View Full Version : [Help - Hardware] Question on HD space and overal computer performance
Forgotten Show
08-17-2009, 10:08 PM
To preface, I'm on a Dell Inspiron 6000 that's nearing 5 years old. It's on its second HD after the first self-destructed. I'm not computer illiterate, but I'm not terribly tech savvy either.
Moving on, I've got all but about 16% of the HD space filled, and speed of even simple things is starting to concern me a bit. Call of Duty 4 I enjoy, but can't play much anymore; graphics lag (I'm positive it isn't a bad connection) is killing me. I installed Starcraft recently to see if I can even play that, and it's downright rough. I defragged recently, but it doesn't seem to have done much and I'm wondering if it's the bloated HD that's the culprit.
Thoughts?
Bad Memory
Your hard drive shouldn't really be affecting your game performance at all. It really only affects load times. And 16% is not particularly full, at that. Besides, defragmentation should be more than enough to clear any harddrive related issues up.
What makes me think the HD is not the issue is that when you run a program, the operating system will copy as much as possible of the files on the harddrive it attempts to access into RAM since RAM speed is thousands of times faster than haddrive speed (this is called caching and is done largely automagically).
Check if you have any processes eating up unnecessary amounts of memory or CPU in your process monitor. It's almost certainly malware/virus-related.
wizz-o-matic
08-18-2009, 05:36 AM
The HD could be the problem ... if it has bad sectors.
Otherwise, it pretty much looks like an OS-related problem ... how much time passed since your last format? Do you take any regular cleaning maintenance of your OS? If it's graphic lag ... maybe try to reinstall your drivers.....
The HD could be the problem ... if it has bad sectors.
No, if there are bad sectors, the operating system will flag them as bad and not use them.
Otherwise, it pretty much looks like an OS-related problem ... how much time passed since your last format? Do you take any regular cleaning maintenance of your OS? If it's graphic lag ... maybe try to reinstall your drivers.....
Drivers don't deteriorate with time. Unless they've actually changed drivers recently, driver issues shouldn't be something to worry about.
wizz-o-matic
08-18-2009, 06:00 AM
No, if there are bad sectors, the operating system will flag them as bad and not use them.
It does, if the corrupted data is part of the game data.
Several times I noticed that having bad sectors slows down the system a lot.
Drivers don't deteriorate with time. Unless they've actually changed drivers recently, driver issues shouldn't be something to worry about.Yes, they don't ... unless something corrupts them.
It does, if the corrupted data is part of the game data.
Several times I noticed that having bad sectors slows down the system a lot.
Yes, they don't ... unless something corrupts them.
If data is corrupted, you generally see random crashes/erratic behavior, not speed loss.
.Tatty.
08-18-2009, 06:23 AM
eris is right so
if you dont have these i suggest you install and run them quickfast
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/
http://www.filehippo.com/download_defraggler/
Forgotten Show
08-18-2009, 01:57 PM
Thanks for the responses so far. The speed loss is generally across multiple programs, but I mentioned video games because that's where the lagging and speed loss is most evident. Eris, in case we're miscommunicating, I have 16% free space to 84% occupied/used space. Just enough to run a defrag.
shinji, I downloaded those programs, and I have Registry Mechanic. We'll see if they help at all. Bit Defender hasn't found anything nasty, but that might not mean much.
Bad Memory
Thanks for the responses so far. The speed loss is generally across multiple programs, but I mentioned video games because that's where the lagging and speed loss is most evident. Eris, in case we're miscommunicating, I have 16% free space to 84% occupied/used space. Just enough to run a defrag.
shinji, I downloaded those programs, and I have Registry Mechanic. We'll see if they help at all. Bit Defender hasn't found anything nasty, but that might not mean much.
Bad Memory
It still doesn't matter. Unless you have like 14 Mb left, you shouldn't see a performance penalty in games. Load times would be terrible, but the actual gameplay should still be smooth --unless-- you run other memory-eating programs at the same time.
