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crazy hard drive prob
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Posted by: neill
As crazy as this may seem, its true:
Every time I defrag my hard disk it gets slow. Using HD Tach as a benchmark the minimum read spead goes from about 15000kps to less than 100kps after defragmenting. As time (a week or so) goes by, the
drive gets faster and the HD Tach scores get better.
It's a 30gb Maxtor 5400rpm drive used in a PCChips 750mhz Athlon system. Im using Win98 but had the same problem with Win2K. I've tried using both Norton's Speed Disk and the Windows Defrag. Same results with either.
I'm pretty sure this is some sorta mechanical problem, as i've had the same thing happen with the disk in another system. But i wanted to know if anyone else had had this problem or even heard of such a thing.
thanks
neill
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
I wouldn't put much worth in the validity of hard drive benchmarks. How does your OS and applications run? Are they noticably slower?
The only thing I think a defrag could hinder in performance is maybe a bad cluster on your hard drive, or excess clutter getting put on the faster tracks.
1. Run a surface scan on the hard drive before defragging.
2. Run Disk cleanup and delete all temp files and internet cache files. Anything considered junk. Then defrag.
Posted by: neill
Yeah, I can really notice how slow it gets after defrag. Windows boots up slow as well as everything else.
Last time I surface scanned, it found several bad clusters. I'll scan again and see what happens.
What usually causes these bad clusters?
Posted by: SKYHN
Go into "my computer" properties and click the "Performance" tab. Does it say "Your system is configured for optimal performance" or does it say something else?
I had a PC just a little while ago with a similar hard drive problem and found out it was that the Hard Drive controllers were using MSDos Compatability mode.
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
Bad sectors can be caused by several factors. Heat, overclocking, improper shutdown, and age can all be factors. Some are recoverable, some aren't.
If you're getting a lot of unrecoverable sectors, I would consider replacing the drive. Especially if you get more even after a recent scandisk surface scan.
Age and heat are the biggest causes of unrecoverable sectors. If your case doesn't have good airflow or your hard drive is boxed in somewhere, I would suspect that as a possible cause. It could just be a bad hard drive.
Posted by: SKYHN
Hey Ion, In your opinion, how often should you run a surface scan?
Posted by: Swilo
Surface scan should only be run if you're noticing problems that could be related to bad secotrs, anything more is just excess strain on the drive.
Posted by: neill
hmmm, did a surface scan and it came back with no errors. The drives less than a year old and well ventilated, guess I the drive is just bad.
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