External drive creates lag on reading files not on it

iTree

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Nov 27, 2010
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i got a iomega 2TB external drive connected to my pc what uses windows 7 ultimate 64bit and while browsing or just doing standard task my external hard drive will decide to activate and makes sounds like its powering up for a mass transfer, this happens when serten directors on the main disk internal are opened and while this happens everything on the computer stops progressing , not like a freeze just like loading tabs will pause , progress bars will stop , everything will halt for the 10-20 seconds the external needs to do idk what , and then everything will continue,, why is this happening ? it happens like anywhere from every 30 to 120 minutes from each other through the day
 

COLGeek

Cybernaut
Moderator
This sounds like your system is indexing the files on the external drive. You can exclude the external drive from your index or disconnect it when not in use. Just type "indexing" into your Windows Help and Support app and you'll be pointed in the right direction.

Good luck!
 

iTree

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Nov 27, 2010
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thanks for reply
i searched indexing in start bar and got the indexing options box and it says indexing is not running
 

tlg

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Feb 3, 2011
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yes write caching on external hdd can make the pc freeze here and there. Other stuff like Windows Search 4 or the paging file can be the issue. You might aswell have your antivirus or some kind of other program "looking" into hard drives constantly, in which case you pc freezes until the external device responds (which takes some time if it was sleeping).

If you cant finally find what is doing this, simply plug ur external only when you need to write/read something. Thats what externals are supposed to be used for.

Also have in mind that if your external is plugged for nothing you are using its "estimated lifetime" for nothing. And since i personally intend to keep my 2TB external hdd for many years to come, I use it only when needed.