My hard disk periodically has massive response time lag

Andrew, it's very neat and completely correct. My compliments. About half of these screenshots I request have issues. But you have no System flags on any of the hard drives as you can see in the picture.

But I'd still power down to unplug each of the three depicted hard drives, one at a time to see if the lag problems are resolved without one of them.

If not then 1) Go over Windows using this checklist to make sure the install is set up correctly, optimized for best performance, and any needed repairs get done: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki...

Start with Step 4 to turn off Startup freeloaders which can conflict and cause issues, then Step 7 to check for infection the most thorough way, then step 10 to check for damaged System Files, and also Step 16 to test a new Local Admin account to replace yours which may be corrupted. Then if necessary continue with the other steps to go over your install most thoroughly.

2. Update your chipset drivers and BIOS/UEFI firmware from the PC or motherboard maker's Support Downloads web page, using the full model number, Serial Number or Dell Service Tag on sticker.

Compare the latest drivers available for download with the ones presently installed in Device Manager reached by right clicking the Start button. Make sure you have the latest BIOS or UEFI firmware, Chipset, Display (Video), Sound, USB3, Bluetooth, Network and all other drivers, or else download and install the latest now.

Updating drivers from the Device Manager or Windows Update is rarely enough. The most basic thing we need to learn to maintain a PC is keep the latest manufacturer's drivers installed from their Support Downloads web page. Everything else depends on this.

3. If nothing else works then do a Repair Install, by installing Media Creation Tool, open tool and choose to Upgrade Now. This reinstalls Windows while keeping files, programs and most settings in place, is the most stable method to advance to the latest version, and solves most problems. Tutorial here: https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/fix-windows...

HARDWARE TESTS -

1. Test the memory using WIndows Memory Diagnostics: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-det...

If problems are found then test the RAM overnight to stress it with the best bootable test memtest86, following this guide to test both sticks and slots:

https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/how-to-test...

2. Test the hard drive or SSD with diagnostics:

https://www.lifewire.com/free-hard-drive-testin...

https://mashtips.com/ssd-health-test-and-perfor...

HP and Dell have hardware diagnostics triggered by tapping the ESC or F12 keys respectively as you power on.

Best is to use the HDD/SSD manufacturer's own if there is one, otherwise use Seatools bootable long test: http://blog.nowherelan.com/2013/04/04/boot-seat...

Follow this up with a full Disk Check from the Command Prompt in Repair Mode or from bootable media: https://www.groovypost.com/howto/check-hard-dri... if necessary from the Command Prompt at boot: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2294-advanc...

3. Stress test the rest of your hardware:

https://techguided.com/best-tools-to-stress-tes...

If no hardware problems are found then look over this tutorial for a gold standard Clean Install which compiles the best possible Install of Windows which will stay that way as long as you stick with the tools and methods given, has zero reported problems, and is better than any amount of money could buy: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki...

The reason I suggest this is that no one who has adopted the install in the above link has ever come back to report further problems I've seen, including another version failure. This is because everything in Windows 10 is dependent upon the quality of the install, especially Version Updates which will choke on lesser quality installs, and there is no possibility of problems if you stick ONLY with the steps, tools and methods in that tutorial.

It is also one of life's great learning experiences that will permanently make you the master of your PC because you will learn everything that works best and how to keep it that way.

Report back results for each step so I know what else to suggest.

Feel free to ask back any questions. Based on the results you post back I may have other suggestions if necessary.

______________________________________________

Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

Can you systematically unplug each hard drive to see if it eliminates the problem?

Do you have apps or any system files like paging file on one of the hard drives? This can be a problem, starting with the speed being affected going from SSD to HDD. I would always keep all OS components and apps on the fastest SSD, only data including User folders will not suffer speed loss if moved to a slower HDD.

Otherwise there are regularly cases where one of the drives has some code in the boot sector or partition table left over from an operating system that wasn't properly wiped clean. This can be isolated by powering down to unplug each one's data cable to observe what happens when it's disconnected.

Keep me posted on your progress as I will be here to help until the case is resolved.

Hello Andrew. I'm Greg, 10 years awarded Windows MVP, here to help you.

What tells you this is hard drive lag? What tests have you run?

Your hard drive manufacturer's Support should help you test this for possible RMA, although you do run through it first to see if there's any basis for asking for the help - they must still give it anyway while it's under warranty.

