copying files on harddrive seems v slow!

[psd99]

this system:

amd 1600
256 ddr pc2100

Primary master : 120 gb western digital
primary slave : none

secondary master : lite on cd rw
secondary slave : 80gb maxtor

my operating system is on the 120gb. the problem is when im copying files from the 80gb to 120gb or vice versa its vv slow. well i think its slow. but then again i have a cack processor aswell?


i notice that when i have the 80gb maxtor plugged in, it takes me around 1min extra to get into xp. i notice that the screen stays still in bios for that extra minute.when i mean 'bios' i dont mean the detection screen, this is normal. i mean when its detected everything just be4 the black xp screen, it hangs on 'veryfying dmi data' or something. this dont happen when i havent got the 80gb connected. but id rather have this extra min on bootup rather than less space. dont see any problems accessing, copying or moving files on this 80gb harddrive. thank god!

does any1 have any ideas for speeding up file transfers? or any thoughts about this problem.

 

[muckshifter]

the problem is when im copying files from the 80gb to 120gb or vice versa its vv slow. well i think its slow. but then again i have a cack processor aswell?

We won't know unless you can give us some tranfer times ... so, leaving that one to one side, lets tackle the other 'problem'

it hangs on 'veryfying dmi data' or something

We'll call it a 'lagg' in detecting the second HD ... now if we get this one corrected I think the first 'problem' will go.

You are using ATA100/133 80wire cables, yes?

Try slaving the Maxtor off the WD, making sure that the jumpers are set correctly for master & slave. Set the BIOS to Auto for all IDE chanels.

Also ...
Enable the "Reset Configuration Data" (may be called "Force Update ESCD" in some CMOS Setuups) in the motherboard CMOS Setup PNP/PCI configuration. (Rebooting will automatically disabled it after it has done its thing.)

 

[psd99]

rite the transfer times are like 5minutes for 800mb. im pretty sure that this is very slow. normally on my other pcs im used to faster speeds.

yes i am using ata 100/133 cable.

. Set the BIOS to Auto for all IDE chanels.

Also ...
Enable the "Reset Configuration Data" (may be called "Force Update ESCD" in some CMOS Setuups) in the motherboard CMOS Setup PNP/PCI configuration. (Rebooting will automatically disabled it after it has done its thing.)

what does the reset configuration data actually mean? ill give this a go and get back to in the meantime. thank you

 

[muckshifter]

If you install a new piece of hardware or modify your computer's hardware configuration, the BIOS will automatically detect the changes and reconfigure the ESCD (Extended System Configuration Data). Therefore, there is usually no need to manually force the BIOS to reconfigure the ESCD.

However, the occasion may arise where the BIOS may not be able to detect the hardware changes. A serious resource conflict may occur and the operating system may not even boot as a result. This is where the Reset Configuration Data BIOS feature comes in.

This BIOS feature allows you to manually force the BIOS to clear the previously saved ESCD data and reconfigure the settings. All you need to do is enable this BIOS feature and then reboot your computer. The new ESCD should resolve the conflict and allow the operating system to load normally.

The BIOS will automatically reset it to the default setting of Disabled after reconfiguring the new ESCD. So, there is no need for you to manually disable this feature after rebooting.

 

[psd99]

just did that reset configuration thing.

i did notice one thing. the pc was normal on the 'veryfying dmi data' it didnt hang on this part.
but what did happen was as soon as this screen was gone it took abt 1 minute b4 i got to windows xp screen.

next in line is the master / slave harddrives on one channel. ill give that a go

 

[psd99]

muckshifter:

i tried is so that both harddrives are on the same channel one being master the other being slave
it boots up in bios fine it gets detected.

but after the 'veryfying dmi' screen the screen goes balck for abt 2 mins be4 finally the xp screen comes up.

in windows the drive is detected and works fine, but its still terribly slow when tranfering files over to it.

do u have any other ideas please?

 

[muckshifter]

'Hanging' at verifying DMA is a good indication that there is possibly a HD problem ... I do remember that I had a similar problem with a WD & Maxtor drive, they just did not like to play with one another.

I subsequently found that the Maxtor was faulty ... but it took me three months to find that out.

Now I have a shiny new 120gig Maxtor ... and no secondary drive, I use the DVD as back-up now.

So, the short answer is no, I'm out of ideas short of removing the 80gig and or testing it in another system. Maxtor do have a free diagnostic tool as do WD, may be worth trying them out.

 

[psd99]

thank you for your help

the sceen doesnt hang on 'veryfying dmi' it goes past this screen as per normal. but what happens after is not normal. it takes about 2 mins to get to the black xp screen.

when my 80gb maxtor is removed from the system, this 2 minute gap dissapears.
so it is definetly a problem with the harddrive.

im happy with the 2min black because i need another harddrive because i am running out of space. but do u think that im risking losing all the data on this 80gb harddrive?

i mean there is definetly a fault somewhere, but it seems to work fine in windows and acessing files on the drive seems fine. its just copying over, but i am prepared to wait. i dont want to folk out more on another harddrive.

 

[muckshifter]

We have ALL learnt the hard way ... hard drives do fail. If you do not 'back-up' to an outside source don’t think you won’t loose anything, you will.

 

[psd99]

lol just got to share something with you

at the minute i am creating a data cdrw and just to copy over the files from this harrdrive takes 10 mins! im copying over around 683mb of data and it takes 10 minutes just to copy the data over to the cdrw!

thaths not even the burning time! that takes around 30-40 mins but then again thats fine, cuz these cdrws are only 4x speed! but 700mb just to copy over to take 10mins is definetly abnormal i rekon it should really take like 1 min or even less!!!!

is that abnormal then to take 10mins just to copy over the files!?