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root
May 6, 2012, 11:43:10 AM5/6/12
to
The problem is with a Windows system, but I am hoping we
can come up with some linux solution. A friend is having
problems with her (new) Windows system running whatever
is the latest version of Windows, I think Win-7.
The problem is that over the past couple of weeks the
system has slowed to a crawl. Stuff like bringing up
Firefox has gone from an instant to several minutes.
I helped her build the hardware, but I have had nothing
to do with the software. She is using a Hitachi 2Tb
Sata 3 drive for her system. She has an Intel CoreI7-2600K
processor and 16Gb of ram.
If she were running linux I would suspect the drive is
failing. I tried to download a CD image for the Hitachi
drive fitness test disk, but that file dft32_v416_b00.iso
does not create a bootable CD.
Is there a utility CD that can run a non-destructive test
on a SATA hard disk?
Assuming the problem is with Windows and not the drive,
can anyone suggest a diagnostic path for resolving her
problem?
Note: I know nothing about Windows.
Thanks for any help.
Why post here?: I can talk to linux people.
can come up with some linux solution. A friend is having
problems with her (new) Windows system running whatever
is the latest version of Windows, I think Win-7.
The problem is that over the past couple of weeks the
system has slowed to a crawl. Stuff like bringing up
Firefox has gone from an instant to several minutes.
I helped her build the hardware, but I have had nothing
to do with the software. She is using a Hitachi 2Tb
Sata 3 drive for her system. She has an Intel CoreI7-2600K
processor and 16Gb of ram.
If she were running linux I would suspect the drive is
failing. I tried to download a CD image for the Hitachi
drive fitness test disk, but that file dft32_v416_b00.iso
does not create a bootable CD.
Is there a utility CD that can run a non-destructive test
on a SATA hard disk?
Assuming the problem is with Windows and not the drive,
can anyone suggest a diagnostic path for resolving her
problem?
Note: I know nothing about Windows.
Thanks for any help.
Why post here?: I can talk to linux people.
Henrik Carlqvist
May 6, 2012, 12:36:50 PM5/6/12
to
root <NoE...@home.org> wrote:
> Is there a utility CD that can run a non-destructive test
> on a SATA hard disk?
Boot from the live CD of your choice and do the following:
> Is there a utility CD that can run a non-destructive test
> on a SATA hard disk?
dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/null
If the above gives som io error the disk absolutely has problems. Without
io errors you will at least get a performance number (MB/s).
regards Henrik
--
The address in the header is only to prevent spam. My real address is:
hc351(at)poolhem.se Examples of addresses which go to spammers:
root@localhost postmaster@localhost
root
May 6, 2012, 1:10:45 PM5/6/12
to
Henrik Carlqvist <Henrik.C...@deadspam.com> wrote:
> root <NoE...@home.org> wrote:
>> Is there a utility CD that can run a non-destructive test
>> on a SATA hard disk?
>
> Boot from the live CD of your choice and do the following:
>
> dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/null
>
> If the above gives som io error the disk absolutely has problems. Without
> io errors you will at least get a performance number (MB/s).
>
> regards Henrik
Thanks, good idea. I am putting together several linux utility
> root <NoE...@home.org> wrote:
>> Is there a utility CD that can run a non-destructive test
>> on a SATA hard disk?
>
> Boot from the live CD of your choice and do the following:
>
> dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/null
>
> If the above gives som io error the disk absolutely has problems. Without
> io errors you will at least get a performance number (MB/s).
>
> regards Henrik
disks like Trinity, System-rescue and others. I planned to
run badblocks first. I had a good idea a little while ago:
I forgot to mention that she has 6 2 or 3 Tb data drives
on her system. I plan to unplug all but the system drive
and see if that fixes the problem.
Thomas Overgaard
May 6, 2012, 1:14:50 PM5/6/12
to
root wrote:
> The problem is that over the past couple of weeks the
> system has slowed to a crawl. Stuff like bringing up
> Firefox has gone from an instant to several minutes.
When it comes to a slow Windows computer my first thought is always
> The problem is that over the past couple of weeks the
> system has slowed to a crawl. Stuff like bringing up
> Firefox has gone from an instant to several minutes.
malware/virus. A Windows machine can host a shitload of this shit
slowing it down to a crawl.
--
Thomas O.
This area is designed to become quite warm during normal operation.
root
May 6, 2012, 1:50:10 PM5/6/12
to
Thomas Overgaard <tho...@post2.tele.dk> wrote:
> root wrote:
>
>> The problem is that over the past couple of weeks the
>> system has slowed to a crawl. Stuff like bringing up
>> Firefox has gone from an instant to several minutes.
>
> When it comes to a slow Windows computer my first thought is always
> malware/virus. A Windows machine can host a shitload of this shit
> slowing it down to a crawl.
Thanks.
> root wrote:
>
>> The problem is that over the past couple of weeks the
>> system has slowed to a crawl. Stuff like bringing up
>> Firefox has gone from an instant to several minutes.
>
> When it comes to a slow Windows computer my first thought is always
> malware/virus. A Windows machine can host a shitload of this shit
> slowing it down to a crawl.
She has some virus-detection/repair software than runs at
boot. One of the rescue disks I burned has some virus scanning
software.
dillinger
May 6, 2012, 3:21:59 PM5/6/12
to
On 05/06/2012 05:43 PM, root wrote:
> If she were running linux I would suspect the drive is
> failing. I tried to download a CD image for the Hitachi
> drive fitness test disk, but that file dft32_v416_b00.iso
> does not create a bootable CD.
