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| Laptop Support Support Forum for laptops; Sony, Toshiba, HP, Acer, Dell |
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07-20-2008, 01:58 PM
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#1 (permalink) |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 5
OS: XP MCE SP2
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Hard Drive running extreemly slow-not virus, etc
I'm trying to help out a friend, and really need your expert help with this one. He has a laptop that is running ridiculously slow (1.5 hours to boot up, etc). Have run updated anti-virus, spyware, etc, and found nothing. Once programs are loaded, they run fine. I tried to defrag the hard drive, as it's badly fragmented, but it is taking days. Computer itself was running fine a couple months back (1.83 Core Duo, 2 gigs RAM, 100 gig 7200rmp).
Can't decide if problem is solely software based, or if it's the hard drive itself (he works on a cruise ship and apparently the power there fluctuates a lot). Wanted your thoughts before reinstalling windows/buying a new hard drive. Thanks a lot in advance! |
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07-20-2008, 02:09 PM
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#3 (permalink) |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 5
OS: XP MCE SP2
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Re: Hard Drive running extreemly slow-not virus, etc
Don't think it's the ram, as once programs are loaded, they run nice and fast. If the hard drive was damaged, and way to confirm that? Have run checkdisk, and everything was good.
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07-20-2008, 02:10 PM
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#4 (permalink) |
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Manager, Hardware Forums
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: west australia
Posts: 42,034
OS: vista 32x ultimate retail
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Re: Hard Drive running extreemly slow-not virus, etc
you will have to defrag a number of times if it is badly fragmented
if the drive is ide check it is running in dma mode
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07-20-2008, 02:14 PM
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#5 (permalink) |
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Moderator Hardware Team
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: LV, NV, USA
Posts: 5,356
OS: DOS 6.0
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Re: Hard Drive running extreemly slow-not virus, etc
Hi,
1.5 hours to boot up? What is the operating system (XP)? Run Memtest86+ to test your RAM just to be sure. D/load Memtest86+ from the link on my sig. Extract the ISO file to your Desktop and use ImgBurn or Nero to burn the ISO image into a blank CD. Boot from the CD drive using the CD and the test will run automatically. Also run your hard drive maker's diagnostic utility (see HDD Diagnostic Tools link on my sig). If your hard disk is Toshiba, run Hitachi Drive Fitness Test to check your hard drive. EDIT: dai is correct it could be heavily fragmented.
__________________
DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Everest Mark the THREAD as SOLVED 
Last edited by TriggerFinger : 07-20-2008 at 02:15 PM. |
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07-21-2008, 09:32 PM
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#6 (permalink) |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 5
OS: XP MCE SP2
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Re: Hard Drive running extreemly slow-not virus, etc
Thanks for all the tips. Good news, ran Memtest and everything looks great. Bad news? Ran the HD diagnostic, and came up with this failure code: 0x72- Defective Device S.M.A.R.T. Failure. Did a little research on that, and from what it looks like, the hard drive is about to bite the dust. What are your guys' thoughts?
If I need to get another hard drive, was thinking about a Western Digital Scorpio (WD3200BEKT) 320GB SATA 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5", and keep this laptop going for another year or two. Thanks in advance! |
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