old 80gb maxtor ide hdd problem

[robgti]

Hi all. Upgraded my Dad's computer for him at Christmas as it was running very slow. Just had the chance to try his old hdd which I formatted and installed Ubuntu on. It installed fine but it takes ages to open up and when it does get to the desktop the hdd sounds like it is constantly seeking which slows everything down.

I ran a test with one of the programs within Ubuntu and it says the drive is fine.

Any ideas?

 

[robgti]

Up to now it's ok as I do not have any data on the drive I just wanted to see if a clean install would sort the earlier problems out.

I will run seatools tonight and if no good then I will be binning it.

Cheers

 

[robgti]

I did a quick format. I connected it up to windows 7 and defragged the drive which took arond half an hour.

 

[robgti]

Yeah that is why I thought I would try Linux first which is suppose to be quicker than windows. I have another hdd there which is the same size and make so will format that one and see how that fairs.

 

[robgti]

Currently only 256mb. I do have 512mb on the way. It was doing the same when it had windows xp on it.

 

[robgti]

You think I might be better trying a smaller Linux?