Win 10/11 Annoyance.

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While I'm waiting for a power supply to come for my Linux Mint PC I've been using my Win 11 PC. I'm not a fan of Windows or MSFT but that's another story. This PC has an SSD with the OS and programs on it and two HDDs with pictures, music, data, etc. I'm not about to replace them with SSD drives, please make note of that in the replies. I have power management set to turn those drives off after 20 minutes, which it does. If I decide to access those drives when they're powered off there's a delay when they come up to speed which can freeze the system. It has done this since new w/Win 10 and with various HDD's, and various time settings, so the hard drives aren't bad. Other than using more electricity, is there any downside to let them spin all the time? Or do I just deal with it? Event viewer shows no problems. I have the same setup in the Linux machine with no problems at all, even when I un-mount the HDDs and then access them. TIA
 
No not really. I ran across an issue similar to this about 2 years ago and buying a better built higher wattage PSU fixed it.
 
It might be the same dichotomy you face with any other machine with moving parts: Is its use pattern one where the constant heating up/ cooling down will be a detriment to its life span? Or if it is used sparingly, does running it constantly wear it unnecessarily.
 
My HDDs don't power down unless the system is shut down or it goes to sleep. Keeping them spinning is actually better for their longevity. And as an added bonus, you will not have that delay when accessing data on them. The extra amount of electricity is minuscule in the grand scheme of things IMO.
Thanks, that's what I thought. I changed it to never. I have plenty of backups, 5 across three PCs so if a HDD dies it is no big deal.
 
I agree with KrisZ that leaving them spinning all the time is actually better for their longevity.

May I suggest, though, that if you're running that many machines and backing up between them, perhaps you should consider setting up a file server? You wouldn't have to fiddle around with keeping local storage synced between those multiple machines. Instead, you could move all those drives into a file server and set up a RAID1 array for redundancy. Backups become simpler; you can schedule periodic rsync backups to an external device like a USB drive dock and/or a backup machine. Then all your content files are available to all your PCs all the time, with no local hardware load.

You're a Linux user, so you clearly have the technical chops to set that up and maintain it. You can set up a Samba share on the file server to support the Windows box and an nfs share for your Linux machines. Personally I use Debian running headless for this, and Mint on desktops and laptops; but there's no reason you couldn't use Mint for everything if you prefer.
 
I've moved about everything from my file storage PC to a Pi with a portable HD plugged in. The PC is now just a backup for the Pi. It's been ticking along now for about 3 years, 24/7.

When I did use the PC for access, I had to leave everything on all the time or it would lose connectivity and sometimes take minutes to wake or sometimes not at all. None of that happens on the Pi and for whatever reason access is snappier than the PC was.
 
I agree with KrisZ that leaving them spinning all the time is actually better for their longevity.

May I suggest, though, that if you're running that many machines and backing up between them, perhaps you should consider setting up a file server? You wouldn't have to fiddle around with keeping local storage synced between those multiple machines. Instead, you could move all those drives into a file server and set up a RAID1 array for redundancy. Backups become simpler; you can schedule periodic rsync backups to an external device like a USB drive dock and/or a backup machine. Then all your content files are available to all your PCs all the time, with no local hardware load.

You're a Linux user, so you clearly have the technical chops to set that up and maintain it. You can set up a Samba share on the file server to support the Windows box and an nfs share for your Linux machines. Personally I use Debian running headless for this, and Mint on desktops and laptops; but there's no reason you couldn't use Mint for everything if you prefer.
My backup isn't all that elaborate, and is quite easy in fact. My two towers, the Win 11 PC and the Linux tower have three hard drives each. An SSD for the OS and programs, and two spindle drives each. I keep a USB stick in the Linux tower, which I use the most, and any new files or altered files go onto the HDDs and the USB stick. Then they get transferred to the Win 11 tower at the end of the day. Once a week or so I transfer any new or altered files to a Laptop. I've been doing such for years and it takes only a few minutes. Setting up a file server would be an expense and is something I don't really need, especially now as I'm semi retired and not doing that much business anymore.
 
While I'm waiting for a power supply to come for my Linux Mint PC I've been using my Win 11 PC. I'm not a fan of Windows or MSFT but that's another story. This PC has an SSD with the OS and programs on it and two HDDs with pictures, music, data, etc. I'm not about to replace them with SSD drives, please make note of that in the replies. I have power management set to turn those drives off after 20 minutes, which it does. If I decide to access those drives when they're powered off there's a delay when they come up to speed which can freeze the system. It has done this since new w/Win 10 and with various HDD's, and various time settings, so the hard drives aren't bad. Other than using more electricity, is there any downside to let them spin all the time? Or do I just deal with it? Event viewer shows no problems. I have the same setup in the Linux machine with no problems at all, even when I un-mount the HDDs and then access them. TIA
Are those two HDDs internal or external drives? What exactly are you referring to by power management? I am only familiar with Choose a Power Plan and Power and Sleep settings.
 
Are those two HDDs internal or external drives? What exactly are you referring to by power management? I am only familiar with Choose a Power Plan and Power and Sleep settings.
The HDDs are internal. I called it power management, a carry over from something else I guess, your verbiage is correct. The hard drives can be set there, TURN HARD DRIVES OFF AFTER, and set a time in minutes, or never.
 
The HDDs are internal. I called it power management, a carry over from something else I guess, your verbiage is correct. The hard drives can be set there, TURN HARD DRIVES OFF AFTER, and set a time in minutes, or never.
I only see options for putting the pc to sleep after a number of minutes of inactivity. I also do not see separate options for powering off the SDD (not a good idea anyway} and the HDD. What am I missing?
 
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I only see options for putting the pc to sleep after a number of minutes of inactivity. I also do not see separate options for powering off the SDD (not a good idea anyway} and the HDD. What am I missing?
You can't power off the SSD, it has the OS on it. In "change advanced power settings" you can setup when the HDDs power off, or set it to never.
 
I found the advanced power settings. I find it a bit irritating that options like these are tucked away out of sight. Anyway, when I set up my pc with a new SSD and HDD a few months ago I did set the HDD to sleep after an hour of inactivity. It seems to never spin down while the pc is awake, though. I think indexing may be keeping the HDD from falling asleep or maybe some other process keeps it awake. Not a big deal either way.
 
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