Windows 10: Hard Disk 100% usage when 0 MB/s is used

As the title says; my laptop is showing me that he hard disk is using a full 100% capacity when the MB/s is 0.
My laptop runs really slowly and sometimes just restarts out of the blue or freezes.

I've already tried the following:
Booting in safe mode and running an anti-malware program. Turns out there was some Adware, so I dealt with that. But the performance didn't improve.
After that and some googling I tried the chckdsk thing. But after a whole day (I waited at least 24 hours) it was still stuck at 2%. The second time trying gave the same results.

So now I am here, hoping my hard drive is fixable. (Though I am a bit pessimistic about it).
any ideas?

Specs:

Lenovo ideapad y500 (about 4 - 5 years old?)
Windows 10
intelCore i7-3630QM 2.40 GHz
8GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M

:)

 

System and compressed memory disk usage 100% at startup with reoccurring high usage

I followed your instructions and my laptop is slower now. It's now freezing. Disk usage is still at 100%. It says 100% usage when a program is using 50 MB/s, but also at 2 MB/s.

 

Upgraded to Windows 10 - Disk 0 Usage 100

I agree. This entire thread has appeared unproductive as this issue continues. The one point perhaps that has not been discussed appears to be that even though the disk 0 usage is at 100% the processes running never add up to 100percent. for example at 24%
usage there are 10 processes listed as using 0.1 mb/sec which totals 1MB /sec. from that one could assume that at 100% the processes may total 4MB/sec but I routinely see the system process spike upwards of 25Mb/sec and after any usage climbs over 7mb/sec
the disk 0 reads at 100%. also the running processes are never the same. there is no one process which creates the issue.

A better solution would be for Microsoft to explain the point and purpose of the disk usage, and how it is reported. it is reported at the top as a percentage and in the row as a transfer speed. (mb/s).

The question is what is up with that specifically, how do I determine the max transfer speed of disc 0, and at what point will system performance slow to an unacceptable user level? when it does what are the steps to take to identify and resolve the issue?

 

Hi, Try this free program:
Crystal Diskinfo (Quick indication of Good/Caution/Bad based on SMART parameters).

And the trial of this:
Hard disk sentinel
(Both easy to find).

Do you have full backups?
Have you been routinely using disk imaging (which we strongly recommend)?

 

Thanks so much for the quick reply, I'll give an update when I've run those programs.

I do have all my important files on an external hard drive. But not a full backup (I guess).

Also, could you explain the disk imaging bit?

 

Sure, that's something we very strongly recommend- and quite different to selective backups.

Here's my write-up on the value of disk imaging.

Creating disk images lets you restore Windows and all your imaged disks and partitions to a previous working state from compressed copies you have created and kept updated on external storage media, quickly and probably without technical help.

You can recover from:
- a failed disk drive (restore to a new one)
- ransomware (which encrypts your disk)
- user error
- unrecoverable problems from failed updates to problem programs
- unbootable PC (hardware faults aside)

Images also act as a full backup- you can extract files too.

You can even use images to help you move more easily and quickly to a new PC.
Can be used with Laplink software to transfer your build automatically to another PC

Imaging can even help you sleep at night knowing you have a second chance.

Many here recommend Macrium Reflect (free) as a good robust solution and more reliable than some others. It’s
- more feature rich
- more flexible
- more reliable
than Windows Backup and Restore system images.

It's well supported with videos, help and a responsive forum.

There are other such programs, free/commercial, some with simpler interfaces, but Macrium R is one of the most robust and reliable.

How long does it take?
SSD+ USB3 - maybe 15 mins for the first system image, less thereafter
HDD + USB2 - maybe 40-50 mins
That’s with little personal data, few programs installed.
- of course, depends how much you have on C:
(You can and should image all your partitions and disks)

Once you've created your first image, keep it updated with e.g. differential imaging- which images just changes from the first image, more quickly, and creates a smaller image file.

You need a backup medium - say- twice as large as the total amount of data you are imaging to keep a reasonable number of differential images. This will vary dependent on the number of images you keep, so is only a rough practical guide.

Some comment that system restore isn't always reliable; if it works and solves the problem, great. But sometimes restores won't work or fail. And of course a restore point only covers a limited number of aspects of the system. That’s where disk imaging comes in.

(There's a tutorial on Macrium in the Tutorials section, and a couple of videos in the user videos section on this forum)
Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect - Windows 10 Backup Restore Tutorials
Windows 10 instructional videos by Ten Forums members

 

Alright, it took me a while but I managed to run the programs.

