Hard drive suddenly slow - this may be the reason

In this article we will show you what can happen if your hard drive suddenly becomes slow. Sudden drops in the write or read rate are not uncommon, especially with older hard drives or cables. But the mainboard can also be to blame. We explain to you how this happens and how you can identify the error.

Hard drive suddenly slow - it may be the IDE channel

If your hard disk suddenly becomes slow, it is mostly because the IDE channel has switched to PIO. PIO is an alternative peripheral operating mode that is very slow. But it is less prone to errors and can work despite partially broken hardware. Therefore, the channel on which the hard disk is running always jumps to PIO mode in the event of random defects in order to continue to ensure operation. The only problem is that the speed suddenly drops drastically. Follow these steps to check and repair the error.

1. Go to Windows Search and enter "Device Manager". Open it by clicking on the corresponding search result.
2. Now open the "IDE ATA / ATAPI Controller" tab. You will probably now see 6 channels.
3. Now go through the individual entries one after the other by selecting them with a double click. Under "Advanced" you will find an entry under Devices if a hard disk is connected. If they are in PIO mode instead of DMA mode, you have found the error.
4. Change the entry again so that the channel is operated in DMA mode.
5. If the hard disk frequently switches to PIO mode, one of your cables is broken or too many sectors are no longer working on the hard disk.

Hard drive suddenly slow - there may be a hardware defect

If your hard drive is still slow, your hardware is probably malfunctioning. If you still have a guarantee on your components, you should make use of them first. Since this is usually not the case, you can try a few other things.

• Replace your Sata cables as they can be a cause of the hard drive's speed. Alternatively, you can try installing a brand new hard drive. You can find out how in the video. Our hard drive leaderboard helps with buying advice.
• So you can see if the problem is not maybe on the mainboard. If your motherboard is actually the cause, you usually can't do much more than replace the mainboard.
• You can still try to check your hard drive for bad sectors. You should then repair these bad sectors.