HDD takes ages to open folder

sebastianj

Hi, PC is not connected to Internet but recently tge HDD is taking ages to open a folder, it has a SATA hard drive about 4 years old, 4 gig RAM.
Any odea what is causing it, is it dying on me?

Help most appreciated.

rgd
seb

joeypesci

Specific folder or all folders? Do a virus scan.

sebastianj

It is all the folders, machine is not connected to any thing since new, do you think a virus in a folder can infect every thing?
seb

joeypesci

It could be affecting your whole system and that would be a side effect. Boot the machine back up but go into Safe mode (just keep pressing F8 and the menu should appear to allow you to pick Safe mode). Once in Safe mode see if you can open the folders then.

Could also be the hard drive is dyling.

Guardian_007

First, do a full Anti-Virus scan, using either 'AVG', or your existing Anti-Virus software. Second, download 'CCleaner' from F i l e h i p p o . c o m, and install and run it. You'll be amazed at just how much junk it removes, if you've never used it before. Also, run it when you're not on the internet, as it works best that way. Your folder could be corrupted if it's the only one that opens slowly, or you could have Spyware in your Computer. Don't worry, as most Computers get these eventually. Download 'Malwarebytes' from F i l e h i p p o . c o m, then install, update it and run it. This program removes Spyware and Malware, which are 2 of the 3 main reasons why a Computer runs slowly. You should also run 2 programs called 'Disk Cleanup' and 'Disk Defragmenter', which u can find by clicking 'Start', 'All Programs', 'Accessories', then 'System Tools', assuming you're using Windows X P. In Windows Vista, they're less easy to find. 'Disk Cleanup' stores Temporary Internet Files, which can safely be deleted, and 'Disk Defragmenter' tidies up your Hard Drive, and will Speed up everything if u run it at least once a week. If u see lots of red files when u click 'Analyze', it means your Computer files are scattered across your hard drive, and so are 'Fragmented'. This means your Computer takes longer to open them each time, as it always puts them back in a different place to where it got them from the previous time. This makes the hard drive wear out faster.

IMPORTANT - Make sure u leave the 'Disk Defragmenter' program until last, as it may take more than 2 hours to complete. Also, u should turn off your Screensaver before u run it, as it will slow the program down. To do this, Right-click on an empty area of the Desktop, and then Left-click 'Properties', and you'll see it in the page list.

VERY IMPORTANT - After you've done all that, copy your most important files to a USB Memory stick or an External USB Drive, as your hard drive may be faulty.

My apologies if u already knew how to do some of this stuff, and Good Luck.

sebastianj

Thanks Joeypesci and Guardian-007,

I will be foloowing both your advice and see what happens.
seb

busenbust

If you do have another external hard drive (or even if not) then I would strongly suggest you fast copy over these files, either to another drive or to your computer's hard drive. Just in the eventuality of permanent failure. Backup and then backup :cool: Imaging software also comes in handy in these situations.

closed

dun chkdsk on the drive.