https://superuser.com/questions/1152901/hard-disk-suddenly-is-extremely-slow
My workday involves plugging hard drives into workstations for data destruction. Often, I come across hard drives that have the following problems that do not raise any errors from S.M.A.R.T. tests: Very slow random write speed. This could be due to internal resistance on the spinning platters or resistance on the read/write head.

https://www.easeus.com/partition-manager-software/hard-drive-very-slow-suddenly.html
2. External hard drive slow and unresponsive. Connect your external hard drive to a new USB port to a new computer to check whether it's really not responding. Sometimes a damaged USB port will disallow your drive to show up and respond properly on the PC. Full solutions to how to fix external hard drive not responding. 3. Fix slow external

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ways-to-improve-your-computer-s-performance-c6018c78-0edd-a71a-7040-02267d68ea90
Ways to improve your computer's performance. Windows 7. Fragmentation makes your hard disk do extra work that can slow down your computer. Removable storage devices such as USB flash drives can also become fragmented. Disk Defragmenter in Windows rearranges fragmented data so your disks and drives can work more efficiently.

https://www.easeus.com/partition-master/speed-up-hard-drive.html
Step 2. Shrink a disk partition to create unallocated space. Right-click on the target drive partition with a lot free space and select "Resize/Move". Drag either end of the partition rightwards or leftwards to shrink the partition size so as to get ample unallocated space.

https://silicophilic.com/fix-slow-hard-drive/
To use the built in defrag tool in Windows 10, follow these steps: Open File explorer using the keyboard shortcut Win + E. Go to the drive that you wish to defrag using the built-in utility. Right click on any empty space to reveal the context menu. Click on Properties from the additional menu revealed. Switch to the Tools tab.

https://softwarekeep.com/blogs/how-to/how-to-test-hard-drive-speed-windows
If your hard drive is full, it can slow down your computer. To free up disk space, delete any files or programs that you no longer need. Defragment your hard drive: Over time, your hard drive can become fragmented, slowing down your computer. To defragment your hard drive, open the Disk Defragmenter tool and select "Analyze" to see if your hard

https://www.majorgeeks.com/content/page/how_to_speed_up_that_slow_hard_drive.html
1: Get an SSD Hard Drive If you have a Desktop, the best move is to buy an SSD hard drive and use your current drive as a backup. SSD drives are faster, and most companies include data migration software. In other words, you clone your existing hard drive to the SSD drive, swap drives, wipe your original drive and back up to it.

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/increase-hard-drive-speed-performance-in-windows-10
1] Defragment and Optimize Drives. Windows has a Disk Defragmenter tool which has been there for a very long time. It improves performance by rearranging the files in such a way that they can be

https://www.diskpart.com/windows-10/increase-hard-drive-speed-windows-10-0216-rc.html
Step 2. Select your hard drive from the Disk drives option on the left menu. Step 3. Right-click the hard drive and select Properties. Step 4. In the Properties menu, navigate to the Policies tab. Step 5. Check the Better performance (default) option and click OK.

https://hetmanrecovery.com/recovery_news/what-to-do-when-your-hard-disk-gets-slow.htm
Fragmentation of files can affect the performance of a hard disk by making it take longer for the computer to access and read the files. When a file is fragmented, it is split into multiple pieces and stored in different areas of the hard drive. This can cause the hard drive to take longer to locate and read the file, resulting in slower

https://www.technewstoday.com/how-to-increase-disk-speed/
Press the Windows + R key simultaneously. Type diskmgmt.msc and press Enter. Right-click on the drive you want to divide, then click on Shrink volume. Now, enter the amount of space to shrink in the Enter the amount of space to shrink in MB , Then, click on Shrink and wait for the process to complete.

