New PC - hard drive powering down

[MatthewL]

I've just replaced my PC with a HP Mini due to my old one not supporting Windows 11 and as its a mini I could not fit the hard drive inside so its now on a USB powered caddy and working fine except it powers down even though power settings are set to not let it do so.

 

Any places to look as its not one I've come across before, have been through power management and device manager but nothing working.

[psydii]

Old PC that can't run windows 11, so that's probably an old HDD too.  I seem to recall that some Seagate Baracuda and WD Green  drives int he 2010-2018ish era were prone to aggressive power management techniques that when on the far side of a USB adapter might look like a power down to the OS. I think some were mitigated by drive firmware updates?

[MatthewL]

Drive is only from 2021, its a WD Black.  I've had it in the PC since 2021 plugged direct in the board but unable to do on this new one.

[Rob_D]

I assume you've already disabled "USB Selective Suspend" and "Turn off Hard disk after..." in the power plan, and uchecked "Allow computer to turn this device off" in Device manager (might be worth checking you've got that set for both the external drive and the USB controller).

Edited October 27, 2025 by Rob_D
Typo

[Davit2005]

2 hours ago, MatthewL said:

Drive is only from 2021, its a WD Black.  I've had it in the PC since 2021 plugged direct in the board but unable to do on this new one.

So new PC only has a M.2 slot? No SATA connector. TBH I'd use a M.2 and jus rebuild windows from scratch if you cannot do a copy.

[MatthewL]

The new PC is a mini so the OS is on a M2.

 

I have a separate 3.5" SATA drive with over 2TB of my data on, the first choice would be put it in the case but its too small!

[Rob_D]

If it's just Docs/stuff and you're not running anything from the drive, then does it matter if the comptuer let's it spin down when it's not being used? Or is the problem that it then doesn't turn back on (or turn on quickly enough) when you need it?

Would the comptuer support a 2.5" drive? You could pick up a 2tb 2.5" drive for a bit under £100, not much price difference to upgrade to an SSD while you're at it.

 

[Davit2005]

Some mini PCs do have a place for a 2.5" but the holder and special cable might be missing. Thinking of the Lenovo M series.

Edited October 27, 2025 by Davit2005

[MatthewL]

There is space for a 2.5" but I don't have spare money to buy a drive at the minute that is my issue.

 

It's ok for it to spin down but if I'm working on say a database it spins down within minutes whilist I am working on it, so you get that delay.

[Rob_D]

Does the caddy you're using have its own power supply (VS being powered by USB)? If it's powered by your PC's USB, it could be a power budget issue and using a separately powered caddy or going through a mains powered USB hub might fix it.

Edited October 28, 2025 by Rob_D