Slow Response Closing or Deleting Files

[tahoebob]

Setup
Primary Sage Box:
Case: Silverstone LaScala LC-10M with 480 PSU
MOBO: Intel D925SCVLK with SATA support and integrated Gigabit Ethernet
CPU: Intel P4 520 2.8 Ghz, with ThermalTake Jungle 512 HeatSink/Fan
Memory: 1 GB (2 x 512MB Kingston ValueRam 512 DDR2 4200)
OS: WinXP Home with SP2
HD: 2 x 400 GB Hitachi Deskstar SATA - Primary Drive Partitioned with Sage Library formatted at 64K cluster size. Both drives dedicated to Sage TV Recordings.
Graphics Card: NVidia GeForce 6800 256M PCI Express
Sound Card: Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2ZS
DVD: Dual Layer NEC Burner ND-3560A
PVR: 2 x Hauppage 250, One to premium Cable Box, one to standard cable
latest Hauppage drivers.
Sage: v 2.2.7

Network Encoder:
Dell Dimension 8400 WinXP Home SP2, Integrated Gigabit Ethernet
2 x 400 GB SATA Hard Drives, Primary Drive partitioned. Drives used for “Imported Video Files” – formatted at 64K.
2 x Hauppage 250, one to premium cable box, one to standard cable.
SageRecorder v 1.5.6

I've been running this setup since March 2005 with only minor problems that were all quickly resloved. Both boxes are dedicated to HTPC functions. Except for Sage they are used only occasionally for Music and simple games, neither recently. My Sage usage is entirely recording (usually from Favorites) and playback of the recorded files. I use a wireless mouse instead of the remote.

2 days ago, I began experiencing the following problem. I've searched the forum for "Slow Response" and the posts did not appear to be similiar to my problem. There have been no changes or updates to the system except for recordings and the normal EPG updates:

When I finish watching a recording, I close the file (before the very end), I am then returned to the Main Menu. I click on "Sage TV Recordings" and It then takes approx 90 seconds before the system responds. The mouse cursor responds to movement but nothing else happens. When it finally responds I delete the file. It then takes another 90 seconds to respond. After that further playback is entirely normal with almost instantaneous response. Recording appears to be normal.

I have "Automatic Updates" disabled for both WinXP and my Virus Program. So far I have tried the following with no change in results:
Updated Adware, Spyware and Virus programs and run scans.
Disabling the Virus Program and SpywareBlaster.
Removing the "Imported Video Directory" references
Checked Disk Space - I have 250 to 300GB available on both drives
Looked at the size of the wiz.bin file - it's about 4MB
Reviewed CPU usage during the nonresponsive time, it runs 1 to 3%

If anyone can think of what else to check, I'd appreciate any input.

[waynedunham]

Not sure how much it may effect speed, especially the lag you're seeing, but check the disk fragmentation.

Is it all recordings, or only some? I wonder if one of your drives could be heading south and it's having a tough time seeking, hence the lag.

Hope it's not the drive(s), sounds like they're not all that old.

[tahoebob]

So far it has been all the recordings (starting 2 days ago). One of the disks is currently empty so I'll defrag it and move some of the recordings over there and try it. Thanks for the feedback.