Extremely slow start ups/shutdowns/losing the 2nd hard drive.

[Kiazak]

MY computer has suddenly started to run extremely slowly. Takes a while to start up games, long time to shut down and stays on the welcome screen for 2-3 minutes before continuing to my desktop. I've not installed anything recently that I've not had on there before with no trouble, and i've done a complete scan for any viruses that could slow the pc or cause trouble.

Any suggestions?

 

[Kiazak]

upon further investigation, when the PC cant find the 2nd hard drive the shut down is fast, it still stays on the Windows Start Up screen for 2-3 minutes when turning back on.

 

[Deklore]

When you say you have scanned for viruses, have you scanned for malware as well?

Also do you have much items in your startup ?

 

[Kiazak]

After speaking with tech support they told me to unplug all the things in the back of the pc, and relaunch plugging one thing at a time each relaunch, after doing this everything is back in the back of the PC and no problems now. Not sure if this is good news or if its a problem that can happen at any time... Maybe a power supply problem??

 

[ubuysa]

What are the devices you normally have plugged in? It sounds like it's one of them causing your problems. Try them one at a time for a while to see whether you can locate the offender?

 

[Kiazak]

Looks like the offender is the DVI-HDMI lead going into our tv that I use as a 2nd monitor. we moved the TV recently and the plugs got all switched around. everything runs fast and fine when its unplugged and no hard drive issues. its strange because the DVI lead is plugged into the same GPU as the monitor.

 

[Kiazak]

Okay so we're back to square one, after a nice evening of playing Battlefield 4, it starts going extremely slow again. after a quick reboot, the hard drive is missing. frustrated, i open the case, take out the HDD (1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE) and start it up again, boom, fastest start up i've had in ages. So looks like a need a new hard drive? unfortunately my warranty has expired -.-

 

[baron75mk2]

Yes my freind i can confirm this , i had the exact same issue & symptoms , the second HDD that is getting dropped is kaput , this is what is causeing the slow windows startup , its trying to start the HDD when its intermittently faulty.

try to disconnect the second HDDs sata cable , (just pulls out) & if your windows boots at its normal speed a few times then its a Kaput HDD , all you can do if the warranty has expired it buy a new HDD.

(sorry didnt read thourouly , you have already done this & confirmed my suspicions)

Im almost certain of this its all the same issues i was having before PCS replaced the HDD.

Just dont get Greens they are problematic even when they are not faulty due to the power saving function , i had a green external that kept freezing my bios all the time , put a standard HDD in the caddy & all was fine

 

[Kiazak]

Yup, starts and runs fine with it unplugged, also tested the SATA cable on the disc drive to see if that was the problem, but the disc runs fine and no problems reading it. So I've been on the phone to Tech this morning and they say my WD drive is under warranty with the WD themselves, so I'm happy about that. going through an RMA now, thanks for all the help guys! Nice to know it wont be such a headache to get fixed as I first thought.

Going through the RMA and it says I need a $72 hold fee? the hell?! Might as well buy the upgrade through PCS...

 

[baron75mk2]

Yup, starts and runs fine with it unplugged, also tested the SATA cable on the disc drive to see if that was the problem, but the disc runs fine and no problems reading it. So I've been on the phone to Tech this morning and they say my WD drive is under warranty with the WD themselves, so I'm happy about that. going through an RMA now, thanks for all the help guys! Nice to know it wont be such a headache to get fixed as I first thought.

Going through the RMA and it says I need a $72 hold fee? the hell?! Might as well buy the upgrade through PCS...

Dont get that , never had to pay anything for an rma , especially if its quoting it in dollars ? , or was that just a typo ?

Or do you mean that WD is saying that & not PCs ?

If that were me i would just bin it & buy a new one & not a WD drive (only being that they want money for an RMA that is)

 

[Kiazak]

Yup, $72 not £'s
Any recommendations on a new HDD? People are saying WD Black. they seem expensive lol. Whats the view on Toshiba PA4292E-1HL0

 

[baron75mk2]

Dont know about the toshiba , but the caviar blacks are grat HDDs , well worth the extra cash .

Could go for an SSD if you like but they are very , very expensive though really , but if you have the cash then look at some maybe

 

[Kiazak]

I went for an WD Caviar Black, 1TB from my local Novatech. I can pick it up from the store which saves on shipping, collecting it tomorrow

 

[vanthus]

I went for an WD Caviar Black, 1TB from my local Novatech. I can pick it up from the store which saves on shipping, collecting it tomorrow

Good choice.