>
dft32_v416_b00.iso is a bootable CD image, it boots PC DOS and then
> If she were running linux I would suspect the drive is
> failing. I tried to download a CD image for the Hitachi
> drive fitness test disk, but that file dft32_v416_b00.iso
> does not create a bootable CD.
>
starts the utility. Where did you download it? Try it again, check your
settings or try the image first in a virtual machine.
Aragorn
May 6, 2012, 4:12:47 PM5/6/12
to
On Sunday 06 May 2012 17:43, root conveyed the following to
alt.os.linux.slackware...
> The problem is with a Windows system, but I am hoping we
> can come up with some linux solution. A friend is having
> problems with her (new) Windows system running whatever
> is the latest version of Windows, I think Win-7.
Disclaimer: I don't do Wintendo, but I know it a bit.
> The problem is that over the past couple of weeks the
> system has slowed to a crawl. Stuff like bringing up
> Firefox has gone from an instant to several minutes.
> I helped her build the hardware, but I have had nothing
> to do with the software. She is using a Hitachi 2Tb
> Sata 3 drive for her system. She has an Intel CoreI7-2600K
> processor and 16Gb of ram.
Okay, so you're suspecting hardware right away. My suspicion would
rather be towards Windows itself, but don't take my word for it. I've
had a failing hard disk here in this machine when it was only two months
old, so anything is possible.
> If she were running linux I would suspect the drive is
> failing. I tried to download a CD image for the Hitachi
> drive fitness test disk, but that file dft32_v416_b00.iso
> does not create a bootable CD.
>
> Is there a utility CD that can run a non-destructive test
> on a SATA hard disk?
I'm not sure... Maybe Knoppix? But either way, booting up the system
with GNU/Linux and trying to access the hard disk - even with the
partitions mounted read-only - would already provide some clues on
whether there is an abnormal delay in the accessing of the hard disk.
> Assuming the problem is with Windows and not the drive,
> can anyone suggest a diagnostic path for resolving her
> problem?
A few educated guesses...:
° Filesystem fragmentation. Microsoft operating systems have
always been notorious for that.
° Malware infection. Microsoft operating systems have always
been, uhh, notorious for that too. Some background processes
eating up CPU time, or being very hard at work with the other
botnet clients trying to DDoS Facebook, the Vatican, the CIA
and various tax administration departments across the world.
:p
> Note: I know nothing about Windows.
That's not a disadvantage, that's a blessing. :-)
> Thanks for any help.
>
> Why post here?: I can talk to linux people.
And the replies you will be getting will be more helpful and intelligent
than if you were to post it to a Windows newsgroup like, say,
alt.os.linux.ubuntu. :p
--
= Aragorn =
(registered GNU/Linux user #223157)
alt.os.linux.slackware...
> The problem is with a Windows system, but I am hoping we
> can come up with some linux solution. A friend is having
> problems with her (new) Windows system running whatever
> is the latest version of Windows, I think Win-7.
> The problem is that over the past couple of weeks the
> system has slowed to a crawl. Stuff like bringing up
> Firefox has gone from an instant to several minutes.
> I helped her build the hardware, but I have had nothing
> to do with the software. She is using a Hitachi 2Tb
> Sata 3 drive for her system. She has an Intel CoreI7-2600K
> processor and 16Gb of ram.
rather be towards Windows itself, but don't take my word for it. I've
had a failing hard disk here in this machine when it was only two months
old, so anything is possible.
> If she were running linux I would suspect the drive is
> failing. I tried to download a CD image for the Hitachi
> drive fitness test disk, but that file dft32_v416_b00.iso
> does not create a bootable CD.
>
> Is there a utility CD that can run a non-destructive test
> on a SATA hard disk?
with GNU/Linux and trying to access the hard disk - even with the
partitions mounted read-only - would already provide some clues on
whether there is an abnormal delay in the accessing of the hard disk.
> Assuming the problem is with Windows and not the drive,
> can anyone suggest a diagnostic path for resolving her
> problem?
° Filesystem fragmentation. Microsoft operating systems have
always been notorious for that.
° Malware infection. Microsoft operating systems have always
been, uhh, notorious for that too. Some background processes
eating up CPU time, or being very hard at work with the other
botnet clients trying to DDoS Facebook, the Vatican, the CIA
and various tax administration departments across the world.
:p
> Note: I know nothing about Windows.
> Thanks for any help.
>
> Why post here?: I can talk to linux people.
than if you were to post it to a Windows newsgroup like, say,
alt.os.linux.ubuntu. :p
--
= Aragorn =
(registered GNU/Linux user #223157)
Joe Rosevear
May 6, 2012, 4:14:02 PM5/6/12
to
root <NoE...@home.org> wrote:
> The problem is with a Windows system, but I am hoping we
> can come up with some linux solution. A friend is having
> problems with her (new) Windows system running whatever
> is the latest version of Windows, I think Win-7.
>
> The problem is that over the past couple of weeks the
> system has slowed to a crawl. Stuff like bringing up
> Firefox has gone from an instant to several minutes.
> I helped her build the hardware, but I have had nothing
> to do with the software. She is using a Hitachi 2Tb
> Sata 3 drive for her system. She has an Intel CoreI7-2600K
> processor and 16Gb of ram.
Sounds like a job for System Restore. I don't remember where it is in
> The problem is with a Windows system, but I am hoping we
> can come up with some linux solution. A friend is having
> problems with her (new) Windows system running whatever
> is the latest version of Windows, I think Win-7.
