Funky Computer Issue? [RESOLVED]

[WhiteRose]

Alright, here's the problem:
My computer was working fine, but one day, everything started taking much longer than normal to load, and music and what-not playing stutters excessively. This doesn't happen when, for example, streaming music from the internet. My computer's built in hard drive is really old, and only has enough free space for the OS itself, so all of my files, including my cache and temporary directories, are stored on an external hard drive. I've been using this set up for a long time, and never had any trouble with it before. However, I think that this loading problem is being caused by the external hard drive loading really slow. I've tried connecting it to the computer with a different USB cable and it didn't help. Even just opening the external drive directory in Windows Explorer causes slow down and lock-ups. When opening the internal drive, it doesn't have this issue. This leads me to believe that there is a problem with the connection of the external drive. However, when the same external hard drive is connected to a different computer, it doesn't have this problem. I have absolutely no idea what to do. The USB ports on the computer seem to work fine for everything else, so I don't think that's the problem. Can anyone help me out? I've tried everything I can think of, but can't pinpoint the problem.

[Diokatsu]

Not sure how to fix this, although I had a not so extreme but similar problem. I jsut shut off my computer and it was better though so... XD

Did you try freeing up space on the hard disk, clearing your cache and checking the task manager to see what programs are eating up your RAM? You might want to try defragmenting it as well.

[WhiteRose]

I have 143GB of free space on the external drive, so I'm pretty sure that's not the problem. I'm sure this isn't a RAM issue. I know it's something to do with this external drive, as when I use the computer without it, everything works just fine. Thanks for the tips though. *Sigh* I suppose I should probably just go buy a new hard drive. Or maybe even a new computer; this one is a few years old (I got it from my parents for Christmas three years ago,) and is literally held together with duct tape. I'm mostly broke right now though, so I'm going to keep trying to fix this one until I'm sure there's nothing that can be done. If I can't get it fixed in the next couple days though, I'll have little choice, as it is completely non-functional. Not even RMXP games work; I get a "Script is hanging" error because it takes so long to load everything.

[Diokatsu]

I have 143GB of free space on the external drive, so I'm pretty sure that's not the problem. I'm sure this isn't a RAM issue. I know it's something to do with this external drive, as when I use the computer without it, everything works just fine. Thanks for the tips though. *Sigh* I suppose I should probably just go buy a new hard drive. Or maybe even a new computer; this one is a few years old (I got it from my parents for Christmas three years ago,) and is literally held together with duct tape. I'm mostly broke right now though, so I'm going to keep trying to fix this one until I'm sure there's nothing that can be done. If I can't get it fixed in the next couple days though, I'll have little choice, as it is completely non-functional. Not even RMXP games work; I get a "Script is hanging" error because it takes so long to load everything.

Wait until Blizz or winkio see this, or someone like Longfellow. They'd be able to help I think.

[winkio]

Here's what I thought of:

More information:
1.  Does the portable hard drive have any problems if you hook it up to another computer?
Yes - portable hd problem, try solution 1
No - OS problem, try solutions 2 and 3
2.  (Assuming you have windows) Right click on the drive icon.  Is there lag, or does the tooltip menu come up quickly?
Yes - probably windows being fucked up.  Defrag the OS drive, reinstall drivers, or just start fresh
No - specific driver problem or external problem, probably solution 1.
3.  Is the fan not working on the external HD?  Is it noticeably overheating?
Yes - fix the fan or move it to a more open area, clean out dust.
No - well, at least you ruled that out.

Possible solutions:
1.  Defrag the external hard drive and/or the OS drive
2.  Reinstall drivers for the external drive (or maybe even for your USB ports)
3.  Reinstall your OS, it should be easy since its separate from everything else.
4.  Clean the external hard drive and move it to open space to cool it.

[WhiteRose]

1, No; I said that in the first post.
2. No lag for the tooltip, but when I open it in explorer then there's lag.
3. There is no fan, although the hard drive is noticeably hotter than usual. It's contained in a small plastic case.
For reference, this is the hard drive I'm using:

Spoiler: ShowHide

Western Digital My Passport Essential 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive

I've defragged already and it didn't help. I'll try reinstalling the drivers for my USB ports and the hard drive itself. Thanks for your help. I'll let you know if it worked.

[Blizzard]

There's one thing you should definitely do. Open up your PC and clean it. Most CPUs have an automatic protection that either turns them off or halves their frequency when they operate on too high temperatures to prevent permanent damage. Usually they underclock on the fly and keep the frequency reduced until a specific temperature is reached, then they return to their normal clock frequency. So getting rid of all the dust in your PC can help quite a lot. In fact, I recommend doing that once every 6-12 months. It takes 15 minutes or less, but helps keep your PC healthy.
I bet you'll come across dust LAYERS on your CPU cooler. xD

[WhiteRose]

Thanks for the tip, Blizz; this is actually a laptop, though. Still, I'll take your advice for my desktop. I never knew that it should be cleaned so often. Anyway, I solved the problem. For anyone who later has this issue, here's what I did:
I had already reinstalled the USB drivers, and it didn't help. However, when I completely uninstalled the drivers, rebooted, and then reinstalled the drivers again, it fixed the problem. I'm not sure why the problem started, but I'm glad it's over with! Thanks for your help, everyone!

[Diokatsu]

Thanks for the tip, Blizz; this is actually a laptop, though. Still, I'll take your advice for my desktop. I never knew that it should be cleaned so often. Anyway, I solved the problem. For anyone who later has this issue, here's what I did:
I had already reinstalled the USB drivers, and it didn't help. However, when I completely uninstalled the drivers, rebooted, and then reinstalled the drivers again, it fixed the problem. I'm not sure why the problem started, but I'm glad it's over with! Thanks for your help, everyone!

*golf clap* Put [Resolved] in the title. That way we all know that the big ordeal is over

[winkio]

Yeah,  you'd be surprised how often Windows has driver issues.  A year ago, on my 5 year old laptop, the drivers for sound, my cd drive, usb ports, and display all got messed up in the span of 3 months.

[Blizzard]

Thanks for the tip, Blizz; this is actually a laptop, though. Still, I'll take your advice for my desktop. I never knew that it should be cleaned so often.

It actually goes for laptops as well. Just the other day I cleaned mine. xD

[Fantasist]

If I had only cleaned my laptop, it would still be working. My graphics component on the motherboard got fried (in the literal sense) and now it's useless
Of course, I've salvaged the HDD (80GB) used a casing. It's serving as a very good portable drive

[Jek]

I should clean the dust out of my desktop. Its old and ive never cleaned it. I dont think anyone has cleaned it in years!