[FEATURE] Add option to disable HDD Advanced Power Management (APM)

[Vyathaen]

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• I have searched for similar feature requests and have not found a duplicate.

Feature Type

New functionality

Describe your feature request

I would like an option within the Performance or Optimization section to Disable Advanced Power Management (APM) for mechanical hard drives.

Currently, many HDDs have aggressive internal firmware that "parks" the read/write heads after a few minutes of inactivity. When Windows or a background process polls the drive, it causes a 1-3 second system-wide freeze while the drive spins back up. Adding a toggle to set APM to 0xFE (Max Performance) or Disabled would eliminate these micro-stutters.

Use case

This is specifically for users with a mixed storage setup (e.g., an NVMe SSD for the OS and a high-capacity HDD for bulk storage). Even when using "Ultra Performance" power plans, the hardware-level APM often overrides Windows settings. Users currently have to keep third-party tools like CrystalDiskInfo running in the background ("Resident" mode) just to keep their drives awake. Integrating this into Winhance would provide a "set and forget" solution that removes the need for extra background software.

Software Details (Only for 'New software to be added' requests)

No response

Additional context

Implementation Suggestion:

Here are the concise commands to manage your HDD APM via Terminal (Admin):

1. How to install
   winget install smartmontools (Restart terminal after install)

2. How to check
   smartctl -g apm /dev/pd1 (Use smartctl --scan to confirm if your HDD is pd1)

3. How to enable
   smartctl -s apm,on /dev/pd1

4. How to disable
   smartctl -s apm,off /dev/pd1