Suddenly slow hard drive

[trevor ylisaari]

For some reason, the second physical drive I have in my system got really
slow.
Acts like it is even slower than without DMA and it hogs system resources
when trying to do any type of read or write functions to it.

It is the slave drive on the primary IDE cable.
If I try copying files to the drive, from the drive, or try doing things
like a scandisk or defrag, it bogs the entire system down.
I mean to the point where it takes about 30 seconds just to switch to an
already open application.
It's a 20 GB drive that now takes about 2 hours just to run a scandisk on.

Any idea what my be causing this?
It's not loosing data.
And I have already checked in windows system to ensure that DMA is enabled.
I even turned it off, restarted, turned it back on and restarted again.
No help at all.
The disk itself is only a little over half full, with 9 GB available space.

--

--------
Trevor Ylisaari

 

[Mart]

Tried scandisk in DOS mode using the Win98 startup floppy (NOT thru'
Windows)?

Try copying (in DOS) a (largish - several 10's of MB) file from C: to C:
then C: to D: (and vice versa). Compare times and see if you can pin it down
to a failing HDD. If necessary try the disk manufacturers web site for
their own diagnostic utility (usually freeware)

Mart



"trevor ylisaari" <trouble67@suite224.net> wrote in message
news:48416ea0$0$4981$e656108c@news.suite224.net...
> For some reason, the second physical drive I have in my system got really
> slow.
> Acts like it is even slower than without DMA and it hogs system resources
> when trying to do any type of read or write functions to it.
>
> It is the slave drive on the primary IDE cable.
> If I try copying files to the drive, from the drive, or try doing things
> like a scandisk or defrag, it bogs the entire system down.
> I mean to the point where it takes about 30 seconds just to switch to an
> already open application.
> It's a 20 GB drive that now takes about 2 hours just to run a scandisk on.
>
> Any idea what my be causing this?
> It's not loosing data.
> And I have already checked in windows system to ensure that DMA is
> enabled.
> I even turned it off, restarted, turned it back on and restarted again.
> No help at all.
> The disk itself is only a little over half full, with 9 GB available
> space.
>
> --
>
> --------
> Trevor Ylisaari
>
>
>
>
>

 

[glee]

Testing a Suspect Hard Drive:
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=30382

If a failing hard drive is suspected, it can be tested by running the diagnostics
from the hard drive manufacturer's web site.

Prior to any testing, a backup of your important data should be made
immediately....if the drive is in fact failing, it could fail at any time.

If you don't know what brand the drive is, you can download the limited-use free
edition of OnTrack Data Advisor from this location:
http://www.ontrackdatarecovery.com/data-recovery-downloads/#dataadvisor

Click the download link on that page for Data Advisor Trial Edition in your
language, to download the diskette creator file.

The downloads are diskette creators. They are to be run once from a working Windows
system and will guide you through the process of extracting the Data Advisor onto a
3.5" floppy disk.

Download and Use Instructions:
http://www.ontrackdatarecovery.com/hard-drive-software/dataadvisor-download.aspx

An older version of SeaTools, for creating a bootable floppy disk or for creating a
bootable CD if you don't have a floppy drive, is here:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download2858.html
Sea Tools contains both a Seagate-specific diagnostic and a Generic test that will
run on all brands of drives.

Hard Drive Diagnostic Programs by Vendor:

OnTrack Data Advisor:
http://www.ontrack.com/freesoftware/#dataadvisor

IBM/Hitachi Drive Fitness Test:
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools:
http://support.wdc.com/download/

Quantum/Maxtor PowerMax:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Maxtor_Powermax_d1386.html

Seagate SeaTools for DOS:
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatools

--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+
http://dts-l.net/
http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm


