Question about Intel Rapid Storage Technology

[trents]

A customer's computer seems to take forever to finish loading stuff at startup. It takes probably 10 minutes or more for the HD light to settle down and get the computer to the point where it is usable without lag.

It's a Dell computer socket 775 with a QX8500 CPU. So I know a slow CPU is not responsible for this problem. 7200 rpm WD SATA hard drive less than 50% full. Single drive, no RAID. SMART info checks out good in CrystalDiskInfo.

Windows 7 home premium. 8 gb DDR 3 RAM.

Avast antivirus.

There does not seem to be an inordinate amount of stuff in startup.

I did notice that Intel Rapid Storage is not working. They tray icon for that shows a X through it. When I try to start the IRST manually it aborts and cannot load the user interface. IRST is enabled in MSCONFIG startup but when I look in Services it is not running.

My question is, could the nonfunctional IRST be causing a big hit in disk read/write? Does this technology really do anything in a non RAID setup? No flags are showing in Device Manager.

 

[mimart7]

Get the updated version from Intel. http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/rapid-storage-technology.html

 

[satrow]

No RAID, no caching SSD, no need IRST. It only adds extra drivers into the mix, the default Standard IDE ATA drivers are usually better anyway. Uninstall routine.

Avast can be a hog, I've settled for using only the file system shield - but on it's own, that's not good enough protection for a customer machine.

 

[trents]

Thanks, guys.