>
> The problem is that over the past couple of weeks the
> system has slowed to a crawl. Stuff like bringing up
> Firefox has gone from an instant to several minutes.
> I helped her build the hardware, but I have had nothing
> to do with the software. She is using a Hitachi 2Tb
> Sata 3 drive for her system. She has an Intel CoreI7-2600K
> processor and 16Gb of ram.
the Windows menus, but it can be used to set your system back to a
previous state. I don't know how it works, but I believe it is worth a
try. It is often recommended for undoing the harm caused by malware.
System restore may also bring relief in the case of other non-hardware
problems.
Of course, there is the never-fail Wipe and Reinstall method for
repairing a messed up system.
> If she were running linux I would suspect the drive is
> failing. I tried to download a CD image for the Hitachi
> drive fitness test disk, but that file dft32_v416_b00.iso
> does not create a bootable CD.
>
> Is there a utility CD that can run a non-destructive test
> on a SATA hard disk?
Use of dd was suggested. I didn't know it could be used as a speed
test. I always use
hdparm -t /dev/sda
(fill in your device if not sda).
-Joe
--
http://JosephRosevear.com
http://RosevearSoftware.com
John K. Herreshoff
May 6, 2012, 4:15:50 PM5/6/12
to
Thomas Overgaard wrote:
> root wrote:
>
>> The problem is that over the past couple of weeks the
>> system has slowed to a crawl. Stuff like bringing up
>> Firefox has gone from an instant to several minutes.
>
> When it comes to a slow Windows computer my first thought is always
> malware/virus. A Windows machine can host a shitload of this shit
> slowing it down to a crawl.
+1
> root wrote:
>
>> The problem is that over the past couple of weeks the
>> system has slowed to a crawl. Stuff like bringing up
>> Firefox has gone from an instant to several minutes.
>
> When it comes to a slow Windows computer my first thought is always
> malware/virus. A Windows machine can host a shitload of this shit
> slowing it down to a crawl.
John.
--
Using the Cubic at home.
Henrik Carlqvist
May 6, 2012, 6:13:50 PM5/6/12
to
Joe Rosevear <Joe_Ro...@localhost.invalid> wrote:
> Use of dd was suggested. I didn't know it could be used as a speed
> test.
Example:
> Use of dd was suggested. I didn't know it could be used as a speed
> test.
# dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/dev/null
1044162+0 records in
1044162+0 records out
534610944 bytes (535 MB) copied, 4.6169 s, 116 MB/s
However, dd has not allways behaved like this. The above example was from
my Slackware 13.1 system with dd version 8.5. On a Slackware 9.1 system
with dd version 5.0 there is no such performance value.
Slackware 12.0 with dd version 6.9 also gives the performance number so it
was added some time after version 5.0 and included in 6.9.
From the man page of dd there is also the following text:
-8<-----------------------------
Sending a USR1 signal to a running `dd' process makes it print I/O sta-
tistics to standard error and then resume copying.
$ dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/null& pid=$!
$ kill -USR1 $pid; sleep 1; kill $pid
18335302+0 records in 18335302+0 records out 9387674624 bytes
(9.4 GB) copied, 34.6279 seconds, 271 MB/s
-8<-----------------------------
Joe Rosevear
May 6, 2012, 7:07:11 PM5/6/12
to
Henrik Carlqvist <Henrik.C...@deadspam.com> wrote:
> Joe Rosevear <Joe_Ro...@localhost.invalid> wrote:
>> Use of dd was suggested. I didn't know it could be used as a speed
>> test.
>
> Example:
>
> # dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/dev/null
> 1044162+0 records in
> 1044162+0 records out
> 534610944 bytes (535 MB) copied, 4.6169 s, 116 MB/s
>
> However, dd has not allways behaved like this. The above example was from
> my Slackware 13.1 system with dd version 8.5. On a Slackware 9.1 system
> with dd version 5.0 there is no such performance value.
>
> Slackware 12.0 with dd version 6.9 also gives the performance number so it
> was added some time after version 5.0 and included in 6.9.
>
> From the man page of dd there is also the following text:
>
> -8<-----------------------------
> Sending a USR1 signal to a running `dd' process makes it print I/O sta-
> tistics to standard error and then resume copying.
>
> $ dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/null& pid=$!
> $ kill -USR1 $pid; sleep 1; kill $pid
>
> 18335302+0 records in 18335302+0 records out 9387674624 bytes
> (9.4 GB) copied, 34.6279 seconds, 271 MB/s
> -8<-----------------------------
>
> regards Henrik
Just for fun I tried dd *and* hdparm. Here's what I got:
> Joe Rosevear <Joe_Ro...@localhost.invalid> wrote:
>> Use of dd was suggested. I didn't know it could be used as a speed
>> test.
>
> Example:
>
> # dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/dev/null
> 1044162+0 records in
> 1044162+0 records out
> 534610944 bytes (535 MB) copied, 4.6169 s, 116 MB/s
>
> However, dd has not allways behaved like this. The above example was from
> my Slackware 13.1 system with dd version 8.5. On a Slackware 9.1 system
> with dd version 5.0 there is no such performance value.
>
> Slackware 12.0 with dd version 6.9 also gives the performance number so it
> was added some time after version 5.0 and included in 6.9.
>
> From the man page of dd there is also the following text:
>
> -8<-----------------------------
> Sending a USR1 signal to a running `dd' process makes it print I/O sta-
> tistics to standard error and then resume copying.
>
> $ dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/null& pid=$!
