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Help please,
Fitted a new harddrive (previous 40gb, now 40GB + 120GB) and my computer seems to have slowed down. Not just things like writing/reading from HDD but opening/switching windows etc - just general running :(
Whats that all about?
Anyhelp appreciated.
Dunc.
are they on the same IDE channel (cable)? try to use seperate ones for the HDDs if you can.
make sure any Masters are on the ends of the cable, and any slaves are on the middle connector.
marty_t3
05-10-2003, 12:14
You might want to put the OS on a partition on the 120Gb drive too... it's probably quicker than the 40. (i assume you've got the 120Gb plugged in as a slave at the mo)
If you can't be bothered with that... change your virtual memory settings so that it's using the 120Gb drive for the swap file, and also, free us as much space on the 40 as you can.
I always try and make a point of not copying anything onto my C: drive unless i really have too. It's best if you keep the drive your operating system is on as clean as possible.
voodoo_melon
05-10-2003, 12:20
Originally posted by stoofer
make sure any Masters are on the ends of the cable, and any slaves are on the middle connector.
If you set the jumpers it doesn't matter where they are on the cable. My secondary master is in the middle and the slave is on the end.
Originally posted by voodoo_melon
If you set the jumpers it doesn't matter where they are on the cable. My secondary master is in the middle and the slave is on the end.
Wrong, if it's an ATA66/100/133 cable (blue plug one end) they DO need to go the right way round. But it wont make the system "slow" - it just wont work if you have them wrong.
voodoo_melon
05-10-2003, 12:30
Mine works with an ata66 (80 wire) cable.
It's not wired up any different, it's just got 'blank' wires to reduce crosstalk. It does have to be plugged the right way round (blue end in the mobo) I think but where the drives are doesn't matter.
Originally posted by voodoo_melon
Mine works with an ata66 (80 wire) cable.
It's not wired up any different, it's just got 'blank' wires to reduce crosstalk. It does have to be plugged the right way round (blue end in the mobo) I think but where the drives are doesn't matter.
Not quite that simple, I can't quite remember the technicalities though...
Just the other day I put a 2nd HD in a system and it refused to find either of them until I put them the right way round on the cable!
Originally posted by stoofer
are they on the same IDE channel (cable)? try to use seperate ones for the HDDs if you can.
make sure any Masters are on the ends of the cable, and any slaves are on the middle connector.
Yup, got master at the end and slave (120GB drive) in the middle, but they are on the same IDE cable. Both drives run at the same speed I think, and I've also emptied out some of the full 40GB into the 120GB too.
Thanks for the responses,
Dunc.
try defragging the 40 gig drive, then rebooting a couple of times if you're using WinXP
(its actually fairly clever and will place files started at boot in order so will get faster where it can)
Could you explain what defragging means, have a rough idea but not 100% sure?
MeLLoN Stu
05-10-2003, 16:35
go into Start > all programs > applications >system tools > disk defragmenter.
basicaly over time when files get chopped and changed they fragment, which in essence is where the order of the disk is lost. and stuff is just stroon all over the place.
defragmenting basically puts everything back where it should be
bit more to it than that but thats the general gist of it. lol
MeLLoN Stu
05-10-2003, 16:37
also dunc, make sure that you are using a good IDE cable, ATA 133.
And try Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager then expand disk drives and in their properties ensurte that DMA is enabled. This may not apply, fancy telling us more about your motherboard and the drives in question?
voodoo_melon
05-10-2003, 17:06
Originally posted by seb
And try Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager then expand disk drives and in their properties ensurte that DMA is enabled. This may not apply, fancy telling us more about your motherboard and the drives in question?
Make sure this is enabled as seb said, but in Win2k/XP it's under IDE controllers, not the actual disks.
I think if he's got a mobo which will support a 120gb disk it's gonna support udma too ;)
Originally posted by voodoo_melon
Make sure this is enabled as seb said, but in Win2k/XP it's under IDE controllers, not the actual disks.
I think if he's got a mobo which will support a 120gb disk it's gonna support udma too ;)
Whoops, yeah, IDE controllers, that's what I meant (should have looked to check :))
I'm sure his MB does support it, but if we had more info we could investigate a number of other problems, look for known problems etc.
