My Passport USB3 disappears in Windows 8.1

Hello,

I have the following problem:  “My Passport” USB 3 in encrypted mode unexpectedly disconnects after 5-10 minutes of idle time.

Only the “main” (encrypted data) drive disconnectd; the “virtual CD” always is available.

But when it disconnects, the unlocked state is lost, so I have to run unlocker again.

QUESTION: Is this behavior caused by the drive itself  (ex. it has a built-in timer) or this can be caused by USB selective suspend, drive turn-off or other power management in Windows 8.1?

I’ve read the KB article about disabling drive turn-off. This does not help.

This thread is similar but not relevant.

There is a known issue with Windows 8.1 and selective suspend, and a registry fix described here.

I’ve applied the registry fix (for hardware ID VEN=1058 DEV=0730, and it does NOT help.

The SES device is present and driver installed.

I don’t not remember this problem on the same machine with WIn8 RTM, and do not see it on another machine with WinXP.

Any advise?

– dd

ddbug,

The WD Passport does feature a built-in sleep timer enabled by default, and once it triggers the disk drive must be unlocked once again. You are able to disable the sleep timer by configuring sleep behavior within WD Drive Utilities.

http://support.wd.com/product/download.asp?groupid=218&sid=171&lang=en