Extremely high disk usage

Spavid

Reputable
Jul 14, 2015
7
0
4,510
I've been having trouble recently with a computer that is constantly in a 100% disk usage state. I have searched (and found) many solutions, of which none worked. It runs Windows 10 Pro 64bit, installed on a fresh HDD. Here are the ones that I remember from the top of my head:

  • ■ pagefile tweaking
    ■ regedit MSI bit (note: it's not using the default driver as it uses Intel Rapid Storage)
    ■ chkdsk with numerous parameters, and other such tools
    ■ chrome's preloading service and skype's security permissions
    ■ "show me tips for windows" checkbox
    ■ disabling superfetch, cortana and windows search
    ■ disabling/uninstalling the antivirus (Avast)
    ■ turning off background apps

Here's a screenshot of how it usually looks (very, very low reading speed and also over 30 seconds of response time) link

Also, I believe the HDD is not to blame. A live linux session on the culprit PC manages decent speeds(180/130). Taking it into my computer, I can generally reach speeds of 170MB/s sequential read and 120MB/s sequential write (way higher than 500KB/s). Plugging another HDD (mine) in the sluggish computer also seems to work fine, with speeds almost as high as those mentioned above, so I ruled out any motherboard/cabling/power issue, and the HDD as well.

I feel like it's just spinning around aimlessly, sometimes because it's making ungodly noises. Temperature rarely goes above 40C. Regarding bad sectors, I'd say there are "some" (blackouts are a bit frequent). In any case, they didn't seem to impact any performance in other setups (mentioned above). RAM tests finished successfully.

I have never been faced with such a problem. Could another fresh start solve the issue? (I'd very much like not to start over) What other tricks have you heard of that might work? And most important of all, what's happening?

(sorry if I've been incoherent, it's 3AM and this thing has been killing me :))
 
Solution
Do a clean boot and see if its still the same: https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows - if it stops its caused by a startup program, add them in slowly to find cause

Boot into safe mode and see if it acts same.

Do you have latest version of Intel Rapid Storage drivers? Do you have latest BIOS?

if you get blackouts, try turning fast startup off - https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4189-turn-off-fast-startup-windows-10-a.html - that will help to save parts. Win 10 default shutdown state is hibernate, its only ever off during a restart. So turning fast startup off will mean PC is actually off when shutdown.
Do a clean boot and see if its still the same: https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows - if it stops its caused by a startup program, add them in slowly to find cause

Boot into safe mode and see if it acts same.

Do you have latest version of Intel Rapid Storage drivers? Do you have latest BIOS?

if you get blackouts, try turning fast startup off - https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4189-turn-off-fast-startup-windows-10-a.html - that will help to save parts. Win 10 default shutdown state is hibernate, its only ever off during a restart. So turning fast startup off will mean PC is actually off when shutdown.
 
Solution