# 100% Disk Usage on my SSD while doing low-intensive work.



## Ardier (Aug 26, 2016)

Howdy!

For some reason, my SSD will show 100% usage in the Task Manager Performance tab will give readings of 0KB/s write and read speed, whilst doing simple things as watching videos online or browsing folders. It happened once while playing a game, but that hasn't occurred since. I have no idea what causes this problem. I've seen that it was a bug with Windows 10 and some SSD's, and ended a couple of services through services.msc, but to no avail. I've run malware checks and anti-virus programs to return no results, uninstalled programs that are no longer necessary, and can't figure out what my problem is.
I've disabled the MSISupported  for the AHCI Controller, Windows search and Superfetch, turned off notifications and alerts, disabled Adobe Flash Player, and am about to do a ckhdsk.exe in command prompt, and return with the results once completed.

Any suggestions on what I can/should do to try and figure out this problem? Any help is greatly appreciated.

My specs are:

Windows 10 64-bit
AMD 8350 8 core 4.0GHz
16GB RAM
AMD R9 200 (Radeon HD 7950)
ASUS Sabertooth 990FX Motherboard R2.0
Be Quiet! 800W Power Supply
Seagate 2TB HDD
Samsung 650 EVO 120GB SSD

Thanks!


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## Ardier (Aug 26, 2016)

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is Solid State.

A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.                       

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
  263680 file records processed.                                                         File verification completed.
  34572 large file records processed.                                      0 bad file records processed.                                     
Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
  342468 index entries processed.                                                        Index verification completed.
  0 unindexed files scanned.                                           0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found.                   
Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Cleaning up 2017 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 2017 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 2017 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
  39395 data files processed.                                            CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
  41083392 USN bytes processed.                                                            Usn Journal verification completed.

Stage 4: Looking for bad clusters in user file data ...
  263664 files processed.                                                                File data verification completed.

Stage 5: Looking for bad, free clusters ...
  19238187 free clusters processed.                                                        Free space verification is complete.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.

116757503 KB total disk space.
  39287956 KB in 158868 files.
    128060 KB in 39396 indexes.
         0 KB in bad sectors.
    388735 KB in use by the system.
     65536 KB occupied by the log file.
  76952752 KB available on disk.

      4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
  29189375 total allocation units on disk.
  19238188 allocation units available on disk.

Internal Info:
00 06 04 00 41 06 03 00 20 38 05 00 00 00 00 00  ....A... 8......
49 76 00 00 3c 6b 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  Iv..<k..........

Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.

Here's the results from the chkdsk.exe. from what I can see there isn't a problem, just cleaned a few files.


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## silentbogo (Aug 26, 2016)

I had the exact same problem and there are few ways to get it at least partially solved. 
The problem is caused by some kind of Win10 power management bug (no one knows for sure). 
Symptoms: random freezes for 30-60sec with PC being unresponsive.
Solution:
1) Go to Settings->System->Power&Sleep->Additional Power Settings
2) Instead of balanced, select "High Performance" plan

Alternatively you can modify your current power plan:
1) Go to Change Plan Settings -> Change advanced power settings
2) Scroll down to PCI Express and disable Link State Power Management

The second option is the one I use, and I was able to reduce my freezing from few times a day to about once every 2-3 weeks.

Additionally you can get rid of idle disk usage (when are not using your PC, but there is always some storage activity) by disabling Superfetch/Prefetch service.

Otherwise - write a letter to Microsoft with an official "Fuck You" and roll back to Windows 7.


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## FreedomEclipse (Aug 26, 2016)

#windowsSevenMasterRace


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## Ardier (Aug 26, 2016)

silentbogo said:


> I had the exact same problem and there are few ways to get it at least partially solved.
> The problem is caused by some kind of Win10 power management bug (no one knows for sure).
> Symptoms: random freezes for 30-60sec with PC being unresponsive.
> Solution:
> ...



Thanks, I'll give the first one a try, already have the Link State Power Management Disabled, whilst in the High Performace power plan, I just upgraded the power supply from 500W to the 800W as said above, so thought I could go to High Performance mode. Guess not... haha

The Prefetch service is different from the Superfetch, or are they bundled togther? I"ll go searching for it a disable that too.

I wish I could roll back, I did a couple of times before for other issues, which have been fixed before these problems occurred, and I don't think I can roll back any more. Stupid me for not creating a system restore for Win7 :\


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## silentbogo (Aug 26, 2016)

Ardier said:


> Thanks, I'll give the first one a try, already have the Link State Power Management Disabled, whilst in the High Performace power plan, I just upgraded the power supply from 500W to the 800W as said above, so thought I could go to High Performance mode. Guess not... haha
> 
> The Prefetch service is different from the Superfetch, or are they bundled togther? I"ll go searching for it a disable that too.
> 
> I wish I could roll back, I did a couple of times before for other issues, which have been fixed before these problems occurred, and I don't think I can roll back any more. Stupid me for not creating a system restore for Win7 :\


In High Performance mode all power saving features are disabled, including PCI-E Link State, so it basically serves the same purpose, as the option #1.
Prefetch and Superfetch run separately, since they are two different services. Both may cause "hanging" state on HDDs and are pretty much useless if all of your apps are on SSD.

