360 GB hard drive: self-test takes over 4 hours

[Chris Bedford]

I've just run Seagate Seatools for Windows on a notebook disk because the owner complains the computer is very very slow - and I have to agree its performance is not exactly mind-blowing.

The machine is 'only' a Core i3 but it has 4 GB DDR3 RAM and is only a couple of years old. However startup takes nearly 5 minutes and even once it has booted, firing up applications like Firefox can be an exercise in patience. It's running Win 10 SL 64-bit, 100% up to date updates, swap file system managed, disk cleaned up of temp files and defragged.

Often in the past this slowness has been one indication of imminent HDD failure but in this case it tests fine, SMART as well as short and long diagnostic tests (I ran the long test previously, about a month ago, with the same result).

I can happily accept a 1 TB conventional 5400 rpm drive taking around 3 hours to self-test, but 4:23 for a 360 GB seems 'somewhat' excessive. Should I just replace the thing, or is the problem likely to be in some other component, e.g. SATA controller?

I guess the answer is likely to be that I'm only likely to find out by swapping parts until the problem goes away, right?

 

[qwizzy]

Likely a hard drive problem.
Consider cloning to a ssd. Samsung migration aid can do it and the performance results are wonderful.

Another possibility is that dust has accumulated in the cooling system and the cpu is throttling due to heat.

 

[dextermat]

The drive is failing, Backup ASAP and ditch the old drive, replace with a new one.
+1 SSD for way faster speed

 

[Chris Bedford]

Thanks guys

It turned out I was looking at the C: partition size (duh) not the hard drive which is 1 TB, so the speed wasn't *TOO* bad, for a 5,400 rpm drive. Not great though, and still not as fast as I'm sure it should be.

However it did make a huge difference cloning it to a 7,200 rpm disk. HUGE. So I am currently in negotiations to replace with something even faster, like SSHD hybrid drive or SSD.

Still not sure why the original is so slow, but as suggested it's probably best to convert to scrap metal + 2 rare earth magnets.