Windows 10: USB Drive read/write 100%... very slow write

I have a 6TB (mains-powered) external Seagate USB3 drive (used only for data backup) which might be failing? Or is there another reason the problem? An identical Seagate drive seems to perform fine (though I haven't done extensive side-by-side testing). When I start copying to the drive, it starts very fast, but after a minute or less slows to a crawl (500kb/s or less). In Task Manager/Performance, the disc shows 100% read/write, even after any copying has been cancelled. The drive then will prevent (or at least massively delay) Windows from shutting down 'Safely Remove drive' in the system tray doesn't respond. Checkdisk reports no errors. The drive seems to perform better if, rather than copy a main folder with many subfolders (say, 20GB) at one go, I copy each subfolder (maybe 500MBs each) one by one. Doesn't seem to matter whether I am copying small or large files (or a mix). Also seems to perform better for longer in Windows 7, but it fairly soon slows to a crawl there too. The drive is set in Device Manager for 'better performance' (not quick removal) with write caching enabled - Windows write cache buffer on (off makes no difference). The drive is almost full - about 60GBs free out of 4TB, but would that matter?? Thanks for any ideas on this. (Windows 10/20H2)

:)

 

Slow HDD read and write speeds

Hi,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

We will require a few more information from you to help you further with the issue. Please reply with the following details:

• In which device are you facing this issue?
  
• Are you using an external HDD or internal HDD?
  
• Are you getting the read and write speed issue on any particular application?
  

However, you can Disk Defragment on your computer to optimize the drive. To run Disk Defragment please follow the steps from the article

Defragment your Windows 10 PC.

Alternatively, you can check for the read and write speed of the HDD in task manager. Please follow the steps mentioned below to check the read and write speed of the hard drive:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc key together on the keyboard.
   
2. Click on Performance tab.
   
3. Click on Disk 0.
   
4. You will find the Read speed and
   Write speed at the bottom of the window.
   

Hope it helps.

Please reply with the status of the issue, we will be glad to help you further.

Nikhar Khare

Microsoft Community - Moderator

 

Hard Drive constantly at or near 100% read/write

Thanks for the suggestion. I see very little activity in the Network tab. I hope this helps.

 

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!