Disabling both:
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/disable-superfetch-prefetch-ssd


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## SnakeDoctor (Aug 26, 2016)

Check with "Process explorer" and see what hogging the cpu/hdd


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## Ardier (Aug 27, 2016)

silentbogo said:


> Prefetch and Superfetch run separately, since they are two different services. Both may cause "hanging" state on HDDs and are pretty much useless if all of your apps are on SSD.
> 
> Disabling both:
> http://www.thewindowsclub.com/disable-superfetch-prefetch-ssd



Ok cool, thanks. I'll disable prefetch now, couldnt find it in services so thought it was the same. Thanks for the guide!



SnakeDoctor said:


> Check with "Process explorer" and see what hogging the cpu/hdd



My HDD won't have any processes going and usually sits from 0-5% whilst the SSD is at 100%. The CPU just chills out as well, and doesnt get close to max. I'll wait til it freezes next with Process Explorer open to see whats hogging either of these/SSD.


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## Ardier (Aug 27, 2016)

So, here's a screenshot of Process Explorer and Task Manager when it just froze.


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## manofthem (Aug 27, 2016)

I had this exact issue on Windows 7 and then shortly on 10; system drive would be 100% while additional hdds would be 0%. It would be the worst right after a restart too, then it would pop back here and there. The issue seemed to get better/go away after a clean install. Ultimately I don't recall what caused it or fixed it


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## Countryside (Aug 27, 2016)

I had this issue with win 8.1
Disabling services and changing settings nothing helped but i found out the random hangs where caused by Asmedia sata driver.
Many times the 100% usage problem is caused by malware so make sure that your pc is clean. 
Do a full scan with Malwarebytes and scan with Adwcleaner


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## Ardier (Aug 27, 2016)

manofthem said:


> I had this exact issue on Windows 7 and then shortly on 10; system drive would be 100% while additional hdds would be 0%. It would be the worst right after a restart too, then it would pop back here and there. The issue seemed to get better/go away after a clean install. Ultimately I don't recall what caused it or fixed it



Yea I've reinstalled Windows 10, to no avail :\



Countryside said:


> I had this issue with win 8.1
> Disabling services and changing settings nothing helped but i found out the random hangs where caused by Asmedia sata driver.
> Many times the 100% usage problem is caused by malware so make sure that your pc is clean.
> Do a full scan with Malwarebytes and scan with Adwcleaner



I'll look into the Asmedia SATA driver, cheers!
Have done a couple of full scans with Malwarebytes, will try out Adwcleaner and see if anything pops up.


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## silentbogo (Aug 27, 2016)

Countryside said:


> random hangs where caused by Asmedia sata driver


ASUS Sabertooth 990FX only has a USB 3.0 hub IC from AsMedia (no SATA controller), but otherwise it is a valid point. 
Asmedia controllers, especially ASM1061, are not only prone to driver problems, but also hardware failures. 
My last batch of motherboards all had either 1074's or 1061's busted. In some cases they still work, but overheat like crazy (>90°C with RAM heatsink on top).
Still waiting for replacement ICs from China...


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## SnakeDoctor (Aug 27, 2016)

Ardier said:


> So, here's a screenshot of Process Explorer and Task Manager when it just froze.



You will need to add the columns for hdd i/o read and write
View-columns - add process i/o - add read + write

Odd that the hdd is 100% active with no read or writing taking place
You cant see which service is using hdd in task manager? add Hdd to columns also


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## nullington (Aug 27, 2016)

Try a windows SSD optimize run. Maybe there were some deletions done without TRIM.


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## Ardier (Aug 27, 2016)

silentbogo said:


> My last batch of motherboards all had either 1074's or 1061's busted. In some cases they still work, but overheat like crazy (>90°C with RAM heatsink on top).



So should I be worried about it with the motherboard I have? I installed it last weekend, so I hope that isn't an issue...



SnakeDoctor said:


> You will need to add the columns for hdd i/o read and write
> View-columns - add process i/o - add read + write
> 
> Odd that the hdd is 100% active with no read or writing taking place
> ...



Just added those columns to each, will update with a reply when it freezes again.
I used Adwcleaner as stated above by Countryside, which found 9 files and removed them, and have yet to have any freezes, although I haven't let my computer be in a low active state in the last few hours, which is when the freezes occur.


