Delay when using external HD
Q: I experience a delay or freeze when loading a song from an external hard drive
If you experience a delay when trying to access an external hard drive and/or load a song from it then this may be caused by the external drive going to sleep due to lack of activity. On some computers this can also occur for songs loaded from the internal drive too, if this has been configured to sleep in your computer's power management settings.
Most songs are loaded fully into memory in VirtualDJ, resulting in no further disk activity, so the time between loading one song and the next may be enough for the drive to enter saving mode.
When you next try to load a file from the drive, it will cause a delay and the user interface (Skin) will freeze until the hard drive 'wakes up' and spins back up to normal speed. The time this takes will depend on the drive and its manufacturer.
If you experience long delays (More than a few seconds), then this may be due to an older, slower drive not really intended for performance use. You should consider replacing it with a better drive that is able to wake from sleep faster.
An option for some drives is utility software that regularly writes a small file to the drive to keep it alive, but this will increase wear and tear on the drive, reducing its lifespan - Search Google for: prevent external hard disk from going to sleep
Delays when accessing and/or loading songs can also indicate a failing hard drive. If a disk that was previously working with no problems starts experiencing delays then this is an indication of possible impending failure. You should back up the files on it immediately and then use tools such as scan disk, etc. to verify the drive's health. Always ensure that you have a full back up of your music collection and your VirtualDJ database.
Related Topics:
FAQ How can I backup my VirtualDJ database?
FAQ How can I improve my PC's performance?
FAQ What can I do to improve my Mac's performance?
FAQ Knowledge Database
If you experience a delay when trying to access an external hard drive and/or load a song from it then this may be caused by the external drive going to sleep due to lack of activity. On some computers this can also occur for songs loaded from the internal drive too, if this has been configured to sleep in your computer's power management settings.
Most songs are loaded fully into memory in VirtualDJ, resulting in no further disk activity, so the time between loading one song and the next may be enough for the drive to enter saving mode.
When you next try to load a file from the drive, it will cause a delay and the user interface (Skin) will freeze until the hard drive 'wakes up' and spins back up to normal speed. The time this takes will depend on the drive and its manufacturer.
If you experience long delays (More than a few seconds), then this may be due to an older, slower drive not really intended for performance use. You should consider replacing it with a better drive that is able to wake from sleep faster.
An option for some drives is utility software that regularly writes a small file to the drive to keep it alive, but this will increase wear and tear on the drive, reducing its lifespan - Search Google for: prevent external hard disk from going to sleep
Delays when accessing and/or loading songs can also indicate a failing hard drive. If a disk that was previously working with no problems starts experiencing delays then this is an indication of possible impending failure. You should back up the files on it immediately and then use tools such as scan disk, etc. to verify the drive's health. Always ensure that you have a full back up of your music collection and your VirtualDJ database.
Related Topics:
FAQ How can I backup my VirtualDJ database?
FAQ How can I improve my PC's performance?
FAQ What can I do to improve my Mac's performance?