System Hang - 100% Disk Active Time

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rich18144

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Oct 10, 2009
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Hi All,

I have recently returned to using my PC as a gaming platform after a break. It's a homebuilt machine that may or may not have had this issue on before, but I can't remember (not helpful I know). If it has happened before, I've not thought of grabbing a screen dump from Task Manager to show the systems actions during it.

The issue is that, while playing a game (World of Warcraft) the system will hang, and music/sounds will repeat on a roughly 1/2 second loop. I have included below a screenshot of the issue as below.

Hang_Screen.png


As you can see, the CPU & Memory look fine, but C:\ (OS Installation) & D:\ (Game Installation) both go to 100 Active Time but what looks like 0 KB/s on the Transfer Rate.

I have seen here that a user has possibly/probably solved this by resetting his CMOS, but this is something I haven't done before so not sure where to start. If this is an option/good idea, my Motherboard is a MSI 970A-G43.

Thanks for your time and help!

Rich
 
Solution
SuperSoph_WD
Hey there again, @Rich!

First of all, please make sure your data is safe and secure copied somewhere off-site before proceeding. This would avoid any data loss if the HDDs are indeed failing. Afterwards, reseat the connections inside your rig. If the performance doesn't improve you should most definitely check the health and SMART stats of the HDDs using their brand-specific utilities (as I mentioned above). If the drives are going bad, I'd definitely not trust them with any data so be careful. Mechanical hard drives are kind of unpredictable, which is why we recommend regular backups in multiple storage locations.

Keep me posted, though.
Cheers,
SuperSoph_WD
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

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Jul 30, 2014
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Hey there, @Rich!

I'd strongly recommend backing up all important data from the system somewhere off-site to an external or some other storage device before proceeding with the troubleshooting. This is the surest way to avoid any potential data loss, besides, you don't know what might be causing these HDD spikes after all. I'd suggest you check the Processes tab from the Task Manager as well and see what might be using the drive so much.

This way we will be able to determine if it's a software-related issue. Make sure you check it's not anti-virus/malware software or some of the Windows Services that tend to cause 100% HDD usage. (Superfetch, BITS)

It might also be a good idea to test the HDD using the manufacturer's brand-specific diagnostic utility. It will help us figure out what is the health and SMART stats of the HDD.

You should also check your connections and make sure the hard drive is properly mounted. It's also a good idea to swap the SATA cable with a spare and change the SATA port where the HDD is connected to the mobo.

Here are 3 ways to reset BIOS. It is not really complicated, the most important thing is to know how to re-configure any manual changes you have made on the mobo's BIOS afterwards (usually it's just the boot order and the SATA mode in case you have an SSD).

Hope these help you out. Keep me posted.
SuperSoph_WD
 
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rich18144

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Oct 10, 2009
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Hi SuperSoph,

Thanks for the comprehensive set of things to try! Excellent Help. I am currently at work so will have to wait on getting home to try these, but will keep you in the know once I have attempted these.

Rich
 
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rich18144

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Oct 10, 2009
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OK - Sorry for the lack of an update here. I had opened up the case to install something and took the opportunity to reseat the power connections to the HHD at the same time and it seemed to work! (Hurray!).

However, in the last day or so, it's begun once more. So, I'm doing some more work inside the case tonight or tomorrow and I will double check the connections at this point again. Should this not solve it, I will start looking into the next set of solutions. Out of interest, could this be the result/start of HDD failure? They are fairly old drives...

Thanks for your time,

Rich
 
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

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

First of all, please make sure your data is safe and secure copied somewhere off-site before proceeding. This would avoid any data loss if the HDDs are indeed failing. Afterwards, reseat the connections inside your rig. If the performance doesn't improve you should most definitely check the health and SMART stats of the HDDs using their brand-specific utilities (as I mentioned above). If the drives are going bad, I'd definitely not trust them with any data so be careful. Mechanical hard drives are kind of unpredictable, which is why we recommend regular backups in multiple storage locations.

Keep me posted, though.
Cheers,
SuperSoph_WD
 
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