[SOLVED] One HDD Partition is at 100% usage only when writing, read below:

[habiblokomina]

My HDD is split into 2 partitions, one partition E: is working perfectly fine at +100mbps speed writing and reading, the other partition D: has this issue, basically the transfer speed (writing only) is between 1-8 Mbps, and the HDD gets to 100% usage on the simplest tasks like moving a 100mb file, the other partition doesn't have this issue. example:
copying files on the "broken" partition:

https://imgur.com/a/DOsHUXK

View: https://imgur.com/a/DOsHUXK

copying files on the "good" partition:

https://imgur.com/a/rINYHyQ

View: https://imgur.com/a/rINYHyQ

I have an SSD for windows+ HDD for files, my HDD was working perfectly fine until a few days ago, it started to run significantly slower in writing speed, went from +100MB writing to now only 1-8mb writing, and the disk gets 100% on simple tasks like file transfer, its reading speed is still perfectly fine at +100mbps, but whenever I copy something or do anything that uses writing the disk gets a 100% usage and lags everything else
-i checked the HDD health on various apps and they all resulted in a Good/+90% health with no errors
-i task manager doesn't show anything using the HDD, barely a 5% usage on all apps combined
-i tried disabling unnecessary windows services, apps, etc, but nothing worked
-i tried setting page file from 1GB to 12GB and both didn't fix the problem
some screenshots:
reading speed:

https://imgur.com/a/7YogumE

View: https://imgur.com/a/7YogumE

apps/services in idle:

https://imgur.com/a/eyG2BHR

View: https://imgur.com/a/eyG2BHR

apps/services when transferring files:

https://imgur.com/a/6b3wLbe

View: https://imgur.com/a/6b3wLbe
(note it's 50% because of the SSD, the HDD is 100%)
writing speed, when transferring a file or doing any small task:

https://imgur.com/a/fzXvfjN

View: https://imgur.com/a/fzXvfjN
and

https://imgur.com/a/71gsSMq

View: https://imgur.com/a/71gsSMq

 

[Ralston18]

Open Disk Management and expand the window so all can be seen.

Take screenshot and post that screenshot.

 

[habiblokomina]

Open Disk Management and expand the window so all can be seen.

Take screenshot and post that screenshot.

https://imgur.com/a/hWlvGF1

View: https://imgur.com/a/hWlvGF1

 

[Pimpom]

You probably have a logical or physical error on that partition. I suggest you scan for it.

 

[habiblokomina]

You probably have a logical or physical error on that partition. I suggest you scan for it.

how do I do that?

 

[SkyNetRising]

-i tried setting page file from 1GB to 12GB and both didn't fix the problem

Remove pagefile from D: and E:

And show screenshot from HDtune health.

 

[Ralston18]

My rule of thumb for drives is to always have 20% - 30% of free space always available.

Your E: is down to 16%. May be affecting the entire drive even with D having 67% free.

C: has 34% free. Okay but could be starting to become problematic.

Do you have all important data backed up at least 2x to locations away from the system and drives in question? Do verify that the backups are recoverable and readable.

Then consider running Windows Disk Cleanup. May recover some space and improve performance.

 

[habiblokomina]

Remove pagefile from D: and E:

And show screenshot from HDtune health.

Pages files were Off, I just set them on to try and fix this issue

https://imgur.com/a/UEinyFZ

View: https://imgur.com/a/UEinyFZ

 

[habiblokomina]

My rule of thumb for drives is to always have 20% - 30% of free space always available.

Your E: is down to 16%. May be affecting the entire drive even with D having 67% free.

C: has 34% free. Okay but could be starting to become problematic.

Do you have all important data backed up at least 2x to locations away from the system and drives in question? Do verify that the backups are recoverable and readable.

Then consider running Windows Disk Cleanup. May recover some space and improve performance.

they were empty before, I had ~100GB on each drive, i just now emptied D: drive because i thought it might fix the issue, otherwise all drivers had +30% empty space

 

[SkyNetRising]

Pages files were Off, I just set them on to try and fix this issue

There is no point in having pagefiles on multiple partitions.
Remove them from D: and E:

Interface CRC errors can mean bad sata cable. Try replacing it.
Also possible overheating of HDD or sata controller.

