Windows 8 computer suddenly became slow, 100% disk usage

amiel01

New Member
Messages
2
My Task Manager:
taskmgr.png

HP Pavilion with Intel Core i3 running on Windows 8 and NVIDIA GEFORE GT 630M 1GB

---

My relatively new (about 2 months old) laptop running on Windows 8 suddenly became slow. I noticed it starting yesterday when it became really laggy. Just a few days ago it was working just fine.


I tried to look for solutions online and was worried that it might be caused by malware. I did a quick scan with Malwarebytes and it found no infections.


When I boot in safe mode, it seems pretty fine. I tried doing a system restore but I was also informed that it wasn't completely done probably because of an antivirus.


My antivirus is Norton Internet Security and I've read that Norton can be such a hog so I've tried disabling it though not entirely and it hasn't been uninstalled yet. What worries me is that I haven't experienced this problem even with Norton running until just recently.


I've also tried running a chkdsk /r because going to Tools > Check for Errors on my C:\ drive said that there were errors that needed repair.


It has become less laggy but apparently not totally (not to previous state). My task manager however still shows 100% disk usage. Previously Norton would be listed among the top but now it's usually "System" and I don't quite understand why.


Help very much appreciated! Thanks. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT 630M 1GB
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton Internet Security
It might be Windows trying to index the contents of your hard drive which is worth shutting off to test.

Open your start menu and type "indexing options" and choose the first entry in the Settings category. Remove everything from the list and restart. Does it have any effect?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8, Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Z210
    Internet Speed
    25mbps
Anyways, I decided to do a refresh and it works fine now. I still don't fully understand what happened. Probably it was an installation but I can't be certain. Thanks for the help! :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT 630M 1GB
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton Internet Security
It will happen periodically. System background maintenance takes over the system for several minutes with a lot of memory, CPU and Disk activity, and normal work becomes difficult during these busy periods - annoying, but they pass, and everything goes back to normal.

Task manager shows

Service Host: Local System (7)

(or something similar) doing most of the usage, and applications are slow to start, or fail to respond for a while.

I remember XP doing something similar during its early days, then one of the updates fixed it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP COMPAQ Presario CQ57
    CPU
    AMD E- 300 APU with Radion HD Graphics 1.30GHz
    Motherboard
    inbuilt
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI
    Sound Card
    High Definition Audio on-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    notebook
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Seagate ST9500325AS
    Google drive 15GB
    Skydrive 25GB
    BT Cloud
    PSU
    external 20v
    Case
    Laptop
    Cooling
    pretty good
    Keyboard
    inbuilt
    Mouse
    touchpad
    Internet Speed
    BT Infinity Unlimited - 80 up 20 down =70/16 really
    Browser
    Chrome Canary usually
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes
    Other Info
    no Start menu modifications
    Upgraded with no issues to 8.0 and to 8.1
Hi there
With Windows 8 you don't really need any external / 3rd party AV software - these often cause excessive disk usages and often can't be seen in Disk usage monitors.

I notice you have Symantec -- that usually is enough to raise at least a "Yellow card". -- Try uninstalling ALL A/V software and just rely on the standard built in Windows AV software (Windows defender). It's actually very good.

If you are a bit worried about doing this just keep disconnected from the Internet at the time you are doing your test.

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
Hi there
With Windows 8 you don't really need any external / 3rd party AV software - these often cause excessive disk usages and often can't be seen in Disk usage monitors.

I notice you have Symantec -- that usually is enough to raise at least a "Yellow card". -- Try uninstalling ALL A/V software and just rely on the standard built in Windows AV software (Windows defender). It's actually very good.

If you are a bit worried about doing this just keep disconnected from the Internet at the time you are doing your test.

Cheers
jimbo

I agree. Windows Defender (formerly Windows Security Essentials if you're still a Windows 7 user) is great and I generally recommend it over any 3rd party A/V.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8, Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Z210
    Internet Speed
    25mbps
I had the same problem which occurred immediately after upgrading from 8 to 8.1. I spent a lot of time following suggestions but what rescued me was coming across a post, which at first I thought was a company promotion, saying that CCLEANER would solve the problem with their registry clean-up tool. And it's free. I downloaded the software and ran the registry cleaner three times (rebooting each time) and problem solved. My disk usage is running along at 5-10% and no more time wasted. I was just about to the point of buying a new computer but have to thank this company for saving me the time and money. QUICK, EASY & FREE
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Hi there
With Windows 8 you don't really need any external / 3rd party AV software - these often cause excessive disk usages and often can't be seen in Disk usage monitors.

