I have several external HDD docks that I use for backup and PC repair (Thermaltake and Rosewill). The docks work fine, but I am having problems lately with any HDD I place in the docks. The behavior I will describe occurs with ANY HDD in ANY dock; thus, I suspect something related to Windows (8.1 Pro - properly updated and clean of malware).
The Issue: Whenever I place a HDD (usually a 2 or 4 TB Western DIgital) in the dock, the activity lights ramp up to full speed. Checking Task Manager reveals that the HDD in question is processing read activity at 80% - 100% rate. This will go on for at least 30 minutes, EACH time I place the HDD in the dock. Checking the properties of the drives, I have NOT enabled indexing of any of these drives. In addition, I long ago disabled Windows Search and Superfetch services. In Task Manager (Performance tab), it is clear the drives are beng read but not written to, but no where can I identify what process is responsible for this. This is my concern, Dude
- what is causing this constant (near 100%) read activity? All my drives are regulary scanned for malware (all are clean) and CrystalDiskInfo reports all drives as "GOOD".
If anyone can suggest a solution, I will be very grateful. Thanking you in advance. Svenno
SOLVED: This was becoming an annoyance, so I kept at it and eventually figured out what was happening. Long story short, in Device Manager>Disk Drives>(name of disk)>Properties>Policies>Removal Policy = Change from "Quick Removal" to "Better Performance" (Enables write caching). This completely eliminated the constant 80% - 100% read that was going on forever. Task Manager now shows a normal HDD just sitting there with no activity, awaiting my instructions
Hope this obscure info is of some value to those of you who regularly use external docks and wonder why the hard drives are running at breakneck speed for no apparent reason.
PS - I believe this is my first post here, but I have been a regular reader of this forum and the Win7 forum. Great source on information and many thanks to the numerous times someone has solved a problem for me.
Svenno
The Issue: Whenever I place a HDD (usually a 2 or 4 TB Western DIgital) in the dock, the activity lights ramp up to full speed. Checking Task Manager reveals that the HDD in question is processing read activity at 80% - 100% rate. This will go on for at least 30 minutes, EACH time I place the HDD in the dock. Checking the properties of the drives, I have NOT enabled indexing of any of these drives. In addition, I long ago disabled Windows Search and Superfetch services. In Task Manager (Performance tab), it is clear the drives are beng read but not written to, but no where can I identify what process is responsible for this. This is my concern, Dude
- what is causing this constant (near 100%) read activity? All my drives are regulary scanned for malware (all are clean) and CrystalDiskInfo reports all drives as "GOOD".If anyone can suggest a solution, I will be very grateful. Thanking you in advance. Svenno
SOLVED: This was becoming an annoyance, so I kept at it and eventually figured out what was happening. Long story short, in Device Manager>Disk Drives>(name of disk)>Properties>Policies>Removal Policy = Change from "Quick Removal" to "Better Performance" (Enables write caching). This completely eliminated the constant 80% - 100% read that was going on forever. Task Manager now shows a normal HDD just sitting there with no activity, awaiting my instructions
Hope this obscure info is of some value to those of you who regularly use external docks and wonder why the hard drives are running at breakneck speed for no apparent reason.
PS - I believe this is my first post here, but I have been a regular reader of this forum and the Win7 forum. Great source on information and many thanks to the numerous times someone has solved a problem for me.
Svenno
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My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 8.1 Pro
- Computer type
- PC/Desktop
- System Manufacturer/Model
- custom build
- CPU
- Haswell i7 4770K
- Motherboard
- ASUS Maximus Hero Vi
- Memory
- G. Skil 32GB
- Graphics Card(s)
- EVGA nVidia 750Ti
- Browser
- ie11, FF, Opera
- Antivirus
- Kaspersky Total 2016