How much ram does your system have?
Can you show screenshot from Task Manager/Performance/Memory ?

If you get excessive reads/writes to pagefile, then your system is low on physical ram.

 

[habiblokomina]

There is no point in having pagefiles on multiple partitions.
Remove them from D: and E:

Interface CRC errors can mean bad sata cable. Try replacing it.
Also possible overheating of HDD or sata controller.

How much ram does your system have?
Can you show screenshot from Task Manager/Performance/Memory ?

If you get excessive reads/writes to pagefile, then your system is low on physical ram.

I have 8GB of ram, the pagefile is not an issue as it's me who manually configured them (as a desperate move to solve my first issue)

 

[SkyNetRising]

I have 8GB of ram, the pagefile is not an issue as it's me who manually configured them (as a desperate move to solve my first issue)

Yes - that's very low.
When system runs out of physical ram, you get virtual memory trashing.
Pagefile gets excessively being read/written.
Since you have put pagefile on HDD, then you get excessive activity on it.

Thrashing (computer science) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[habiblokomina]

Yes - that's very low.
When system runs out of physical ram, you get virtual memory trashing.
Pagefile gets excessively being read/written.
Since you have put pagefile on HDD, then you get excessive activity on it.

Thrashing (computer science) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I understand that, but no, that's not the reason behind my issue, I've used this PC for over 2 years, with 8GB of ram, it was never an issue for me or anyone else.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Still waiting on screenshot from Task Manager/Performance/Memory

 

[USAFRet]

I understand that, but no, that's not the reason behind my issue, I've used this PC for over 2 years, with 8GB of ram, it was never an issue for me or anyone else.

Nothing is ruled out until the actual issue is discovered.

 

[habiblokomina]

Still waiting on screenshot from Task Manager/Performance/Memory

https://imgur.com/a/s2fhLo7

View: https://imgur.com/a/s2fhLo7

 

[SkyNetRising]

https://imgur.com/a/s2fhLo7

View: https://imgur.com/a/s2fhLo7

Your ram usage was over 95%.
Your current workload requires 8.7GB of physical ram.
8GB is not enough. Upgrade to 16GB.

Also 2 ram modules will enable dual channel mode. This will improve performance.

 

[habiblokomina]

Your ram usage was over 95%.
Your current workload requires 8.7GB of physical ram.
8GB is not enough. Upgrade to 16GB.

Also 2 ram modules will enable dual channel mode. This will improve performance.

yes because I had apex legends AND opera running in the background, obviously it'd get filled. and no, ram is not my issue, I've used 8GBs with multiple SSD/HDDs before and never had an issue, it's not what causing my problem.
my issue, is not about ram, it's about the write speed on my second partition, it has nothing to do with memory, the drive even had no pagefile before I manually added it.

 

[habiblokomina]

Your ram usage was over 95%.
Your current workload requires 8.7GB of physical ram.
8GB is not enough. Upgrade to 16GB.

Also 2 ram modules will enable dual channel mode. This will improve performance.

and to make it clear, even when my RAM is at 20-40% usage, my partition still runs at 1-8mbps, and the drive still gets a 100% usage, and it still crashes my windows (which is installed on an SSD), all that with no pagefile on the HDD

 

[SkyNetRising]

and to make it clear, even when my RAM is at 20-40% usage, my partition still runs at 1-8mbps, and the drive still gets a 100% usage, and it still crashes my windows (which is installed on an SSD), all that with no pagefile on the HDD

So - you removed pagefile from HDD?
Did you reboot your pc afterwards?

There can be indexing going on or defender scan.

 

[habiblokomina]

I might've found the issue, i replaced my HDD sata cable with another one, it seemed to have fixed the problem, I'll try using the drive for few hours and see if it fixed it permanently
Edit: the problem was that the SATA cable wasn't attached correctly, I just replugged the same cable again and it works flawlessly.

https://imgur.com/a/7fF0197

View: https://imgur.com/a/7fF0197

https://imgur.com/a/0dkPZ3a

View: https://imgur.com/a/0dkPZ3a

 

[Ralston18]

Solution noted.

However, Forum rules prohibit self-awarded Best Answers so that was removed and the thread marked Solved.