> $ kill -USR1 $pid; sleep 1; kill $pid
>
> 18335302+0 records in 18335302+0 records out 9387674624 bytes
> (9.4 GB) copied, 34.6279 seconds, 271 MB/s
> -8<-----------------------------
>
> regards Henrik
vvv
sam 1:/opt/SAM/example 4:x
root@jango:/var/opt/SAM/root/scratch$ dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/null
^C304881+0 records in
304880+0 records out
156098560 bytes (156 MB) copied, 8.01464 s, 19.5 MB/s
sam 1:/opt/SAM/example 4:x
root@jango:/var/opt/SAM/root/scratch$ hdparm -t /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 196 MB in 3.13 seconds = 62.64 MB/sec
^^^
In case it bothers you, let me explain what you see above. This
sam 1:/opt/SAM/example 4:x
root@jango:/var/opt/SAM/root/scratch$
is my prompt. Recent discussion of PS1 would be relevant here.
So as you can see, I did a speed test using dd and using hdparm. I
don't know the significance of these results. By the way, although I
like the use of -USR1, especially when using dd to wipe a drive, in the
above I simply terminated with ctrl-c.
root
May 6, 2012, 7:35:01 PM5/6/12
to
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/downloads/dft32_v416_b00.iso
I'm not sure of the other site, but both files were identical.
I burned the file to a CD using CD record, but it was not
bootable.
root
May 6, 2012, 7:42:12 PM5/6/12
to
Joe Rosevear <Joe_Ro...@localhost.invalid> wrote:
>
> Sounds like a job for System Restore. I don't remember where it is in
> the Windows menus, but it can be used to set your system back to a
> previous state. I don't know how it works, but I believe it is worth a
> try. It is often recommended for undoing the harm caused by malware.
> System restore may also bring relief in the case of other non-hardware
> problems.
She tried that before she called me. Immediately after the restore
>
> Sounds like a job for System Restore. I don't remember where it is in
> the Windows menus, but it can be used to set your system back to a
> previous state. I don't know how it works, but I believe it is worth a
> try. It is often recommended for undoing the harm caused by malware.
> System restore may also bring relief in the case of other non-hardware
> problems.
she thought the problem was fix, but then she called me a few
hours later when the problems were back.
>
> Of course, there is the never-fail Wipe and Reinstall method for
> repairing a messed up system.
>
configuring her suite of image processing software.
>
> Use of dd was suggested. I didn't know it could be used as a speed
> test. I always use
be read. In order to get an idea of how long it would take I ran
the test on my system which has an almost identical setup.
I did:
time dd if=/dev/sdb of=/dev/null
I killed the process after 236 minutes and 1.9Tb copied
out of 2Tb. If I hadn't run the test I would certainly
have concluded that her drive was bad.
Thanks for replying.
dillinger
May 6, 2012, 8:43:30 PM5/6/12
to
It boots with floppy-emulation (like the old win98 CD) and it only
supports IDE and a few SCSI controllers.
To get it to work you'd need to find an MS DOS driver for your SATA
controller and then hack it into the CD/Floppy.
I wonder why they are still offering this.
Joe Rosevear
May 6, 2012, 10:07:24 PM5/6/12
to
root <NoE...@home.org> wrote:
> Joe Rosevear <Joe_Ro...@localhost.invalid> wrote:
>>
>> Sounds like a job for System Restore. I don't remember where it is in
>> the Windows menus, but it can be used to set your system back to a
>> previous state. I don't know how it works, but I believe it is worth a
>> try. It is often recommended for undoing the harm caused by malware.
>> System restore may also bring relief in the case of other non-hardware
>> problems.
>
> She tried that before she called me. Immediately after the restore
> she thought the problem was fix, but then she called me a few
> hours later when the problems were back.
You know, sometimes it matters how *far* back you go.
> Joe Rosevear <Joe_Ro...@localhost.invalid> wrote:
>>
>> Sounds like a job for System Restore. I don't remember where it is in
>> the Windows menus, but it can be used to set your system back to a
>> previous state. I don't know how it works, but I believe it is worth a
>> try. It is often recommended for undoing the harm caused by malware.
>> System restore may also bring relief in the case of other non-hardware
>> problems.
>
> She tried that before she called me. Immediately after the restore
> she thought the problem was fix, but then she called me a few
> hours later when the problems were back.
>> Of course, there is the never-fail Wipe and Reinstall method for
>> repairing a messed up system.
>>
>
> It would kill her to do that. She spent weeks installing and
> configuring her suite of image processing software.
>> Use of dd was suggested. I didn't know it could be used as a speed
>> test. I always use
>
> It wasn't suggested as a speed test, only to see if the drive could
> be read.
ran slowly.
>In order to get an idea of how long it would take I ran
> the test on my system which has an almost identical setup.
>
> I did:
> time dd if=/dev/sdb of=/dev/null
>
> I killed the process after 236 minutes and 1.9Tb copied
> out of 2Tb. If I hadn't run the test I would certainly
> have concluded that her drive was bad.
good drive? Then you compared the results?
> Thanks for replying.
You're welcome!
root
May 6, 2012, 10:18:47 PM5/6/12
to
Joe Rosevear <Joe_Ro...@localhost.invalid> wrote:
>
>>In order to get an idea of how long it would take I ran
>> the test on my system which has an almost identical setup.
>>
>> I did:
>> time dd if=/dev/sdb of=/dev/null
>>
>> I killed the process after 236 minutes and 1.9Tb copied
>> out of 2Tb. If I hadn't run the test I would certainly
>> have concluded that her drive was bad.
