Disk Usage 98-100%. CPU spikes when accessing files from HDD.

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TarX

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Jan 3, 2014
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Hello, guys

So, I have this laptop, it's a Dell Latitude E6420. It's running Windows 8.1, now. Back in 7, it started to get really slow... hitting any button would require me to wait for a few seconds for a response. I thought it was an OS problem. Had a copy of 8.1, so I upgraded.

But even after that, the disk usage is always over 80% whilst the RAM and CPU are relatively calm. But the CPU does spike whenever I access samples(I produce music) and it takes some time to play the samples. I can't really work now. Similarly, it takes a few seconds for a video to load and even then gets stuck after a few seconds of playback and then I have to wait. I've set it so that VLC will load some 30 or so seconds to RAM, so now it plays.

I've done chkdsk, disabled superfetch, tried safe mode, got pissed off and randomly ended processes, run a HDD smart check, and disabled the paging file, increased it, decreased it. So now, I'm running out of options. I thought it was a hardware problem. Except the only problrm is with the reallocated sector count, which the internet tells me is to be expected on a laptop this old. Plus, when booting Ubuntu, I experience none of these problems.

Help would be much appreciated.

Thanks!
 
Solution
jasonkaler
My own pc is currently doing a similar thing.
I'm now wondering if microsoft has pushed an update that can't install. It's most annoying, my system's been busy doing it's own thing for 5 hours straight now, not giving me much of a chance to use it for work.

I also have a service host task using all my resources. From what I can tell it's trying to install something.

*some time later*

Okay, so since I'm a system developer, I took a look under the hood.
Using Process Monitor, I found that the Service Host was throwing errors trying to open a registry key that did not exist.
So I created the key with a guessed default value of 0, killed the service host process. When it restarted, all was fine.

Using registry editor, under the...
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Mr_T_Stickman

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Hi there, I'm new but I have had this problem for about a year aswell. What worked for me was to disable the Windows Defender.
Here's a link that may help;
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/15788/how-to-uninstall-disable-and-remove-windows-defender.-also-how-turn-it-off/

Goodluck :)!
 
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jasonkaler

jasonkaler

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1) Look in resource monitor to see what app in particular is using the disk.
My first guess would be your anti-virus or software update

2) How much physical RAM do you have and how much is showing as used in task manager?
It's possible you simply do not have enough ram. Your size of your swap file should be somewhere between the size of ram and twice the size of your ram.

3) Try leaving your PC on overnight. If it is an AV scan or window's compatibility checker, it will be done in the morning and this will stop.

4) if reallocated sector count is continually increasing, then your drive is dying and needs to be replaced.
 
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TarX

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@RaDiKaL_

Well, that's what I fear. If there is a danger of losing all my work, then, I suppose I really have no choice. But I would like to try my best to diagnose this problem before I splurge on an HDD or SSD. If that fails, then... What you said is the only solution.

@Mr_T_Stickman

Already tried that. Windows Defender is dead as a dodo in my PC but no changes.

@jasonkaler

Thanks for the detailed reply, man.

1) At 96% disk usage, the two most disk heavy processes are 'System' and 'Service Host: Local System (Network Restricted) (8)'. I don't use antivirus software. Figured out that they were the most resource greedy programs long before Windows Vista came out.

2)My PC *used* to be a high-performance machine. But it still has respectable specs. 8 gigs of Ram, actually. Right now, at idle, 7.1 GB is available from a total of 7.9 GB.

3) I've tried this too. When I do this, maybe, just maybe, if I'm really lucky, I'll have a few hours of smooth sailing. Then, my disk usage graph starts looking like the Joker's colouring book. It's funny, because I can play Assassins Creed Rogue on medium-high settings with decent fps until the GPU gets hot, but simple procedures pull my system down.

4)Well, I really don't know how to read the info that crystal disk info is giving me. It just has a yellow caution light next to Reallocated Sector Count. The values are:

Current: 100
Worst: 100
Threshold: 50
Raw Values: 1008

Thanks, again, everybody, for taking your time to answer. The help is much appreciated.
 
