Last Updated on December 26, 2022 by Mathew Diekhake

Modern computers are made to last much longer than older PCs because of the newer operating system features and settings. Most laptops come with fast startup mode turned on, and those laptops don’t turn off completely when the user chooses to shut down the laptop, for example. Even without the computer shutting down, you can expect it to last for a good ten years because the hardware isn’t being worked hard at all unless you’re using the computer.

In addition to the new features such as fast startup mode, Windows has some extra features up its sleeve, such as the chance to use “Turn off hard disk after idle” which will automatically stop using the hard disk without you having to do anything at all apart from walk away from your computer. This type of artificial intelligence can help your computer last even longer in the long run.

Some circumstances may prevent your computer from turning off as soon as expected after all. For example, if you head to the Power Options and set the “Turn off hard disk after” setting to five minutes, and it still hasn’t turned off after being idle for 20 minutes. The reason for this is if any disk activity occurs during the idle period. Read more: Hard disks do not turn off after your computer has been idle

The following tutorial demonstrates how to add and remove the “Turn off hard disk after” setting to the Power Options menu in all versions of the Windows 10 operating system.

An example of what Power Options looks like when you’ve got the “Turn off hard disk after” setting available:

How to Add/Remove “Turn off hard disk after” in Power Options Using Command Prompt

Here is how you can add or remove the “Turn off hard disk after” setting to the Power Options menu in Windows 10:

1. Open the elevated Command Prompt window.

2. Type one of the following commands into the command line and then press the Enter key on your keyboard to execute it:

3. To Add ‘Turn off hard disk after’ (Default)

powercfg -attributes SUB_DISK 6738e2c4-e8a5-4a42-b16a-e040e769756e -ATTRIB_HIDE

4. To Remove ‘Turn off hard disk after’

powercfg -attributes SUB_DISK 6738e2c4-e8a5-4a42-b16a-e040e769756e +ATTRIB_HIDE


You can now close the Command Prompt window and continue using your computer.

That’s all.