Hard drive swap/failure, now computer very sluggish

[Big Jeff]

Hello,

I have an older computer I previous built and is now being used by my kids. Core 2 Duo with the Asus P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe MB. Recently the computer would not boot.

I ran Win 7 repair disk and after working on it determined one of the hard drives had probably failed. I had 2 10,000 RPM Raptors in a RAID setup.

I purchased a 1 TB 7,200 RPM drive and installed it. Drive was recognized fine, partitioned, and then loaded Win 7 on it.

In the process of trying to download Win updates (49 of them) and the computer is VERY sluggish, almost not usable. Trying to load the drivers off of DVD for the wireless (to get internet access) and it was 20 min for a 10 MB file to load. Clicking on IE and it takes 10 min for an address you type to even show up in the address bar.

Is there something I am missing? I did have to remove both graphics cards, the RAM, wiring, etc.. to pull the 2 old Raptors (sliding hard drive bays). I felt like I put it all back in place correctly but certainly something is wrong. Is there something in the BIOS I need to change since I went from a RAID setup to a single drive?

The computer is old and I don't want to put too much effort into it, but I just spent $100 on the new drive and was hoping for another year or two out if it for my kids. Currently it's worthless and not usable.

Thanks for any direction/ideas on what to look for. I am at best a novice at this stuff.

 

[rolli59]

It is possible that you got a bad drive but you did install all the drivers for your board and hardware?

 

[clutchc]

Did you remember to change your SATA type in BIOS from RAID to ACHI or IDE?

 

[Big Jeff]

It is possible that you got a bad drive but you did install all the drivers for your board and hardware?

One problem is Asus doesn't have driver support for this board and Windows 7.

With that said, it worked fine for months with Windows 7 loaded previously.

 

[Big Jeff]

Did you remember to change your SATA type in BIOS from RAID to ACHI or IDE?

So ummm, no, I didn't do this. As I said, pretty novice at this stuff and it's been awhile since I built this one. My recent build had an SSD, piece of cake. The good news is I at least know how to get into the BIOS!

How would I know to switch it to ACHI or IDE?

I put in a Seagate Barracuda 1 TB 32MB Cache 7200 RPM drive. I will look in the documentation to see if it says.

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[rolli59]

One problem is Asus doesn't have driver support for this board and Windows 7.

With that said, it worked fine for months with Windows 7 loaded previously.

In that case you should be able to use the Vista 64bit drivers.

 

[clutchc]

So ummm, no, I didn't do this. As I said, pretty novice at this stuff and it's been awhile since I built this one. My recent build had an SSD, piece of cake. The good news is I at least know how to get into the BIOS!

How would I know to switch it to ACHI or IDE?

I put in a Seagate Barracuda 1 TB 32MB Cache 7200 RPM drive. I will look in the documentation to see if it says.

Thanks for the heads up.

After looking up that board, I had forgotten how old it was. You don't have the ACHI option. Just IDE and turning on/off RAID. But go to page 4-16 of your manual section 4.3.7 and it will show you where to locate the setting to disable RAID. You will have to probably re-install the O/S once you change those parameters, however.
http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5N32-SLI%20SE%20Deluxe/e2708_p5n32-sli_se_dlx.pdf

 

[Big Jeff]

After looking up that board, I had forgotten how old it was. You don't have the ACHI option. Just IDE and turning on/off RAID. But go to page 4-16 of your manual section 4.3.7 and it will show you where to locate the setting to disable RAID. You will have to probably re-install the O/S once you change those parameters, however.
http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5N32-SLI%20SE%20Deluxe/e2708_p5n32-sli_se_dlx.pdf

Thank you for the information.

In messing with this the computer now will not even boot, so I plan to remove everything this evening and re-install - then try again. Good heads up on having to re-install the OS even after I make the RAID changes in the BIOS, I would not have thought of that.

Hoping I can still salvage this rig. Appreciate your efforts.

Will keep you posted.

 

[clutchc]

If it won't even boot, you might want to replace the CMOS battery on the board. That may or may not be the problem keeping you from booting, but if it's as old as the board... it probably needs changing.

 

[Big Jeff]

If it won't even boot, you might want to replace the CMOS battery on the board. That may or may not be the problem keeping you from booting, but if it's as old as the board... it probably needs changing.

Well I re-seated the RAM, GPU's, etc... - same with the cable connections to HD's - then when I put the power cord back to the computer it fired itself up - without hitting the ON button. Never had that happen before. So guessing I crossed a wire or something - why I had planned to remove everything and try again tonight.

Someone also suggested my power supply might have failed - low voltage or something and that was causing my original HD issue, not a drive failure.

My challenge is with this rig being so old - I really can't afford to trying fixing things via more replacement (a new PS, etc..). I would rather put that money into a new computer for my kids to use (I started a new computer thread in the Homebuilt section also!).

Obviously if I can salvage this one - that is my preference.