Windows disconnecting hub-ports or drive

[Tracey2032]

How do stop Windows 11 from stopping/dis-connecting external USB (type A or C) hub connected HDD drives?

While I periodically  use external drives, if the drive is not used for some brief-period of time the LED turns off and I cannot access the drive (I did NOT have this problem with Windows 7 so I assume it is some kind of power saving feature of Windows 11).

Some times 1 or more drives or the whole hub seems to turn off, but the power light on the drives themselves stay on.

I have to try whatever to re-connect the drive(s)/hub(s) by un-plugging and re-plugging back in

Please advise, Thanks

[Garp_senchau · Accepted solution]

@Tracey2032, Welcome to HP Support Community,

Thank you for posting your query; I’m here to help by guiding you through steps to resolve this issue

It sounds like Windows 11's power management settings are causing your external drives to enter a low power state after being idle for a while, which is likely why they "disconnect" or are unresponsive.There are a few things you can try to stop this from happening.

Turn off USB power saving:

Go to Settings → System → Power & Battery.

Click on Additional power settings → Change plan settings → Change advanced power settings.

Find USB settings → USB selective suspend setting → Set to Disabled.

Set Hard disk → Turn off hard disk after → Never.

Disable power saving for USB hubs:

Right-click Start → Device Manager.

Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers.

Right-click USB Root Hub → Properties → Power Management tab.

Uncheck Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.\\

Update drivers:

In Device Manager, right-click on each USB Root Hub or Generic USB Hub → Update driver → Search automatically for updates.

Adjust Sleep settings:

Go to Settings → System → Power & Battery.

Set When plugged in, put my device to sleep after → Never.

I hope this helps.

Please feel free to reply here if you have any questions or if you need further clarification on any of the steps. 

Take care and have a good day. 

Did we resolve the issue? If yes, please consider marking this post as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" to give us a helpful vote - your feedback keeps us going!

Regards,

[Tracey2032]

However, power saving options for USB do NOT seem to appear anywhere in the 'Power & Battery' section under → Start → Settings → System.
Nor under 'Control Panel' → 'Power Options'.

How can I manually add/change/update the registry to set: 'USB selective suspend setting' → 'Set to Disabled'

Please advise, Thanks

I did uncheck all the 'Allow the computer to turn off...' on the USB devices under: Control Panel → Device Manager → USB Controllers → Power Management
I already had: Set Hard disk → Turn off hard disk after → Never

[Garp_senchau]

Hey @Tracey2032,

Thank you for your response

If that specific option isn’t showing up in the Power Options or Settings, then there’s no need to worry — it simply means your system isn’t using that setting or it’s being managed automatically by Windows or the chipset driver.

Have you tried the other steps I shared earlier? Let me know if the issue is now resolved or if it’s still persisting so we can look further into it.

Regards,

[Tracey2032]

Disabling the power saving option for (each/all the) USB Controllers → Power Management noticeably helped.

The USB drives do run a lot longer, but are hubs are still eventually turned off anyway.

Windows 11 is turning off the "power" to the USB devices (the hub LEDs turn off), but the drives have external power so the HDDs are still running.
Windows 11 is dropping the connection to the hubs (hence the drives).

Programs that are writing and reading to/from the drives state that the resource is (no longer available/has been removed from the system).
I disconnect the hubs and re-connect them and resume or start-over whatever I am doing.

I am guessing that I need to manually add/change/update the registry to set: 'USB selective suspend setting' → 'Set to Disabled'
Please advise, Thanks

My USB device configuration is as follows: Windows 11 laptop → laptop-usb-port → 7-port-hub → UGEEN usb-to-sata-adapter → sata hdd

[Tracey2032]

I posted this question to another group and they were surprised that the Advance Power Options did NOT include USB.

Someone posted their Advance Power Options and it DID include USB power control.

How can I add USB Power Control to my Power Options in my HP laptop?

[Tracey2032]

Someone from another forum posted this screen shot.

How do I add [USB selective suspend setting] to my system?

Unless my HP Windows 11 laptop has Windows features removed?

I log on as administrator that should not be an issue.

Please advise

[Tracey2032]

Can I get the USB Power Control by re-installing Windows 11?

Please advise, Thanks

[Garp_senchau]

Hey @Tracey2032, 

Thanks for reaching out! Since the issue remains unresolved, I suggest contacting our phone/chat support team for personalized assistance. They can provide one-on-one help and may even be able to work their remote assistance magic to fix the problem.

Note: There might be a nominal charge for the service they provide.

Regards,

[Tracey2032]

That is not necessary now.

Some gave me a powershell script that (turns on / displays) all Power Option that HP has chosen to hide.

Thanks anyway.

I must confess I was really looking forward to reinstalling Windows 11, but I do NOT plan on doing that unless it is necessary.