https://www.easeus.com/computer-instruction/increase-hard-drive-speed-windows-10.html
Disabling the virtual memory/Paging file can improve the hard drive performance if your hard drive is slow and on low disk space. Follow the given steps to disable the virtual memory/ paging files. Step 1. Left-click the Windows main menu and search for Settings options. Step 2. Go to System > About > Advanced system settings from the left side

https://www.lifewire.com/fix-disk-usage-windows-10-4583918
A slow-running computer often bogs because Windows commits significant system resources into disk read and write operations. ... It uses a file on the hard drive called swapfile.sys to hold it. As Windows works with that information, it constantly reads and writes to swapfile.sys, driving up disk usage.

https://7datarecovery.com/blog/hard-drive-is-slow/
To defrag a hard drive that is slow, follow these steps (Windows 10 and Windows 11): Type "defrag" in Windows Search ( Windows Key + S ). Click on the Defragment and Optimize Drives app. Select your hard drive and click on Analyze. Wait for the process to complete. Now, click on the Optimize option.

https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/optimize-ssd-in-windows
Type "Device Manager" into the search box and launch the utility. (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) 2. Scroll down to Disk drives, right-click on your SSD, and select Properties. (Image credit: Tom's

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/2-effective-tools-that-can-increase-your-hard-drive-performance-windows/
To repartition a hard drive using Disk Management, follow the steps below: Right-click the Start menu. Select Disk Management to open the tool. Right-click on a drive and select Shrink Volume. Right-click on the freed-up space and choose New Simple Volume. Choose how large you want to make the new volume. Select the drive letter for the new volume.

https://www.isunshare.com/windows-10/fixed-hard-drive-running-slow-in-windows-10.html
Step 1: In File Explorer, choose Properties option in the right-click menu of the disk that you want to defragment. Step 2: Click Tools option in the upper pane and hit Optimize button. Step 3: Choose the target disk again and hit Optimize button to defragment the chosen disk. If the above 5 ways fail to fix your slow hard drive, it's most

https://www.maketecheasier.com/tools-improve-windows-hard-drive-performance/
However, with the most recent Windows 10, slow hard drive performance is not as persistent as in previous Windows versions. But this does not mean the problem does not exist. In the case of Windows 10 slow hard drive performance, certain software tools can solve the problem. Also read: How to Format a Hard Drive in Windows 10. 1. Windows Device

https://www.howtogeek.com/341268/what-to-do-when-your-hard-drive-fails/
For example, if your computer doesn't detect the drive during the boot-up process, you should open its case and check the cables that connect the hard drive to the motherboard and power supply. Unplug the cables and plug them back in, ensuring you have a solid connection. Your hard drive may just have a cable that's come loose.

https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/check-your-hard-drives-health
Click System Report and select Storage from the list. Make sure the correct drive is selected (it's called Macintosh HD by default) and look for S.M.A.R.T. Status in the window. The status should

https://www.easeus.com/computer-instruction/hard-drive-slow-to-read-how-can-i-fix-it.html
If the slow hard drive is a data disk, try "Large File Cleanup". Follow the steps below to fix the hard drive slow to read. Step 1. Download and install EaseUS Partition Master Suite. Free Download. Windows 11/10/8/7 100% Secure. Step 2.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/hard-drive-slow-on-windows-10/8a8bb3e6-0be8-4e72-b18a-f79cd49922eb
Not enough hard drive space, too many unused programs. Left over programs, old cached and temporary files Too many programs running at startup or in the background Data Corruption, hard disk fragmentation Missing Windows updates or outdated drivers. I would suggest you to install all the windows updates and update all your drivers.

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fix-slow-external-hard-drive/
Whenever you experience hard disk issues, one of the first things you should do is defragment your drive. Windows 10 features the Defragment and Optimize Drives tool. To use this: Click Start. Type "defragment" or "optimize". Click Defragment and Optimize Drives. Select the troublesome drive. Select Analyze.

https://www.xda-developers.com/reveal-what-is-taking-up-space-on-windows/
When a drive is too full, it can slow down performance. But it's not always easy to find out what exactly is using up all the space on my SSD. But it's not always easy to find out what exactly is