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Ostarari
Iron Contributor
Dec 09, 2025

Which USB or network device to disable power-saving shut-off for when transferring files?

I'm trying to transfer a lot of files (tens of gigabytes at this point, but it could be hundreds) over a network from one USB-connected drive on a laptop to another one (of each). However, I come back to the desk (after the screen has gone to sleep) after a long while (like, 1-10 hours), and the transfer has stopped with an error that the network is disconnected or the remote laptop isn't on the network anymore or the drive doesn't exist or the file doesn't exist 

 The laptops are configured to never go to sleep or hibernate automatically while plugged in (as they both are). Also on one of the devices, it loses WiFi connection when I wake the screen after hours.

I've tracked down the problem to likely be Windows' device settings to shut-off the device for power-saving reasons after a set time period of not using the device (like when I walk away from the computer). The timeout is apparently not related to the typical power settings based on keyboard and mouse usage, but is within its own arbitrarily-determined Microsoft realm. It's absurd that Microsoft would program Windows to stop ongoing file transfers with power-saving features on plugged-in devices... it just goes against what the user is trying to do.

When I follow instructions to disable the power-saving feature for the devices, so that large transfers can complete in the background over hours or days (I've never had the issue with Linux), I can't tell which devices to change. There's a long list in Network and USB devices (in Device Manager) that looks like gobbledygook to me for the most part. I don't want to toggle one that I don't need to then have an issue. I'll try to paste screenshot examples below from the computer I'm on right now.

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