Seagate SSHD 2TB just installed, serious performance issues

[markfromdel]

My desktop is older (HP a6700y, purchased around 2006 I think) and it has gotten slower lately. I finally purchased a new drive because I was lead to believe that would improve overall performance.

Motherboard chipset: NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430

I installed the new Seagate drive and boot up takes forever, the background image and icons for my desktop literally show up 10 minutes after I sign in. If I click on the desktop background area it says Microsoft Explorer has crashed. Eventually it gets signed in and the performance is sort of snappy/quick. However, some programs I attempt to open, and they will suddenly open 20-30 minutes later (often multiple copies as I continued to try to make them open).

I described it to Seagate and they said it was possibly damaged. I returned it to Amazon.com and they sent me a new one. It is doing the same exact thing.

HD Tune error scan shows 45% bad sectors (both drives run 55% error free, then the remainder of the disk shows errors).

I've used the cable from my old drive, I've used the cable provided with both kits (I still have both here while I figure this out). Seagate suggested I check drivers for the chipset and Windows reports that they are up to date.

Any ideas on where to go from here?

 

[getochkn]

Could be the motherboard. I had one that chewed up 3 new drives. I was going crazy trying new drives cables ports and it was the mb

 

[markfromdel]

Could be the motherboard. I had one that chewed up 3 new drives. I was going crazy trying new drives cables ports and it was the mb

You'll have to excuse me because I am a novice here. Is there a way that you know of to confirm the damaged motherboard? And also, does that mean that assuming the motherboard is damaged I should just shop for a new computer given the computer's age?

 

[markfromdel]

you could buy a modern board, cpu, ram and power supply,but unless you play games it is cheaper to buy a branded machine from a shop.
It is not something I would do, but unless you have a lot of experience building a general purpose pc is a time consuming headache which saves little. You could look for a bare bones kit tho, to utilise your new hard drive. These are usually pre assembled without a drive or o/system.

Thank you for your reply. I just need my computer for general purposes. If I need to replace it I will. However, I don't understand why this hard drive behaves so terribly (but booting with the old drive is working as normal, just slow).

 

[markfromdel]

Look through the bios settings. I think you may need to change some settings. AHCI should be turned on I believe.

nForce motherboards do not support AHCI. Everything in BIOS is fine.

Anyone else, or did I just stump everyone?

 

[Zooshooter]

Look through the bios settings. I think you may need to change some settings. AHCI should be turned on I believe.

nForce motherboards do not support AHCI. Everything in BIOS is fine.

Anyone else, or did I just stump everyone?

Given that your computer is 8yrs old, even an SSD is not going to increase performance by a terribly measurable amount. You'd be better off updating the whole thing.

 

[markfromdel]

I am looking for troubleshooting advice because my new hard drive isn't working properly.

I made a mistake by mentioning the age of the computer. Its not relevant information.

 

[Zooshooter]

It is relevant. Are you positive that the SSD is compatible with your motherboard chipsets?

 

[markfromdel]

It is relevant. Are you positive that the SSD is compatible with your motherboard chipsets?

I'm not going to dismiss this as just an old computer. I went from a fully functional computer, installed this SSHD, and now I have a train wreck.

That being said, I'm not certain that this SSHD is compatible with my motherboard. However, that would be an acceptable reason for this not to work properly. I would be willing to move on. I'm really here at this forum to seek someone who knows why this is going wrong because Seagate does not know. It is more likely a problem on my end because I've now had two drives not work.

I've checked the drivers ... I've actually now found an Nvidia nForce 430 update (it was released only months after the one I currently have, I'm not holding out too much hope for it) and I'm installing it now.. I have checked into BIOS settings. They are all appropriate. AHCI is not supported by nForce motherboards so that can't be causing it. I have swapped cables around, it is not a cable issue. The computer runs slow even when the new hard drive is in second position (not the boot drive).

 

[USAFRet]

Is the thing slower with the new drive or the old drive?

What were the steps you did to use the new SSHD? Full reinstall? Migrate? Or is it a secondary drive?

