Win 7 64 bit slowdowns high disk activity


  1. Posts : 11
    Windows 7 64 bit
       #1

    Win 7 64 bit slowdowns high disk activity


    Hi Everyone,
    I had previously started a thread:

    win 7 64bit clean install then massive slowdown

    in the performance section, which discussed my issues, from which we concluded was hardware related.

    I am not sure if I have bad settings, incompatible hardware, or broken stuff that needs replacing. The following will be a summary and update of the current symptoms:

    Overall, I am experiencing very intense slowdowns that are seemingly random during my use of windows. However, the effects on the computer range from no noticable effect, as I am typing this on the computer now, to it moving so slow that nothing can be typed or manipulated on screen whatsoever for up to 5 minutes at a time. Typically what happens is that many processes in System and svchost are reading and writing information at once to my hard drive with response times in the thousands, sometimes 10s of thousands, and rarely a 100,000.

    Also the boot time is very long, up to 10 minutes or longer, but again there are exceptions. Just about anytime the computer was restarted, in that windows was already open and told to restart, the subsequent reboot took significantly less time, and seemed to boot as it should normally.

    Also, I get messages telling me to close programs when I shut down, but no programs are on the menu.

    I have attempted multiple clean installs, have sent back the ram after getting verified errors and have also tried a set of ram of a different brand. In the previous post I have gone through and set the BIOS to the specific ram settings and this seemed to make it better on Sunday, but slowly these problems have come back and then today when I had experienced problems earlier before work, have just lowered the ram one voltage setting (.02V) and although it took 15 minutes to boot, it has not given me a problem in the half hour I have had it on. I had it set to my minimum of 1.85 on Sunday, to as closely match the manufacturer's 1.8V, and only raised it once to attempt to solve the problems on Monday when I started experiencing them again. It took roughly an hour and a half for the problems to begin creeping back in on sunday night and made the computer unusable on Monday after it booted.

    I built this computer in January and it ran fine until about March. Since then I was dealing with the ram and did not have much time to spend on it until a few weeks ago. Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated.

    Thanks,

    My Specs:
    Asus P5N-D motherboard
    Intel Q9550 Core 2 quad @2.83 ghz 12Mb 1333FSB
    Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB 32MB/SATA-3G

    2 X 2GB OCZ Vista Performance DDR2 PC6400 800Mhz
    & 2x 2gb corsair xms2 DDR2 PC6400 800Mhz, using these 2 currently

    OCZ ModXStream-Pro 700W PSU
    Currently 1 in , but have 2x EVGA GeForce 8500 GT 1Gb +SLI, free from a friend

    Zalman CNPS 9900 CPU cooler & 2 Case Fans
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 872
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
       #2

    I would recommend that you try running a disk check to be sure the problem isn't with your hard drive first.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 11
    Windows 7 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Already Ran chkdsk /r but how do i find the results


    Hi, I ran chkdsk and it was about 80% when I last checked it. Then when I came back my computer was just booting into windows. Is it saved somewhere so that I can review the report? I have also alread ran the diagnostic by western digital and it came up with no errors.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 28,845
    Win 8 Release candidate 8400
       #4

    ShoePolish said:
    Hi Everyone,
    I had previously started a thread:

    win 7 64bit clean install then massive slowdown

    in the performance section, which discussed my issues, from which we concluded was hardware related.

    I am not sure if I have bad settings, incompatible hardware, or broken stuff that needs replacing. The following will be a summary and update of the current symptoms:

    Overall, I am experiencing very intense slowdowns that are seemingly random during my use of windows. However, the effects on the computer range from no noticable effect, as I am typing this on the computer now, to it moving so slow that nothing can be typed or manipulated on screen whatsoever for up to 5 minutes at a time. Typically what happens is that many processes in System and svchost are reading and writing information at once to my hard drive with response times in the thousands, sometimes 10s of thousands, and rarely a 100,000.

    Also the boot time is very long, up to 10 minutes or longer, but again there are exceptions. Just about anytime the computer was restarted, in that windows was already open and told to restart, the subsequent reboot took significantly less time, and seemed to boot as it should normally.

    Also, I get messages telling me to close programs when I shut down, but no programs are on the menu.

    I have attempted multiple clean installs, have sent back the ram after getting verified errors and have also tried a set of ram of a different brand. In the previous post I have gone through and set the BIOS to the specific ram settings and this seemed to make it better on Sunday, but slowly these problems have come back and then today when I had experienced problems earlier before work, have just lowered the ram one voltage setting (.02V) and although it took 15 minutes to boot, it has not given me a problem in the half hour I have had it on. I had it set to my minimum of 1.85 on Sunday, to as closely match the manufacturer's 1.8V, and only raised it once to attempt to solve the problems on Monday when I started experiencing them again. It took roughly an hour and a half for the problems to begin creeping back in on sunday night and made the computer unusable on Monday after it booted.

