My PC's HDD is behaving strangely

[Beorning]

First of all: I know it's a PC issue and that, maybe, it should posted somewhere else. But I do not see the Computer Problems subforum anymore? Has it been deleted?

Anyway...

I bought a new PC in January and there's one thing about it that drives me nuts: the HDD's behaviour.

It's like this: my Windows Explorer is, for some of the folders, set up to display the newest files first.  And it does so... but there's a horrible lag about.

What I mean by that is: when I open one of those folders, Explorer displays the files alphabetically. It starts processing something... and, after a few seconds, it shows the files as I want them to. While it's open, it keeps displaying them as I want them. But, if I close it and open it again, it shows the files alphabetically again. And it needs to do some processing to display them in the desired order once more. The same happens if I want to save a file from some application: I click "Save", the app opens the appropriate window... and it needs to do some processing before displaying any folder as expected. It makes saving anything more time-consuming.

I don't know what's going on? It seems as if the HDD was going to sleep any time it's not accessed. Alternatively, it keeps losing some sort of file index data (or something like that) and needs to scan the folders every time they are accessed.

Whatever it is, it's annoying as heck. Any advice?

[Vekseid]

It was merged because people were sometimes using this forum anyway.


There may be multiple things going on here.

I haven't used HDDs in a very long time now, so I can't really speak to the speed aspect. You may want to check your power settings to make sure it isn't getting shut off routinely. There's a lot that can be going on here though. Another thing that comes to mind is checking if the indexing service is running/working.

For it reverting to alphabetical settings, you might have folder customization disabled somehow. This is actually a hidden file that gets saved in every folder - if something is stopping that from happening, your per-folder settings won't be saved.

[Beorning]

There may be multiple things going on here.

I haven't used HDDs in a very long time now, so I can't really speak to the speed aspect. You may want to check your power settings to make sure it isn't getting shut off routinely. There's a lot that can be going on here though. Another thing that comes to mind is checking if the indexing service is running/working.

For it reverting to alphabetical settings, you might have folder customization disabled somehow. This is actually a hidden file that gets saved in every folder - if something is stopping that from happening, your per-folder settings won't be saved.

How do I check the power settings and the indexing service? Is it something within BIOS?

As for the alphabetical settings, let me clarify: it's not that the folders keep reverting and I have to keep actively clicking on order the files the right way. It's just that, whenever I go into a folder, Explorer initially displays files alphabetically, then the HDD starts working (the "scratching" sounds are heard) - and, after a few seconds, the files get ordered according to my preferences.

Could it be that the HDD keeps going to sleep mode? A collegue of mine suggested this possibility.

[snuff doll]

i think sleep mode is the same settings that @Vekseid is referring to, i did defactor IT work at my old job but i'm not exactly an expert

i think you can access all these settings by right clicking on the drive itself, i do most of my writing out of my tablet now so i can't be sure exactly about the series of clicks to get to the power/sleep settings but i think that's your best bet

just never let it sleep and see if that resolves the issue, and revert if that doesn't solve it (as it could be something else, ie bad drive)

[Vekseid]

At least for me, the drive power settings in Windows 10 are under Settings -> System -> Power -> Additional Power Settings -> You get a list of plans. You can change the plan, then go to 'advanced plan settings, the hard disk shutoff option should be first.

In Windows 10 the indexing service is the Windows Search service. You can see if this is running under Services.

[Beorning]

OK, I checked the things you guys mentioned.

The indexing service / Windows Search is turned on. When it comes to power settings, I have Windows 11. It has some options for power... but I cannot see anything related to HDD...

(BTW. I absolutely hate Windows 11. I cannot find anything in this system anymore)

I'll try looking into BIOS, maybe there's something there...

One thing I forgot to add: aside from problem I described, there's also a second one. Occassionally, my PC fails to detect my HDD altogether... I need to restart the system - and it appears again. What the heck?