Can an old storage HDD slow down a PC?

Well.. Can it?

I am talking about an HDD that is used just for storage of files that are not used by the system.
So unless I use them, can it slow down the PC somehow?

I'm thinking that it can't.

it cant--as long as indexing is turned off (for that drive), system protection is turned off (for that drive), it hasn't been assigned for use as a scratch disk, and finally it hasn't been assigned to perform any background functions.

NimoTony said:

it cant--as long as indexing is turned off (for that drive), system protection is turned off (for that drive), it hasn't been assigned for use as a scratch disk, and finally it hasn't been assigned to perform any background functions.

Thanks for the comment mate.
Now a few questions..

1. What do you mean by saying "Indexing"?
2. How and where do I check "system protection" for a drive?
3. Scratch disk?
4. What if I use that HDD as a torrent files drive? For seeding.

"1. What do you mean by saying "Indexing"?
2. How and where do I check "system protection" for a drive?
3. Scratch disk?
4. What if I use that HDD as a torrent files drive? For seeding"

1. see attached-right click drive--select 'properties'--check box at bottom
2. see attached-control panel>system>system protection
3. if you're using a program like Photoshop--you can setup a drive as a 'scratch disk' to allow the program to perform better--you probably don't need to worry about this.
4.for seeding--your torrent client will seed from the file's downloaded location, which could affect the drives speed but shouldn't affect the PC speed--but--will use your CPU (slightly)--best to download to a secondary drive--not your C drive--especially if your primary drive is an SSD

NimoTony said:

"1. What do you mean by saying "Indexing"?
2. How and where do I check "system protection" for a drive?
3. Scratch disk?
4. What if I use that HDD as a torrent files drive? For seeding"

1. see attached-right click drive--select 'properties'--check box at bottom
2. see attached-control panel>system>system protection
3. if you're using a program like Photoshop--you can setup a drive as a 'scratch disk' to allow the program to perform better--you probably don't need to worry about this.
4.for seeding--your torrent client will seed from the file's downloaded location, which could affect the drives speed but shouldn't affect the PC speed--but--will use your CPU (slightly)--best to download to a secondary drive--not your C drive--especially if your primary drive is an SSD

4. I meant that my "old storage drive" would be the one that holds my torrent files. It isn't C drive or any main partition. Just a simple storage drive.
Will using it for torrent seeding slow down my PC somehow (as this drive is very old, slow and potentially unstable)?

Thank you for your comment, images and explaining. Much appriciated.

you are welcome--am out

As far as indexing, it can bog down a system while indexing is running on earlier versions of Windows. But once indexing is complete, indexing needs only keep track of new files and changes to files - which would be minimal on "storage" drives.

W7 and especially W8 indexing is greatly improved over previous versions. In these versions, indexing steps way into the background when you are using your computer so don't bog our systems down.

With XP, I always disabled indexing. But W7 and especially W8 are not XP. So I keep indexing on with all my drives now.

If you are into torrents and partake in illegal filesharing (coping/distributing copyrighted materials - songs, movies, etc.) without the required compensation for the "intellectual property" and you are experiencing system slow downs, I sure would suspect malware activity and would advise to stop using torrents immediately.

Itaregid said:

As far as indexing, it can bog down a system while indexing is running on earlier versions of Windows. But once indexing is complete, indexing needs only keep track of new files and changes to files - which would be minimal on "storage" drives.

W7 and especially W8 indexing is greatly improved over previous versions. In these versions, indexing steps way into the background when you are using your computer so don't bog our systems down.

With XP, I always disabled indexing. But W7 and especially W8 are not XP. So I keep indexing on with all my drives now.

If you are into torrents and partake in illegal filesharing (coping/distributing copyrighted materials - songs, movies, etc.) without the required compensation for the "intellectual property" and you are experiencing system slow downs, I sure would suspect malware activity and would advise to stop using torrents immediately.

carwiz said:

Another option in Windows will slow response to/from a drive. That is if you have a power option set to turn off the drive after so many minutes. One more is the drive itself. The "Green" drives are slow as it is but they have firmware that shuts down the drive too. Some of the larger drives (>1TB) can take up to a minute to come "alive" if allowed to sleep.

Alright, thanks guys.

Layback Bear said:

Of course it will slow you system.
You will find that doing this will limit your help receive.
From post #5

Will using it for torrent seeding slow down my PC somehow (as this drive is very old, slow and potentially unstable)?

I am very sorry for downloading old movies I can't find anywhere in my country..