XP x64 SP2 clean install lags during startup after installing 2nd SATA media storage drive

prskier17

Honorable
Apr 26, 2013
2
0
10,510
Hello,
I recently reformatted and started over with my old desktop with the following specs:

Windows XP x64 SP2
Motherboard: Asus M2N32 SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
Processor: AMD Athon 63 X2 6000+
Memory: 4GB GSkillz DDR2 ram
Video Card: Nvidia Quadro FX 570 (previously used as a low end CAD workstation)
Sound: Focusrite Saffire PRO 24 (not currently installed and motherboard sound is disabled)
HDD1: Western Digital 250GB WD2500KS SATAII- This has XP installed
HDD2: Western Digital 1TB WD10EADS SATAII - This has nothing on it and was quick formatted NTSF with Windows.

OK, so before connecting HDD2, I formatted HDD1 and installed XP x64 from the original retail disc. The startup time was very fast. I then connected HDD2 (which had previously been wiped with DBAN prior to XP being installed on HDD1. Note that I do not have any RAID settings enabled in the MB BIOS and both drives are recognized. As soon as HDD2 is connected the system startup goes as fast as normal through the BIOS but when the Windows logo appears (with the green lines moving horizontally below) the screen will turn black for around 10 minutes before proceeding to the login screen. I updated XP x64 to SP2 and installed the proper video drivers and that hasn't changed anything. I used HD Tune and am getting around 61mb/s with HDD1 but only 0.5-2 mb/s with HDD2. I know HDD2 is a slow "Green" drive but I didn't think it should be that slow. HD Tune indicates that both drives are healthy.

Does anyone have any advice on how to diagnose and/or resolve this issue?

Thanks in advance,
Chris
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Does the secondary drive have anything on it? Any other partitions?
What is the boot order? It may be looking at that 1TB to boot from first. Not finding anything, it goes to the real boot drive.

If it only happens when the secondary 1tb drive is installed, it is something concerning that drive.
 

prskier17

Honorable
Apr 26, 2013
2
0
10,510
@texas... I believe my MB only supports IDE or RAID... so I would be using IDE.
@USA.... I currently have nothing on the 2nd hard drive, but one massive partition waiting for my FLAC music file collection to be transferred.

I'm not concerned about HDD2 performance as long as it will stream FLAC to my Denon receiver. All software and other non-media files will be stored on HDD1. I'll double check the boot order and other BIOS settings but if the system hangs after the Windows startup screen appears wouldn't that indicate that it's at least booting from the proper drive? Thanks for the tips so far!!
 

TenPc

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Jul 11, 2012
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