"trevor ylisaari" <trouble67@suite224.net> wrote in message
news:48416ea0$0$4981$e656108c@news.suite224.net...
> For some reason, the second physical drive I have in my system got really
> slow.
> Acts like it is even slower than without DMA and it hogs system resources
> when trying to do any type of read or write functions to it.
>
> It is the slave drive on the primary IDE cable.
> If I try copying files to the drive, from the drive, or try doing things
> like a scandisk or defrag, it bogs the entire system down.
> I mean to the point where it takes about 30 seconds just to switch to an
> already open application.
> It's a 20 GB drive that now takes about 2 hours just to run a scandisk on.
>
> Any idea what my be causing this?
> It's not loosing data.
> And I have already checked in windows system to ensure that DMA is enabled.
> I even turned it off, restarted, turned it back on and restarted again.
> No help at all.
> The disk itself is only a little over half full, with 9 GB available space.
>
> --
>
> --------
> Trevor Ylisaari
>
>
>
>
>

 

[Franc Zabkar]

On Sat, 31 May 2008 11:31:29 -0400, "trevor ylisaari"
<trouble67@suite224.net> put finger to keyboard and composed:

>For some reason, the second physical drive I have in my system got really
>slow.
>Acts like it is even slower than without DMA and it hogs system resources
>when trying to do any type of read or write functions to it.
>
>It is the slave drive on the primary IDE cable.
>If I try copying files to the drive, from the drive, or try doing things
>like a scandisk or defrag, it bogs the entire system down.
>I mean to the point where it takes about 30 seconds just to switch to an
>already open application.
>It's a 20 GB drive that now takes about 2 hours just to run a scandisk on.
>
>Any idea what my be causing this?
>It's not loosing data.
>And I have already checked in windows system to ensure that DMA is enabled.
>I even turned it off, restarted, turned it back on and restarted again.
>No help at all.
>The disk itself is only a little over half full, with 9 GB available space.

Your drive could be developing bad sectors. The OS may be bogging down
in retries to the affected area(s).

I would check your drive's SMART attributes using Everest Home Edition
or a DOS based utility such as SmartUDM. Look for large numbers of
reallocated sectors or sectors pending reallocation.

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

 

[PCR]

trevor ylisaari wrote:
| For some reason, the second physical drive I have in my system got
| really slow.
| Acts like it is even slower than without DMA and it hogs system
| resources when trying to do any type of read or write functions to it.
|
| It is the slave drive on the primary IDE cable.
| If I try copying files to the drive, from the drive, or try doing
| things like a scandisk or defrag, it bogs the entire system down.
| I mean to the point where it takes about 30 seconds just to switch to
| an already open application.
| It's a 20 GB drive that now takes about 2 hours just to run a
| scandisk on.
|
| Any idea what my be causing this?
| It's not loosing data.
| And I have already checked in windows system to ensure that DMA is
| enabled. I even turned it off, restarted, turned it back on and
| restarted again.
| No help at all.
| The disk itself is only a little over half full, with 9 GB available
| space.

"R-Clk My Computer, Properties, Performance tab".
Are you "optimal" or running in "compatibility mode"? If compatibility,
then...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/130179/en-us
Troubleshooting MS-DOS Compatibility Mode on Hard Disks

Here are other MS articles about it...
http://support.microsoft.com/search...y+mode&catalog=LCID=1033&1033comm=1&spid=1139

That could all be very tough to figure-- get back to us with any further
questions.

| --
|
| --------
| Trevor Ylisaari

--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
Should things get worse after this,
PCR
pcrrcp@netzero.net

 

[trevor ylisaari]

Thanks all for the replies.
It ended up being the drive at fault.
I have since replaced it with a working drive, and transferred all the data
from the old one. Only took like 16 hours to copy all that (he said rather
sarcastically)


