A hard disk drive (hard disk drive) is the primary storage device for your computer. Data recording takes place on a magnetic coating of hard plates made of aluminum, ceramics or glass.
In the Windows settings there is an option "Power supply". Its value can be viewed in the "Control Panel". By default, hard drives turn off after 20 minutes of inactivity to optimize power consumption. In the Power Schemes tab, you can, if required, set the Disconnect disks option to Never.
The optimal mode of operation, in which the hard disk accesses memory directly, is called DMA (Direct Memory Access). In PIO (Programmed Input / Output) mode, the processor controls access to peripheral memory. In this case, the hard drive works much slower and may turn off.
In Device Manager, expand the IDE ATA / ATAPI Controllers node. Right-click on the channel to which the problematic hard drive is connected. Select "Properties" from the drop-down menu and go to the "Advanced Settings" tab. Set the Transfer Mode parameter to DMA, if possible.
Winchester may shut down due to power problems. Your power supply may be supplying insufficient voltage. Try replacing it with another one with higher performance.
Examine the motherboard - swollen or leaking capacitors can cause hard drives to shut down.
If during the access to the hard drive there is a sudden power outage, the heads do not have time to correctly position themselves at the beginning of the tracks. Because of this, the surface of the discs is damaged. If there are a lot of such bad sectors, the hard disk may turn off spontaneously during operation.
Right-click on the hard drive icon and select the "Properties" command from the drop-down menu. In the "Service" tab, click "Check" and check the boxes "Automatically fix errors" and "Check and repair bad sectors". To get started, click "Start", then "Yes". After rebooting, the system will start checking the hard disk.
Perhaps the hard drive is shutting down due to overheating. Install the Everest software on your computer and check the temperature of the hard drive. If it exceeds 50 degrees C, increase forced cooling - for example, install additional fans.
The actions of some viruses can lead to disabling the hard drives. Scan your computer with a reliable anti-virus program, for example, Dr. Web CureIt! Be sure to disable the antivirus software installed on your computer before starting the scan.
