old 80gb maxtor ide hdd problem

robgti · 11 Jan 2011 at 12:47

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?

Garido · 11 Jan 2011 at 13:09

robgti said:
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?

Since it's a maxtor drive is there any chance you can download Seatools and plug the drive into a Windows machine. If not, perhaps try the DOS version of Seatools which can be found on the UBCD (Ultimate Boot CD). Run the tests provided and see what turns up.

bledd · 11 Jan 2011 at 13:23

Replace the drive, once you get one hiccup with a hard drive, it's game over

robgti · 11 Jan 2011 at 13:34

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

Ch3m1c4L · 11 Jan 2011 at 14:23

When you formatted did you do a quick format or a full format? With old drives I always full format as they just seem to degrade from only using quick formats for years.

robgti · 11 Jan 2011 at 14:54

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

Ch3m1c4L · 11 Jan 2011 at 15:05

Give it a full one, since theres no data on it anyway. Just to see if it helps, probably wont but its worth a go

But it is very very old so transfer speeds are going to be at max around 30-40mbps so it will take ages to load any new software that is much larger than the software that was around when it was new.

robgti · 11 Jan 2011 at 15:27

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.

Justintime · 11 Jan 2011 at 16:17

How much RAM have you got in the system?

robgti · 11 Jan 2011 at 16:27

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

Justintime · 11 Jan 2011 at 16:57

256 is probably pushing it. Not sure on the RAM usage of Ubuntu but i'm sure its not that tiny a footprint on the memory.

robgti · 11 Jan 2011 at 16:59

You think I might be better trying a smaller Linux?

Justintime · 11 Jan 2011 at 17:10

Wait for the extra RAM and see if it helps.

Garido · 11 Jan 2011 at 17:39

I used to have Ubuntu running of 256 many moons ago. Upgraded to 512 and it was MUCH MUCH happier. I think to even launch the newer live CDs you needed 512 *shrugs*