[SOLVED] 100% cpu and disk usage, need help!!!

[charliep123]

I recently upgraded a lot of parts in my pc. These include the cpu, motherboard, and psu. I also got a new case as well. I’m using the same Hdd though. When I got my pc working, I’m getting 100% cpu usage briefly and then 100% disk usage for a while. I have tried almost everything I’ve seen online. Scanning for viruses, disabling sysmain and windows search, checking for the pci express bug, updating windows, updating drivers, and more. I have no idea what to do. I’m a student and I need to do my work but I can’t if my computer is practically unusable. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’ll leave my pc specs below

intel Q77MK motherboard
I-5 3570
Gtx 1050
14 gb ram ddr3 1333 mhz
Evga 400w psu
My hdd is pretty old, I’m not sure of the exact name but it’s a seagate 500gb hdd that runs at sata 3gb/s

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

watch Task Manager and see which processes are causing the CPU\disk % spikes.

you can also check for an updated BIOS. if this is a motherboard hardware issue it may have been corrected with an updated version.

 

[rgd1101]

fresh os install?

 

[charliep123]

watch Task Manager and see which processes are causing the CPU\disk % spikes.

you can also check for an updated BIOS. if this is a motherboard hardware issue it may have been corrected with an updated version.

Nothing is really taking up much disk at all in the task manager, but it’s still at 100%
And intel discontinued bios updates for their motherboards in 2019, so I don’t think there’s much I can do about that.

 

[charliep123]

fresh os install?

I tried that last night, no results.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

Nothing is really taking up much disk at all in the task manager, but it’s still at 100%

where are you seeing the CPU & disk usage spikes, what monitoring application?

fresh os install?

I tried that last night, no results.

when you did a fresh OS install, did you delete all partitions and format the entire disk?

if yes;
just buy a cheap priced SSD and do a fresh OS install on that.
if the problem stops, than you know it was a malfunctioning disk. plus you have a better drive to continue on with.

 

[charliep123]

where are you seeing the CPU & disk usage spikes, what monitoring application?



when you did a fresh OS install, did you delete all partitions and format the entire disk?

if yes;
just buy a cheap priced SSD and do a fresh OS install on that.
if the problem stops, than you know it was a malfunctioning disk. plus you have a better drive to continue on with.

I’m seeing it at 100% on task manager, and no I didn’t delete all the partitions and format the entire disk, how do I do that?

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

I’m seeing it at 100% on task manager

if you are seeing 100% disk usage in Task manager with the "More Details" option enabled, than there should also be a process there in the "Processes" tab's list that is also showing a high MB/s.

no I didn’t delete all the partitions and format the entire disk, how do I do that?

you can either use a 3rd party disk management software

or when installing a fresh version of Windows from a disc or a USB flash drive, it will come to a section that asks where you want to install.
here you should be able to choose to delete partitions on the disk and format the entire drive.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[charliep123]

if you are seeing 100% disk usage in Task manager with the "More Details" option enabled, than there should also be a process there in the "Processes" tab's list that is also showing a high MB/s.

you can either use a 3rd party disk management software

or when installing a fresh version of Windows from a disc or a USB flash drive, it will come to a section that asks where you want to install.
here you should be able to choose to delete partitions on the disk and format the entire drive.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

Alright, thank you. And will doing this re-install wipe out all of my files of my computer?

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

will doing this re-install wipe out all of my files of my computer?

yes.
you will have an option to "Keep my existing files" or something similar which you can select
or you can use a 3rd party backup software like Acronis True Image or something similar to backup your personal files.

 

[charliep123]

yes.
you will have an option to "Keep my existing files" or something similar which you can select
or you can use a 3rd party backup software like Acronis True Image or something similar to backup your personal files.

Okay. I have most of my personal files backed up onto a flash drive. I guess I’ll just choose to wipe everything out, I feel that’ll be more effective.

 

[charliep123]

where are you seeing the CPU & disk usage spikes, what monitoring application?



when you did a fresh OS install, did you delete all partitions and format the entire disk?

if yes;
just buy a cheap priced SSD and do a fresh OS install on that.
if the problem stops, than you know it was a malfunctioning disk. plus you have a better drive to continue on with.

I just did a fresh install of windows 10, no results. I ran a check disk and checked for errors in my drive’s properties, no results. I guess the only thing I can try now is to buy a whole new drive, but I still don’t understand how it could work perfectly fine before I upgraded some hardware and now it’s doing this.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

i would guess you have already tried different SATA cables and different SATA ports?

I still don’t understand how it could work perfectly fine before I upgraded some hardware and now it’s doing this.

being an old drive, you never know. could just be a coincidence that it failed at the same time.
or could've been some kind of power fluctuation when powering up the new hardware for the first time, etc.

a lot of times disk usage spikes are due to malware running constantly. but if you successfully wiped the only drive installed and everything on it, that would now be impossible.

 

[charliep123]

i would guess you have already tried different SATA cables and different SATA ports?


being an old drive, you never know. could just be a coincidence that it failed at the same time.
or could've been some kind of power fluctuation when powering up the new hardware for the first time, etc.

a lot of times disk usage spikes are due to malware running constantly. but if you successfully wiped the only drive installed and everything on it, that would now be impossible.

I tried a different sata port and that didn’t help, I’ll try a different sata cable if I have one. I guess I’ll pick up an ssd from Best Buy or something and see if that works. If that doesn’t work I’ll truly be stumped. I guess I’ll have no option but to take it into one of those overpriced half-scam computer tech places or just downgrade to windows 8 or something and see if that works seeing as this is a known problem with windows 10. I appreciate all of your help man, and if you think of anything else just let me know, and I’d greatly appreciate it.