Slow hard drive access times, gets slower with time!

S

ssabripo

New Member
This is my 3rd fresh clean install, using both Vista x86 and x64, and all new hardware as well (new mobo, HD's, cpu, ram, etc):

symptom:
after a day of two of creating a user account, the HD access starts to become excruciatingly slow, and gets slower with time. When you use explorer and want to access the Hard drives, the system takes 3-7 seconds to open the folder. When browsing pictures, it takes 3-6 seconds to switch to the next, etc.
Creating a new user account solves the problem temporarily, until a day or two passes, and then the same thing starts to happen! :mad:

What I've tried so far:
- Disabled Indexing (windows Search service)
- Disabled Hard Drive Indexing
- Tried booting up as IDE, as well as AHCI
- Created new install with RAID0, and same issue.

System:
* e8400
* Asus P5Q-E with latest bios
* 2 x 320 WD 3200AAKS Sata drives, 1 x 250 WD 2500AAKS Sata drive
* Asus SATA DVDRW drive
* 4 GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400 (DDR2-800)


I've noticed this problem accelerates even more when using the "sleep" power mode. But even when disabling this, It still happens.

I've googled for over 2 weeks. I've done 3 fresh installs, I've replaced all the HW, and used 3 different copies of Vista Ultimate, with same results! :cry:

UPDATE: here is a video of the problem:
YouTube - Windows Vista Hard Drive performance issue
 
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My Computer

System One

Instead of disabling indexing in the services menu, try setting it to manual. In your hard drive's property sheet, on the general tab, check 'index this drive for faster searching'. See how that works?

Btw, are there any other services you've disabled? That may be a problem. Vista is pretty good about services, unlike XP, and you really don't need to go disabling a bunch of them. Doing so may cause more problems than it's worth.

However, if you must, I would advise setting services you don't want to manual... just in case... and follow Viper's guide: http://www.blackviper.com/WinVista/servicecfg.htm
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Fumz' Flux-Capacitor
    CPU
    E8400
    Motherboard
    DFI LP DK P35-T2RS
    Memory
    4GB G.Skill PC-1066
    Graphics card(s)
    eVGA 8800 GTS
    Sound Card
    X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    500GB W.D. RE2 Primary 1TB W.D. Caviar GP WD10EACS
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
    Case
    Lian Li Lancool K62
    Cooling
    Thermalright Ultima-90/S-Flex 120mm
    Mouse
    Logitech G5
    Keyboard
    MS Natural Elite 4000 Ergonomic
    Internet Speed
    2.5MB/430
    Other Info
    D-Link DGL 4500
I haven't touched any other services except "windows search". I just tried your suggestion, and still same issue :(

there is gotta be something I'm missing.
 

My Computer

System One

Have you made sure to install your chipset drivers?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Fumz' Flux-Capacitor
    CPU
    E8400
    Motherboard
    DFI LP DK P35-T2RS
    Memory
    4GB G.Skill PC-1066
    Graphics card(s)
    eVGA 8800 GTS
    Sound Card
    X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    500GB W.D. RE2 Primary 1TB W.D. Caviar GP WD10EACS
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
    Case
    Lian Li Lancool K62
    Cooling
    Thermalright Ultima-90/S-Flex 120mm
    Mouse
    Logitech G5
    Keyboard
    MS Natural Elite 4000 Ergonomic
    Internet Speed
    2.5MB/430
    Other Info
    D-Link DGL 4500
Fumz said:
Have you made sure to install your chipset drivers?
Click to expand...
which chipset drivers? are you talking about these:

* Intel(R) P45/ICH10R Chipset Software Installation Utility WHQL V9.0.0.1009 for Windows XP/Vista & 64bit XP/Vista.

or these:

* Marvell 88SE6111 SATA Controller Driver V1.2.0.57 for Windows XP/Vista & 64bit XP/Vista.
 

My Computer

System One

Tried disabling Superfetch and defragmenting your HDD with a good tool like O&O Defrag?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Me
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 2,2GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI K9NU Neo-V
    Memory
    2x1GB TwinMOS DDR667 el-cheapo ram
    Graphics card(s)
    XFX nVidia GeForce 7900GS 256MB
    Sound Card
    Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 920n
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    2x500GB Samsung HD502IJ in RAID0 1x500GB Samsung HD502IJ 1x200GB Samsung SP2004C
    PSU
    NorthQ 4001BX 400W
    Case
    Thermaltake Armor Jr.
    Cooling
    Stock
    Mouse
    Logitech MX518
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Wireless Photo Keyboard
    Internet Speed
    16000kbps/720kbps (real speed 15200/740)
    Other Info
    Need an upgrade...
superfetch disabled, and did a quick defrag. Still no dice.

when opening Windows Explorer, the top status bar has a green bar that goes from left to right....in my case, when double clicking on a drive/folder, that bar moves very slowly to about 1/4 of the way (takes about 5-7 seconds now), and then quickly finishes (1-2 seconds), and then it opens the request.

