Is there some utility that can give me info on my hard drives?

gavagai · 04-26-2005, 10:30 AM

I have no idea what features of my hard drives I am taking advantage of such as udma133, is there any utility that can tell me this?

Thanks,

Gavagai

**Sarkast** · 04-26-2005, 10:36 AM

Well you can just look in Windows XP device manager to see what UDMA mode your drive is currently using.
If you have the feeling there is something wrong with your drive or it seems to run unusually slow then either download the drives manufacturer utility to test it or run a benchmark program like Sisoft Sandra and compare its performance to similar drives.

gavagai · 04-26-2005, 10:50 AM

where does it show the udma mode?

**Sarkast** · 04-26-2005, 11:06 AM

Go to start, control panel, system, device manager, IDE ATA/ ATAPI, Primary IDE controller, right click properties, advanced settings tab, what does it say under Device 0 for:

Transfer mode:
Current Transfer Mode: ???

gavagai · 04-26-2005, 11:10 AM

Transfer mode: DMA if available
Current Transfer Mode: Ultra DMA Mode 2

**Sarkast** · 04-26-2005, 12:05 PM

This is somewhat "slow" - but depends on what drive and motherboard you have. Could you list these in order to find out what speed their specifications allow.

gavagai · 04-26-2005, 12:33 PM

mboard GA-7ZXE, now that I look at the manual it only supports ATA 100 but I have no idea if I'm running at this speed anyway.

the drive is this: DiamondMax Plus10 250GB U133

Thanks

**Sarkast** · 04-26-2005, 01:06 PM

Well in that case you should be able to run UDMA mode 5 (100MB/s) - right now your limited to a maximum transfer rate of 33MB/s.
I am wondering - is your drive connected via a 40 or 80 conductor cable ? Cause 40 c lines allow for a maximum of UDMA 2 - and that would explain this situation.

gavagai · 04-26-2005, 01:06 PM

no idea, will it say on the cable?

**Sarkast** · 04-26-2005, 01:26 PM

Not necessarily. But usually the "old" 40 conductor cable connectors are just black - the 80 conductor cables are supposed to be colour coded - 1 plug black, one blue and one grey or red.

Take a look at this page:

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/conf_Cable80.htm

There is a picture of both cables compared - you can tell by looking closely which type it is.

gavagai · 04-27-2005, 09:51 AM

Hey, thanks for helping out, you were right I was using the wrong cable. Have changed it and the transfer mode is now Ultra DMA Mode 6. Was just wondering, my dvd drive is still connected by a 40 cable, would it have any benefit if I was to use an 80?

Thanks,

Gavagai

**kodi** · 04-27-2005, 02:20 PM

40 conducter cable is all you need for your optical drives.

04-26-2005, 10:30 AM	#1 (permalink)
gavagai Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 20 OS: WinXP	Is there some utility that can give me info on my hard drives? I have no idea what features of my hard drives I am taking advantage of such as udma133, is there any utility that can tell me this? Thanks, Gavagai

04-26-2005, 10:36 AM	#2 (permalink)
Sarkast TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NY Posts: 2,715 OS: WinXP	Well you can just look in Windows XP device manager to see what UDMA mode your drive is currently using. If you have the feeling there is something wrong with your drive or it seems to run unusually slow then either download the drives manufacturer utility to test it or run a benchmark program like Sisoft Sandra and compare its performance to similar drives. __________________ P4 2.4@2.9 / XP-90 / Albatron PX865PE Pro V2.0 / Kingston Hyper-X 512MB Dual Channel CL2-2-2-5 / Geforce4 MX440x8 64MB / WD80GB 7200RPM 8MB / Thermaltake 420W PSU --> SEE IT ALL GLOW <-- MBM5 - SpeedFan - PSU Calculator - MemTest86 - ThrottleWatch

