Disk at 100% after swapping out HD

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nekilof

Nov 8, 2018
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I'm attempting to fix a problem computer in my possession & hitting a wall. This system: a Dell Optiplex 3020 with a 500 HDD and 4GB RAM running Windows 10 Pro presented with a system slow down due to 100% of the disk being used by the 'system' process and a random amount re-allocated when a program was opened. The system would operate at 100% disk idle though.

I ran DBAN to wipe the system & did a clean install of Windows 10 Pro. The problem - 100% of the disk being used with the system idle, still persisted after the HD wipe and clean install. I scanned the system with an anti-virus software (Vipre) and Malwarebytes for malware - both came up negative. I then tried every single step of the guide listed here: https://www.drivereasy.com/knowledge/100-disk-usage-windows-10-fixed/ I noticed a slight change in behavior when I changed the MSISupported key under StorAHCI.sys to 0. The system no longer idles at 100%, but if you open any program, the disk usage returns to 100% with the system process taking the majority and a random amount of the disk space provided to the other program I opened. I have tried various hardware diagnostic tools including the one in the BIOS to try to detect any hardware issues. All tests pass.

I swapped out the HD to another one I had on hand - a small 150GB HD. I clean installed Windows 10 Pro on this HD (skipping the DBAN step). I noticed the same behavior on this new drive. I followed the steps in the guide again, and ended up with ultimately the same result: The system no longer idles at 100%, but if you open any program, the disk usage returns to 100% with the system process taking the majority and a random amount of the disk space provided to the other program I opened.

At this point I don't know what the "smoking gun" is. Does anyone have any other suggestions? I'd have to believe at this point it's software related since this is replicable across hard drives. If you need more info from me to offer advise, please let me know. Thank you for your help!
 
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BadAsAl

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Oct 13, 2009
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Common issue on Windows 10.

I have found a lot of times that just running all Windows updates fixes this issue too. I would do it all, feature updates included and then see how things go.

Could be a driver issue, I would get only drivers from Dell and if not available there, look them up on their manufacturers site.
 
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nekilof

Nov 8, 2018
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Hi BadAsAl, Ah! I forgot to mention I've run all Windows updates available (1803 update etc.) on both HD's and I've run Dell's Command Update for the drivers. None of the drivers have bangs when I look at the Device Manager.
 
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nekilof

Nov 8, 2018
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Unfortunately no, I've tried a clean boot on both the HD's and the problem presents identically each time: when the OS loads it'll idle at 100% disk and after I change the MSISupported key under StorAHCI.sys to 0 it'll idle at 6%-10%, but when I open a program, like FireFox the disk will return to 100% use with system using the majority of the disk space.

 
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johnbl

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Nov 4, 2012
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when the system go idle windows 8.x and above will scan your hard drive for bad and weak sectors and try to relocate info from sector that are going bad. It does this by re reading the sectors over and over until it gets a clean copy.

you can help avoid this by doing a full format of the drive before you install windows. Most people just do a quick format since a full format can take hours.

you can speed up the process by turning off the sleep functions and leaving the machine powered on over night so it can complete the process.

 
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nekilof

Nov 8, 2018
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I didn't think of indexing being a potential issue so I unchecked indexing on the C drive (and all folders and subfolders) and and the disk behavior changed again. Now the disk will stay within a tolerable amount of use until I start a program. The disk shoots up to 100%, but then slowly goes down to 3%-10% (takes about 10-15 min) unless the program is something like a virus scan software. While something that requires more resources is running, the disk use stays at 100% till the process the program is running completes.

 
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nekilof

Nov 8, 2018
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Hi johnbl,
I tried selecting that the partition is formatted before the initial Windows install is run, and unfortunately, formatting the HD did not solve the issue.
 
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johnbl

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Nov 4, 2012
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full format or a quick format? ie how long did it take to format?



 
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nekilof

Nov 8, 2018
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Ah sorry I wasn't explicit enough. You're referring to the format option when choosing a partition for Windows to boot the OOBE OS from right? If that's the case, I can't tell how long it's taking as it's part of the OS's install process from what I can see. There is no option for a full/quick format, there's only an option for format (like the random example image below):
iur


If you're referring to some other formatting process that checks for bad sectors, I've done chkdsk.exe /f /r as noted from the https://www.drivereasy.com/knowledge/100-disk-usage-windows-10-fixed/ link's directions, and it took about 30 hours. There were no problems uncovered after running this w/ the HDD or the original HDD that I also ran chkdsk.exe /f /r on, which took even longer than 30 hours due to the larger size of the HDD.

 
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nekilof

Nov 8, 2018
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Hi Peter,
I do delete all the partitions and let Windows create the new ones (typically 2 - recovery and the larger partition) and I install on the partition with the larger HDD space. I've done so with both HDD's I've used for this machine. Both HDD's have identical behavior: it starts idling at 100% disk space, then when I change the MSISupported key under StorAHCI.sys to 0 the behavior changes to system using 100% of the disk if a program is opened.

After I turn off indexing (per LinuxDevice's suggestion in the replies) the behavior changes to the disk (on both HDD's) will stay within a tolerable amount of use until I start a program. The disk (on both HDD's) shoots up to 100%, but then slowly goes down to 3%-10% (takes about 10-15 min) unless the program is something like a virus scan software. While something that requires more resources is running, the disk use stays at 100% till the process the program is running completes.

I have checked both HDD's and the rest of the system using diagnostic programs for any issues like a part is failing or the HDD has bad sectors, and all the tests pass.
 
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nekilof

Nov 8, 2018
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Hi Peter,
I ran the Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool on the HD that's installed in the Optiplex now, and the HD passed without any error messages. I've now encountered 2 laptops displaying the identical issue - the disk is operating, on idle, at 100%. Both the desktop unit that I've been working on and these 2 laptops (both are Dell Latitude E6430's) are older machines which may start to have failing components, despite passing the built in diagnostic tools.

To all,

Is anyone aware of any other software or hardware solutions to rule out a dead/dying motherboard other than ruling out everything else as the issue?
 
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