>
> So you're saying that you used dd on both the suspect drive and a known
> good drive? Then you compared the results?
>
She wasn't available today so I only had a chance to run
>
>>In order to get an idea of how long it would take I ran
>> the test on my system which has an almost identical setup.
>>
>> I did:
>> time dd if=/dev/sdb of=/dev/null
>>
>> I killed the process after 236 minutes and 1.9Tb copied
>> out of 2Tb. If I hadn't run the test I would certainly
>> have concluded that her drive was bad.
>
> So you're saying that you used dd on both the suspect drive and a known
> good drive? Then you compared the results?
>
the test on my drive in my working system.
Without thinking I expected the dd command to take only
a few minutes. After 4 hours I would have concluded that
my drive was bad if I didn't know better.
Grant
May 7, 2012, 5:59:36 AM5/7/12
to
than the default 512 byte read block size, add 'bs=4K' to read 4kiB
(4k binary) blocks. That makes a typical read speed dd command look
like:
dd if=/dev/sda bs=4K of=/dev/null
Of course the best way to solve persistent windows problems is:
dd if=/dev/zero bs=4K of=/dev/sda
Which not only clears the windows mess off the disk but also restores
best hard drive performance, ready for the new slackware install,
added to be on topic for this group :) Of course if you already have
dual boot machine then be sure to specify wiping out only the unwanted
partition, perhaps:
dd if=/dev/zero bs=4K of=/dev/sda1
All examples assume a single drive sda in the box.
Run any of the above in the background (or start a second terminal)
and run:
while :; do killall -USR1 dd; sleep 10; done
Good idea to only clear one partition per drive at a time unless
you really are seeking to learn the drive's seek performance (or
lack thereof).
Grant.
>-Joe
Grant
May 7, 2012, 6:02:15 AM5/7/12
to
created a new CD with that image as a file on a new filesystem.
Pop the CD into another box and see what 'ls' tells you,
dft32_v416_b00.iso or the boot CD's filesystem?
Grant.
Grant
May 7, 2012, 6:14:51 AM5/7/12
to
On Mon, 07 May 2012 20:02:15 +1000, Grant <o...@grrr.id.au> wrote:
...
>
>Grant.
...
>Pop the CD into another box and see what 'ls' tells you,
>dft32_v416_b00.iso or the boot CD's filesystem?
Hmm maybe I'm up the wrong tree here?
>dft32_v416_b00.iso or the boot CD's filesystem?
>
>Grant.
root
May 7, 2012, 9:46:58 AM5/7/12
to
Grant <o...@grrr.id.au> wrote:
> On Sun, 6 May 2012 23:35:01 +0000 (UTC), root <NoE...@home.org> wrote:
>
>>dillinger <dill...@invalid.not> wrote:
>>> On 05/06/2012 05:43 PM, root wrote:
>>>> If she were running linux I would suspect the drive is
>>>> failing. I tried to download a CD image for the Hitachi
>>>> drive fitness test disk, but that file dft32_v416_b00.iso
>>>> does not create a bootable CD.
>>>>
>>>
>>> dft32_v416_b00.iso is a bootable CD image, it boots PC DOS and then
>>> starts the utility. Where did you download it? Try it again, check your
>>> settings or try the image first in a virtual machine.
>>
>>One of the places was:
>>http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/downloads/dft32_v416_b00.iso
>>
>>I'm not sure of the other site, but both files were identical.
>>
>>I burned the file to a CD using CD record, but it was not
>>bootable.
>
> Of course not, perhaps you didn't write the image to CD, you
> created a new CD with that image as a file on a new filesystem.
>
This was the command:
> On Sun, 6 May 2012 23:35:01 +0000 (UTC), root <NoE...@home.org> wrote:
>
>>dillinger <dill...@invalid.not> wrote:
>>> On 05/06/2012 05:43 PM, root wrote:
>>>> If she were running linux I would suspect the drive is
>>>> failing. I tried to download a CD image for the Hitachi
>>>> drive fitness test disk, but that file dft32_v416_b00.iso
>>>> does not create a bootable CD.
>>>>
>>>
>>> dft32_v416_b00.iso is a bootable CD image, it boots PC DOS and then
>>> starts the utility. Where did you download it? Try it again, check your
>>> settings or try the image first in a virtual machine.
>>
>>One of the places was:
>>http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/downloads/dft32_v416_b00.iso
>>
>>I'm not sure of the other site, but both files were identical.
>>
>>I burned the file to a CD using CD record, but it was not
>>bootable.
>
> Of course not, perhaps you didn't write the image to CD, you
> created a new CD with that image as a file on a new filesystem.
>
cdrecord dev=7,0,0 dft32_v416_b00.iso
Ed Wilson
May 8, 2012, 10:51:16 AM5/8/12
to
root wrote:
> Is there a utility CD that can run a non-destructive test
> on a SATA hard disk?
Ultimate Boot CD. http://www.ultimatebootcd.com
> Is there a utility CD that can run a non-destructive test
> on a SATA hard disk?
It has the Hitachi Diagnostic program. Parted Magic is also on the disc and
it has a program that will instruct the drive to run the built in test.
If the drive is failing you might be able to use ddrescue to copy everything
to a new drive, unless everything could be recovered without error I would
prefer a clean install to a clone of a bad drive.
> Assuming the problem is with Windows and not the drive,
> can anyone suggest a diagnostic path for resolving her
> problem?
>
I would also look at wanted programs. Are there any programs that have
automatic updates that occur in the background, or do other automated tasks?
