How To Accelerate Performance of Hard Disk and Maintenance Tips

Hard Disks aren’t passé yet mainly because of its low cost compared to SSDs. But Problem with these HDs is the speed which is usually related to the mechanical components of Hard Drive used for reading and writing data on disk sectors.

Performance degrades day by day, since the other PC items depend on the data stored on the HD. Of course, this slowing down is much more aggravating for the most demanding applications and games. To circumvent the problem, here are some quick tips to accelerate performance of Hard Drives.

Setup and Physical Maintenance of Hard Disk

1. Check if disk is properly screwed and installed source provides sufficient power to run.
2. Make Sure there are no Jumper misconfiguration. It is recommended to set the Hard Disk as Master.
3. If your motherboard is compatible with SATA drives, please use the latest standard supported and make sure the HD is not configured to operate in compatibility mode.
4. Enter the BIOS and see if the configuration is correct. Make Sure that the option “Block Mode” is enabled.

Before Installing Linux

If you are performing a new installation of Linux, create the swap partition before the root. Follow the recommendations of the distribution you are installing. The Penguin operating system needs blocks of the first hard drive to work with temporary files. This speeds up your computer performance considerably.

Windows Setup

At the time of installing Windows, you should do it in a separate partition. So, before you begin the process, partition your hard disk, leaving considerable space for the system essential programs and temporary files.

Let’s take an example: if your drive has 500 GB, 100 GB worth leaving for the installation of Windows. The remaining nearly 400 GB should make the secondary partition, which will serve to store your documents and prevent data loss in situations that need to reinstall the operating system.

Windows virtual memory

Microsoft’s system stores temporary files in a paging file. If your computer has at least 8 GB of RAM, you can disable this feature. However, if not, then follow the steps below to set PageFile configuration:

1. Go to Start Menu >> Properties of Computer
2. On Windows System Properties, click on “Advanced Settings” on left pane.
3. In Advanced Tab, Click on “Settings” button in Performance.
4. Again, under Advance Tab, Click on “Change” Button under Virtual Memory Options.
5. Uncheck “Automatically manage Paging File size” and select “Custom Size”
6. In the “Initial Size“, enter at least 1024 MB for the system to unload the kernel in an emergency. In “Maximum Size“, enter 1.5 Times the amount of RAM installed. For example: I have 4GB of RAM on my system so, for me it will be 4×1.5=6GB i.e. 6144 

Preventive Maintenance

Having installed the drive correctly and configured the system to use it optimally, you just have to do the occasional defragmentation. This process helps to organize the data from the HD, which facilitates procedures for reading and writing.

• Does Defragmenting Shorten HDDs Life?

Windows does have an inbuilt Defragment tool but there are some better tools out there which does the same job in more optimized manner. Check out Best Defragment Tools for Windows and decide which one to go with.

Useful Tips to Buy a New HardDisk

Over time, the hard drive may have problems or do not offer enough space for your data. If this is the case, purchase of a new component can be interesting. However, buying a HD should be planned, because every little detail makes a difference in time to perform robust software. Pay attention to the following factors:

• Memory cache: choose a model with 32 or 64 MB;
• RPM: 7200 rpm disks are faster;
• Average access time: choose a HD at the lowest possible value;
• Technology: prefer a component with more advanced features and search for information on what each manufacturer offers;
• Interface: find a disk with the most current standard. (Though, SATA 3.0 is latest however 2.0 is enough)
• Storage space: purchase a product with the largest size possible, because the trend is significantly increasing the size of files and programs.

Of course, all these tips can result in small improvements, but we can not guarantee that your computer will be much faster because hard disks are no longer so quick. It seems that the evolution to the SSD will be inevitable, at least with regard to speed. And already we are seeing that most of the users are using SSDs as Primary / OS Drive while HDs are used for rest of the storage.