Patent ID: 8145857

Claim:
A control device for controlling access to an external storage device comprising: a fetching unit that fetches, from the external storage device, attribute information relating to data stored in the external storage device, a virtual drive creation unit that creates, in the control device, a virtual drive for storing the fetched attribute information, and an access control unit that controls access to the virtual drive and the external storage device, wherein: when an instruction relating to the attribute information is input, the access control unit accesses the virtual drive to fetch the attribute information; when an instruction to read the data from the external storage device is input, if the external storage device is at a stop, the access control unit activates the external storage device to reads the data; and when an instruction to write new data to the external storage device is input, if the external storage device is at a stop, the access control unit activates the external storage device to write the new data; wherein the external storage device stops operation at a predetermined time after operation of the external storage device is not required and reactivated to perform a read or a write.