external HDDs

[#1]

I repartitioned and reformatted my Seagate USB drive to Linux-type file systems. Gets rid of any software which causes unwanted power saving. There's no point to it anyway, as an inactive but spinning disk uses virtually no power.

[#2]

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@chenks76 wrote:

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@7up wrote:

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I suppose it depends what you need to do with the config utility.

The only time I needed one was to turn off the pesky power saving mode that they all come with and enabled by default... which then takes 30 seconds to realise you want to access the drive and spin back up.

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that is exactly the reason. all the power tools and the light settings are done via the tool, which doesn't work on anything above Windows 7.

and if you have an external HDD that takes 30 seconds to wake and spin up then you have a faulty external HDD!

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HAve you thought about using a virtual machine of WinXP then? - You could then connect the usb drive to that and run the software in XP and disable the power saving junk mode.

30 seconds... dunno.. it's been the same with both drives on multiple computers so I doubt it's a faulty drive when both are different brands and models. Either way the power saving mode is a total pain in the grass and they all come with it these days which is very annoying so i can totally understand you wanting shot of it.

[#3]

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@VileReynard wrote:

I repartitioned and reformatted my Seagate USB drive to Linux-type file systems. Gets rid of any software which causes unwanted power saving. There's no point to it anyway, as an inactive but spinning disk uses virtually no power.

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I personally thought it was a firmware thing and the settings stored in onboard microprosessor memory rather than on the platters.

[#4]

correct, it is.

[#5]

Surely this disk is just a disk in a box with a small PSU and a SATA <-> USB converter (no firmware).

It's not intended to be a bootable drive.

[#6]

the drive (whether it is internal or external) can still go to sleep though, and it's the firmware on the disk itself that dictates that.
nobody mentioned anything about being bootable,however you can boot from external drives.