Q&A: How do I stop my external drive from going to sleep?
Enjoy today's featured easy-to-follow tech tip.
Rick's Daily Tech Tips Update for Sunday, August 4, 2024
[Standard Edition]
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Today’s featured tech tip…
Q&A: How do I stop my external drive from going to sleep?
Question from Matt: I have an external USB hard drive that I use to store the photos I take, and I take a lot if them. Hundreds at a time in fact.
I usually end up editing several dozen photos during each editing session and there’s a problem that’s driving me up the wall.
By the time I finish working with a photo the external drive has has gone into sleep mode. Before I can select the next photo to edit I have to wait for the drive to come back awake.
The delay is only a few seconds but those seconds add up when I’m needing to edit dozens of images.
How can I prevent the external drive from going into sleep mode? My computer is desktop that’s running Windows 11.
Rick’s answer: This is actually a common annoyance that afflicts lots of folks, Matt. And I agree that it can be a real pain.
Luckily, it’s easy to prevent an external USB drive from going to sleep, but it’s a two-step process.
First, you need to tweak a setting in the Device Manager:
1 - Right-click on the Start button, then select Device Manager from the menu that pops up.
2 - Click the arrow to expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers branch.
3 - Right-click on USB Mass Storage Device, then click Properties.
4 - Select the Power Management tab and then uncheck the box beside “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”.
5 - Click OK and exit the Device Manager.
Next, you need to tweak a setting in the Power Management dialog:
1 - Click the Start button and type the words edit power, then select Edit power plan from the list of search results.
2 - Click Change advanced power settings.
3 - In the “Advanced settings” dialog box, click the + (plus sign) to expand the “USB settings” branch.
4 - Click the + (plus sign) and change the “USB selective suspend” setting to Disabled.
5 - Click OK and then exit the two dialog boxes you opened during this procedure.
That’s all there is to it. Your external drive should now stay awake and be always waiting for you to choose the next photo to edit.
Picture of the Day...
“Striking a pose”
Today’s POTD features a mantis that appears to be posing for a portrait (which is pretty much what we ended up with). I hope you like it.
Bonus tips from some the web’s best Tech sites...
Every day I hand-pick five of the best tips I found on my favorite tech sites and share them with you, my wonderful subscribers. Here is today’s selection:
• How to get Google to pay for your Android apps
• 5 hot digital marketing trends beyond AI
• How to do a reverse image search from your phone
• Windows 11 Home vs. Pro: What's the difference?
• 7 steps to a lean, clean Windows machine
Today's post from 'Living (and loving) Life'...
Don't let perfection become the enemy of success
Rick's daily gadget pick...
Every day I feature a tech item that I’ve hand-picked to be among the best of the best.
Click here to see what I’m loving today.
Today’s tech news headlines...
• Court blocks the FCC's efforts to restore net neutrality... again
• New Wi-Fi solution can detect distressed seniors using wireless signals only
• Intel is offering extended warranties for crashing 13th- and 14th-gen desktop CPUs
• New battery-free technology draws power out of thin air
• Delta CEO blasts tech giants: $500 million lost in CrowdStrike/Microsoft outage chaos
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Thanks so much, and have an amazing day.
Your tech buddy,
Rick Rouse
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