The hard drive in any computer device is one of the most important elements, without which the computer is impossible in principle (except for loading the operating system from an external medium and saving information on it). However, the hard drive does not always work at full capacity, which affects the performance of the entire system as a whole. About how to speed up the hard drive using various methods, we will discuss further. However, you should immediately pay attention to the fact that outdated HDD models with a speed limit of 5600 rpm cannot be optimized, although some general actions can still be performed. Consider the main areas associated with increasing the speed of the HDD and dwell on each of them as detailed as possible. But first, let's find out why all this is necessary, because if the hard drive has some kind of limit that limits the speed of access to it, as they say, you won’t jump above your head.
Why do I need to speed up the HDD?
Speaking about why the actions described below are necessary, it should be clearly understood that the higher the speed of accessing the hard drive, the faster the operating system and the programs installed in its environment behave, even on computer configurations that minimally meet their requirements. Roughly speaking, by increasing the speed of reading information from a disk or writing some data to it, the software and software environment works faster.
The main methods of increasing speed
As for the basic techniques used to speed up access to the HDD, the usual settings for the optimal mode of operation, as is expected for some other “iron” components, are not limited. And very often you should not discount software methods, which to no lesser extent increase the performance of the hard drive and, as a result, the whole system. But the main areas that any user should know and apply them in a practical respect are the following:
- selection of the optimal operating mode of the device itself;
- access optimization through the use of software settings of the operating system;
- disk cleaning from computer debris;
- disabling unnecessary programs that slow down its work;
- regular defragmentation (for devices of the SSD class, it is not necessary to use it and is even contraindicated);
- optimal setting for using virtual memory;
- repair disk errors and fix bad sectors.
How to speed up the hard drive via BIOS?
Now let's move on to practical actions. To begin, let's see how to speed up the hard drive on a laptop or stationary computer terminal, while not considering the use of operating system tools. In this case, of course, we are talking about the primary input / output systems BIOS and UEFI. The second are newer, but the settings regarding the operation of the hard drives in them are almost identical.
First of all, when you turn on your computer or laptop, you need to go into the parameters of the primary system using the Del key (for desktop computers) or the combinations provided for this on laptops (they can vary quite a lot). Here you need to find the item responsible for the operation mode of the SATA controller. It may be in the hardware configuration or present in the parameters of peripheral devices (it all depends on the chip manufacturer and the software developer BIOS / UEFI. How to speed up the hard drive?
The advice of most experts comes down to turning on the AHCI mode, which, if I may say so, is more advanced than the IDE. True, in this case, you should be prepared for the appearance of possible problems when loading the system, and it is recommended to install this mode only if you have the appropriate knowledge. In addition, if you turn off IDE mode if you reinstall the operating system, errors will appear, or Windows will not install at all.
Viewing operating modes through the "Device Manager"
Now let’s dwell on how to speed up the hard drive in Windows 7 or in any other system with the choice of similar parameters directly in their settings. But here you need to clearly understand that the options set in the BIOS have the highest priority, so in the operating system environment it is not always possible to switch the controller operating mode.
Nevertheless, to obtain information about the desired mode, you should call the standard “Device Manager” (devmgmt.msc), find the necessary controllers in the equipment list and make sure that they are designed to use such standard modes. If the properties indicate error 45, which states that this device is disabled or not in use, this can be interpreted as a clear requirement for switching the desired mode in the primary system.
Choosing a disk operating mode in the registry
But if you understand how to speed up the hard drive in Windows 10 and below with viewing or changing the above parameters in the registry, then you can just perform the required actions, even if they are not available in the "Device Manager". In the editor (regedit) you should use the HKLM branch and find the iaStorV directory in it.
In it, to switch to AHCI mode, the values of the Start key must be changed to zero. Speaking about how to speed up the hard drive in Windows 10 and below through the registry, you can not ignore another key.
In the same directory there is a subfolder StartOverride with the parameter "0", the value of which must also be set to zero. Two exactly the same entries in the storahci and msahci folders are changed in the same way. Upon completion of editing the options, the editor should be closed and a complete restart of the system, however, for the first time, it is strongly recommended that you use the boot exclusively in safe mode.
