry for the mixup.

Windows 11 User · Aug 24, 2024

hdmi said:
Looks like I made a mistake. The command to unhide this setting is this:

Code:

reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3\48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226 /v Attributes /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f

Sorry for the mixup.

Thanks, it now appears, but after disabling it, my extednal HDD still sleeps.

hdmi · Aug 25, 2024

Windows 11 User said:
Thanks, it now appears, but after disabling it, my extednal HDD still sleeps.

Just use KeepAliveHD if you don't want the HDD to sleep.

External HDD problem

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