Severe HDD bottleneck on laptop

[Windows i7 920]

According to a benchmark I ran on my laptop, the HDD is only getting a read speed of 1 MBps... that is literally a third of my internet download speed... The laptop is also VERY slow to boot up, and load anything off the HDD...

Specs of laptop:

8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
500 GB 7200 RPM HDD 16MB cache SATA2
Intel Core i7 740 QM
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 1 GB
Windows 7 x64 Ultimate Edition SP1

Is there anything I can do about this aside from replacing the HDD (definitely going for an SSD if I have to though)?

 

[Golden]

Hi,

Have you checked for disk fragmentation? Have you tried to run a chkdsk?

Regards,
Golden

 

[karlsnooks]

According to a benchmark I ran on my laptop, the HDD is only getting a read speed of 1 MBps... that is literally a third of my internet download speed... The laptop is also VERY slow to boot up, and load anything off the HDD...

Specs of laptop:

8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
500 GB 7200 RPM HDD 16MB cache SATA2
Intel Core i7 740 QM
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 1 GB
Windows 7 x64 Ultimate Edition SP1

Is there anything I can do about this aside from replacing the HDD (definitely going for an SSD if I have to though)?

First run chkdsk from an elevated command prompt.
run chkdsk on ALL "drives"

2nd. Using the Windows Defragmenter, defragment your drives.

General advice:
When running a disk check program or
when running a defragmenter program,
then
Do nothing else. Just sit back and wait. Watch a ballgame or whatever.

Go To an Elevated Command Prompt


Elevated command prompt = Run CMD.EXE as administrator

WIN | type CMD.EXE | do not hit Enter |
in the PROGRAMS list, right-click on CMD.EXE |
choose "Run as administrator" |
Click on the YES button (if such appears)

WIN key = key with Microsoft log on top

for the guru:
WIN | type CMD.EXE | CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER key combo | ALT+Y keycombo
========================================

This is the chkdsk command you need:
CHKDSK X: /R
where you substitute your actual "drive" letter of X

======================================
To run win 7 defragmenter:
WIN | type Disk Defrag | ENTER
WIN = key with Microsoft logo on top

Let us know when you have completed both of these.

 

[OldMX]

Check the smart status of the disk with Crystal Disk Info

 

[karlsnooks]

OldMX,

Another way of checking the S.M.A.R.T status is with SPECCY. Since many people already have Speccy installed, then I'm fond of using Speccy.

SPECCY | expand Hard Drive

Here is an example of the use:

 

[OldMX]

Nice, I wasnt aware of speccy being that complete, thanks Karl!