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Strange HDD behaviour causing slowdowns

So I have had this computer for years and theres been no problem. I use it for multiple hours every day however I have just got back from a week's holiday and booted her up for the first time and the boot drive is locked at 100% usage most of the time?

 

post-55217-0-58727800-1437922677.png

 

If I close all programs and leave it for a few minutes, the hard drive usage will jump from normal usage (<10%) back up to 100% constantly as shown:

 

post-55217-0-72552100-1437922801.png

 

This is making the computer take ages to boot - up to 10 minutes - and makes games unplayable. The computer has been off the entire time so nothing has been newly installed or anything like that. Any ideas or solutions?

post-55217-0-58727800-1437922677.png

post-55217-0-72552100-1437922801.png

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Disk might be going bad, run a check disk, will take forever, then if you have another PC, try running an HDD testing software for bad sectors, etc.

    KILLING IS HIS BUSINESS...

           AND BUSINESS

                IS GOOD!

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Disk might be going bad, run a check disk, will take forever, then if you have another PC, try running an HDD testing software for bad sectors, etc.

I ran the error check thing in hard drive properties and chkdsk in command prompt and it definitely feels faster booting but the drive's still at 100%... When I said earlier I've had the computer for years, well I thought about it and its only been 20 months. Pretty unlikely its dying, no?

 

If I were to chuck this drive and finally buy and ssd, do you think the problems would just carry over (you can tell I got no clue)?

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Drives can die literally a day after buying them, time isn't really an issue.

 

If you have a spare drive somewhere, or could borrow one, maybe grab a cheapo from a computer store, plug it in and see if it works or has the same issue, if not grab a new drive that's good and put your data on it, OR buy a new drive and reinstall windows.

 

You could even try re-installing windows on this drive with another partition or something.

    KILLING IS HIS BUSINESS...

           AND BUSINESS

                IS GOOD!

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Drives can die literally a day after buying them, time isn't really an issue.

 

If you have a spare drive somewhere, or could borrow one, maybe grab a cheapo from a computer store, plug it in and see if it works or has the same issue, if not grab a new drive that's good and put your data on it, OR buy a new drive and reinstall windows.

 

You could even try re-installing windows on this drive with another partition or something.

ok thanks for the advice, i've actually got a second hdd in the computer already so i'll move everything over and see what happens  :)

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Let us know how it goes!

    KILLING IS HIS BUSINESS...

           AND BUSINESS

                IS GOOD!

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~snip~

 

Hey Phinbar,
 
100% usage and (if there are) strange noises usually indicate that the HDD is going bad. I would strongly suggest backing up all the data to another drive.
I would run a diagnostic tool the check the drive's health as soon as possible. WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostic tool would be an appropriate one. I would run the quick test to check the drive's S.M.A.R.T. status and the extended test to check for any bad sectors that might have occurred. Here's a link: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=1HS1cn
 
If it fails the test I would suggest backing up everything and applying for an RMA procedure if the drive is still under warranty. Here's more info on that: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=JtVEZI
 
Captain_WD.

If this helped you, like and choose it as best answer - you might help someone else with the same issue. ^_^
WDC Representative, http://www.wdc.com/ 

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Hey Phinbar,
 
100% usage and (if there are) strange noises usually indicate that the HDD is going bad. I would strongly suggest backing up all the data to another drive.
I would run a diagnostic tool the check the drive's health as soon as possible. WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostic tool would be an appropriate one. I would run the quick test to check the drive's S.M.A.R.T. status and the extended test to check for any bad sectors that might have occurred. Here's a link: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=1HS1cn
 
If it fails the test I would suggest backing up everything and applying for an RMA procedure if the drive is still under warranty. Here's more info on that: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=JtVEZI
 
Captain_WD.

 

thanks a lot

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thanks a lot

it passed both tests so I'll make a back up and see what happens

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it passed both tests so I'll make a back up and see what happens

 

That is rather strange. If it passes the tests it should be safe to use. However I would backup the data and see what is using the drive so much. Try the drive on another computer and see if the problems persist. 
 
Captain_WD.

If this helped you, like and choose it as best answer - you might help someone else with the same issue. ^_^
WDC Representative, http://www.wdc.com/ 

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That is rather strange. If it passes the tests it should be safe to use. However I would backup the data and see what is using the drive so much. Try the drive on another computer and see if the problems persist. 
 
Captain_WD.

 

I'm on win10 now and had to reset the OS to solve graphics driver problems and the drive seems to be performing normally now

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I'm on win10 now and had to reset the OS to solve graphics driver problems and the drive seems to be performing normally now

 

Great to hear that :) post back if something happens again.

 

Captain_WD.

If this helped you, like and choose it as best answer - you might help someone else with the same issue. ^_^
WDC Representative, http://www.wdc.com/ 

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have you tried using a hard drive health utility like crystal disk info? if you do run this utility post the results here 

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