How to speed up your hard drive: tuning performance optimization options
It is also possible to optimize the work of the hard drive through the properties parameters offered by the operating system. How to speed up the hard drive in Windows 8 or similar OS in this case? Easy too! Use the “Device Manager”, in the disk drive section, find your hard drive, through the PCM menu, open its properties and go to the policies tab. Here, the activation point for optimal performance will be presented, which you need to use. However, it may not be.
Apparently, instead of this, the cache permission settings for writing or optimization for execution will be indicated. Accordingly, they will need to be activated.
Another recommendation for optimizing the performance of the hard drive is to use the direct access to random access memory (DMA or Ultra DMA) mode, which can be set via additional parameters of the controller. For some models, this access is set by default, but the corresponding item available for configuration may not be available. In some cases, it will be impossible to change such parameters without first switching to the IDE in the BIOS.
Note: despite the fact that Windows suggests using such parameters, for obsolete hard drives they should be set only with full confidence in the support by the device itself, since it can simply fail.
Timely removal of computer debris and disk cleanup
For many, the previous methods may seem somewhat abstruse, so now, as they say, we’ll go down to the ground and see how to speed up the hard drive by using tools and methods that are familiar to every literate user. And while we dwell on factors that affect the performance of the hard drive only indirectly.
As you know, in any operating system, as both itself and the programs installed in its environment function, a huge amount of temporary files, outdated objects or residues after uninstalling some applications constantly accumulate. This also includes the saved recovery points and even some updates that hang in the system with dead weight. All this garbage needs to be cleaned regularly.
In the simplest case, you can use the standard disk cleanup tool that is available on any Windows system and run it on all disks and partitions. To remove additional components, use the cleaning of system files.
However, you can do much easier by using special optimizer programs for such purposes, in which there are corresponding modules.
Operating system autoload management
At startup, there may also be a fairly large number of software modules that start with the OS. If you understand how to speed up the hard drive, they also can not be ignored, if only because the fact that too many unnecessary background services just affect the performance.
You can deactivate unnecessary components in Windows 7 and below through the corresponding section in the configuration (msconfig), in versions 8 and 10 you can find it directly in the "Task Manager". However, not everything that can be deactivated will be shown there.
To get advanced information, it is better to use the same optimizers, among which the CCleaner program will be the best option, but sometimes autostart entries can be deleted directly in the registry (for advanced users only).
Defragmentation
Defragmentation is also a fairly powerful tool to speed up disk access, but, as mentioned above, is not used for SSD media. But on ordinary hard drives, the ordering of frequently used files should be done without fail. Again, you can use your own tools of the operating system for this, and third-party software from other developers.
Virtual Memory Actions
Finally, let's see how to speed up a Windows 10 hard drive on a laptop or desktop PC by changing the virtual memory settings for which the page file is responsible. In the case of its use, instead of RAM, the disk space of the hard drive itself is reserved. If the paging file size is too high, the hard drive is accessed excessively frequently, which reduces its overall speed. By and large, you can refuse to use the swap file altogether. Opinions of experts on this subject differ. Some believe that you can completely disable it only if you have 8 GB of RAM or higher. Others believe that even with 1 GB of RAM, nothing bad will happen. And Microsoft experts say that the choice of size is best left to the operating system. Who is right? Oddly enough, everyone is right.
But for practical reasons, it can be advised to disable the use of virtual memory only if the user needs a computer or laptop exclusively for working with office suites or for accessing the Internet. But when using resource-intensive engineering programs, graphic, sound or video editors with such settings, it’s better not to joke.
Troubleshoot and fix bad sectors
Well, in the end it remains to consider how to accelerate the work of the hard drive, due to the timely detection of errors that may be present on the hard drive, bad or unreadable sectors, access to which can cause braking. Unfortunately, the operating system itself notifies you of such problems only in the most extreme cases. Therefore, the user is better to carry out regular checks on their own. Using the standard tool is the easiest method, but if you have knowledge and experience with the command line, it is better to use its tools. By analogy with the situations described above, to run an automated check with the correction of possible failures, special applications designed for comprehensive care of the system or highly targeted programs will work well.