HDD running really slow in different computer?

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Welshstig

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Oct 30, 2013
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I currently have a WD Caviar Blue HDD, and when I run it PC 1 (let's just call it that) it runs slowly but it is usable, however, when I run it in PC 2 (again, just call it that) it runs catastrophically slow to the point where I am unable to open anything except for maybe Task Manager.

Now, I am wondering what the possible causes could be, I am thinking that it maybe the drivers (although I highly doubt it) or the BIOS settings (however, I am not well akin to them and have not much knowledge on them).

I do have important files on my current HDD, and I would like to find the problem concerning why the HDD is running so slowly on PC 2, what are your suggestions?

All help is appreciated, thanks!
 
Solution
Reyaz123
On the slow computer, open device manager and locate your hard drive in there. Right click it and update the drivers.

You can also try connecting the hard drive to another sata port in your motherboard

Create a system restore point so you can revert if any problems happen before doing the next step
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-CA/windows7/create-a-restore-point

If that doesn't work, remove the hard drive driver from device manager and reboot your PC and it should automatically reinstall those drivers
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Reyaz123

Reyaz123

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Read solandris post below before doing this. Thanks for correcting me.


The bios settings might have the hard drive set to IDE mode. You need to change it to AHCI mode.Enter your bios settings and locate the advanced and/or sata configuration tab. You will find IDE mode and set it to AHCI mode instead. This should help


Edit:You can enter the bios mode usually by pressing the esc or del key at power on
 
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Solandri

Solandri

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Is this a boot drive with the OS installed on it? I ask because if it were a data drive, you'd say Explorer was slow to browse the drive. But you say Task Manager is the only thing you can get running, which means the entire OS is slowed down.

If this is a boot drive, you can't simply move it to a different computer and expect it to work. In fact 9 times out of 10 it does not work, so you're actually fortunate you even got it to boot at all. Different computers require different drivers for their specific hardware. By moving the boot drive, Windows is (1) loading the wrong drivers and (2) not loading the right drivers. So it's probably falling back to basic low-level access modes to use the second computer's hardware. This is understandably very slow.

If you wish to use the drive in the new computer, you need to reinstall Windows and the drivers for that computer.

Do not do the IDE/AHCI thing mentioned above. It will make the system unbootable until you switch it back. Switching it requires a Windows boot disk so you can add the proper driver to Windows. (If you do reinstall Windows, the proper drivers will be installed based on which mode you have it in. If you plan to upgrade to a SSD in the future, I'd suggest putting it in AHCI mode.)
 
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Welshstig

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@Solandri, Yes, you are probably correct as the drive is in fact a boot drive with windows on it, and actually, PC 2 just had a new motherboard installed, so I assume that will also add to the effect.

Do you suggest me removing all drivers from the drive and reinstalling new ones without reinstalling the OS? Or do you recommend me just reinstalling the OS (and if so, to clarify, will reinstalling the OS remove all drivers automatically)?

@Reyaz123, before I saw Solandri's answer, I saw yours and found that my HDD is already in AHCI mode.
 
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Reyaz123

Reyaz123

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May 8, 2015
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On the slow computer, open device manager and locate your hard drive in there. Right click it and update the drivers.

You can also try connecting the hard drive to another sata port in your motherboard

Create a system restore point so you can revert if any problems happen before doing the next step
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-CA/windows7/create-a-restore-point

If that doesn't work, remove the hard drive driver from device manager and reboot your PC and it should automatically reinstall those drivers
 
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