Running short on cache?

November 22, 2008 7:46 PM

Hard drive issues: Frequently when I attempt to open a folder on my Windows Vista partition I will have to wait 5 seconds or so for the drive to spin up (I hear it). Is there some way I can fix my cache or otherwise set up the drive so that it doesn't need to spin up every time I access files on my root drive?

I recently installed a new SATA drive to replace my failing IDE drive. I've divided it up into two partitions, one to store documents and another to hold my Windows Vista installation. Accessing files on both partitions is fine, it's just that there is a long delay (~5 seconds) whenever I try to access the Vista partition in Windows Explorer or through a save/open dialog.

I'm wondering if there is some way to increase the cache size so my hard drive doesn't need to spin up constantly or if there is a completely different issue at fault here that I don't understand. Any help would be appreciated.

posted by Aanidaani to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

Best answer: What are your power options (Energy Star) settings (Control Panel/System and Maintenance/Power Options)? Your hard disk is probably set to power down after 15 minutes or whatnot of inactivity. If this happens frequently enough it's an indication that you need to extend the time limit (but you should probably still have one).
posted by dhartung at 7:58 PM on November 22, 2008

Response by poster: It was set to 20 minutes. I increased it to 45 and I'll see if that helps.
posted by Aanidaani at 10:00 PM on November 22, 2008

Response by poster: Wow, I can't believe such a simple suggestion solved my problem. Thanks for the help!
posted by Aanidaani at 10:26 PM on November 22, 2008