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jasonkaler

jasonkaler

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My own pc is currently doing a similar thing.
I'm now wondering if microsoft has pushed an update that can't install. It's most annoying, my system's been busy doing it's own thing for 5 hours straight now, not giving me much of a chance to use it for work.

I also have a service host task using all my resources. From what I can tell it's trying to install something.

*some time later*

Okay, so since I'm a system developer, I took a look under the hood.
Using Process Monitor, I found that the Service Host was throwing errors trying to open a registry key that did not exist.
So I created the key with a guessed default value of 0, killed the service host process. When it restarted, all was fine.

Using registry editor, under the following location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WBEM\CIMOM

I created a DWORD Value:
RepositoryRestoreInProgress
with value 00000000
Then I "end task" it, it started itself up again a few minutes later and managed to complete what it was trying to do.

Obviously this won't work for you unless you have the exact same problem I have.
 
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Solution
T

TarX

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Hey, man. This has definitely been a tiring day.

Well, I jumped on procmon too... and it seems SEVERAL system processes are trying to access RepositoryRestoreInProgress.

And it all resulted in Name Not Found. But after inserting the key, the processes still don't find it. I've set the name as 'RepositoryRestoreInProgress', Hexadecimal, value - 0
No luck.
 
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TarX

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UPDATE: I figured it out.

@jasonkaler, I chose your answer as the best because you put me on the right track! I owe you so damn much! You don't know how much this means to me! I won't loose all my work! I won't have to buy an HDD with money I don't have!

Okay, here goes. I mentioned that RepositoryRetoreInProgress was missing, right? Well, apparently this key has something to do with maintaining the WMI repository. Some sort of auto-restore in the event of a corruption. The missing key only comes to play IF this feature is enabled. So I took a shot and modified AutoRestoreEnabled to 0(disable)...

And guess what, it's well below 10% disk usage now. As I type it's 3%, and after watching it for 10 minutes, it never exceeded 6%. I am extremely lucky to have run into you, the one person who had a similar problem! Thank you, again, and please know that you've helped me A LOT. I couldn't afford a Hard Drive, much less a new PC at the moment! And thanks to you, I don't have to.

Thanks a million!!!
 
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TarX

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One more thing, i am very much aware that the registry deals with low-level stuff. So since AutoRestore is down, will I have to manually 'winmgmt /verifyrepository' every week or so?

I wouldn't want to mess up my PC again, which I know is a risk as I quite possibly made a drastic change. I am unfamiliar with Windows systems. I am a Linux guy, actually; so it'd be great if you could shine some light on the vitality of AutoRestore...
 
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TarX

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Okay, I am starting to hate my life. Everything was okay for half an hour, but after a restart, back to same old CHAOS.

Out of ideas now. I was wondering if anyone has an idea what corruption of performance registry value.
 
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RaDiKaL_

RaDiKaL_

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If your Windows registry/files are getting corrupted and you've already tried Win 8.1 and Win7 I gotta insist on a hardware failure (most likely your HDD).

You could try another fresh installation using a different version of drivers (specially for your mobo) since a corrupted driver could lead to hardware issues.

Another possibility could be a failing SATA cable so you could also try replacing it before jumping onto a new HDD.
 
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TarX

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It's not exactly hardware errors. It's more of a file/registry key not found/corrupted thing. I do fear it is a hard drive failing. But that does not sit well with the fact that everything other than 'Reallocated Sector Count' is completely okay. And that one has been constant at 1008 for more than 4 months, which is the first time I checked it!

Are SMART Checks known to fail?

EDIT: I am thinking of reinstalling Windows 7. The thing is, Dell hasn't published drivers for Windows 8.1. 7 was the last release. Maybe it's because Windows' generic drivers are handling some piece of hardware way worse than the actual driver? I was wondering if it is possible to multiboot 7 and 8.1... will have to google.
 
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TarX

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I am considering them. I guess, if this issue lasts for a week more, I'll have no choice. Just have to buy a new HDD


 
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