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Started By
Message
Question about the Windows OS
Posted on 2/7/18 at 4:40 pm
Posted on 2/7/18 at 4:40 pm
Every Windows PC I've ever owned will periodically slow down or freeze entirely for several minutes, while I can hear the hard drive working like crazy. This is regardless of the hardware configuration or Windows version, up to and including Windows 10. I usually lose patience and do a hard reboot. What is it doing and how can I keep it from doing this? The current PC is free of malware, according to scans.
8
Posted on 2/7/18 at 4:47 pm to Jim Rockford
Scheduled disk defragmentation?
Scheduled Backup?
Scheduled Backup?
This post was edited on 2/7/18 at 4:48 pm
Posted on 2/7/18 at 4:50 pm to Wind
Maybe so. Annoying AF though.
Posted on 2/7/18 at 5:16 pm to Jim Rockford
I have had it happen with cheaper machines like a $400 Dell Latitude from Wal Mart where it comes filled with bloatware. Even a reformat couldnt fix it after awhile.
My last 2 were Dell XPS and I have not had problems with them. I have a 15" XPS WIN 10 hooked up to my tv thats at least 6 years old and is still fast today. The monitor went out on it which is why its hooked to the TV. My current XPS 13 has no issues and its 2 years old.
My last 2 were Dell XPS and I have not had problems with them. I have a 15" XPS WIN 10 hooked up to my tv thats at least 6 years old and is still fast today. The monitor went out on it which is why its hooked to the TV. My current XPS 13 has no issues and its 2 years old.
Posted on 2/7/18 at 5:26 pm to Jim Rockford
Shitty slow hard drives
Posted on 2/7/18 at 5:29 pm to Jim Rockford
what software have you added?
What websites do you visit?
What anti malware and anti spyware programs do you have?
the List goes on
I just advise people to reformat the drive and reinstall only the needed programs- that normally solves 90% of the problems unless the pc is just aging -
Not doing maintenance and caring for your PC is like driving a car and never changing oil, brakes, or tires
What websites do you visit?
What anti malware and anti spyware programs do you have?
the List goes on
I just advise people to reformat the drive and reinstall only the needed programs- that normally solves 90% of the problems unless the pc is just aging -
Not doing maintenance and caring for your PC is like driving a car and never changing oil, brakes, or tires
Posted on 2/7/18 at 6:42 pm to Jim Rockford
quote:
I can hear the hard drive working like crazy
That's often a sign that you don't have enough RAM. If that's the case, Windows will deal with that by trying to use your hard drive as extra memory.
If this is what is happening to you, there are several good options.
1. Use a SSD instead of a traditional hard drive. You should do this anyway even if you weren't having problems. SSD >>>>> traditional hard drives. There's a case to be made for using drives for files you don't use that often but you really should be using an SSD by now.
2. Buy and install more RAM.
3. See what programs your computer starts up behind the scenes and make sure you actually want to use them. There may be resource hogs in that list.
Windows is a fine OS, but you have to take care of it properly just as you would your car. If you buy one and don't keep it maintained you will have problems.
Posted on 2/8/18 at 8:19 am to Jim Rockford
Solid State Drive
/thread
/thread
Posted on 2/8/18 at 9:22 am to Jim Rockford
Go to Task Manager's Performance tab and click on Resource Monitor. Look at Disk Activity to see who's using the hard drive.
Posted on 2/8/18 at 9:43 am to Spock's Eyebrow
quote:
1. Use a SSD instead of a traditional hard drive. You should do this anyway even if you weren't having problems. SSD >>>>> traditional hard drives. There's a case to be made for using drives for files you don't use that often but you really should be using an SSD by now.
Just get an SSD I have never ran into this problem.
Posted on 2/8/18 at 10:26 am to foshizzle
quote:
quote:
I can hear the hard drive working like crazy
That's often a sign that you don't have enough RAM. If that's the case, Windows will deal with that by trying to use your hard drive as extra memory.
If this is what is happening to you, there are several good options.
1. Use a SSD instead of a traditional hard drive. You should do this anyway even if you weren't having problems. SSD >>>>> traditional hard drives. There's a case to be made for using drives for files you don't use that often but you really should be using an SSD by now.
2. Buy and install more RAM.
3. See what programs your computer starts up behind the scenes and make sure you actually want to use them. There may be resource hogs in that list.
Windows is a fine OS, but you have to take care of it properly just as you would your car. If you buy one and don't keep it maintained you will have problems.
All of this. Windows 10 Home 64bit is able to utilize 128gb of RAM so adding RAM up to that point will definitely help prevent hard drive cache swapping for RAM hungry applications. And yes, that thrashing you are hearing is the old mechanical hard drive technology; you should be installing your OS on a good solid state hard drive.
This post was edited on 2/8/18 at 11:30 am
Posted on 2/8/18 at 10:49 am to GurleyGirl
Replacing an OS hard drive with an SSD should be done. It may not solve the OP's problem, but it will improve overall performance. OTOH, adding RAM when you aren't swapping will just be a waste of money. You need to determine what's using the disk. I gave a first step in my earlier post.
Posted on 2/8/18 at 10:59 am to Spock's Eyebrow
He needs to check on memory usage while he's there in task manager. If he's using 100% of his memory (I'm assuming he has 4gigs in his machine), he'll need to throw another 4gig stick in there
Posted on 2/8/18 at 11:15 am to bluebarracuda
Pagefile.sys will show up in Disk Activity, and if it's pegged, this indicates too little RAM. If accurate, OP's "periodic" claim suggests to me he's probably not running out of RAM. I guess something scheduled could be pushing him over the edge, but there are lots of possibilities for excessive disk usage that don't involve excessive memory usage.
Posted on 2/9/18 at 10:56 am to Jim Rockford
Going forward, always buy a SSD.
My older computers had this problem. On start up, the hard drive would be at 100% and it would slow to a crawl. Something to do with indexing / automatic update installs.
I don't know if Windows 10 fixed this issue or the SSD is so fast I no longer notice it, but I haven't had the problem since i started using SSDs.
My older computers had this problem. On start up, the hard drive would be at 100% and it would slow to a crawl. Something to do with indexing / automatic update installs.
I don't know if Windows 10 fixed this issue or the SSD is so fast I no longer notice it, but I haven't had the problem since i started using SSDs.
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