--

--------
Trevor Ylisaari


"PCR" <pcrrcp@netzero.net> wrote in message
news:Ovym6$SxIHA.1236@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> trevor ylisaari wrote:
> | For some reason, the second physical drive I have in my system got
> | really slow.
> | Acts like it is even slower than without DMA and it hogs system
> | resources when trying to do any type of read or write functions to it.
> |
> | It is the slave drive on the primary IDE cable.
> | If I try copying files to the drive, from the drive, or try doing
> | things like a scandisk or defrag, it bogs the entire system down.
> | I mean to the point where it takes about 30 seconds just to switch to
> | an already open application.
> | It's a 20 GB drive that now takes about 2 hours just to run a
> | scandisk on.
> |
> | Any idea what my be causing this?
> | It's not loosing data.
> | And I have already checked in windows system to ensure that DMA is
> | enabled. I even turned it off, restarted, turned it back on and
> | restarted again.
> | No help at all.
> | The disk itself is only a little over half full, with 9 GB available
> | space.
>
> "R-Clk My Computer, Properties, Performance tab".
> Are you "optimal" or running in "compatibility mode"? If compatibility,
> then...
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/130179/en-us
> Troubleshooting MS-DOS Compatibility Mode on Hard Disks
>
> Here are other MS articles about it...
>
http://support.microsoft.com/search/default.aspx?mode=a&query=compatibility+
mode&catalog=LCID%3D1033&1033comm=1&spid=1139
>
> That could all be very tough to figure-- get back to us with any further
> questions.
>
> | --
> |
> | --------
> | Trevor Ylisaari
>
> --
> Thanks or Good Luck,
> There may be humor in this post, and,
> Naturally, you will not sue,
> Should things get worse after this,
> PCR
> pcrrcp@netzero.net
>
>
>

 

[PCR]

trevor ylisaari wrote:
| Thanks all for the replies.
| It ended up being the drive at fault.
| I have since replaced it with a working drive, and transferred all
| the data from the old one. Only took like 16 hours to copy all that
| (he said rather sarcastically)

Wow. That explains why we hadn't heard till now. Thanks for the update.

|
| --
|
| --------
| Trevor Ylisaari
|
|
| "PCR" <pcrrcp@netzero.net> wrote in message
| news:Ovym6$SxIHA.1236@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
|> trevor ylisaari wrote:
|> | For some reason, the second physical drive I have in my system got
|> | really slow.
|> | Acts like it is even slower than without DMA and it hogs system
|> | resources when trying to do any type of read or write functions to
|> | it.
|> |
|> | It is the slave drive on the primary IDE cable.
|> | If I try copying files to the drive, from the drive, or try doing
|> | things like a scandisk or defrag, it bogs the entire system down.
|> | I mean to the point where it takes about 30 seconds just to switch
|> | to an already open application.
|> | It's a 20 GB drive that now takes about 2 hours just to run a
|> | scandisk on.
|> |
|> | Any idea what my be causing this?
|> | It's not loosing data.
|> | And I have already checked in windows system to ensure that DMA is
|> | enabled. I even turned it off, restarted, turned it back on and
|> | restarted again.
|> | No help at all.
|> | The disk itself is only a little over half full, with 9 GB
|> | available space.
|>
|> "R-Clk My Computer, Properties, Performance tab".
|> Are you "optimal" or running in "compatibility mode"? If
|> compatibility, then...
|>
|> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/130179/en-us
|> Troubleshooting MS-DOS Compatibility Mode on Hard Disks
|>
|> Here are other MS articles about it...
|>
|
http://support.microsoft.com/search/default.aspx?mode=a&query=compatibility+
| mode&catalog=LCID%3D1033&1033comm=1&spid=1139
|>
|> That could all be very tough to figure-- get back to us with any
|> further questions.
|>
|> | --
|> |
|> | --------
|> | Trevor Ylisaari
|>
|> --
|> Thanks or Good Luck,
|> There may be humor in this post, and,
|> Naturally, you will not sue,
|> Should things get worse after this,
|> PCR
|> pcrrcp@netzero.net

--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
Should things get worse after this,
PCR
pcrrcp@netzero.net