Kuロi Posted December 14, 2014 Posted December 14, 2014 So I've been having this weird issue lately where my PC would have a micro stutter every 5 second or so, even if simply looking at the desktop. I checked for viruses, none found and since i know nothing about the inside of a PC, I was hoping will all my life it wasn't something inside. Today (well, yesterday now), my PC was extremely slow. Where opening firefox would take me 2 seconds, it would now take me 3 minutes simply to open My Documents. Mind you, I never had any problems with my PC before. I bought 3-4 years ago and it's an Alienware, which means that it was overpriced but at least was good at the time (and still is). Anyhow, I called my dad since he's pretty knowledgeable about that, to which he says "I can't really tell from just listening to you, but try to run a defrag, if it doesn't do anything, bring me your PC and I'll have a look inside". So I do just that, which is where it gets weird ... First of all, the whole process was painful, considering anything I did would require a whole 2 mins of loading. Then I run the Windows Defrag Analysis, which tells me that (C:) is 0% fragmentalised. Guessing that this means good and that it isn't actually needed (does it), I still go ahead with the Defrag. Now here I am, 2 hours later. At first the bug was still there. I went aroud opening random folders and programs and while it was faster than before, it was still nowhere as fast as normal. So I say "screw it" and open firefox, which ends up taking a good 3 minutes, but .... My problem is apparently fixed for now. As I'm writing this I have no more stutter and am back at my usual speed. And most notably, going by the "My Computer" tab, I have somehow made short of 200gb of free space (went from 388gb open to 570) Was I simply in dire need of a defrag? Does my situation make any sense to someone or is this a bunch of random coincidences and something is wrong with my PC?
myuhinny Posted December 14, 2014 Posted December 14, 2014 When hard drives are full and files are loaded or deleted, they become cluttered because files are saved to different parts of the hard drive's physical disc. This means the hard drive must take more time to access split up or fragmented files. The more fragmented files you have the slower and slower your computer can become.
Kuロi Posted December 14, 2014 Author Posted December 14, 2014 When hard drives are full and files are loaded or deleted, they become cluttered because files are saved to different parts of the hard drive's physical disc. This means the hard drive must take more time to access split up or fragmented files. The more fragmented files you have the slower and slower your computer can become. That I understand, but for it to happen all in one day? I went from normal speed to incredibly slow in 1 day. I did delete some (150ish gb) stuff recently though, would that explain how it happened after a restart? EDIT : The stutter's back. So while a defrag does seem to have opened up some space, my problem is apparently not fixed, although rather than being there permanently, it come and goes, usually for 15 minutes or so, then I'm safe for rest of the hour before it comes back,
Rayblue Posted December 14, 2014 Posted December 14, 2014 Try checking the drive with Crystal Disk Info.
Kuロi Posted December 15, 2014 Author Posted December 15, 2014 Try checking the drive with Crystal Disk Info. Never used that before, but I just ran it. Is there something I'm looking for in particular? It does say "Caution" for my health status. As well as "Current Pending Sector Count : 141" with "Uncorrectable Sector Count 141". The rest all comes out Blue. Sorry for the late answer by the way. After working all night on fixing it I really needed a break before going crazy.
myuhinny Posted December 15, 2014 Posted December 15, 2014 Sounds like your hard drive might be starting to go. http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2098439/current-pending-sector-count-uncorrectable-sector-count-warnnings.html I pasted your error into the google search and that is just one of the threads that popped up.
Kuロi Posted December 15, 2014 Author Posted December 15, 2014 Sounds like your hard drive might be starting to go. http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2098439/current-pending-sector-count-uncorrectable-sector-count-warnnings.html I pasted your error into the google search and that is just one of the threads that popped up. Yeah I found that link as well. Guess I'll have to do just that. The fun part is that ever since I ran the Crystal Disk exe, I've yet to have any problems. That's probably the most annoying thing about this bug I'm having, it's been completely inconsistent so far. Edit : Annnnnd It's back. Alright I give up, time to look for a new HDD.
Rayblue Posted December 15, 2014 Posted December 15, 2014 Try checking the drive with Crystal Disk Info. Never used that before, but I just ran it. Is there something I'm looking for in particular? It does say "Caution" for my health status. As well as "Current Pending Sector Count : 141" with "Uncorrectable Sector Count 141". The rest all comes out Blue. Sorry for the late answer by the way. After working all night on fixing it I really needed a break before going crazy. Looks like you really have to back up anything in there -- documents, media, all what's important -- before having to get a new hard drive.
legendarytoyou Posted December 15, 2014 Posted December 15, 2014 Aside from a defrag (which I highly encourage at least as a monthly habit) from the posts above it does sound like your HDD is getting long in the tooth. When first starting your computer, listen for the RPM's your HDD makes when booting up. If it makes a loud whirrrr sound yes it's time you think about retiring your hard-drive and getting a new one. Back up your main files to an external (confidential stuff ect.) and look into getting a new OS if the one on your Alienware is OEM. HDD are pretty easy to replace so I wouldn't go to a retailer personally because he'll end up charging you an arm and leg.
Kuロi Posted December 17, 2014 Author Posted December 17, 2014 Aside from a defrag (which I highly encourage at least as a monthly habit) from the posts above it does sound like your HDD is getting long in the tooth. When first starting your computer, listen for the RPM's your HDD makes when booting up. If it makes a loud whirrrr sound yes it's time you think about retiring your hard-drive and getting a new one. Back up your main files to an external (confidential stuff ect.) and look into getting a new OS if the one on your Alienware is OEM. HDD are pretty easy to replace so I wouldn't go to a retailer personally because he'll end up charging you an arm and leg. Can't I simply restore it to factory state on the new HDD? (Man this is gonna be a drag.) Looks like my Christmas is looking simply awesome so far.
Kuロi Posted December 17, 2014 Author Posted December 17, 2014 Alright, after backing up everything I wanted to keep, I did a complete restoration to factory state and ... Seems my Christmas is getting brighter! While I did not fix the underlying problem of "My HDD is in dire need of retirement", I did at least fix the stutter and slow part, so that I can at least use and play on the computer until said HDD is replaced. Thanks to you guys for helping me, really appreciate it .
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