I had one problem once that I narrowed down to windows updates, it was an
old computer running on dialup connection to AOL, Every month just after
patch Tuesday the system would slow down while the updates downloaded and
installed in the background.
--
Ed
root
May 8, 2012, 2:24:30 PM5/8/12
to
Ed Wilson <ewi...@jackmaxton.com> wrote:
> root wrote:
>
>> Is there a utility CD that can run a non-destructive test
>> on a SATA hard disk?
>
> Ultimate Boot CD. http://www.ultimatebootcd.com
>
> It has the Hitachi Diagnostic program. Parted Magic is also on the disc and
> it has a program that will instruct the drive to run the built in test.
Thanks for that link. I downloaded UBCD and added it to
> root wrote:
>
>> Is there a utility CD that can run a non-destructive test
>> on a SATA hard disk?
>
> Ultimate Boot CD. http://www.ultimatebootcd.com
>
> It has the Hitachi Diagnostic program. Parted Magic is also on the disc and
> it has a program that will instruct the drive to run the built in test.
my arsenal of diagnostic disks.
Progress Report on the Windows machine.
I asked my friend to disconnect all the data drives on her machine
and to then boot up. After doing that her system ran perfectly.
I conclude that she doesn't have a virus, and it might have been
a hardware failure, but not on her main drive.
When she was disconnecting drives she noticed one of the SATA cables
was not properly seated. She has now plugged all the drives back in
and the system is running OK. As of now, it seems that the problem
was the connection to one of the SATA drives being intermittent.
>
> If the drive is failing you might be able to use ddrescue to copy everything
> to a new drive, unless everything could be recovered without error I would
> prefer a clean install to a clone of a bad drive.
>
so a drive failure would not be catastrophic.
>
>> Assuming the problem is with Windows and not the drive,
>> can anyone suggest a diagnostic path for resolving her
>> problem?
>>
>
> Others have suggested looking for unwanted programs, that is a good start.
> I would also look at wanted programs. Are there any programs that have
> automatic updates that occur in the background, or do other automated tasks?
the system down. I thought it might be doing a lot of internet traffic,
so I loaded Wireshark on my laptop to use as a packet sniffer when I did
go over there.
>
> I had one problem once that I narrowed down to windows updates, it was an
> old computer running on dialup connection to AOL, Every month just after
> patch Tuesday the system would slow down while the updates downloaded and
> installed in the background.
to this thread. I hope I will never have to use the diagnostic tools
I have amassed, but I am ready for the next time.
Thanks all.
Peter Chant
May 10, 2012, 3:13:30 AM5/10/12
to
root wrote:
> The problem is that over the past couple of weeks the
> system has slowed to a crawl. Stuff like bringing up
> Firefox has gone from an instant to several minutes.
> I helped her build the hardware, but I have had nothing
> to do with the software. She is using a Hitachi 2Tb
> Sata 3 drive for her system. She has an Intel CoreI7-2600K
> processor and 16Gb of ram.
Have a look in task manager to see if anything is maxing the CPU perhaps.
> The problem is that over the past couple of weeks the
> system has slowed to a crawl. Stuff like bringing up
> Firefox has gone from an instant to several minutes.
> I helped her build the hardware, but I have had nothing
> to do with the software. She is using a Hitachi 2Tb
> Sata 3 drive for her system. She has an Intel CoreI7-2600K
> processor and 16Gb of ram.
Anything new installed lately. Years back on my parents XP system some
gallery software was installed that came with their digital camera. This
software felt the need to scan the hard disk 24/7 for photos - it killed
performance in exactly the way you describe. Look for things running that
are not needed.
--
http://www.petezilla.co.uk
root
May 10, 2012, 9:53:03 AM5/10/12
to
there wasn't any change in the system. I don't regard such
statements as reliable, however.
I have seen performance under linux degrade when one of
my drives failed even though that drive wasn't mounted.
I am afraid that my friend's Windows kernel is scanning
her (6) drives and one or more of them is going sour.
I went over to her house yesterday and, after a short
respite the day before, her system had gone back to
the slow behavior. Once again I disconnected all
drives other than the system disk, and performance was
good. I connected the newest four data drives back
into the system and it booted up normally but shortly
after it locked up while she was viewing a YouTube
video. I consider it possible that a lockup of flash
may be a separate problem and after rebooting I have
asked her not to run flash videos until the rest of
the system can be tested out.
I connected my laptop into her network and ran
Wireshark to see if there was any unusual lan
traffic and there was not. I would expect that
virus activity which slowed the system down would
do so by internet activity.
Working with linux and syslogs is much easier than
(impenetrable) Windows.
Peter Chant
May 10, 2012, 7:10:55 PM5/10/12
to
root wrote:
>> Have a look in task manager to see if anything is maxing the CPU perhaps.
>> Anything new installed lately. Years back on my parents XP system some
>> gallery software was installed that came with their digital camera. This
>> software felt the need to scan the hard disk 24/7 for photos - it killed
>> performance in exactly the way you describe. Look for things running
>> that are not needed.
>>
>
> I will ask her again , but she had earlier assured me that
> there wasn't any change in the system. I don't regard such
> statements as reliable, however.
>
I'd still check taskmanager. IIRC from my parents machine the photo gallery
>> Have a look in task manager to see if anything is maxing the CPU perhaps.
>> Anything new installed lately. Years back on my parents XP system some
>> gallery software was installed that came with their digital camera. This
>> software felt the need to scan the hard disk 24/7 for photos - it killed
>> performance in exactly the way you describe. Look for things running
>> that are not needed.