In a fresh new account, it does that almost immediately, so you really don't even see the little green bar.
 

My Computer

System One

ssabripo said:
Fumz said:
Have you made sure to install your chipset drivers?
Click to expand...
which chipset drivers? are you talking about these:

* Intel(R) P45/ICH10R Chipset Software Installation Utility WHQL V9.0.0.1009 for Windows XP/Vista & 64bit XP/Vista.

or these:

* Marvell 88SE6111 SATA Controller Driver V1.2.0.57 for Windows XP/Vista & 64bit XP/Vista.
Click to expand...
I mean the Intel chipset drivers. The Marvell reference must be a typo... Marvell is your lan ports and has nothing to do with SATA drives or drivers, which are included in the Intel chipset drivers.

Maybe it's a power setting? Go to Control Panel/Hardware and Sound/Power Options. Check the High Performance box and then click 'change plan settings'. Then click 'Advanced Power Settings' and expand the + by Hard Disk. Make sure the disk is set to power off never.

Btw, you don't want to disable superfetch.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Fumz' Flux-Capacitor
    CPU
    E8400
    Motherboard
    DFI LP DK P35-T2RS
    Memory
    4GB G.Skill PC-1066
    Graphics card(s)
    eVGA 8800 GTS
    Sound Card
    X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    500GB W.D. RE2 Primary 1TB W.D. Caviar GP WD10EACS
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
    Case
    Lian Li Lancool K62
    Cooling
    Thermalright Ultima-90/S-Flex 120mm
    Mouse
    Logitech G5
    Keyboard
    MS Natural Elite 4000 Ergonomic
    Internet Speed
    2.5MB/430
    Other Info
    D-Link DGL 4500
Do you have any old hard drives connected to you PC now? If so disconnect them and see if helps. Do you hear any noises from the drives when accessing one of them? I heard it from my RAID0 array a few hours ago and it took about 5 seconds to open up my music folder.

Happened just now again. Just heard a loud spin up noise from my PC. Everything locked up. Need to take a look what this could be.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Me
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 2,2GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI K9NU Neo-V
    Memory
    2x1GB TwinMOS DDR667 el-cheapo ram
    Graphics card(s)
    XFX nVidia GeForce 7900GS 256MB
    Sound Card
    Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 920n
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    2x500GB Samsung HD502IJ in RAID0 1x500GB Samsung HD502IJ 1x200GB Samsung SP2004C
    PSU
    NorthQ 4001BX 400W
    Case
    Thermaltake Armor Jr.
    Cooling
    Stock
    Mouse
    Logitech MX518
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Wireless Photo Keyboard
    Internet Speed
    16000kbps/720kbps (real speed 15200/740)
    Other Info
    Need an upgrade...
Fumz said:
I mean the Intel chipset drivers.
Click to expand...
yes, I did that.

Fumz said:
Maybe it's a power setting? Go to Control Panel/Hardware and Sound/Power Options. Check the High Performance box and then click 'change plan settings'. Then click 'Advanced Power Settings' and expand the + by Hard Disk. Make sure the disk is set to power off never.
Click to expand...
ok...just put it to never, and still the same. It was set to 20 min.

Fumz said:
Btw, you don't want to disable superfetch.
Click to expand...
re-enabled.
 

My Computer

System One

SLAiNTRAX said:
Do you have any old hard drives connected to you PC now? If so disconnect them and see if helps. Do you hear any noises from the drives when accessing one of them? I heard it from my RAID0 array a few hours ago and it took about 5 seconds to open up my music folder.

Happened just now again. Just heard a loud spin up noise from my PC. Everything locked up. Need to take a look what this could be.
Click to expand...
I do...but that's not the problem. I've just replaced these drives (the previous drives exhibited similar behavior, so I thought it was a drive issue, thus got them replaced).

also, if it was a drive issue, it would happen consistently to all users. The problem is that it happens on the account after a day or two. If I goto another account, specially a brand new one I create, it works perfectly.

something is happening where Vista starts to store something somewhere in the account once it is left open for some time, and after it is put to sleep. Hell, even opening control panel takes forever. The entire system is at a crawl!!!

going to another account, like the guest or my wife's, works like it should...super fast.
 

