Dying/Failing Old HDD?
in [Storage]
|
Prev: Rikiki: LaCie Introduces the Most Compact Portable Hard Drive
Next: Samsung HD753lj external drive- computer does'nt see
From: ANTant on 30 Dec 2009 14:24 In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa(a)gmail.com> wrote: > ANTant(a)zimage.com wrote: > >>>> I don't see anything in SMART colors to show >>>> any issues. The technical values confuse me: > >>> Yeah, thats always been one downside with SMART, the values can be confusing. > >>> The everest SMART report is more readable than smartctl too. > >> Isn't Everest program not free anymore? :( > > Yes, but the free version is still available. > http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181 Thanks. :) -- "We are anthill men upon an anthill world." --Ray Bradbury /\___/\ / /\ /\ \ Phillip (Ant) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site) | |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net \ _ / Please remove ANT if replying by e-mail. ( )
From: ANTant on 30 Dec 2009 14:25 In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage Franc Zabkar <fzabkar(a)iinternode.on.net> wrote: >>On 12/29/2009 9:00 PM PT, Franc Zabkar typed: > >>>> ... is getting slower and slower these days. >>> >>> Check whether it has been downgraded from DMA mode to PIO. >> >>Would that be in XP Pro. SP2's Device Manager? Found them: Primary IDE Channel #1: Device 0: Current Transfer Mode: Ultra DMA Mode 5 Device 1: Current Transfer Mode: Not Applicable Primary IDE Channel #1: Device 0: Current Transfer Mode: Ultra DMA Mode 2 Device 1: Current Transfer Mode: Not Applicable I assume those are correct. I have one DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive and that Maxtor HDD. -- "We are anthill men upon an anthill world." --Ray Bradbury /\___/\ / /\ /\ \ Phillip (Ant) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site) | |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net \ _ / Please remove ANT if replying by e-mail. ( )
From: Rod Speed on 30 Dec 2009 14:46 Ant wrote > Rod Speed wrote >>>>> I noticed my five(?) years old office PC's HDD is getting slower >>>>> and slower these days. I wonder if it is dying. I don't see >>>>> anything in SMART colors to show any issues. The technical values >>>>> confuse me: >>>> Check if the DMA has got turned off somehow. >>> Where would I check that in XP Pro. SP3? >> In the Device Manager, propertys of the controller. > > I will check later today since I am not at the computer. Checking my > home PC's XP Pro. SP3, I assume it is in "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers" > section in one of those listed controllers. Yes, the Primary IDE Channel and Secondary IDE Channel, Advanced settings of the propertys of those. > None of mine say anything about DMAs, One of mine doesnt, from memory that one was the one I installed the Intel drivers for. > but then I have no IDE/ATA drives connected (got rid of the old DVD-ROM drive a few weeks ago). It should still be there even with no drives installed on that channel. Everest can show you if its not in the device manager entry. >>> Good call. I remember in Windows 9x, that could be done somewhere, but I can't remember where exactly. :( >> Yeah, tho you would normally expect to see lots of errors >> on the cable in the SMART stats, the UDMA_CRC_Error_Count >> and you dont if that got it disabled. Might have happened quite >> a while ago tho and you have since replaced the cable etc. > The only replaced inside the case was the PSU that was over three years ago. Dell techie replaced it for free (under > warranty). It might have gone bad and come good by itself, its not that uncommon with those older ribbon cables, it isnt that hard to bend one of the prongs that bite into the ribbon when making the cable in the first place.
From: Rod Speed on 30 Dec 2009 14:54 Ant wrote >> I see thios thing has only been restarted 72 times in 5 years. >> Maybe you have a memory leak in the OS or some application? >> Best check free memory. > I checked already. >> Other possible causes: >> - Spyware/malware. > Clean system. >> - Updated applications needing more resources >> or haveing (new) memory leaks. >> - A CPU with thermal throtheling and an unmaintained >> cooling system (dust, fan with lubrication problems) > Could be. How can I check to see how fast CPU is going at max? Everest can tell you. > It's old. :) >> - Disk getting fuller and accesses more distributed (longer seeks) and maybe also more in the slower areas towards >> the end of the disk. > Isn't defrag supposed to fix that? Yes. >> If it is not that, maybe try to assess what is actually getting slower: Access time or throughput and to what degree. > Any good benchmark tools? Real work is best, but you need to have done and recorded that when it was a new XP install to see if it really has degraded over time or whether thats just an illusion because you also use other more modern faster systems as well and so its just an illusion that it has go slower. If none of that shows up anything useful, I'd image the system, do a completely clean XP install on a freshly formatted hard drive and compare real world benchmarks on those two configs. You do sometimes see XP installs degrade over time and end up measurably slower than a clean install.
From: Rod Speed on 30 Dec 2009 14:58
ANTant(a)zimage.com wrote: > In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage Franc Zabkar > <fzabkar(a)iinternode.on.net> wrote: >>> On 12/29/2009 9:00 PM PT, Franc Zabkar typed: >> >>>>> ... is getting slower and slower these days. >>>> >>>> Check whether it has been downgraded from DMA mode to PIO. >>> >>> Would that be in XP Pro. SP2's Device Manager? > > Found them: > > Primary IDE Channel #1: > Device 0: Current Transfer Mode: Ultra DMA Mode 5 > Device 1: Current Transfer Mode: Not Applicable > > Primary IDE Channel #1: > Device 0: Current Transfer Mode: Ultra DMA Mode 2 > Device 1: Current Transfer Mode: Not Applicable Presumably that is a typo and the second one is the secondary channel. > I assume those are correct. Yes, it hasnt dropped into PIO mode. > I have one DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive and that Maxtor HDD. Looks like the slowdown is an illusion or the XP install has degraded over time if Everest shows the cpu is running at full speed. Your report of significant disk activity does make it sound like the clean install of XP would be work trying, particularly with an image of the current install so you can just restore it if the clean install makes no difference. |