Windows 8.1 "Computer" shows blank icons sometimes

doesn't happen always, just when I don't open it for about 20 to 30 mins or so

if I would double click Computer, the icons inside are blank for about 30 secs then they would show up again. I think it is my external HDD being turned off due to inactivity then spinning up again which is causing the hang.

I don't have this issue on Windows 7 though..

do you guys face this or have a solution?

I don't know how to control my Western Digital external drive spin down settings, I did have a tool for my previous Seagate drive which allows you to set when do you want it to spin down.

Mind you, I am on the Windows High Performance plan and have set HDD turn off to 0

crap, WD drives suck, no way of controlling the spin down time like Seagate offers:

Is Spindown BUILT-IN to WD Elements drives themselves? - [H]ard|Forum

 

If you have something else to add to a post you've made, use the Edit button, rather than creating a whole new one.

 

I got an external WD drive in a third party enclosure, I'll give it a go and see what happens. I have ~30 mins of lab work to do anyways and I won't be standing in front of my computer, so perfect opportunity.

 

By default, Windows set a power off on inactive drives at 20 mins. If the drive spins down it will only spin back up if it is being accessed by either Windows Defender, HWMon, you go into Windows Explorer or data is being accessed on that drive.

Some external drives now have their own built in sleep mode, if they go inactive for an allotted time. Also changing power off timer in Power Options won't do you any good. You need to go into Device Manager and click on the device "Power Mgmt" tab and uncheck the box that says Windows can turn off the device to save power.

 

Still working as intended with the drive spinning down