External HDD keeps spinning in idle

blackandwhite · May 4, 2015

Hi! It takes at least like 5 minutes for my WD Elements 1Tb to stop spinning when I'm done using it. It make some audible noise, and I can hear it pretty well, because otherwise my mac with it's ssd is dead silent.

Is there any way to make it stop spinning sooner? Thank you in advance!

thor220 · May 4, 2015

What you are looking to do is park the hard drive. As far as I know, it cannot be done manually anymore as it's handled by the drive automatically.

I did a quick search and couldn't find software that would do it.

D_Know_WD · May 5, 2015

Hi there blackandwhite,

Sorry that you are facing some issues with your WD drive.

You can try adjusting the Sleep Timer in WD Drives Utilities.
Thread on that: http://community.wd.com/t5/External-Drives-for-PC/How-to-control-spin-down-settings/td-p/748502
How to set up WD Drive Utilities: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=RlK8DK

After that, it will not hurt to test the drive with WD's Data Lifeguard Diagnostic tool in order to check out the drive's health status.
WD's DLG tool: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=m5Glkr

Hope this will help,
D_Know_WD

jsmithepa · May 5, 2015

OP, you can't really compare a SSD to a HD. I hate noise as much as the next guy, but IMO 5 min is reasonable, myself I may even up it to 10. Two schools of thoughts: what wears an HD faster, hours spun, or the repeat start-stop?

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External HDD keeps spinning in idle

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