>>
>
> I will ask her again , but she had earlier assured me that
> there wasn't any change in the system. I don't regard such
> statements as reliable, however.
>
programme issue occured months or even years after the software was
installed. Someone must have clicked on something which made it put itself
in the startup menu. When it is running slowly check taskmanager to see if
anything is maxing the CPU. Not sure how you do the equivalent for disk
thrashing, if that is the issue, but I'd suspect anything working the disk
hard would have noticable CPU usage.
> I have seen performance under linux degrade when one of
> my drives failed even though that drive wasn't mounted.
> I am afraid that my friend's Windows kernel is scanning
> her (6) drives and one or more of them is going sour.
better to retain your hair before it falls out by going for one or two
bigger ones surely?
OK, technically my PC here has three - but there is one for system, one for
data and an external usb one for backups nightly via rsync - I'd not count
that as a 3rd disk.
Pete
--
http://www.petezilla.co.uk
root
May 10, 2012, 8:57:59 PM5/10/12
to
Peter Chant <pet...@MpeteOzilla.Vco.ukE> wrote:
> root wrote:
>
>
> root wrote:
>
>
> Eek - why 6 - this is a home pc not a datacentre! If they are small its
> better to retain your hair before it falls out by going for one or two
> bigger ones surely?
My friend is a professional (avid) photographer.
> better to retain your hair before it falls out by going for one or two
> bigger ones surely?
She has a total of 15Tb of data in the machine. Her entire photo portfolio.
It is also backed up to a number of external drives.
Markus
May 10, 2012, 11:58:38 PM5/10/12
to
On Fri, 11 May 2012 00:57:59 +0000 (UTC), root <NoE...@home.org>
wrote:
diskspace in one computer. Maybe this would work in a server, but not
im a norml Windows-PC.
You should at least disable the indexing of any partition, this can
be done in the "properties" menu of any drive.
And unplug the USB backup-drives when they are not used.
You should think about installing a Slackware-machine as a server for
the data, but with real serverhardware.
--
Markus
wrote:
> She has a total of 15Tb of data in the machine. Her entire photo
portfolio.
I would never believe that this can work, I mean such an amount of
portfolio.
diskspace in one computer. Maybe this would work in a server, but not
im a norml Windows-PC.
You should at least disable the indexing of any partition, this can
be done in the "properties" menu of any drive.
And unplug the USB backup-drives when they are not used.
You should think about installing a Slackware-machine as a server for
the data, but with real serverhardware.
--
Markus
Helmut Hullen
May 11, 2012, 12:14:00 AM5/11/12
to
Hallo, Markus,
Du meintest am 11.05.12:
>> She has a total of 15Tb of data in the machine. Her entire photo
> portfolio.
> I would never believe that this can work, I mean such an amount of
> diskspace in one computer. Maybe this would work in a server, but not
> im a norml Windows-PC.
Why not?
On my system I run a bundle of disks with about 8 TByte only for my
video collection. No business critical data, only "nice to have".
> You should think about installing a Slackware-machine as a server for
> the data, but with real serverhardware.
Which "real serverhardware" do you mean? For a photo collection you'll
probably need a file system which can manage lots of files.
That's no windows problem (ok: windows knows only 2 file systems),
that's no hardware problem.
Viele Gruesse
Helmut
"Ubuntu" - an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".
Du meintest am 11.05.12:
>> She has a total of 15Tb of data in the machine. Her entire photo
> portfolio.
> I would never believe that this can work, I mean such an amount of
> diskspace in one computer. Maybe this would work in a server, but not
> im a norml Windows-PC.
On my system I run a bundle of disks with about 8 TByte only for my
video collection. No business critical data, only "nice to have".
> You should think about installing a Slackware-machine as a server for
> the data, but with real serverhardware.
probably need a file system which can manage lots of files.
That's no windows problem (ok: windows knows only 2 file systems),
that's no hardware problem.
Viele Gruesse
Helmut
"Ubuntu" - an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".
root
May 11, 2012, 12:32:46 AM5/11/12
to
Markus <post...@mhutmacher.de> wrote:
> On Fri, 11 May 2012 00:57:59 +0000 (UTC), root <NoE...@home.org>
> wrote:
>> She has a total of 15Tb of data in the machine. Her entire photo
> portfolio.
>
> I would never believe that this can work, I mean such an amount of
> diskspace in one computer. Maybe this would work in a server, but not
> im a norml Windows-PC.
>
> You should at least disable the indexing of any partition, this can
> be done in the "properties" menu of any drive.
> And unplug the USB backup-drives when they are not used.
Please explain the "indexing" thing.
> On Fri, 11 May 2012 00:57:59 +0000 (UTC), root <NoE...@home.org>
> wrote:
>> She has a total of 15Tb of data in the machine. Her entire photo
> portfolio.
>
> I would never believe that this can work, I mean such an amount of
> diskspace in one computer. Maybe this would work in a server, but not
> im a norml Windows-PC.
>
> You should at least disable the indexing of any partition, this can
> be done in the "properties" menu of any drive.
> And unplug the USB backup-drives when they are not used.
>
> You should think about installing a Slackware-machine as a server for
> the data, but with real serverhardware.
>
Markus Hutmacher
May 11, 2012, 1:29:23 AM5/11/12
to
Am Fri, 11 May 2012 04:32:46 +0000 schrieb root:
> Please explain the "indexing" thing.