I notice you have Symantec -- that usually is enough to raise at least a "Yellow card". -- Try uninstalling ALL A/V software and just rely on the standard built in Windows AV software (Windows defender). It's actually very good.

If you are a bit worried about doing this just keep disconnected from the Internet at the time you are doing your test.

Cheers
jimbo

Hi there
With Windows 8 you don't really need any external / 3rd party AV software - these often cause excessive disk usages and often can't be seen in Disk usage monitors.

I notice you have Symantec -- that usually is enough to raise at least a "Yellow card". -- Try uninstalling ALL A/V software and just rely on the standard built in Windows AV software (Windows defender). It's actually very good.

If you are a bit worried about doing this just keep disconnected from the Internet at the time you are doing your test.

Cheers
jimbo

I agree. Windows Defender (formerly Windows Security Essentials if you're still a Windows 7 user) is great and I generally recommend it over any 3rd party A/V.

Please DO NOT use the built in windows Anti-Virus as it literally does not do anything but stop .EXE files from running. It is NOT a real antivirus
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
Please DO NOT use the built in windows Anti-Virus as it literally does not do anything but stop .EXE files from running. It is NOT a real antivirus

you sir are out of your mind.

are you from Apple?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 (HOME not Pro) 64bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    (So not very nice) Lenovo Y410P
    CPU
    i7 quad 2.4Gig
    Memory
    16G ram
    Graphics Card(s)
    nvidia 2gig 755m
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 Evo

    supercache2 m2. mini card.
    Antivirus
    Win Defender
Please DO NOT use the built in windows Anti-Virus as it literally does not do anything but stop .EXE files from running. It is NOT a real antivirus

you sir are out of your mind.

are you from Apple?

No I am not from Apple. Most of the total PC users on the planet would agree with me. It has been tested and proven to be terrible. I did a scan with it before. And then I scanned again just to be sure. It didn't pick up anything. I put a REAL antivirus onto it and the real antivirus picks up 6 straight away
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
Microsoft Security Essentials does exactly what it is made to do.. "Re-actively stops .exe and other files from doing things on your computer and registry"

it doesn't "Proactively" find viruses which is probably why you say its terrible.. other 3rd-party anti-virus programs do this.

I agree that you must use other apps to search for things but Microsoft Security Essentials atleast prevents registry and standard virus procedures.. It also removes viruses pretty well. I've been to far too many "untrusted" sites and have not been ever hijacked or had a virus. But I also know what I'm clicking.

I'll give you the other programs I like are ESET online scanner and Hitman Pro and Malewarebytes.

But whlie microsoft definitely has its shortcomings, i would hope that they know what processes and behind the scenes files to be checking/look at to see viruses etc..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 (HOME not Pro) 64bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    (So not very nice) Lenovo Y410P
    CPU
    i7 quad 2.4Gig
    Memory
    16G ram
    Graphics Card(s)
    nvidia 2gig 755m
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 Evo

    supercache2 m2. mini card.
    Antivirus
    Win Defender
To handle with this kind of problem, first go to Disk Clean up by right click and run as administrator. Now check your system properly and clean all junk from it using some good cleaning software. Then defrag your hard drive and run safe boot. Hope this helps.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows
if you are still getting this issue post another screenshot of your current task manager and disk usage..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 (HOME not Pro) 64bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    (So not very nice) Lenovo Y410P
    CPU
    i7 quad 2.4Gig
    Memory
    16G ram
    Graphics Card(s)
    nvidia 2gig 755m
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 Evo

    supercache2 m2. mini card.
    Antivirus
    Win Defender
I've been strangely getting this problem over the last week. My HDD is showing 100% usage and my PC runs at a painstakingly slow pace that I almost feel like throwing it out of the window!

I've tried disabling windows search, defrag, auto maintenance and even full scans but nothing.

The problem will go away for 5 minutes and then start again. It's driving me insane!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 7
On Windows 8 or Windows 10. If Norton 360 or Norton Security suddenly goes to 100% disc usage every thirty days, it is because by default an automatic full system scan is taking place. After a year of talking to Norton support I finally figured this out myself. On Norton Security, go to Settings / Antivirus / Scans and Risks / Full System Scans / Configure /Edit Scan / and click do not run this scan.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
On Windows 8 or Windows 10. If Norton 360 or Norton Security suddenly goes to 100% disc usage every thirty days, it is because by default an automatic full system scan is taking place. After a year of talking to Norton support I finally figured this out myself. On Norton Security, go to Settings / Antivirus / Scans and Risks / Full System Scans / Configure /Edit Scan / and click do not run this scan.

Hi,

Glad you've fixed. Let us know if you need more help on Norton.
Thanks in advance!

Praveen
Norton Support.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
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