Harddrive Keeps Spining Up When Using Firefox

[flyoffacliff]

I resently built a new system with a 250GB SSD to install windows on, and a 1TB HDD for backups and large video files.

I don't need the HDD very often, so I set it to power down after 1 minute in Windows power options. But I noticed that it will spin back up whenever I do something in Firefox 23.0.1, such as loading a new page. But if its sitting idle, it will usually spin down eventually.

Why does Firefox keep making it spin up and how can I stop it?

 

[Hawkeye22]

All web browsers cache web pages so that you get quicker access on the next access. If you have firefox installed on the HDD it will need to read/write to that cache forcing your drive to spin up.

 

[flyoffacliff]

All web browsers cache web pages so that you get quicker access on the next access. If you have firefox installed on the HDD it will need to read/write to that cache forcing your drive to spin up.

But Firefox is installed on the SSD and should not need the HDD at all.

 

[Hawkeye22]

Did you turn windows indexing off for that drive? if firefox is on the SSD I don't think it will touch the HDD. It must be something else. If you are using win 7, use the resource monitor to see which files are being accessed on the HDD.

 

[flyoffacliff]

Did you turn windows indexing off for that drive? if firefox is on the SSD I don't think it will touch the HDD. It must be something else. If you are using win 7, use the resource monitor to see which files are being accessed on the HDD.

Thank you, after some investigation, I found out that because it was because I set my SSD management software to "extend life of SSD" mode, which changes Firefox's cache settings to put the cache on the HDD instead. I can't decide which option to choose:

Option 1: Chace on SSD - Downside: Writes a lot of data and shortens SSD life.
Option 2: Cache on HDD - Downside: HDD has to run all the time, instead of rarely. Shortens life of HDD
Option 3: Cache Disabled - Downside: Slow web-page loading times.

The HDD cost $80 and the SSD cost $230.

What would you recommend?

 

[Hawkeye22]

I haven't owned a SSD so I can't say what their real life lifespan is. On the other hand, I've had hard drives last 8+ years with the OS, programs (including browsers), and data running 24/7.

Also, remember hard drives are mechanical and can fail at any time. So, it's your choice as to where you want to put the cache. There is no correct answer here.