In "my Computer" rightclick on any drive (for example d:) on the bottom
> Please explain the "indexing" thing.
of the window you'll find an entry about indexing (not sure about the
english denomination, in german "Indexierung") and disable it.
The indexing means that Windows creates a special Table of contents for
any file on the drive, this indexing uses much of the computerperformance
and is done with a high priority http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Indexing_Service
> Give me a suggestion for the hardware.
drives and that the throughput of data is high enough. This amount of
data cannot be handled with cheap hardware.
--
Markus
Helmut Hullen
May 11, 2012, 2:13:00 AM5/11/12
to
Hallo, root,
Du meintest am 11.05.12:
>>> She has a total of 15Tb of data in the machine. Her entire photo
>> portfolio.
>> I would never believe that this can work, I mean such an amount of
>> diskspace in one computer. Maybe this would work in a server, but
>> not im a norml Windows-PC.
>>
>> You should at least disable the indexing of any partition, this can
>> be done in the "properties" menu of any drive.
>> And unplug the USB backup-drives when they are not used.
> Please explain the "indexing" thing.
That's some windows bullshit. Under Linux near to "locate" and/or btree
indexing.
Du meintest am 11.05.12:
>>> She has a total of 15Tb of data in the machine. Her entire photo
>> portfolio.
>> I would never believe that this can work, I mean such an amount of
>> diskspace in one computer. Maybe this would work in a server, but
>> not im a norml Windows-PC.
>>
>> You should at least disable the indexing of any partition, this can
>> be done in the "properties" menu of any drive.
>> And unplug the USB backup-drives when they are not used.
> Please explain the "indexing" thing.
indexing.
Helmut Hullen
May 11, 2012, 2:14:00 AM5/11/12
to
Hallo, Markus,
Du meintest am 11.05.12:
Du meintest am 11.05.12:
>> Give me a suggestion for the hardware.
> Well, I'm no expert for hardware, but you should at least look for
> fast drives and that the throughput of data is high enough. This
> amount of data cannot be handled with cheap hardware.
In other words: you don't know.
> Well, I'm no expert for hardware, but you should at least look for
> fast drives and that the throughput of data is high enough. This
> amount of data cannot be handled with cheap hardware.
Markus Hutmacher
May 11, 2012, 4:14:47 AM5/11/12
to
On Fri, 11 May 2012 08:14:00 +0200, Helmut Hullen wrote:
> In other words: you don't know.
Yes, exactly, I don't know. But I would ask someone who has more
> In other words: you don't know.
knowledge than me _before_ purchasing hardware for this purpose and
putting such an amount of data on a machine.
--
Markus
root
May 11, 2012, 9:44:56 AM5/11/12
to
like swish-e running under linux which indexes text files.
Swish-e is a one-time use program that builds an index that
can be used sort of like grep -l TEXT *.
Incidentally, I have praised the performance of swish-e in
the past.
Markus Hutmacher
May 11, 2012, 10:18:49 AM5/11/12
to
Am Fri, 11 May 2012 13:44:56 +0000 schrieb root:
> From the description given, I take "indexing" to mean something like
> swish-e running under linux which indexes text files. Swish-e is a
> one-time use program that builds an index that can be used sort of like
> grep -l TEXT *.
Yes, this is something similar.
> From the description given, I take "indexing" to mean something like
> swish-e running under linux which indexes text files. Swish-e is a
> one-time use program that builds an index that can be used sort of like
> grep -l TEXT *.
> Incidentally, I have praised the performance of swish-e in the past.
Unfortunately Windows isn't Linux and a M$-Programm (or tool) is not
necessarily as good as it's counterpart for Linux (as we all know).
Disabling indexing in Windows is often taken as a "last resort" when a PC
is very slow.
Another thing:
Did you check the logfiles on the Windows-machine? You can find the logs
with a rightklick on "my Computer"->"manage". If there is really
something wrong with the computer, you should find some hints there.
--
Markus
Helmut Hullen
May 11, 2012, 11:25:00 AM5/11/12
to
Hallo, root,
Du meintest am 11.05.12:
Du meintest am 11.05.12:
>>> Please explain the "indexing" thing.
>> That's some windows bullshit. Under Linux near to "locate" and/or
>> btree indexing.
>> That's some windows bullshit. Under Linux near to "locate" and/or
>> btree indexing.
> From the description given, I take "indexing" to mean something
> like swish-e running under linux which indexes text files.
> Swish-e is a one-time use program that builds an index that
> can be used sort of like grep -l TEXT *.
That sounds like "locate"/"slocate"/"mlocate". May be good enough for a
> like swish-e running under linux which indexes text files.
> Swish-e is a one-time use program that builds an index that
> can be used sort of like grep -l TEXT *.
system which changes only few files per day.
root
May 11, 2012, 11:43:02 AM5/11/12
to
my friend to bring up the screen. She says that 3 options come
up: system tools, storage, and services-applications. Under
storage the drives are listed. Under system tools there is
task-scheduler, event-viewer, shared folders, local users
groups, performance, and device manager. She was able to find
some syslog-like entries under the event-viewer screen, but
the entries were quite old, indicating to me that no log entries
were created by the problems. Right now I have her running the
machine with her system drive and only two data drives.
Thanks very much for the log info.
root
May 11, 2012, 11:48:51 AM5/11/12
to
In one of my directories I have something like 9000 text files
with static content. I ran swish-e to index those files and
can retrieve file names by a regular expression search of
the file contents. Like this: give me all files that have
the words huge or large but not small. I could use egrep for
every such search, but with indexing I don't have to read the
files every time I want to look.
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