Category: Geeks r Us
Hi.
I just got a new 1tb external harddrive which is fine. The only problem is that it doesn't have an on-off switch which I find slightly anoying. The problem is, if I safely remove it via the safely remove hardware dialog in windows, how do I go about reconnecting it? Usually I shut off my old one and just started it again when I needed it, but as this doesn't have a switch to do that and simply does it on plug-in how do I manage that? I know pulling out and reinserting the power or USB cable would do the trick, but that's just pretty pointless.
Malthe.
I've never seen an external hard drive with an on and off switch. I always unplugged mine, as most times the Safely remove hardware never came up.
I've never seen one with an on-off switch either. And my Safely Remove Hardware option hardly ever came up. So I just unplugged it. It's really not that much effort; it only takes a second.
my external hd powers down when not in use for a long time anyway, but yes, you can just pull the plug on it, or switch it off at the wall if the power socket is nearby.
Some people might be sheltered because plenty of drives, especially the CGates and others are powered from a wall outlet and mine has a button on it. However, you were not clear. Do you have an external hard drive or do you have a Mini portable hard drive...big difference. Minis are just laptop hard drives essentially enclosed in a protective plastic case that are powered from USB. external hard drives are usually desktop drives enclosed in a bigger case but require a wall outlet power source and have a button, not usually a switch but I could be wrong here.
sheltered? anyway, back to hd's. i have had an hd with a switch, this was a western digital, but that failed after a few years, my current one has no switch, but is powered by the computer as to whether it is in demand or not. it powers down after a while, but can be switched off altogether from the wall socket.
Ok, to sumb it up :
My hard drive basically switches it self off when safely removed, in order for it to start again I have to either reboot my pc or replug in the cable.
yeah this is probably what you'd call an external harddrive since it's connected to a power source as well.
I know it's not a big deal replugging in the cable every time, but it'd be interesting if I could just send some kind of signal to it to reactivate the drive somehow. I haven't tried programming that involves USB, so I'm a noob at that point. Is there some kind of built-in function to do this in some api? Or do you guys know if someone has already done a program for this?
Basically, what I want to do is instead of restarting my pc or replugging in the cable to discover the drive, I want to force windows to do that procedure.
Sorry if I ws unclear.
Malthe.
well that's odd... I have a mini-external hard drive... a seagate. When there is no activity it just sopts spinning (obviously the thing is USB powered). however, if I access it when it is still connected it would sping again. I usually use that safely remove hardware and it is best everyone does simply because on the larger volumes formatted with ntfs windows need to write to the mft (master file table) and a terrabyte needs ntfs... badly. in any case you can always go to the add new hardware and do some other kinds of strange things to make windows find the hardware but i guess the signal that is sent to the hard drive to power off is it. I think only the voltage from the USB would power it on and dealing with hardware is not my specialty.
I have seen 2 with on and off switches but those both are either 250 gigs or 500 gigs and made by Seegate.
to post 9, that statement is incorrect I have a CGate 160 which has a power button. Rebooting the computer? just unplug and plug the cable in. Louiano is right, just access the drive and it should spin right up. I can't verify the NTFS and eject hardware thing because I've never had a drive with ntfs that is flash.
I never heard of one with a switch. The one i have is about the size of a five by seven card that plugs in to the USB port.
That would be a mini hard drive, I have one similar and it is a toshiba mini portable hd. it is slightly bigger than an index card and has only one port on it for usb.
hmmmm, this is all past my head, well at least for now! I have a hard drive that is powered by the uSB, so I just have to unplug it, though I usually keep it connected, so when it's not in use, it just powers off after a while, I've never seen them with buttons on it. The safely remove hardware thing doesn't come up for me, and sometimes I get that "Windows delayed right failed" dialog after my hd gets unplugged. Also, there are times when windows just doesn't recognize it for a few seconds, and i get that dialog again, dont know why that is, but it hardly happens anyway.
However, I am lost in the whole ntfs thing, can someone explain that in a little less technical terms? I am thinking of eventually getting one of those terabite drives, but dont really know a lot about them.
Usually, most drives will poweroff if not used and once a key is pressed or it is accessed il come back on. I use a wd mybook and it shuts down when not in use.
indeed, i use a mybook too, dam good they are. though passport ype drives of 120 gig or more can be bought which just run off usb and no power needed, but for a powered external drive, the mybook from WD western digital is fantastic.