if it takes a REALLY REALLY long time to copy files does that mean hard disk is failing?

[Angus Comber]

Hello

I have a users PC that takes 30 minutes to boot up. I have taken the hard
drive out of the PC to copy their data. The copying takes an eternity -
does this mean I should chuck the hard drive. Or is it worth reformatting
and starting again with hard drive?

Angus

 

[DatabaseBen]

To me, I sounds like a failing hd if the symptoms appear on another machine
as well. And there are many harddrives that are just plain slow if they are
of ancient technology, e.g. a couple of years old.

I'm sure that a new harddrive with a large buffer and faster rpms would be
dramatically different than what you have and would be worth the expense and
they are getting cheaper. But you could do an experiment with the one you
have.

1) back up the data
2) Convert the hd to ntfs via the command console and see if this improves
the performance . If not, then
3) Do a clean install and see if there is an improvement, if not
4) Chuck it or donate it to a museum of cromag-tronics....

Keep in mind that even if it does poorly to run an operating system, it may
be a good slave drive to keep or to access those personal files.....

 

[Og]

Hello

I have a users PC that takes 30 minutes to boot up. I have taken the hard
drive out of the PC to copy their data. The copying takes an eternity -
does this mean I should chuck the hard drive. Or is it worth reformatting
and starting again with hard drive?

Angus

Angus wrote:
"does this mean I should chuck the hard drive."
Only the manufacturer's disk-check utility can answer that question.
Steve