How display which HDDs have powered down?

How can I display which hard drives on my XP PC have powered down?

I have several hard drives (sometimes connected via a PCI adapter
board).

When I use the PC after a long period of inactivity then some hard
drives spin up. But it seems that not all hard drives do and some hard
drives will still be powered down.

How can I display this on my monitor? Even better would be to display
status with LEDs but maybe the hardware to support that would be
expensive?

----

As an afterthought, can I set a different powerdown period for each hard
drive? XP does not seem to permit that in Power Options in the Control
Panel. And my motherboard's settngs do not permit this eaither.

Thanks for any help
Joe

Hi Joe:

The hard drives in or attached to your computer don't ever stop spinning
while your computer is powered on: The airflow caused by the spinning
disks is part of what keeps the heads from contacting the surface of the
disk. (The heads get 'parked' when your computer powers down so this
isn't a concern when your computer is turned off.)

As for what causes a hard drive to start grinding away...there could be
a dozens of valid reasons (disk indexing, partial defrags, virus
updates, etc. etc).

---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

Joe S wrote:
How can I display which hard drives on my XP PC have powered down?

I have several hard drives (sometimes connected via a PCI adapter
board).

When I use the PC after a long period of inactivity then some hard
drives spin up. But it seems that not all hard drives do and some hard
drives will still be powered down.

How can I display this on my monitor? Even better would be to display
status with LEDs but maybe the hardware to support that would be
expensive?

----

As an afterthought, can I set a different powerdown period for each hard
drive? XP does not seem to permit that in Power Options in the Control
Panel. And my motherboard's settngs do not permit this eaither.

Thanks for any help
Joe

"Leonard Grey" wrote in message
Hi Joe:

The hard drives in or attached to your computer don't ever stop spinning
while your computer is powered on: The airflow caused by the spinning
disks is part of what keeps the heads from contacting the surface of the
disk. (The heads get 'parked' when your computer powers down so this
isn't a concern when your computer is turned off.)

As for what causes a hard drive to start grinding away...there could be
a dozens of valid reasons (disk indexing, partial defrags, virus
updates, etc. etc).

---
Leonard Grey

Errare humanum est

Which -if anything- you are the living proof of.


Joe S wrote:
How can I display which hard drives on my XP PC have powered down?

I have several hard drives (sometimes connected via a PCI adapter
board).

When I use the PC after a long period of inactivity then some hard
drives spin up. But it seems that not all hard drives do and some hard
drives will still be powered down.

How can I display this on my monitor? Even better would be to display
status with LEDs but maybe the hardware to support that would be
expensive?

----

As an afterthought, can I set a different powerdown period for each hard
drive? XP does not seem to permit that in Power Options in the Control
Panel. And my motherboard's settngs do not permit this eaither.

Thanks for any help
Joe

Hello,

Actually, they do stop spinning when the OS does not access it for a set
period of time.

The 'set period' can be set in the Power Options located in Control Panel
'Turn Off Hard Disks'.

--
Singapore Web Design
http://www.bootstrike.com/Webdesign/
Singapore Web Hosting
http://www.bootstrike.com/WinXP/faq.html
Windows XP FAQ

"Leonard Grey" wrote in message
...
Hi Joe:

The hard drives in or attached to your computer don't ever stop spinning
while your computer is powered on: The airflow caused by the spinning
disks is part of what keeps the heads from contacting the surface of the
disk. (The heads get 'parked' when your computer powers down so this isn't
a concern when your computer is turned off.)

As for what causes a hard drive to start grinding away...there could be a
dozens of valid reasons (disk indexing, partial defrags, virus updates,
etc. etc).

---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

Joe S wrote:
How can I display which hard drives on my XP PC have powered down?

I have several hard drives (sometimes connected via a PCI adapter board).
When I use the PC after a long period of inactivity then some hard drives
spin up. But it seems that not all hard drives do and some hard drives
will still be powered down.

How can I display this on my monitor? Even better would be to display
status with LEDs but maybe the hardware to support that would be
expensive?

----

As an afterthought, can I set a different powerdown period for each hard
drive? XP does not seem to permit that in Power Options in the Control
Panel. And my motherboard's settngs do not permit this eaither.

Thanks for any help
Joe