HDD 10x slower than normal.

Hi .... this is my first one... please be patient.

I have a few months old Asus system, 1gb memory, 300gb hdd, XP pro (2x one englis and one hungarian version). It did work nicely for a while.

On day while burning a dvd, it stopped NERO, and since then the HArd Drive is very slow. Copying a 360 mb file in about 5 minutes.
The sound also cracking when Windows making a warning sound or trying to watch a film.

Tryed the usual suspects, checking for virus, run chkdsk, reboot in safe mode etc...
The result is the same : hdd is slow.

Then I have rebooted in DOS (Win 98 bootup diskette) and made a test.
The Hdd copied a 360 mb file in 30 second...

That tells me that the hdd is OK, something must be in XP to slow it down.

Can any of you think, what can that be?


Thanks in advance...

Attila

 

Sounds like a process is using a lot of processor capacity. Bring up the task manager and see what processes are running with high processor usage. Many times I've seen anti-virus programs get corrupted and cause the "system" line in the task manager to spike to 100% usage whenever you try to do something. Since it was Nero that seemed to crash, I'd also make sure no Nero processes are running & see if that made a difference.

 

Thanks...

I have tryed to stop EVERYTHING ( from using the "msconfig" command and restart the system with minimal drivers, to reboot in Safe Mode....)
the result is the same.
There is no process...
The CPU ticking on 2-3%...
Only when I access the HDD... it goes to 95-100%...

 

Yes, but what process is going to 95-100% when you access? We know the HDD isn't physically slow, since it works fine in DOS, so some process is spiking the processor to 95-100% as you've seen.

Using Process Explorer might help find the culprit, if Task Manager isn't helpful:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Process_Explorer_d4566.html

It's a great program to have anyway.

Since it still does it in safe mode, it would seem to point to a native microsoft process which is affected. If Process Explorer doesn't do the trick for you (though it should), you can try running system file checker (do a search here for detailed instructions on that).

 

Maybe is in PIO mode and you have to change it to DMA?

Right Click on My Pc > Manage > Go to devices and look for IDE Channels > Right Click on primary and then properties. Search the tab that said the transfer method and change it to dma mode if it's on PIO.

 

Hello Wavetar !!!!

Thanks for the advise.

I think you pointing to the right direction...
But I still need a telescope.
I have downloaded the program, (Process explorere) and made the HDD work a bit with a small HDD test program (Roadkill's Disk Speed)

Then I see on the top of the CPU usage the "Hardware Interrupt" taking between 30 and 98%...
Hmmm...

Luckily, I ahve an other system, a 7 years old one, which works fine (apart of the age) and did the same and the Hardware Interrupt never got higher than 2-3 percentage.....

So it looks something is trying to use the HDD ... but all the antivirus and antispyware saying that everything is clear.

Now... from here someone need to hold my hand...

 

Hi

Thanks for the idea.
I was checking, and it was set to use DMA if available...

It turned out, that something using the Hardware Interrupt way too much.
But .... what ?

 

I've seen that before, it's probably a corrupted driver. Can you give us details for exactly what interrupt is being used (PID number)? It may point us in the right direction.

 

After thinking about it overnight, it may come down to completely removing Nero to clear the problem as well. Nero installs it's own HAL (hardware abstraction layer) within Windows to deal with hardware. The fact your issue started after a crash of Nero indicates it may be corrupted. Anyway, keep digging & let us know how it goes.

 

Hello...

Thanks.
I going to uninstall NERO...
But I don't know how to find out what interrupt is that...
I guess not the mouse or the keyboard...

10 minutes later:

Ok ... uninstalling NERO did not made a difference...

 

Hello Wavetar

I have found the IRQ. it is 14
I/O range 01F0 - 01F7, 03F6 - 03F6

It says there is no conflict.

All the IRQ does look ok, no conflict.

 

Ok, IRQ 14 is used by the primary IDE controller. This is for your hard drive, and also for a CD/DVD drive if it's on the same cable. I'm willing to bet your CD drive is on this cable.

Go into the device manager & uninstall your CD drive. Then reboot. Windows should see it as a new device & re-install the generic microsoft drivers for it. This should hopefully clear up your problem.

 

Hi.....

Yes, the CD was on the primary IDE... I had the same idea too...
I moved it to the secondary...
But...
The problem is the same.

I remove the CD drive anyway... XP reloaded it...

nop.... the same slowness again.

What can multiply the IRQ requests when accessing the HDD?

 

Hmmm, I'm pretty well out of ideas. Hopefully a Major Geek can help you further, as I am but a minor one.

The only suggestions I have left, in order, are:

1) Perform a system restore. I'll assume you know how, and there's plenty of help on the 'net if you type in "perform XP system restore" in google, if you don't.

2) Run a system file check - this will replace any missing or corrupted system files. You will need your XP CD. Go to the command prompt & type "sfc /scannow". If it tells you it cannot perform the scan for some reason, then type "sfc /scanonce". This will cause it to perform the scan upon reboot.

3) Perform an XP repair install. This essentially re-installs XP, but all your settings & programs remain intact. You would boot your computer from the XP CD, and follow the prompts as if you were doing a new install. **Important - when it first asks if you want to repair, do not choose to do so. It'll just put you to the recovery console, which is just a DOS-like command prompt line.** Continue past that until it gets to the point where it detects the existing XP installation. At that point, choose repair instead of a new install.

I'm not a fan of doing the repair installs unless necessary...but sometimes it is. Good luck.

 

Hi

Thanks...
I guess you put me on the right path...

I will put the HDD in an other machine as a second hdd and check with an XP which is NOT on this hdd.

That can tell me few things.

Thanks again for your time and ideas...

 

Hi...

Just installed on a second HDD a new XP just for the fun of it.

There the HDD runs OK with the normal speed.
From this new XP I tested the other HDD, that runs on the right speed too.

Then booted on the "slow" HDD and I connected to the network and was trying to access the "slow" HDD from an other machine... copiing a large file.
That was OK too...

I need someone who knows what can XP do to the HDD controller to request IRQ so often. ( Running "process explorer" shows that HArdware IRQ request takes 90% of CPU time...)

I am hoping that someone has an answer...

Thanks

 

Hi....

Just a quick recap for those who interested:

- Windows XP prof, multiboot... HDD runs 10x slower (2.5 MB/s) than normal.

- Process Explorer showh high (90-95%) CPU time for "Hardware Interrupt" when accessing HDD.

- Tryed in Safe Mode, same result.... turned off all possible applications in Task Manager : same result.

-Took out the HDD, connected in other machine via USB2.0 port : Normal speed !

- Network... could not make exact speed test, but copying from the "slow" HDD over the network is faster than copy the same file onto the same HDD...

- Installed Linux on the same HDD: Normal speed

- Installed new HDD, loaded new XP on it, then checking the "slow" HDD: Normal speed...

- No IRQ conflict found in the device Manager.

So... it looks that something went wrong in XP with the HDD controler....

What?