HDD health related

[debnathadjraktim]

Hello! I have a 6 years old HDD, ST3500418AS ATA device, my pc boots (win 7-32 bit) at normal speed, but when I close or open multiple browser/browser tabs/open or close any game/open steam,battle.net etc the HDD light stays on for long(30sec-2min) and my pc kinda non-responsive, I have used CrystalDiskInfo to check my HDD and it shows health status is good, I didnt understand the other parameters there, plz help me on this, what is the matter?

 

[Gyustarr]

You have to post your specs.

 

[debnathadjraktim]

You have to post your specs.

Core 2 Duo E7500 2.93GHZ (Upgrading it to Core 2 Quad Q6600 soon)
2*2GB DDR2 RAM
GT 1030 GDDR5
PSU 450W
MOBO Gigabyte G31M-ES2C

 

[Gyustarr]

You have to post your specs.

Core 2 Duo E7500 2.93GHZ (Upgrading it to Core 2 Quad Q6600 soon)
2*2GB DDR2 RAM
GT 1030 GDDR5
PSU 450W
MOBO Gigabyte G31M-ES2C

Your hdd coupled with the fairly old cpu and possible ram shortage is the problem. Your pc is too old for multitasking. Browsers these days could easily hog 2GB of ram. The light you see( possibly flickering) is the hdd using its pagefile, trying to sort out the load.

 

[geofelt]

You have a Seagate HDD.
Over time, some sectors may have deteriorated and been reassigned.
Download the Seagate seatools diagnostic and see what it says.

I do not think the Hdd is the issue.

Windows 32 bit will not let you use more than 4gb and I think lack of ram is at issue.

My best suggestion is to buy a ssd.
Samsung has a nice free ssd migration app that will move your C drive to their ssd.
You need a ssd large enough to hold the used contents of your hdd.

 

[derekullo]

I would also reinstall a 64 bit version of Windows 7 or Windows 10.

This would allow you to add another 4 gigabytes of ram which would make the computer much more responsive.

Buying an ssd won't cover up a lack of ram due to ram being 100s of times faster than a sata ssd.
(SSD are still nice to have, but not for covering up a ram deficiency.)

Having said all that the price of another 4 gigabytes of ram ($20), Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit ($190) and a 500 gigabyte ssd ($125) is most likely going to total at around $335.

You are better off just putting that money towards a new computer than putting band-aids over an old computer.

Feel free to reuse the Geforce 1030.

 

[geofelt]

Some problems.

Windows 7 64 bit will be larger and take up more of a limited 4gb.

Simply adding 4gb may not work, ram is supported only in kits.
Then, also some programs require a 32 bit os.
I keep such a 32 bit pc around explicitly to run civilization 2.42.
A 64 bit conversion will have no activation issues, you would not need a new license for the same motherboard.
but it requires a clean install and the re installation of all apps.

A ssd in a limited ram pc will resolve hard faults 50x faster than a hard drive.
It does indeed help to cover up a lack of ram.
More importantly, such things as opening files or thumbnails will happen much faster.

 

[derekullo]

In any case if he goes the ssd route he will obviously have to reinstall windows.

And if he has to reinstall Windows he might as well go with a 64 bit version of Windows.

And if he has a 64 bit version of Windows he might as well add another 4 gigabytes of ram.

Just make sure the ram speeds and timings match, if your existing ram is ddr2-1066 with 5-5-5-15 timings, buy more of that.

But again we are already in the hundreds of dollar range trying to resurrect a computer from nearly 10 years ago.


Ram is sold in kits, but you are not required to install ram in kits as long as you match the speed and timings.

I have a Core 2 Quad that i use in an ftp server and I put in 4 random sticks of matching ddr2 ram without issue.
(Different brands but same speed and timings.)

 

[geofelt]

1. No need to reinstall windows. A Samsung evo ssd comes with a free app that will move the c drive to a ssd.

2. Ram is sold in kits for a reason.
A motherboard must manage all the ram using the same specs of voltage, cas and speed.
The internal workings are designed for the capacity of the kit.
Ram from the same vendor and part number can be made up of differing manufacturing components over time.
Some motherboards, can be very sensitive to this.
This is more difficult when more sticks are involved.
That is why ram vendors will NOT support ram that is not bought in one kit.

That said, Intel processors are relatively tolerant of disparate ram.
Success odds are less than 100%.
I might guess 90%
The question is, what is plan B if the new ram does not work?

 

[derekullo]

Plan B or rather my Plan A for this would be to take all the money they would be using to resurrect this computer and buying a new computer.

They can reuse their Geforce 1030, case and hard drive meaning all they have to buy is; a cpu, motherboard, ram and Windows license.

Upgrading to an ssd is recommended, but is up to the user to decide.


I bought my Core 2 Quad Q6600 when it was current and it performs decently as a file server, but I don't think I could bring myself to spend the money to upgrade a Core 2 Duo E7500 to a Core 2 Quad Q6600.

Especially if he is buying the Core 2 Quad Q6600 for $237 on newegg.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

 

[geofelt]

One can buy a used Q6600 on ebay for $15 or so.
If the need is for a quad which is required to run some games, then OK.

But, the Q6600 has a lower single thread passmark rating of 924 compared to 1203 for the E7500.
some games will be negatively impacted.
I remember that the Q6600 was capable of a nice overclock, so the OP may have that in mind.

Still, the original question posed was what could be done about slow opening of files/apps, a SSD is a very good solution to that.