Gero50
08-18-2009, 02:41 PM
Well this is often the case of the processor being to slow and the graphic processor/card is to fast or the only way around can have the same effect on game performance. The other thing it could be if you really are sure it is the hard drive it might be that the HD itself is just a slower drive because of it's age, but I think it is the only two things in which case the only thing you can do is just let it me or buy new parts but you have to make sure they work with that laptop and that information can be found on the manufacturer's website most of the time.
Forgotten Show
08-18-2009, 02:53 PM
Hm. Would finding other memory-hogs be as simple as ctrl+alt+delete and reading down the list of processes?
Gero, it isn't that I suspect it's the HD that is slowing my computer down: that was simply a question I had because I don't really know why my computer's getting sluggish, but I do know that it seems to have coincided with the HD getting more full. Correlation is there, I just don't know what to make of it.
Bad Memory
Hm. Would finding other memory-hogs be as simple as ctrl+alt+delete and reading down the list of processes?
Gero, it isn't that I suspect it's the HD that is slowing my computer down: that was simply a question I had because I don't really know why my computer's getting sluggish, but I do know that it seems to have coincided with the HD getting more full. Correlation is there, I just don't know what to make of it.
Bad Memory
Does you hard drive grind all the time when you play games (other than when you load them?) If so, it may be the hard drive, otherwise, you should be looking for another culprit.
Forgotten Show
08-18-2009, 04:15 PM
If by grind you mean make a rapid-vibrating, humming sound, I've only heard that from the CD drive (the HD is located on the other side of the computer). It's sounding like it's not HD related. I'll shift everything to an external drive and reformat the laptop's, see what happens.
Bad Memory
Khanxay
08-18-2009, 04:30 PM
I don't believe it's the hard drive. You say it's (the computer) is five years old? And you play COD4 on it? Computer specs please.
If by grind you mean make a rapid-vibrating, humming sound, I've only heard that from the CD drive (the HD is located on the other side of the computer). It's sounding like it's not HD related. I'll shift everything to an external drive and reformat the laptop's, see what happens.
Bad Memory
No, by grind I mean ... grind. Maybe you can't hear it? It's the sound of the hard drive working constantly. Some laptops have very quiet hard drives.
A reformat sounds like a good idea. If it is some sort of virus/malware/other gunk in the system, it should clear things up.
Forgotten Show
08-19-2009, 09:25 AM
Gotcha. I guess mine has a pretty quiet HD then, the only times I ever hear it are when the computer's booting up or, as in my last HD, it's self-destructing.
Khanxay, where would I go to find a list of specs? I was trying to Google the spec sheet but remembered that they come with all sorts of options. This computer was rockin' COD4 pretty well when the game first came out, which is why the major slow-down is so obvious to me now.
Bad Memory
Gotcha. I guess mine has a pretty quiet HD then, the only times I ever hear it are when the computer's booting up or, as in my last HD, it's self-destructing.
Khanxay, where would I go to find a list of specs? I was trying to Google the spec sheet but remembered that they come with all sorts of options. This computer was rockin' COD4 pretty well when the game first came out, which is why the major slow-down is so obvious to me now.
Bad Memory
If it has been able to play the game in the past, it should be able to do so now. This just reeks virus/bloatware/crudware-related.
Khanxay
08-19-2009, 03:32 PM
Gotcha. I guess mine has a pretty quiet HD then, the only times I ever hear it are when the computer's booting up or, as in my last HD, it's self-destructing.
Khanxay, where would I go to find a list of specs? I was trying to Google the spec sheet but remembered that they come with all sorts of options. This computer was rockin' COD4 pretty well when the game first came out, which is why the major slow-down is so obvious to me now.
If you're using CCleaner, it shows your basic computer specs at the top. Right under CCleaner.com you'll see your OS, and then what your pc has as far as processor, RAM, and graphics.
But yes... if you used to run COD4 fine and now it's crap, there's probably malware running in the background. I recommend you run a few anti-spyware programs.
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