I started with the CrystalDiskMark. I chose Diskmark.exe (There were multiple to choose from so I thought I should tell you which I picked.)
And these are the results:



I'm not fully aware of what these numbers mean.

And now the Hard Disk sentinel:

I wasn't entirely sure what to do so I did multiple tests.










As for the disk imaging, I'll have a look at it and make sure I'll create them from now on.

I hope these images are okay. Thanks again!

 

Hi, I think your disk is beginning to fail. Quite a few weak/failing sectors. Some are 'normal' - disks are manufactured with redundant sectors to allow for this.

"This message "Test Failed By Read Element" is usually displayed if the test cannot be completed because of a problem occured during this test when examining the surface area. This is more common if the drive is not 100% perfect (I did not see the current health and the exact problems with this drive (if any) displayed in the text description area)."

Actually the program was this one:
CrystalDiskInfo - Software - Crystal Dew World

(See the screenshot on the left- I'm just interested in the Good/Caution/Bad result).

Try Macrorit Diskscanner. It will give you a complete little picture.

And if you get yourself a copy of Macrium Reflect, and try to create a disk image to an external drive, I'm guessing it may not be able to. If there are read errors, it will report that and stop.

Your Crystal Diskmark is an old version. My numbers are similar for my SSHD. (See my specs)
You can find descriptions of the tests like this
CrystalDiskMark - How to benchmark your HDD or SSD with CrystalDiskMark

 

Failing disk, awesome. Thanks for the info.
Should I get an SSD? My laptop was designed to be able to have one I think...

Anyway, so you wanted me to run this version?



(For some reason parts of the program are in Dutch, so in case you don't understand it says 'warning'. Big surprise, haha.)

Also, you were right about Macrium Reflect...



...it did fail. Oh well, at least I'll now what to do in the future

My pc is now running the macrorit thingy, I'll post the results when it's done.

 

Best check your backup- make sure you've got everything, and your license keys for installed programs.

Then you can order a new internal disk, and a large enough external one for disk images and prepare to do a clean install.

 

Thanks you so much for all your help and information. Macrorit wasn't able to finish since it got stuck on 1% and didn't say any more time elapsed after about two minutes.
I'll make sure I'll have all the important keys and files.

I guess this thread is solved now?

 

As far as it can be, yes. In the future, you could use HardDisk Sentinel as a permanent monitor, or simply arrange an occasional scheduled check.

Once you have your new PC with Win 10 clean installed (which then may be the Creator's Upgrade - read the News section item or threads about it in General e.g.
Creators Update - Discussion of new changes and quirks - Page 18 - - Windows 10 Forums

you can start using disk imaging- do that as soon as you have successfully installed Win 10, don't wait until you've installed all programs etc.

Here's my write-up on the value of disk imaging.

Creating disk images lets you restore Windows and all your imaged disks and partitions to a previous working state from compressed copies you have created and kept updated on external storage media, quickly and probably without technical help.

You can recover from:
- a failed disk drive (restore to a new one)
- ransomware (which encrypts your disk)
- user error
- unrecoverable problems from failed updates to problem programs
- unbootable PC (hardware faults aside)

Images also act as a full backup- you can extract files too.

You can even use images to help you move more easily and quickly to a new PC.
Can be used with Laplink software to transfer your build automatically to another PC

Imaging can even help you sleep at night knowing you have a second chance.

Many here recommend Macrium Reflect (free) as a good robust solution and more reliable than some others. It’s
- more feature rich
- more flexible
- more reliable
than Windows Backup and Restore system images.

It's well supported with videos, help and a responsive forum.

There are other such programs, free/commercial, some with simpler interfaces, but Macrium R is one of the most robust and reliable.

How long does it take?
SSD+ USB3 - maybe 15 mins for the first system image, less thereafter
HDD + USB2 - maybe 40-50 mins
That’s with little personal data, few programs installed.
- of course, depends how much you have on C:
(You can and should image all your partitions and disks)

Once you've created your first image, keep it updated with e.g. differential imaging- which images just changes from the first image, more quickly, and creates a smaller image file.

You need a backup medium - say- twice as large as the total amount of data you are imaging to keep a reasonable number of differential images. This will vary dependent on the number of images you keep, so is only a rough practical guide.

Some comment that system restore isn't always reliable; if it works and solves the problem, great. But sometimes restores won't work or fail. And of course a restore point only covers a limited number of aspects of the system. That’s where disk imaging comes in.

(There's a tutorial on Macrium in the Tutorials section, and a couple of videos in the user videos section on this forum)
Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect - Windows 10 Backup Restore Tutorials
Windows 10 instructional videos by Ten Forums members