Hard drive read speed SLOW!!

[holysmokes99]

A couple of weeks ago, watching videos on my PC became very choppy.
Even scrolling through my long list of mp3s in windows explorer was
jerky. So I did a hard drive test with HD Tach and HD Tune and found
that my secondary drive (where the videos and mp3s were stored) was
reading at a maximum rate of only 4MB/sec. It is a 120GB Maxtor
4R120LO (a couple of years old), and I think that it should be reading
at least at 30MB/sec. So my question is, it there anything I can do to
tweak the drive, any settings I can adjust? Or is is toast?

Thanks,
Marcus

 

[Guest]

So why didnt you use maxtors "powermax" the MS-DOS utility to test the
drive....Either way,try uninstalling the drive in device mgr,close
out,shutdown
pc.Plug in the hd to another IDE connection (set the jumper pins if
needed),start
pc.You might also,before booting into xp,boot to xp cd,recovery,type:CHKDSK
D: /R
D: being the maxtor hd,when thru,type:EXIT Let xp start.

 

[Chet]

Marcus,

More than likely your transfer speed has changed, DMA has
reverted to PIO mode. To see, open the Device Manager, expand IDE
ATA/ATAPI controllers, then double click Secondary IDE Channel.
Click on the Advanced Settings tab, check the Current Transfer
Mode. Is it (Ultra)DMA Mode _ or PIO Mode _?

If PIO, check out http://www.michna.com/kb/WxDMA.htm

HTH

Chet

 

[Kerry Brown]

A couple of weeks ago, watching videos on my PC became very choppy.
Even scrolling through my long list of mp3s in windows explorer was
jerky. So I did a hard drive test with HD Tach and HD Tune and found
that my secondary drive (where the videos and mp3s were stored) was
reading at a maximum rate of only 4MB/sec. It is a 120GB Maxtor
4R120LO (a couple of years old), and I think that it should be reading
at least at 30MB/sec. So my question is, it there anything I can do to
tweak the drive, any settings I can adjust? Or is is toast?

Thanks,
Marcus

Check the event logs for disk errors. If Windows sees enough errors it will
slow down to PIO mode in an attempt to reduce the errors. This is sometimes
the first sign of a failing hard drive. If there are no disk errors in the
logs then follow the advice from Chet to get Windows to switch back to DMA
mode. If there are errors in the log then download the disk diagnostic
software from the manufacturer of your drive and test the drive.

 

[Marcus]

Thanks, Chet/.Andrew/Kerry.

I switched the problem drive to the other IDE channel (primary), and
all is fine now - data transfer is back to Ultra DMA (it was in PIO
mode). I tried the vbs script that Chet linked to, but the message
came up that there was not device to switch over to DMA (or some
similar message like that). In any case, things are good now. I don't
quite understand why it switched over to PIO mode, but a little
googling should clear that up.

Thanks,
Marcus

 

[cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)]

Thanks, Chet/.Andrew/Kerry.

Did you check the HD for errors? If it were sharing a channel with an
optical drive that had been puking on bad disks, it's possible that
would have dropped the whole channel into PIO, but I'd not assume
that; after all, each device on the same channel has its own status.

Remember that *everything* conspires to hide incipient HD failure from
you - NTFS, AutoChk, the HD's firmware, etc. The cards are held by
the vendors who want to delay returns beyond the warranty period, not
by the users who don't want to suddenly lose all their data.

At the very least, I'd download the free HD Tune from www.hdtune.com
and use that to check temperature, SMART details (not just the glib
"your'e OK" summary) and do the slow surface scan. Unlike ChkDsk /R,
this surface scan won't bury results in some log, nor will it attempt
to "fix" things for you (tho the HD's firmware might).

Interpreting raw SMART data is tricky; several counters will look
alarming, and I'd only look at reallocated sectors, pending sectors,
and offline uncorrectable.

If the HD's OK but you still fall into PIO, then check that your IDE
data cabling is within rules:
- must be 80-pin cable
- long cable section between controller and devices
- master on far end of cable, slave on the middle connector
- don't mix Master/Slave and Cable Select on same channel
- check Master vs. Master With Slave Present (some HD models)

I switched the problem drive to the other IDE channel (primary), and
all is fine now - data transfer is back to Ultra DMA (it was in PIO
mode). I tried the vbs script that Chet linked to, but the message
came up that there was not device to switch over to DMA (or some
similar message like that).

------------ ----- ---- --- -- - - - -

The most accurate diagnostic instrument
in medicine is the Retrospectoscope

 

[Kerry Brown]

Thanks, Chet/.Andrew/Kerry.

I switched the problem drive to the other IDE channel (primary), and
all is fine now - data transfer is back to Ultra DMA (it was in PIO
mode). I tried the vbs script that Chet linked to, but the message
came up that there was not device to switch over to DMA (or some
similar message like that). In any case, things are good now. I don't
quite understand why it switched over to PIO mode, but a little
googling should clear that up.

If Windows switched to PIO mode by far the most likely explanation is that
Windows was seeing errors. If Windows was seeing errors it's important you
figure out why. As Chris explained many things could cause this but you
should test the hard drive just in case. I would not trust that hard drive
until I had thoroughly tested it. At the very least make sure you have it
backed up.

 

[Galen Somerville]

If Windows switched to PIO mode by far the most likely explanation is that
Windows was seeing errors. If Windows was seeing errors it's important you
figure out why. As Chris explained many things could cause this but you
should test the hard drive just in case. I would not trust that hard drive
until I had thoroughly tested it. At the very least make sure you have it
backed up.

Was the hard drive on the secondary IDE along with an older CD drive?

Galen

 

[vernon]

Similar "problem"
Have a system with ATA HD, DVD/cd writer, CD reader.

On going to the "device manager" / IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers, the list it
shows TWO Primary IDE channels, TWO Secondary IDE channels, TWO Standard
dual Channel PCI IDE Controller.

The system is ridiculously slow although all checks say good. and no
viruses, spyware, complete disk clean, etc., etc.

The above is the only anomaly I've found.
Comments or suggestions?????

Do I dare disable or unistal the second of each without going into never
never land?