HDD slows down my PC?

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cheesehead115

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Aug 19, 2015
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Lately my PC has been real slow from time to time, when I'm browsing things go unresponsive, when I'm gaming things freeze.
I've checked when this happens, every once and a while my Disk will shoot up to 100% randomly and things slow down exactly when this happens, which usually lasts 5-30 seconds.
It can't be an virus because I set my PC to factory settings a few days ago and ran a full scan with my antivirus software. This is driving me insane and any help would truly be amazing. Also, this is not a new PC, I built this about 6 months ago.
Specs
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
AMD Athlon X4 760K
16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3
Gigabyte Technology F2A88X-D3H
2048MB ATI AMD Radeon R7 200 Series
931GB Western Digital WDC WD1003FZEX-00MK2A0 <---HDD


 
Solution
SuperSoph_WD
Hi again, cheesehead115!

I guess until the new SATA cable arrives, you can also try plugging the WD Black in a different computer, if you have access to one. I'd recommend you to connect it there and check its performance, does it cause the same issues?
You also mentioned that it passed both tests from the DLG tool, but it'd be great if you can share a screenshot of the SMART attributes from the extended test.
If you don't have any data on the HDD, you can also try to resolve this by re-formatting it (again).
What else... oh, yeah, check your motherboard manufacturer's website for any chipset/SATA driver updates there. Make sure you have those specific model drivers, instead of the ones Windows Updates installs.

Keep me posted...
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

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Jul 30, 2014
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Hey there, cheesehead115!

I'm sorry to hear about the issues you're encountering with your system! :( I'd recommend you to test your WD Black HDD with Data LifeGuard Diagnostics. By running the QUICK and EXTENDED tests from this utility will help us determine what is the health and SMART status of the drive. Here's a link to the software: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=NGEwzG
Good job on the antivirus/malware scan, though. I'd also recommend you to backup any important data from your PC before proceeding with the troubleshooting. If possible, I'd also suggest you to try plugging the WD Black in a different SATA port and with a different SATA cable to see if its performance will improve.

Keep me posted and let me know what the test results show! :)
SuperSoph_WD
 
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cheesehead115

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Aug 19, 2015
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Thanks for responding!
Sorry forgot to mention a couple things, when I posted this I was tired and pretty annoyed.
I tested the drive with the software you told me sometime after the reset, I had done both Quick Test and Extended Test, it passed. Also, these problems happened before the reset, at the time I didn't have enough for the antivirus software I wanted, so I downloaded a free version of Avast Antivirus, it immediately started scanning which I didn't want it to do, it than slowed my computer down, and it wouldn't let me stop it. I than restarted my PC but the problem was still there, I tried uninstalling it and it wouldn't let me, so I decided I'd do a clean install of windows 8.1 than upgrade to 10 (again). The problem was still there, so I did a disk defrag and it was almost gone, but that's how it got to this point.

Also, I'll order that SATA cable as soon as I can. Until than, any other troubleshoots I'll try.



 
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

Glorious
Jul 30, 2014
6,758
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45,960
Hi again, cheesehead115!

I guess until the new SATA cable arrives, you can also try plugging the WD Black in a different computer, if you have access to one. I'd recommend you to connect it there and check its performance, does it cause the same issues?
You also mentioned that it passed both tests from the DLG tool, but it'd be great if you can share a screenshot of the SMART attributes from the extended test.
If you don't have any data on the HDD, you can also try to resolve this by re-formatting it (again).
What else... oh, yeah, check your motherboard manufacturer's website for any chipset/SATA driver updates there. Make sure you have those specific model drivers, instead of the ones Windows Updates installs.

Keep me posted!
SuperSoph_WD
 
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Solution
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cheesehead115

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Aug 19, 2015
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Hey!

Alright, I should have my SATA cables later tomorrow, in the meantime, I installed some drivers for my motherboard that said chipset/SATA, from the Gigabyte website, but it only seemed to (re)install Realtek HD audio manager, it didn't seem to do much, although a little less unresponsiveness today, but that's most likely because I didn't do as much things on it. As for re-formatting the HDD, I'd rather not do that, but if that seems to be my only option in the end, I'll probably do it.

For the screenshot, since I'm a noob to this website, and I can't figure out how to get the screenshot to work, here's a link to my photobucket, the picture should be there, if not I'll try and figure the whole screenshot thing out.

http://s1060.photobucket.com/user/cheesehead115/media/Screenshot%203_zpsxc6twoda.png.html
 
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

Glorious
Jul 30, 2014
6,758
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45,960
Hey there!

According to the screenshot of the SMART data, there's nothing wrong with the HDD itself. Even after you get your new SATA cable, I'd still strongly recommend you to try a different computer and the hard drive's performance there.
Meanwhile, another thing that comes to mind is to try resolving the issue by resetting BIOS. You can do that by re-seating the CMOS battery or resetting the jumper on the motherboard. Here's a detailed tutorial that might be useful: http://www.wikihow.com/Reset-Your-BIOS
Just make sure you know how to re-configure your BIOS settings afterwards, because the reset will get them back to factory defaults.

Good luck! Keep me updated! :)
SuperSoph_WD
 
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cheesehead115

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Aug 19, 2015
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I'm back

Alright, so I put in the new SATA cable, re-seated the CMOS battery and I also got a windows update the other night. The Unresponsiveness, seems to stop when I browse (need more time to see if it really stopped), but when I play games it still freezes, but not as often.
 
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

Glorious
Jul 30, 2014
6,758
3
45,960
Hi again, cheesehead115!

Even though the performance improved a bit, I believe is far from what it's supposed to be. If it starts bothering you again, I'd strongly recommend you to contact our customer support and let them know about it. The WD Black has a 5-year limited warranty, so you should still be able to RMA it and get a replacement product soon enough.
WD Support contacts: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=h6EB10
How to RMA your WD product: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=tnUgcq

Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD
 
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cheesehead115

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Aug 19, 2015
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I most likely will, but I found something weird, that "could" be causing the problem, I recently found a Gigabyte, AMD FM2+/FM2 Series Utilities disk that came with my motherboard, I tried installing it, and it popped up with an error message saying "This Driver can't release to failure!" and was unresponsive, so maybe a driver is causing it, if there's any good way of finding out what driver could be causing this, that would be amazing.
If not, I'll contact WD support.

Anyways, thanks for helping!

 
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

Glorious
Jul 30, 2014
6,758
3
45,960
Hey there again, cheesehead115!

In this case, I'd suggest you to go to your motherboard's website and search for your model. Under Support/Downloads, you should be able to find all the needed drivers for your mobo. Check for any updates and maybe even re-install the driver in question.
Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

SuperSoph_WD :)
 
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cheesehead115

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Aug 19, 2015
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I decided that I'd reset my PC and so far it has seemed to work, while installing things, my disk was around 98%, when it was that high, my browser would stall for a "fairly" short amount of time, now it seems like it's pretty much running buttery smooth. Hopefully the problem has stopped, thanks for helping! :pt1cable:

 
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