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## silentbogo (Aug 27, 2016)

Ardier said:


> So should I be worried about it with the motherboard I have? I installed it last weekend, so I hope that isn't an issue...


Just keep an eye on your USB3.0 behavior. It does not happen often, or immediately, but we had quite a few of AsRock SoC boards with failed AsMedia USB3.0 and SATA controllers after 12-18mo of service.


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## Ardier (Aug 28, 2016)

SnakeDoctor said:


> Odd that the hdd is 100% active with no read or writing taking place
> You cant see which service is using hdd in task manager? add Hdd to columns also
> 
> View attachment 78312



I managed to get the Disk column for Task Manager when it froze, and its sorted from low to high...
Doesn't make sense to me...

I'll try and get the I/O read and write from Process Explorer on the next freeze.


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## Ardier (Aug 28, 2016)

silentbogo said:


> Just keep an eye on your USB3.0 behavior. It does not happen often, or immediately, but we had quite a few of AsRock SoC boards with failed AsMedia USB3.0 and SATA controllers after 12-18mo of service.



Is there any where/any program I should use to monitor that?


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## Ardier (Aug 28, 2016)

SnakeDoctor said:


> You will need to add the columns for hdd i/o read and write
> View-columns - add process i/o - add read + write
> 
> View attachment 78312



Just got a screenshot with the I/O Read and writes, wasn't sure what to have it sorted by, so I hope I did it by the right one.


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## silentbogo (Aug 28, 2016)

Ardier said:


> Is there any where/any program I should use to monitor that?


Nope. Just the symptoms, such as unusually slow/non-working USB ports, BSODs and high temperature on AsMedia controller.
But, as I said earlier, you shouldn't worry about it (it might've simply been some flaw in AsRock board design in my case(s)).


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## Ardier (Sep 1, 2016)

silentbogo said:


> Nope. Just the symptoms, such as unusually slow/non-working USB ports, BSODs and high temperature on AsMedia controller.
> But, as I said earlier, you shouldn't worry about it (it might've simply been some flaw in AsRock board design in my case(s)).



Ok, I haven't noticed anything odd with any of my USB devices, portable hard-drives and xbox controller haven't had any connection issues, nor with my mouse and keyboard. Not sure what it is...


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## eidairaman1 (Sep 1, 2016)

Malwarebytes, Avast, adaware, spybot sd.


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## 95Viper (Sep 1, 2016)

Ardier said:


> my SSD will show 100% usage in the Task Manager Performance tab will give readings of 0KB/s write and read speed,





Ardier said:


> I've seen that it was a bug with Windows 10 and some SSD's



Maybe, this:  Task Manager might show 100% disk utilization on Windows 10 devices with Message Signaled Interrupt (MSI) mode enabled


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## Ardier (Sep 3, 2016)

95Viper said:


> Maybe, this:  Task Manager might show 100% disk utilization on Windows 10 devices with Message Signaled Interrupt (MSI) mode enabled



Already tried that, to no avail 



eidairaman1 said:


> Malwarebytes, Avast, adaware, spybot sd.



Will give those a shot and see what happens. Thanks


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## Melvis (Sep 3, 2016)

What AV are you running ?


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## Ardier (Sep 5, 2016)

Melvis said:


> What AV are you running ?


 
I tend to just leave Windows Defender on, with Malwarebytes as well.
With Avast and AVG being installed every now and again to do additional scans for the others might miss.


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## Ardier (Sep 5, 2016)

I didn't think this would be connected, but it might be.
When I turn on my computer, sometimes the SSD isn't recognised and I need to press ctrl+alt+dlt to do a reset and hope that it gets picked up, but it never happens more than twice at a time.
Not sure what causes this, but it is possible that it might be related to the random freezing?


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## Melvis (Sep 5, 2016)

ok as I know some AV's will make a system run very slow and need to be removed and reinstalled and with your SSD not getting picked up check your sata cables and BIOS update


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## eidairaman1 (Sep 5, 2016)

Check power and data cables, make sure bios is set to AHCI not IDE.

If got to try another cable or even a different port on motherboard. Make sure chipset drivers are installed too.

Worst case is replace drive or motherboard


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## Ardier (Sep 8, 2016)

eidairaman1 said:


> Check power and data cables, make sure bios is set to AHCI not IDE.
> 
> If got to try another cable or even a different port on motherboard. Make sure chipset drivers are installed too.



Thanks, this has seemed to have fixed my problem. BIOS had an update from a week ago, and changed SATA cables and the port it was connected to on my motherboard and all seems to be good. No freezes or anything in the last couple of days.

Thanks heaps everyone!


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## eidairaman1 (Sep 8, 2016)

I wonder if the port wasnt on the chipset itself but on a daughter chip.


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