04-26-2005, 11:06 AM	#4 (permalink)
Sarkast TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NY Posts: 2,715 OS: WinXP	Go to start, control panel, system, device manager, IDE ATA/ ATAPI, Primary IDE controller, right click properties, advanced settings tab, what does it say under Device 0 for: Transfer mode: Current Transfer Mode: ??? __________________ P4 2.4@2.9 / XP-90 / Albatron PX865PE Pro V2.0 / Kingston Hyper-X 512MB Dual Channel CL2-2-2-5 / Geforce4 MX440x8 64MB / WD80GB 7200RPM 8MB / Thermaltake 420W PSU --> SEE IT ALL GLOW <-- MBM5 - SpeedFan - PSU Calculator - MemTest86 - ThrottleWatch

04-26-2005, 12:05 PM	#6 (permalink)
Sarkast TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NY Posts: 2,715 OS: WinXP	This is somewhat "slow" - but depends on what drive and motherboard you have. Could you list these in order to find out what speed their specifications allow. __________________ P4 2.4@2.9 / XP-90 / Albatron PX865PE Pro V2.0 / Kingston Hyper-X 512MB Dual Channel CL2-2-2-5 / Geforce4 MX440x8 64MB / WD80GB 7200RPM 8MB / Thermaltake 420W PSU --> SEE IT ALL GLOW <-- MBM5 - SpeedFan - PSU Calculator - MemTest86 - ThrottleWatch

04-26-2005, 01:06 PM	#8 (permalink)
Sarkast TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NY Posts: 2,715 OS: WinXP	Well in that case you should be able to run UDMA mode 5 (100MB/s) - right now your limited to a maximum transfer rate of 33MB/s. I am wondering - is your drive connected via a 40 or 80 conductor cable ? Cause 40 c lines allow for a maximum of UDMA 2 - and that would explain this situation. __________________ P4 2.4@2.9 / XP-90 / Albatron PX865PE Pro V2.0 / Kingston Hyper-X 512MB Dual Channel CL2-2-2-5 / Geforce4 MX440x8 64MB / WD80GB 7200RPM 8MB / Thermaltake 420W PSU --> SEE IT ALL GLOW <-- MBM5 - SpeedFan - PSU Calculator - MemTest86 - ThrottleWatch

04-26-2005, 10:50 AM	#3 (permalink)
gavagai Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 20 OS: WinXP	where does it show the udma mode?

04-26-2005, 11:10 AM	#5 (permalink)
gavagai Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 20 OS: WinXP	Transfer mode: DMA if available Current Transfer Mode: Ultra DMA Mode 2

04-26-2005, 12:33 PM	#7 (permalink)
gavagai Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 20 OS: WinXP	mboard GA-7ZXE, now that I look at the manual it only supports ATA 100 but I have no idea if I'm running at this speed anyway. the drive is this: DiamondMax Plus10 250GB U133 Thanks

04-26-2005, 01:06 PM	#9 (permalink)
gavagai Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 20 OS: WinXP	no idea, will it say on the cable?

04-26-2005, 01:26 PM	#10 (permalink)
Sarkast TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NY Posts: 2,715 OS: WinXP	Not necessarily. But usually the "old" 40 conductor cable connectors are just black - the 80 conductor cables are supposed to be colour coded - 1 plug black, one blue and one grey or red. Take a look at this page: http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/conf_Cable80.htm There is a picture of both cables compared - you can tell by looking closely which type it is. __________________ P4 2.4@2.9 / XP-90 / Albatron PX865PE Pro V2.0 / Kingston Hyper-X 512MB Dual Channel CL2-2-2-5 / Geforce4 MX440x8 64MB / WD80GB 7200RPM 8MB / Thermaltake 420W PSU --> SEE IT ALL GLOW <-- MBM5 - SpeedFan - PSU Calculator - MemTest86 - ThrottleWatch

04-27-2005, 09:51 AM	#11 (permalink)
gavagai Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 20 OS: WinXP	Hey, thanks for helping out, you were right I was using the wrong cable. Have changed it and the transfer mode is now Ultra DMA Mode 6. Was just wondering, my dvd drive is still connected by a 40 cable, would it have any benefit if I was to use an 80? Thanks, Gavagai

04-27-2005, 02:20 PM	#12 (permalink)
kodi Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 7,408 OS: Windows 7-Ultimate 64 Bit My System	40 conducter cable is all you need for your optical drives. __________________ Brian