Member Avatar for Member #114542

Hi, I'm running two 1 TB Western Digital drives, and in Windows 7, the secondary one is slow to access. I have it mounted as M:, and Windows Explorer shows a green progress bar at the top when it loads the root directory. Here's the weird part. It's VERY fast for any subdirectories. If I enter a large subdirectory, I can go into all the directories inside it very quickly, and files load quickly. But, if I navigate backwards to the root, there's a delay before it shows up again. I have Windows set to index the entire partition. There's currently about 200 GB used on the drive. Under the power settings, the hard disks are set to not turn off.

Any suggestions of what I can try?

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Dani AI

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Symptom recap (short): the root of the problem drive takes a long time to populate while subfolders and files respond quickly. That pattern usually points to something Explorer-level (enumeration, shell extensions, indexing or antivirus activity, or lots of entries in the root) rather than a raw mechanical read-speed problem.

Concrete, ordered checks and quick tests you can apply now:

  • Quick isolation: temporarily stop Windows Search and any real‑time antivirus scanning and then open the root. If the root appears instantly, the cause is one of those services.
  • Look for shell/Explorer hooks: use Process Monitor (Sysinternals) with a filter for Process Name is explorer.exe and Path begins with M:\ while opening the root. The trace will show which file/registry calls are delaying Explorer (long waits, retries or network accesses).
  • Disable non‑Microsoft shell extensions (use ShellExView): third‑party context menu, icon or preview handlers are a common cause of root delays.
  • Check the number/structure of items at the volume root: thousands of files or many junctions/desktop.ini files slow initial enumeration. As a test, move root contents into a single test folder and see if the root then lists quickly.
  • Run a filesystem check as admin:
    chkdsk M: /f /r

    Schedule if necessary and rerun after a reboot.

  • Clear thumbnail/icon caches and test again (Disk Cleanup or delete icon/thumbnail cache and restart Explorer).

Hardware/driver isolation and final steps:

  • Swap the SATA cable and try a different controller port (or test the drive on another system or via a USB adapter). Update the SATA/controller driver and, if available, the drive firmware.
  • If Procmon shows network paths or long registry lookups, inspect shortcuts, autorun/desktop.ini in the root and any custom icons that might point to network locations.
  • If all of the above fail, boot a Linux live USB and check how quickly the root lists there — that will tell you whether the issue is Windows-specific or follows the disk.

Notes tying back to earlier replies: ’s driver/port suggestion is a valid step to include in the above sequence; ’s IDE comment isn’t applicable for SATA but swapping cables/ports still belongs on the checklist. ’s observation that subfolders are fast is an important clue pointing at enumeration/Explorer activity rather than a pure hardware throughput issue.

Recommended Answers

All 8 Replies

Member Avatar for Rik_

Try backing it all up then giving it a full format. It sounds like it's indexing service may be messed up!

Member Avatar for Member #114542

Thanks, I'll try that.

Member Avatar for Rik_

Let us know how you get on!

Member Avatar for Member #114542

Well, I finally got around to backing up my data and formatting the drive. I did a full format -- not just a quick format. I restored the data, and the problem still exists. When I open the root directory it is blank and the mouse shows an icon indicating that it is busy. Then all of a sudden everything shows up at once.

Member Avatar for Rik_

It's a SATA drive right? If so, make sure your SATA and motherboard drivers are up to date.

Member Avatar for Member #114542

Yes, it is a SATA drive. I just remembered that it's a SATA III drive. There's a particular connector for SATA III RAID on the motherboard. Perhaps I should switch it to that spot. I'll try downloading the latest drivers first.

I'm using a Western Digital Caviar Black SATA III 1 TB drive in a Gigabyte X58A-UD3R.

Member Avatar for birellar

May be you hooked it up on the same IDE cable, That is why it is creating performance issue. I don't think full format will work.

Member Avatar for Member #114542

These are both SATA drives, so there are no IDE cables.

I tried running a WD diagnostic program on the drive, and it passed all the tests.

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