Wow, great responses guys. Thanks.
I've defragmented my drives, looked in device manager but couldn't find any DMA related stuff. The drives are Maxtor 6E040L0 + 6Y120L0'S.
Don't know anything about the cables in the PC, also a bit vague on the mother board (I'll dig around to try and find some info).
Cheers,
Dunc
MeLLoN Stu
05-10-2003, 17:33
most IDE cables have their ATA rating wroteone em. if you need some new IDE's i can post you some up matey, i got a box full of em ( i had a lot of motherboards ;))
have you checked in your bios dunc?
Originally posted by MeLLoN Stu
have you checked in your bios dunc?
:confused: (you can take that as a no, lol)
Thanks for the offer of the cables, I'll see how I get on with the rest first.
Dunc.
Originally posted by dunc
:confused: (you can take that as a no, lol)
Thanks for the offer of the cables, I'll see how I get on with the rest first.
Dunc.
Regarding cables, there's 2 options:
1) 40-wire grey ribbon cable with black connectors. Bad.
2) 80 thinner wires, still grey but with 1 blue, 1 grey and 1 black connector. Good.
Which is yours?
Originally posted by seb
Regarding cables, there's 2 options:
1) 40-wire grey ribbon cable with black connectors. Bad.
2) 80 thinner wires, still grey but with 1 blue, 1 grey and 1 black connector. Good.
Which is yours?
the colours can be all different, there's no standard...
Originally posted by seb
Regarding cables, there's 2 options:
1) 40-wire grey ribbon cable with black connectors. Bad.
2) 80 thinner wires, still grey but with 1 blue, 1 grey and 1 black connector. Good.
Which is yours?
Here's a pic BEFORE my new HDD was fitted:-
Originally posted by stoofer
the colours can be all different, there's no standard...
Really? Well every 80conductor cable I've ever seen has had colour coded blue/grey/black connectors.
Dunc, from that pic I'd guess they're normal cables - when you've got a moment whip the case off and count the wires across the cable, if it's 40 you need a new cable, if it's 80 it's a different problem.
voodoo_melon
05-10-2003, 18:45
A 40 wire IDE cable has the same size wires as the floppy cable, an 80 wire one they're much finer.
'Tis 80 wire cables. Here a new pick with the 120gb drive in place:-
MeLLoN Stu
05-10-2003, 18:52
you have got 40gig as primary master havent you? as in on the first IDE slot in the mobo
Both HDD's in IDE 1, 40gb set to master and plugged into the END of the 80 wire IDE cable (this drive is used for the OS and Windows etc)
The 120GB (new) drive is in the middle of the IDE 1 cable and is set to CS, this drive is currently used for storage (mp3's, mpegs etc.)
I have a CD-WR plugged into the end of the 80 wire IDE cable in IDE port 2.
I have defragmented both drives but have not done a restart since. I'm off to the cinema just now so I'll shut down and fire it up later.
Dunc.
Originally posted by dunc
Both HDD's in IDE 1, 40gb set to master and plugged into the END of the 80 wire IDE cable (this drive is used for the OS and Windows etc)
The 120GB (new) drive is in the middle of the IDE 1 cable and is set to CS, this drive is currently used for storage (mp3's, mpegs etc.)
I have a CD-WR plugged into the end of the 80 wire IDE cable in IDE port 2.
I have defragmented both drives but have not done a restart since. I'm off to the cinema just now so I'll shut down and fire it up later.
Dunc.
It should be set to SLAVE, not CS.
Originally posted by seb
It should be set to SLAVE, not CS.
Fairly sure its set to CS, someone told me thats OK - I'll check it out tomorrow.
Cheers,
Dunc.
MeLLoN Stu
05-10-2003, 23:17
cable select is ok if its on its own ide, put on with another drive on the same cable it can cause troubles but doesnt always
voodoo_melon
05-10-2003, 23:20
Don't you needed a special cable to use CS with more than one drive? I used to use CS when I used 1 disk/cable and it worked fine then, but with more than 1 disk/cable I've always used master/slave...
Hmmmm, it'll mean taking the drive out again and I'm far too lazy for that!
MeLLoN Stu
05-10-2003, 23:22
LoL. can be done from inside the case if you strip back all the cables. bit fiddly tho.
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