HDD issue

[abbasi]

Hi all,

I'm working on a XP machine. I think its slowness when installing apps (and also when its installation) is because of the HDD issue. Maybe there are bad sectors. I know that using C:\ drive properties -> tools, I can test the C: drive for bad sectors. But how to see the results!? It's wants me to restart the PC. Is there any log file after finishing of the test?
Is there any better way to find and solve the issue please?

 

[SNGX1275]

The better way is to run a true diagnostic utility like SeaTools. Run a Long Generic test on the drive and see what happens (this will take a while).

 

[abbasi]

Thank you very much for your suggestion. Can I make it run on all of the HDD at one time not drive by drive in turn?
And it just recognizes the errors in HDD or also repair them?
The real problem is that, installing programs takes too (really too) much time to be installed. But the routine operations of the machine (opening installed programs, exploring in the Windows, etc) is almost fine.
I think the problem occurs only when I want to write on the HDD, for example, when installing an app which writes its files on the HDD.

 

[joe159540]

You could be using out-dated SATA cables which are stopping the HDD's from reading and writing their top speeds.Another thing could be defragging them to make stuff like the programs folder easier for the needle to find. This may not help as much as the other suggestion by

The better way is to run a true diagnostic utility like SeaTools. Run a Long Generic test on the drive and see what happens (this will take a while).

But could help too

 

[SNGX1275]

Thank you very much for your suggestion. Can I make it run on all of the HDD at one time not drive by drive in turn?
And it just recognizes the errors in HDD or also repair them?
The real problem is that, installing programs takes too (really too) much time to be installed. But the routine operations of the machine (opening installed programs, exploring in the Windows, etc) is almost fine.
I think the problem occurs only when I want to write on the HDD, for example, when installing an app which writes its files on the HDD.

Yes you can run it on multiple drives at once. The program itself is pretty small. I've never heard of the writes being that much slower than reads - typically writes are slower, but not to the point where it becomes almost unusable. SeaTools won't fix the drive, but it will tell you if there is a hardware problem (usually).

 

[cliffordcooley]

@joe159540 - two things

1. There are no out-dated SATA cables. That suggest a technological change that prevents them from continuing to function.
   
2. HDD read/write heads are not needles. Needles actually touch a surface to convert vibrations to magnetic force. HDD storage is magnetic storage therefor eliminating the need for needles.

But other than that I agree with what you were saying

 

[joe159540]

@joe159540 - two things

1. There are no out-dated SATA cables. That suggest a technological change that prevents them from continuing to function.
   
2. HDD read/write heads are not needles. Needles actually touch a surface to convert vibrations to magnetic force. HDD storage is magnetic storage therefor eliminating the need for needles.

But other than that I agree with what you were saying

I explained it wrong then with the needles because the only example of a open HDD ive seen had some type of a needle. I thought there were different connections of SATA cables they all work together but they can transfer speeds different when I was shopping for a new one there were different SATA cables I/II/III
Oh well

 

[cliffordcooley]

Nah don't mention it, there was no harm done. I thought you might be interested in knowing is all.

Cable connections tarnish and wires break, which prevent them from working. Or at the very least severely cripple performance. But as for the SATA I/II/III specifications on cables, that is more marketing than a representation of how the cables function. They basically labeled a new revision on the same cables, so that people know they will work with the new specification revision.

 

[joe159540]

Ahh thanks for correcting me

 

[abbasi]

Thank you all.
If the HDD is defective, is there any hardware tool/device to repair it or the only solution is to throw it away!?

 

[SNGX1275]

It really kind of depends. There are some tools that can fix bad sectors (HDDRegenerator, possibly Spinrite? neither are free). You can also buy a known good drive off ebay that has the exact same PCB and do a PCB swap - this is usually for 'click of death' failures. Neither is guaranteed to work and both involve money.

In this case, I would recommend buying a new drive of the same size or larger and cloning the other over. I would only do this if you can get some type of confirmation the drive is failing. Check the Event Viewer for CRC errors (cyclic redundancy check). I would confirm this is a hardware issue before spending any money.

 

[abbasi]

Thank you very much for your valuable information.
I appreciate you for it.

 

[karlhaskell]

There are many tools that can check bad sectors for hard drive, such as MHDD, partitionguru.
The thing is you can check bad sectors for hard drive, but do not try repairing bad sectors if files haven't been backed up. The repairing will damage data on and near bad sectors.
Also bad sector is not the only reason that slows computer. system problem, hard drive speed, CUP, memory, etc. can also account for the slowness