Windows 10: Prevent my computer from auto-powering external hard drives on boot up?

Hi there,


I've noticed my external hard drives automatically power up when my computer does, and it then takes them a good half hour or more to eventually power down. Not a big deal, but it's annoying because they're noisy. I do access at least one of them regularly though, so it would not be a good solution to just unplug them.


I've done my Google diligence, but unfortunately I haven't been able to find a solution. I'm using Windows 10, with a reasonably high-end computer I just purchased this year. I don't -think- there's anything actually working incorrectly here (but I might be wrong : ). I'm looking for one of the following options:


1) Prevent the drives from automatically powering up when I boot up/login, and when I just activate Explorer, but still allow me to access the drives whenever I want.


2) Perhaps a method of "manually" turning off Windows accessing the hard drives, that I could then easily turn on again when I actually want to access them. I could just unplug/plug the USBs, but the ports are in the back of the computer. Even they were more convenient to reach, I'm concerned that doing that dozens upon dozens of times will eventually cause physically damage to the plugs themselves. Is there possibly some easy-to-set-up access/no access toggle in Windows that I'm not aware of?


3) Another idea I may not have thought of, that would prevent these drives from spinning up when I don't actually want to use them.


Thanks in advance!

:)

 

Help with external hard drive

Hi Debbra,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

I appreciate your interest in windows 10 and also for trying the troubleshooting steps to fix the issue. I understand the inconvenience you faced. I will certainly help you with this.

I would suggest you to plug in hard drive then check in disk management you can see the drive or not.

Follow the steps to check Drive in Disk Management.

• 
  Go to the Control Panel then click on the
  Administrative Tools. .
  
• 
  Under the Administrative Tool Click on Computer Management.
  
• 
  Click on Disk Management and check the External Hard Drive.
  

Also check in BIOS whether External Hard Drive is listed or not.

For help with the BIOS settings, refer to the computer manual or contact the manufacturer.

If it doesn’t work then, I would suggest you to update BIOS for updating BIOS contact Lenovo Support.

Follow the link:

Home - Global Support - FR

Disclaimer :

Modifying BIOS/complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) settings incorrectly can cause serious problems that may prevent your computer from booting properly. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the configuring of BIOS/CMOS settings
can be solved. Modifications of the settings are at your own risk.

Hope this information is helpful. Please do let us know if you need further assistance, we’ll be glad to assist you.

Thanks.

 

External Hard Drive

Hi John,

We suggest that you try the troubleshooting steps below:

• Open your External Hard Drive file in File Explorer.
• Type the name of the file you want to search on the search box and click Enter.

The file will show up in Search Results and you will be able to move it to the correct folder.

Let us know if you need further help.

 

External hard drive not recognised

Thanks for this. I've done what you suggested and been through all the steps mentioned in the article. The hard drive works fine on a Mac computer, and I've managed to copy the information on it. It must be a Surface issue so I'll try to get a chat line tomorrow.