David G wrote:

> /Using HD Tach 3, I got an average 1.7 MB/sec read rate on the backup
> drive./
> /My SATA HD tests in at about 130 MB/sec./
> /The drivers are updated as far as I know (using Device Manager)./
> /I have disabled my antivirus during the test to no avail./
> /There is something amiss here, but I am not knowledgeable enough to
> correct it./
> /Help?/
> //
> /David/
> //
>
> "Jim" <null@null.com <mailto:null@null.com>> wrote in message
> news:UiOgf.17717$qw.11540@fed1read07...
> A typical SATA/PATA (non WD Raptor) HD today should be at least
> 25-35MB/sec.
> Either your calculations are incorrect, or something else is going on
> there.
> You might want to check out Hd Tach 3 (
> http://www.simplisoftware.com/Public...request=HdTach ) and make
> sure things are working normally.
>
> Jim
>
>
> "David G" <david_g99352@yahoo.com <mailto:david_g99352@yahoo.com>>
> wrote in message
> news:OhwJOr77FHA.3752@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> My Dell 8400 came with a SATA HD, and I installed a second parallel ATA HD
> to use for data backup. I am experiencing data xfer rates from the SATA
> drive to the backup of around 1.5 - 1.6 MB/sec. Does this seem right?
> Seems slow to me. Is there something I can do to speed up the xfer rate?
>
> TIA
> David
>
That's horribly slow, and HDtach is clearly pointing at the PATA HD
instead of the SATA HD as the culprit. Check to see if the PATA HD
is using PIO mode (slow) instead of DMA, and check to see if the
PATA HD has write caching enabled (caching helps performance).

What is the PATA HD? If it is an antique, 1-2 MB/s may be correct;
for anything <10 years old, that indicates a problem.

--
Cheers, Bob