My Computer

System One

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Fumz' Flux-Capacitor
    CPU
    E8400
    Motherboard
    DFI LP DK P35-T2RS
    Memory
    4GB G.Skill PC-1066
    Graphics card(s)
    eVGA 8800 GTS
    Sound Card
    X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    500GB W.D. RE2 Primary 1TB W.D. Caviar GP WD10EACS
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
    Case
    Lian Li Lancool K62
    Cooling
    Thermalright Ultima-90/S-Flex 120mm
    Mouse
    Logitech G5
    Keyboard
    MS Natural Elite 4000 Ergonomic
    Internet Speed
    2.5MB/430
    Other Info
    D-Link DGL 4500
This is happening to all accounts you say? after some time? even your wifes and the guest account after some time? Not anything close to an expert here but could this have anything to do with restore? Ghosting an account or your drives?
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Q9550 2.83 Quad
    Memory
    8 GB OCZ 800MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia 9800 GT 1GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG 24
    Hard Drives
    2 500 GB 32MB Seagate( Raid 0 ) 1 1000 GB 32MB Seagate
    PSU
    PC P{ower and Cooler 1000W
    Other Info
    HP d5000t ATX CTO
Blaydrnnnr said:
This is happening to all accounts you say? after some time? even your wifes and the guest account after some time? Not anything close to an expert here but could this have anything to do with restore? Ghosting an account or your drives?
Click to expand...
yes...all accounts eventually. When a new one is created, it is fine. Then, after a couple of days, it starts to slow down....and eventually it is unbearable!

make a new one, and BAM, works great :cry:
 

My Computer

System One

Did you replace you SATA cable when you replaced your HD. How about wiggle and push the connection roughly in the way you shouldn't? Lol, that is how I got mine back to work with the same problem as yours. I like to add, you may try different SATA ports on the MB. After market cable works a bit better. Good luck.
 
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System One

  • CPU
    E6850
    Motherboard
    EVGA 122-CK-NF67-A1 680i
    Memory
    4 x OCZ Platinum 1GB
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
    Sound Card
    SB X-Fi X Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 23" 5MS
    Screen Resolution
    2048 x 1152
    Hard Drives
    2 x Barracuda 7200.10 320GB RAID 0 / 1 x 500GB Maxtor
    PSU
    Seasonic 600W M12
    Case
    CM Centurion 5
    Cooling
    air
    Internet Speed
    100Mbps
bruce2 said:
Did you replace you SATA cable when you replaced your HD. How about wiggle and push the connection roughly in the way you shouldn't? Lol, that is how I got mine back to work with the same problem as yours. I like to add, you may try different SATA ports on the MB. After market cable works a bit better. Good luck.
Click to expand...
yes..believe me, I've changed the cables, the actual HD's, etc. I've tried even different mother boards (P5Q and P5Q-E) with same results. It is definitely not a hardware issue! this has something to do with a Vista setup or something.

is there any microsoft experts in Miami/Ft-laud that I can call?
 

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System One

This is a bit of a long shot, after 3 fresh installs, but check in the properties of the IDE channels to ensure the DMA Mode is enabled.

You could also check in BIOS. On the ASUS P5 Boards under IDE ou'll find a SATA mode - this should be Enhanced and SATA should be set to IDE - unless you installed Vista with it set to ACHI
 

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  • Manufacturer/Model
    Scratch Built
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core 6600
    Motherboard
    Asus P5B
    Memory
    4096 MB Xtreme-Dark 800mhz
    Graphics card(s)
    Zotac Amp Edition 8800GT - 512MB DDR3, O/C 700mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 206BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680 X 1024
    Hard Drives
    4 X Samsung 500GB 7200rpm Serial ATA-II HDD w. 16MB Cache .
    PSU
    550 w
    Case
    Thermaltake
    Cooling
    3 x octua NF-S12-1200 - 120mm 1200RPM Sound Optimised Fans
    Mouse
    Targus
    Keyboard
    Microsoft
    Internet Speed
    1500kbs
    Other Info
    Self built.
NormCameron said:
This is a bit of a long shot, after 3 fresh installs, but check in the properties of the IDE channels to ensure the DMA Mode is enabled.

You could also check in BIOS. On the ASUS P5 Boards under IDE ou'll find a SATA mode - this should be Enhanced and SATA should be set to IDE - unless you installed Vista with it set to ACHI
Click to expand...
correct...I've checked the properties under device manager for the IDE, and it gives me either nothing, or set to Ultra DMA 5/6. For example, it shows ATA 0 set to UDMA5, and another ATA 0 set to nothing.

in Bios, I've set the SATA configuration to IDE, ENHANCED. I've also tried AHCI, as well as created a RAID array. In all 3 configurations, it behaves the same. That's why I believe it is a software issue, not a hardware issue.
 

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