    I built this computer in January and it ran fine until about March. Since then I was dealing with the ram and did not have much time to spend on it until a few weeks ago. Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated.

    Thanks,

    My Specs:
    Asus P5N-D motherboard
    Intel Q9550 Core 2 quad @2.83 ghz 12Mb 1333FSB
    Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB 32MB/SATA-3G

    2 X 2GB OCZ Vista Performance DDR2 PC6400 800Mhz
    & 2x 2gb corsair xms2 DDR2 PC6400 800Mhz, using these 2 currently

    OCZ ModXStream-Pro 700W PSU
    Currently 1 in , but have 2x EVGA GeForce 8500 GT 1Gb +SLI, free from a friend

    Zalman CNPS 9900 CPU cooler & 2 Case Fans

    Two tests

    1-pull one type of ram. Does it still boot slowly?

    2-Boot into safe mode. Does it still boot slow?


    Ken
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 872
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
       #5

    ShoePolish said:
    Hi, I ran chkdsk and it was about 80% when I last checked it. Then when I came back my computer was just booting into windows. Is it saved somewhere so that I can review the report? I have also alread ran the diagnostic by western digital and it came up with no errors.
    Yes, you can see it in Event Viewer, I believe, under Applications and Services >> Microsoft >> Windows >> Winlogon.

    Additionally, chkdsk will have at least attempted to repair any problems that it found.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 11
    Windows 7 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Found Chkdsk log


    Hey thanks for your help so far,
    I found my check disk log it was right above winlogon in wininit and there were no errors detected.

    I have been using only one stick of ram in the past but will now test different configurations and numbers of the types of ram to see if it will boot faster. I also have booted into safemode in the past and it was lengthy but again, since the semi fix since sunday I will retry these tests. I also have ran memory tests since getting my rma ram back and getting the new ram and so far no errors, but can try that again too.

    I was scrolling through my event log and there was one warning about a possible memory leak, it was with svchost.exe. The latest error was the application hang of mmc.exe. Do either of you know what this is?

    I also had an application error with iexplorer and flash.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 872
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
       #7

    Sure, mmc.exe is the Microsoft Management Console. It's the host process for a lot of different Control Panel plug-ins, including the Event Viewer and Device Manager.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 11
    Windows 7 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Think its the Hard Drive, despite no conclusive error reported


    Hey, thanks again for these posts they have been helpful. I tried booting with one stick of ram, 2 sticks of ram in different slots and nothing sped up the boot time. After waiting long enough I would hit the reset button to try something else.

    Also booting into safemode took just as long. Each driver took 3-5 seconds to say it was loaded and then after loading what i assumed to be the last one, It took 10 minutes to change and go into windows.

    During my manipulation of the ram I also unplugged the DVD drive to see if it was causing errors with the computer. One time after unplugging the second stick of ram I received an error beep that was 1 long, 3 short. But after playing with the ram more it went away again.

    Another odd feature of my booting was that almost strictly in every other boot it would not post or do anything. After waiting 5 seconds for something, I hit the reset button and then it would do a happy beep and show the motherboard splash screen.

    The following explains why I think it is the hard drive, or at least the major culprit amongst others. I had a dvd of ubuntu linnux that allowed me to run the OS entirely off of the cd. Not a problem at all. Did it with each stick of corsair ram that I am currently using and worked fast to get in and to manipulate features once I was in. There were some medium sized spikes on the CPU usage in Ubuntu's system monitor, but overall no severe lag that I have experienced earlier.

    Now onto the harddrive installation of Ubuntu. i plugged the hardrive cables back in, booted of ubuntu again, but this time told it to install itself. It took a long time at the install screen, almost stopping in progress at times, even just at 5% installation. Then after getting into Ubuntu, it was terrible to try to navigate around and do anything. So I am going to conclude that it was the harddrive, unless there are other suggestions, and going to rma it back to western digital. In the mean time I am going to try to get a hold of a friend's spare hard disk next week and see if i get any other issues.

    Thanks again for the posts, and I guess western digital drives aren't what they used to be, or at least now when they're going bad they wont tell any diagnostic tool.
      My Computer

  9.    #9

    As you built your rig in January, is the WD HD still within it's one year replacement and tech support warranty?

    If so I would call WD tech support and see if they will replace it. They may want a Data Lifeguard test to verify it's bad, though.

    Since Data Lifeguard and chkdsk are testing clean, I would swap out cables and change SATA ports to see if the HD can be made to work correctly first.

    Also try another HD to see if it replicates the problems.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 11
    Windows 7 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #10

    You're right, I will get someone from their support to give me any final options before I send it back.
      My Computer


 

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