Prevent drives from spinning up?

[Arin 0]

I have a 500 gb external backup WD-Book hardrive attached to my system. The drive spins down after a period of inactivity.

 

When I open up programs like photoshop or even my computer the drive spins up, I'm guessing to display me available space on the drive. This takes a few seconds, however its a pain in the ass. Can I prevent the drive from spinning up unless I actually am accessing files on the drive?

 

Thanks

-Arin

 

[peterh 1]

You have a few options:

1. Turn off power management for the drive ie leave it running all the time.

2. Turn it off or

3. Disconnect it.

 

[Arin 0]

I want the drive to spin down when its not in use and I want to have it spin up when I actually try to access the drive either with my backup software or by opening it though my computer.

 

I don't want to do option 1, 2 or 3.