Test the hard drive or SSD with diagnostics:

https://www.lifewire.com/free-hard-drive-testin...

https://mashtips.com/ssd-health-test-and-perfor...

HP and Dell have hardware diagnostics triggered by tapping the ESC or F12 keys respectively as you power on.

Best is to use the HDD/SSD manufacturer's own if there is one, otherwise use Seatools bootable long test: http://blog.nowherelan.com/2013/04/04/boot-seat...

Follow this up with a full Disk Check from the Command Prompt in Repair Mode or from bootable media: https://www.groovypost.com/howto/check-hard-dri... if necessary from the Command Prompt at boot: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2294-advanc...

Try also these fixes for hard drive lag in Windows 10:

https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/hdd-is-...

https://hetmanrecovery.com/recovery_news/what-t...

https://silicophilic.com/fix-slow-hard-drive/

For further help you can get the best hardware advice at the Tom's Hardware forums here: https://forums.tomshardware.com/

Report back results for each step so I know what else to suggest.

Feel free to ask back any questions. Based on the results you post back I may have other suggestions if necessary.

______________________________________________

Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

Hi again Greg,

Thanks for this. I've not tried powering down a drive in the manner you suggest before, so I might have to build up the courage for that! I presume that there's no software way of doing this, and that opening my tower up is what I need to do?

Regarding my PC's pagefile, this appears located on its SSD as I'd expect. I've not upgraded my OS since the machine was bought, so I don't expect there to be any rogue code on boot sectors.

More generally, I don't think there's anything mission critical for Windows on my HDDs. My SSD is large enough to accommodate all that. Further, I've never noticed that it's anything I'm doing that triggers the slowdown, e.g. it's not a response to me starting a particular application or anything like that.

Cheers,

Andrew.

Hi Greg,

Thanks very much for these pointers.

I've downloaded the SeaTools application and run it over my system, but - like Windows' own tools - it doesn't flag up anything of concern. I'll try a few more that are suggested to see if they reveal anything additional. Meanwhile, most of the advice pages focus on issues like disk space capacity and fragmentation status that don't apply in my case - both of my drives are only about 50% full, and I defrag them fairly regularly.

It occurred after I posted my original question that the problem I'm experiencing [*] may not be a disk problem at all, but could instead be a motherboard one. However, while I already know a few tools for looking at disk issues, I've no idea about diagnosing issues with motherboards. So this is more of a desperate hunch than anything grounded in any evidence. The desperation isn't helped by this being an intermittent problem with no obvious trigger.

Anyway, as I say, I'll have a poke around with more disk tools. But if anyone knows of a tool to interrogate or monitor a motherboard, that seems like it might be worth doing in parallel. I'm reluctant to take my PC into the shop for a healthcheck until I can give the technicians there something by way of evidence about what's going on or how I can trigger it.

Andrew.

[*] To reiterate, the background information and details of the problem I'm experiencing are as follows:

• My system consists of an SSD (where the OS lives), and two hard disks, one for media (My Documents, etc.) and one for miscellaneous non-system applications (e.g. Photoshop, Steam, etc.). None of my three disks are close to being full, and both hard disks are pretty unfragmented. The PC was built by a local supplier (i.e. not Dell), and appears to be a mix of components (e.g. a Samsung SSD, but unnamed hard disks). It's my second PC from this supplier, and the last one is still working fine after many years.
• Normally, my drives are completely fine, with high disk read / write speeds (megabytes per second) and fast response times (<< 100 milliseconds)
• Periodically, one or other (and sometimes both) of my drives dip into a state where read / write speeds are very low (kilobytes per second) and response times are extremely long (hundred to thousands of milliseconds). I've been diagnosing this via the information from Task Manager.
• During these periods, applications accessing the drives can lock-up and become unresponsive. However, my PC itself behaves as usual so long as I don't ask it to look at the drives - if I do, Windows Explorer then becomes one of these locked-up applications.
• Task Manager works fine during these lock-ups, but I can't see any anomalous processes running. Usually just Windows system processes operating with very low read/write speeds (<0.1 Mbps), and occasionally the applications that are "stuck". Annoyingly, Task Manager doesn't even blink as the response times on the affected drive(s) reach up to several seconds.
• What seems to happen is that, after a few or many minutes, the drive comes properly back online and I can use it as usual. Restarting or sleeping then waking are means I've found to trigger this recovery too.
• Despite "knowing" all about this via Task Manager, Windows makes no comment or error report on what happens during these periods.