Unusual Hard Disk Activity in Resource Monitor

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  1. Posts : 10
    Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1
       #1

    Unusual Hard Disk Activity in Resource Monitor


    My computer has been stuttering and freezing for the last several months. I have performed a clean install of Windows twice to no avail. I especially notice this lagging when I type in Microsoft Word or even in this forum post. When my computer doesn't lag, it runs fine. My gut feeling tells me it is a hardware issue as my computer can lag even in BIOS. I also noticed lagging when I first had Windows 7 installed before any updates or any drivers were downloaded. The only issue so far that I have found was that my hard drive temperature was 53 degrees C, which is probably too high but I don't think the main cause of my performance issues. I am 100% convinced I have no malware issues.

    Things I have tried:


    • Clean install of Windows 7 (I was extremely OCD about getting the right drivers and making sure there were no conflicts)
    • MemTest86+ (Pass 6 Errors 0)
    • Windows Memory Diagnostic (Pass)
    • Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool (All Pass)
    • Dell PC Checkup = PC Tools (All Pass)
    • Chkdsk (nothing wrong)
    • Defragging
    • turning off indexing service
    • removing all bloatware

    At this point, I have been grasping at straws to try to find the problem.

    When I looked in resource monitor, the graph for Disk seemed unusual. When my computer lagged, the blue bar would level at 100%. Otherwise, it still spiked up and down constantly. This was when I had no programs open except for a new tab page in Chrome.

    My browsing performance is also brutally slow. IE and FF are both incredibly slow and lag horribly, while Chrome lags less but has "Waiting for cache" problems. None of the normal fixes for browser issues have fixed the problem.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Unusual Hard Disk Activity in Resource Monitor-diskgraph.png   Unusual Hard Disk Activity in Resource Monitor-diskgraph2.png  
    Last edited by kyle18; 10 Aug 2012 at 16:52. Reason: aesthetics
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 1,454
    Windows 7 ultimate x64
       #2

    as per the snapshot above... it looks like DWM... desktop window manager is reading the disk at a high rate....

    Try disabling it.... you will loose the whole jazz of your desktop.... but atleast you could get it to work!!

    Post the event viewer logs and also do provide another snapshot... showing the cpu arranged by the highest usage and disk by highest read's
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 10
    Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1
    Thread Starter
       #3

    I disabled dwm.exe but the lag is still persisting.

    I attached another screenshot.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Unusual Hard Disk Activity in Resource Monitor-diskgraph3.png  
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 1,454
    Windows 7 ultimate x64
       #4

    Again please post the files needed using this so we can have a look...
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 10
    Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Sorry about that, I'm new here :)
    Unusual Hard Disk Activity in Resource Monitor Attached Files
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 1,454
    Windows 7 ultimate x64
       #6

    Hi kyle

    Could you possible disable the VSS ( Volume Shadow Copy) service for the time being and let me know if it still lags.....
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 10
    Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1
    Thread Starter
       #7

    I disabled it. I noticed that my browsing performance has improved. Google Chrome used to hang forever displaying "Waiting for cache" but it now seems to be speedy like it should be. Even IE was a lot faster. Moreover, the Windows search performance is a lot faster. However, I still have input lag especially in Microsoft Word.

    Is it safe to permanently disable VSS?
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 1,454
    Windows 7 ultimate x64
       #8

    Usually VSS doesn't drag the OS but for some reason its timing out expanding the file as per your logs..

    Yes its safe to disable it permanently... if you are not using Windows Backup ( you can use other third party software ) or System restore ( Just need to manually create a restore point once in while ) much...

    Since you have an input lag..... check your harddrive's SMART values to see if they are ok...

    Also please disable the below from startup and reboot and check. Most of this can be started from All programs in the start menu...

    NUSB3MON REG_SZ "C:\Program Files (x86)\Renesas Electronics\USB 3.0 Host Controller Driver\Application\nusb3mon.exe"
    IAStorIcon REG_SZ C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology\IAStorIcon.exe
    Adobe ARM REG_SZ "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\ARM\1.0\AdobeARM.exe"
    VolPanel REG_SZ "C:\Program Files (x86)\Creative\SB X-Fi MB\Volume Panel\VolPanlu.exe" /r
    UpdReg REG_SZ C:\Windows\UpdReg.EXE
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 10
    Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Thank you for all of your help so far.

    I ran CrystalDiskInfo and it gave me all blue except for "Reallocated Sectors Count."

    The values for that are

    Current: 100 Worst:100 Threshold: 50 Raw Values: 000000000082

    .

    I will go on to the next step of disabling those programs from startup after I finish installing updates for Microsoft Office.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 1,454
    Windows 7 ultimate x64
       #10

    Well that explains the freeze and lag

    For Reallocated sectors counts the raw value normally represents a count of the bad sectors that have been found and remapped.

    If you system is aged... consider buying a new HDD... as you will reach a stage when the raw counts reach 100 and then you will start getting BSOD....

    Well of course it doesn't mean you HDD will give up on you very soon .... but its just a sign of things to come...
      My Computer


 
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