 

[markfromdel]

Is the thing slower with the new drive or the old drive?

What were the steps you did to use the new SSHD? Full reinstall? Migrate? Or is it a secondary drive?

It is exceptionally slower with the new drive (background/icons don't appear for minutes after logging in, Microsoft Explorer constantly crashing).

I used Seagate discwizard to copy the old drive onto the new drive. I then booted up with the new drive in primary, but it was unusable with this configuration so I'm now using the old drive as primary, and the new drive (with a mirror image of my old drive) is connected as a secondary drive.

 

[USAFRet]

Based on this, I would think it is a software issue rather than hardware.
Something in the migration process is probably not 100%

Since you have the full install still living on the old HDD and it seems to be OK, I would try doing a new fresh install on the new drive. Install with only that drive connected.
See what happens. I'd bet it will be 'faster'.

 

[markfromdel]

Based on this, I would think it is a software issue rather than hardware.
Something in the migration process is probably not 100%

Since you have the full install still living on the old HDD and it seems to be OK, I would try doing a new fresh install on the new drive. Install with only that drive connected.
See what happens. I'd bet it will be 'faster'.

Now that you mention this (and I never gave it a second thought) the entire copy process the time remaining was strange. It basically said 35 minutes, then 49 minutes the entire time (despite actually taking close to two hours). So maybe it wasn't reading properly?

So you suggest I wipe the new drive, copy it once again, and then try to boot from it? I can do that. If you meant a fresh install of Windows, I don't have the disk for that and wouldn't be able to start fresh in that sense.

 

[USAFRet]

Based on this, I would think it is a software issue rather than hardware.
Something in the migration process is probably not 100%

Since you have the full install still living on the old HDD and it seems to be OK, I would try doing a new fresh install on the new drive. Install with only that drive connected.
See what happens. I'd bet it will be 'faster'.

Now that you mention this (and I never gave it a second thought) the entire copy process the time remaining was strange. It basically said 35 minutes, then 49 minutes the entire time (despite actually taking close to two hours). So maybe it wasn't reading properly?

So you suggest I wipe the new drive, copy it once again, and then try to boot from it? I can do that. If you meant a fresh install of Windows, I don't have the disk for that and wouldn't be able to start fresh in that sense.

Are we talking about Windows 7?
If so, and if you have the activation key...you can get the Windows 7 ISO from here:
http://www.w7forums.com/threads/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-image-downloads.12325/

Burn to DVD and try a fresh install on that new drive.

Something is not right with the way it was copied/migrated to that new drive.

 

[markfromdel]

Based on this, I would think it is a software issue rather than hardware.
Something in the migration process is probably not 100%

Since you have the full install still living on the old HDD and it seems to be OK, I would try doing a new fresh install on the new drive. Install with only that drive connected.
See what happens. I'd bet it will be 'faster'.

Now that you mention this (and I never gave it a second thought) the entire copy process the time remaining was strange. It basically said 35 minutes, then 49 minutes the entire time (despite actually taking close to two hours). So maybe it wasn't reading properly?

So you suggest I wipe the new drive, copy it once again, and then try to boot from it? I can do that. If you meant a fresh install of Windows, I don't have the disk for that and wouldn't be able to start fresh in that sense.

Are we talking about Windows 7?
If so, and if you have the activation key...you can get the Windows 7 ISO from here:
http://www.w7forums.com/threads/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-image-downloads.12325/

Burn to DVD and try a fresh install on that new drive.

Something is not right with the way it was copied/migrated to that new drive.

I didn't know that sort of thing was an option! No, my current OS is Windows Vista 64bit. But that would be a much better alternative. I just did a quick search and located the iso here.

Also, I downloaded that updated NVidia driver for my motherboard and installed it. I ran a quick HD Tune error scan and it came back with no errors (previously 45% bad sectors were being reported). I had to go to work so I can't play with it any longer, but if the disk is going to play ball now with those drivers I will download Vista and install it fresh.

I'll report back tomorrow (at work til 8am EST). Thanks for the help.