Is my HDD broken? The weirdest SiSoftware Sandra results...

macieksw · 03-02-2009, 12:11 PM

Hi everyone,

A few days ago I was playing a game (GTA IV) and I noticed that at times the Loading screen took unusually long where earlier it had taken like a few seconds. Soon after I noticed that my boot times had increased beyond reason. I ran CHKDSK and it took 15 hours to complete (!) but it'd found no errors. Defragmentation showed 5% after a few hours so I gave up on it. I run a virus check at system startup and it'd only found one file but not a [wrm] or a [trj], but something marked HTML in Opera's cache, so I figure it's insignificant. Anyway, boot times were still a few times longer than before, so I downloaded Sisoftware Sandra lite to do some benchmarking. The processor did OK, the memory as well (I thought it might be the DIMMs, but no), so I proceeded to check the HDD and this is what came up:

The red one is obviously mine. Now, it seems strange that the result line is completely flat, so I'm thinking maybe it's not the drive? I'd really like to pinpoint the cause of this.

Oh, I should probably give you some specs of my pc, so here goes:
The HDD is a Seagate 7200.10 ST3320620AS, as seen on the Sandra results.
CPU: E8600@4GHz
Motherboard: ASUS P5E (X38)
Memory: 2x Kingston HyperX DDR2-8500 CL5 2GB (but I run them at 800 MHz to keep a 1:1 ratio with the FSB)
I don't know if the rest is relevant in any way, but the GPU is a 4850 by Asus, there's also a Samsung DVD-RW drive, and an Asus cooler on the CPU, a 480W PSU by EVER (it's not a global manufacturer) and all that in a Cooler Master case. Anyway, the system had been running pretty stable up until that few days ago, I did extensive testing with this OC setup and nothing was ever overheating.

So, anybody has any ideas?

Thanks in advance

**tecknomage** · 03-02-2009, 02:50 PM

If you do not defrag any drive often, the giving up is a VERY BIG MISTAKE.

You NEED to fully defrag the problem HD, regardless of how long it takes.

If you use Win Defrag (big mistake IMHO) then, with no other apps running, let Defrag run overnight. Then use it at least monthly.

Better solution, get a better hard drive defrag utility.

Look at WinXP - Operator System Maintenance Routine, there is a section on Hard Drive Defrag/Optimizers.

macieksw · 03-03-2009, 12:57 AM

Thanks, but actually, I defragmented this drive a few weeks ago, and actually, I solved my problem - it seems that the SATA connector on the motherboard is broken, because when I plug the HDD into another one, it works fine. Good thing I have six of them and I only use two.

It's frustrating though, that such a thing would happen on a high-end Asus motherboard that's only a year old.

03-02-2009, 12:11 PM	#1 (permalink)
macieksw Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 2 OS: Windows XP SP3	Is my HDD broken? The weirdest SiSoftware Sandra results... Hi everyone, A few days ago I was playing a game (GTA IV) and I noticed that at times the Loading screen took unusually long where earlier it had taken like a few seconds. Soon after I noticed that my boot times had increased beyond reason. I ran CHKDSK and it took 15 hours to complete (!) but it'd found no errors. Defragmentation showed 5% after a few hours so I gave up on it. I run a virus check at system startup and it'd only found one file but not a [wrm] or a [trj], but something marked HTML in Opera's cache, so I figure it's insignificant. Anyway, boot times were still a few times longer than before, so I downloaded Sisoftware Sandra lite to do some benchmarking. The processor did OK, the memory as well (I thought it might be the DIMMs, but no), so I proceeded to check the HDD and this is what came up: The red one is obviously mine. Now, it seems strange that the result line is completely flat, so I'm thinking maybe it's not the drive? I'd really like to pinpoint the cause of this. Oh, I should probably give you some specs of my pc, so here goes: The HDD is a Seagate 7200.10 ST3320620AS, as seen on the Sandra results. CPU: E8600@4GHz Motherboard: ASUS P5E (X38) Memory: 2x Kingston HyperX DDR2-8500 CL5 2GB (but I run them at 800 MHz to keep a 1:1 ratio with the FSB) I don't know if the rest is relevant in any way, but the GPU is a 4850 by Asus, there's also a Samsung DVD-RW drive, and an Asus cooler on the CPU, a 480W PSU by EVER (it's not a global manufacturer) and all that in a Cooler Master case. Anyway, the system had been running pretty stable up until that few days ago, I did extensive testing with this OC setup and nothing was ever overheating. So, anybody has any ideas? Thanks in advance

03-02-2009, 02:50 PM	#2 (permalink)
tecknomage TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 928 OS: WinXP Pro SP3	Re: Is my HDD broken? The weirdest SiSoftware Sandra results... If you do not defrag any drive often, the giving up is a VERY BIG MISTAKE. You NEED to fully defrag the problem HD, regardless of how long it takes. If you use Win Defrag (big mistake IMHO) then, with no other apps running, let Defrag run overnight. Then use it at least monthly. Better solution, get a better hard drive defrag utility. Look at WinXP - Operator System Maintenance Routine, there is a section on Hard Drive Defrag/Optimizers. __________________ Tecknomage Computer System Specialist IT Technician

03-03-2009, 12:57 AM	#3 (permalink)
macieksw Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 2 OS: Windows XP SP3	Re: Is my HDD broken? The weirdest SiSoftware Sandra results... Thanks, but actually, I defragmented this drive a few weeks ago, and actually, I solved my problem - it seems that the SATA connector on the motherboard is broken, because when I plug the HDD into another one, it works fine. Good thing I have six of them and I only use two. It's frustrating though, that such a thing would happen on a high-end Asus motherboard that's only a year old.