How Do We Actually Use the On/Off Button of the LaCie Drive?

I understand that we can switch the power On and Off
of the LaCie drive. We switch it off when we do not plan to use it.
However, don't we have to STOP the drive before we switch it off?
As you all know, it is virtually impossible to STOP it unless
we reboot the machine and it is the first thing we do.
Thanks!

maria

However, don't we have to STOP the drive before we switch it off?

Yes, you have to eject this in Windows (Safely Remove Hardware).

--
Maxim Shatskih, Windows DDK MVP
StorageCraft Corporation

http://www.storagecraft.com

On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 09:24:28 +0400, "Maxim S. Shatskih"
wrote:

However, don't we have to STOP the drive before we switch it off?

Yes, you have to eject this in Windows (Safely Remove Hardware).

Maxim,

I have used a program calle "deveject" to eject the drive.
Here are my two problems:

(1) deveject says that the drive is ejected, but I can still see it
listed in Total Commander. I can also access it well as well.

(2) If the drive is actually ejected, how do I bring it back to
operational status?

Thanks!

maria

On Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:10:06 -0400, maria
wrote:

On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 09:24:28 +0400, "Maxim S. Shatskih"
wrote:

However, don't we have to STOP the drive before we switch it off?

Yes, you have to eject this in Windows (Safely Remove Hardware).

Maxim,

I have used a program calle "deveject" to eject the drive.
Here are my two problems:

(1) deveject says that the drive is ejected, but I can still see it
listed in Total Commander. I can also access it well as well.

(2) If the drive is actually ejected, how do I bring it back to
operational status?

Thanks!

maria

Actually, I downloaded the program: "Process Explorer" and I found out
that my Drives K: and L: on LaCie had a handle on them from the
following two processes:

svchost.exe P. 1612 Type: Handle Handle: L:\$Extend\$ObjId
svchost.exe P. 1612 Type: Handle Handle: System Volume
Information\tracking.log

They also had a handle on them from a "continuous defragmentation"
program that I use called "Ashampoo Magical Defrag."

Oh, my God! This was it! It was the defgagmentation program process,
which I deleted from the Task Manager, and I could FINALLY(!) "stop"
my LaCie drive.

You may download the Process Explorer program from

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../bb896653.aspx

Go to Find/"Find Handle or DLL"
and put in the gadget a volume (say, "F:\", no quotes) to see the
handles that are holding your drive F:.
Good luck!

Thank you guys!

maria

On Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:43:25 -0400, maria
wrote:

On Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:10:06 -0400, maria
wrote:

On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 09:24:28 +0400, "Maxim S. Shatskih"
wrote:

However, don't we have to STOP the drive before we switch it off?

Yes, you have to eject this in Windows (Safely Remove Hardware).

Maxim,

I have used a program calle "deveject" to eject the drive.
Here are my two problems:

(1) deveject says that the drive is ejected, but I can still see it
listed in Total Commander. I can also access it well as well.

(2) If the drive is actually ejected, how do I bring it back to
operational status?

Thanks!

maria

Actually, I downloaded the program: "Process Explorer" and I found out
that my Drives K: and L: on LaCie had a handle on them from the
following two processes:

svchost.exe P. 1612 Type: Handle Handle: L:\$Extend\$ObjId
svchost.exe P. 1612 Type: Handle Handle: System Volume
Information\tracking.log

They also had a handle on them from a "continuous defragmentation"
program that I use called "Ashampoo Magical Defrag."

Oh, my God! This was it! It was the defgagmentation program process,
which I deleted from the Task Manager, and I could FINALLY(!) "stop"
my LaCie drive.

You may download the Process Explorer program from

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../bb896653.aspx

Go to Find/"Find Handle or DLL"
and put in the gadget a volume (say, "F:\", no quotes) to see the
handles that are holding your drive F:.
Good luck!

Thank you guys!

maria

Two last questions, guys:

(1) When I "Stop" an external drive, am I then supposed to disconnect
its power sypply until I use it again? Can I just leave its power
supply connected without wearing it out? I am assuming that the
drive does not have a On/Off button.

(2) How do I bring the drive back when it is still connected to its
power supply?
By just rebooting? Or is there a program that will do it without
rebooting?

Remember, not all drives have a On/Off button. Supposedly, when I try
to bring the drive back to operational status, I turn the On button to
On, if there is one.

Thanks a million!

maria

maria wrote:

....

(1) When I "Stop" an external drive, am I then supposed to disconnect
its power sypply until I use it again? Can I just leave its power
supply connected without wearing it out? I am assuming that the
drive does not have a On/Off button.

With the possible exception of laptop disks, spinning a disk up and down
more than a few times a day can shorten its life: even though they're
typically speced for something like 50,000 start/stop cycles (which
would be about once an hour over the nominal 5-year service life), they
don't really expect this.

So when you 'eject' the drive it's probably best not to turn if off (or
in your case unplug it) if you expect to use it again within a few
hours. And (though this is just a guess on my part) I think that I'd
unplug the power brick (assuming that it uses one rather than in
internal PSU) first from the disk and then from the wall outlet (and
then on restart plug it into the wall before attaching it to the disk),
so that the disk wouldn't be exposed to whatever output gyrations might
occur as the brick powers itself up.


(2) How do I bring the drive back when it is still connected to its
power supply?
By just rebooting? Or is there a program that will do it without
rebooting?

I don't think you ever actually said how your La Cie is connected to
your computer. If it's the typical USB 2.0 connection (what something
like deveject is typically used for, though Windows has provided its own
USB Mass Storage support - including an 'eject' function - since Win2K),
then all you have to do to 'bring it back' to Windows' attention is to
power it up and then plug in its USB cable: Windows will notice it and
gather it to its bosom just as if it had always lived there.

- bill