PC issue driving me nuts

[importaku]

Not sure where to even start in figuring out whats causing it but at random times my hard drive will start going crazy like it's installing something or running an updater and while it's doing so i can't do anything as it slows down everything. After about 20 mins it will stop accessing and i can start using it again, not sure if something is updating in the background and stealing all my resources but i have yet to find out.

Any pointers where t o start looking anyone? My first port of call is malwarebytes to check i don't have anything spyware related on it.

[Hohum]

You could try a scan as you say, failing that check event viewer whilst it's happening to see if it's a particular process causing problems (sort the list by disk activity). I'd also check event viewer to see if there are any obvious warnings such as bad blocks found on the hard drive (which would suggest imminent failure).

[importaku]

Done malware scan the pc is clean. The thing is i can't even load up anything like the task manager to get access to anything as it's running so slow, whatever is running at the time is stopping me do anything hell i can't even close a window or open a program as the machine is effectively locked up till the hard disk slows. The mouse can still be moved so it's not frozen it's just frantically doing something with the hard disk.

Scanned my drives and it's detecting no errors, might have to start disabling programs one by one to see if thats the cause but im wary disabling the security stuff to test.

[charlesr]

Leave the task manager running at all times.

How old is the drive? This can also happen when drives have issues

[importaku]

The drive is pretty old as is the pc it's running win 7 when that was still new. That's a good idea i shall leave task manager running in the background so if it happens again i can click and at least try & see whats stealing every ounce of drive resources.

Just got resource managed loaded and open at the disk section hopefully i can see what process is going nuts the next time it happens. Thanks for the suggestions folk i know it's a bit of a vague problem.

[charlesr]

Backup your stuff

[speedlolita]

Sounds like it's just turning itself off to save power as is the default power setting in Windows.



Change the value to 0 and it won't turn itself off.

I'm assuming this is after 20 minutes of being idle.

[QualityChimp]

You might want to check it's not doing Windows updates.
Start Task Manager > Processes > Show Processes from all users > right-click wuaudt.exe and select go to service(s) > right-click and stop the selected services.

Try that.

Also...

A man walks into a bar and says "I'll have a pint of lager, please"
The barman says "Sure, but I can't help but notice you have a steering wheel tucked down your trousers?!"
"Yeah" the man replies, "it's driving me nuts."

[Hohum]

You could also try a tool such as DiskCheckup, which gives info on the various SMART attributes for your hard disk.

https://www.passmark.com/products/diskcheckup.htm

[Anpanman]

First port of call is definitely task manager.

If the HDD is getting full it could be using random bits all over the drive for virtual memory which would slow things down.

Could also be something internet related, try plane mode on a reboot.

[MartyG]

If you're running windows 10, also check you've not the P2P update sharing turned on - this can really slow you PC down and hammer the harddrive.

https://www.itproportal.com/2015/08/02/how-to-stop-windows-10-using-your-internet-connection-to-share-updates-to-other-people/

[Dogg Thang]

I need closure! [MENTION=39]importaku[/MENTION] did you solve this or find out what the issue is?

[importaku]

Sorry i still havent figured it out i did turn off some automatic check for updates stuff on my antivirus and it hasnt happened again yet but i have no idea if thats the cause or not. Have taken on everyones suggestions so if it happens again i have a few more things to try.

[QualityChimp]

I also wanted closure...

[Digfox]

If you're running windows 10, also check you've not the P2P update sharing turned on - this can really slow you PC down and hammer the harddrive.

https://www.itproportal.com/2015/08/...-other-people/

My laptop purchased in Sept last year had this enabled, however only for 'PC's on the same network', rather than 'PCs on the same network, and PCs on the internet'. Even so useful to know and ty for the tip.