Windows 10: Disk Activity at 100% with low Read/Write

Windows Version: 20H2 OS Build 19042.804


Hey Everyone,

I recently updated from W7 to W10 and now my PC has been running very slow.

My disk usage is typically no higher than 40% however I am pretty much always at 100% active.

I have tried multiple things online; however I cannot figure out what is the cause.

I tried

1. Disabling search/superfetch
2. Resetting page file
3. Disk Check
4. Disable Windows Update

Any Help Is Appreciated! Thanks!






:)

 

DNS does not work during 100% hard disk drive read/write activity

I have a consistent issue where any process which causes 100% hard disk drive read/write activity causes DNS to fail, until the activity ends, at which point it resumes working.

Examples of what causes this activity: Moving large files, updating or installing software, intensive loading of files by software, and after a system boot. All of this is pretty normal for causing high disk read/write activity.

As it's specifically a DNS issue, networking that isn't dependant on DNS is unaffected. Wifi connections do not drop. FTP works. SHH works. Websites that permit access directly via IP continue to work. This indicates it's specifically a DNS problem rather
than a larger networking problem. It happens regardless of what server is selected. My ISP's DNS, Google's DNS and OpenDNS, none of these affect the behaviour.

It is specifically caused by 100% disk read/write activity, as if the priority for the DNS service is set so low that it stops working when any other process is using the hard disk drive.

 

100% Disk Activity Time and HDD health


Thanks for your replies!

Philc43, that list varies a lot. Sometimes it shows 100% without any of the processes listed actually using it. In the resource monitor, even with few processes and low read/write rates, it frequently reaches 100% activity time, as in the screenshot. Clues?

Dalchina, I had tried all of these, except the Rapid Storage one. The performance actually got better (it was nearly unusable before). I don't know if it's the case, but I'll check it.

 

Disk usage 100%, read/write 0kbps

Okay, so

Lately I've had crazy boot and load times, and what appeared to be disk issues (usage was 100%, read/write was little-to-none). Disabled a few things in services.msc (superfetch and windows search), which fixed the 100% constant usage.

But boot and load are unaffected. and i've also found that in games(Ark) and stress tests (prime95 blend), i can't get ram usage over 5.6/8.

I'm not sure if the problems are related. This is my first foray into 10forums, and my tech knowledge is limited.

any thoughts or suggestions? will provide details as needed