"Patrick Keenan" wrote in message
...
"Anton" wrote in message
...
With 2 disks, can I shut one off without pulling a cabel?


Cant see it in BIOS.

Generally, no. You can't do this the way you seem to be describing,
though it depends on what exactly you mean by "shut off".

Few, if any, power supplies allow selective activation of power
connectors, so anything that is connected to a running power supply WILL
be powered.

I know of no drives that have internal switching to disconnect from live
power - and if they did, how would you turn it back on?.

Either there's power on the drive header, or there isn't, and if there
is, the drive is spinning (or it's dead). Some drives are built to allow
for hot-swapping without damage, but that's an entirely different thing.

You can attach the drive to an *external* case, which has a switch.
That is probably the fastest and easiest way to do this.

There are USB2, FireWire, and eSata equipped cases. Note that while
FireWire is supposed to support hot-plugging, in reality, it's an easy way
to destroy the interface chip. Power all FireWire devices down before
connecting them - shut the drive and the PC off, connect the drive, turn
the drive on, turn the PC on.

HTH
-pk


Disagree on part of what you said, as I've been doing it this way for 3
years running. The ide hard drive is connected within the firewire
enclosure always, and connected interally with its data and power cables.
The external enclosure is connected to the PC's onboard firewire port via
firewire cable, always. I turn on the PC and allow the OS to fully finish
booting. Then, I turn on the external enclosure. I use the icon in the
system tray to discontinue use of the drive. Physically turning off is the
reverse procedure. I use an under-monitor AC control station to turn on/off
many externals including the firewire enclosure. I added a 2nd firewire
enclosure about a year ago, and operate it the same way.
--
Dave