Win8/8.1: 100% disk I/O makes Dell laptop extremely unstable

maples · 12-28-2013, 05:28 PM

For Christmas one of my uncles got me a Dell Inspiron 15R laptop. It has a 1 TB hard drive, an i5 processor, and 8 GB of RAM.

Ever since I set it up, it has been plagued with 100% hard drive access (according to the Task Manager. I've confirmed with the light being on solid). At some points it gets so bad that the entire system becomes unresponsive, and the only thing that I can do is move the mouse. I've Googled it, and what I've found so far hasn't helped. I disabled Windows Update, adjusted the swap file (I can't remember the Windows term

), and checked the Windows Search index size (it was about 70-75 MB). After a reboot, I still have the problem.

It seems to come and go of its own accord. I've tried listing the processes (in Task Manager) by the most disk I/O, and most of the time the top process is using "0.1 MB/sec." It came with McAfee pre-installed, so I ran a full system scan. While it was running, I kept an eye on the Task Manager. Most of the time, the McAfee process was reading around 10-20 MB/sec. However, I saw it spike once or twice to 40-45 MB/sec, proving that my drive is capable of at least that speed. The whole time that the scan was running, the disk usage was 100%.

Thanks!

Habitual · 12-28-2013, 08:04 PM

The very first thing I ever did with pre-installed Windows is re-install.
Run a chkdisk?

maples · 12-28-2013, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Habitual

The very first thing I ever did with pre-installed Windows is re-install.

Not a bad idea...don't think I'll do it though

Quote:

Originally Posted by Habitual

Run a chkdisk?

Sure, here's the results. From what I can see, the hard drive's fine.

Code:

The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is OS.

WARNING!  F parameter not specified.
Running CHKDSK in read-only mode.

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...

[CUT OUT PROGRESS INDICATORS]

  284672 file records processed.                                                        

File verification completed.
Progress: 1522 of 1522 done; Stage: 100%; Total: 29%; ETA:   0:00:17 .. 


  1522 large file records processed.                                   

Progress: 0 of 0 done; Stage: 99%; Total: 29%; ETA:   0:00:17 ...
                                                                                       
                                                                                       
  0 bad file records processed.                                     


Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...


[CUT OUT PROGRESS INDICATORS]
                                                                                       
  334826 index entries processed.                                                       

Index verification completed.
Progress: 0 of 0 done; Stage: 99%; Total: 79%; ETA:   0:00:12    
                                                                                       
                                                                                       
  0 unindexed files scanned.                                        

Progress: 0 of 0 done; Stage: 99%; Total: 79%; ETA:   0:00:12 .  
                                                                                       
                                                                                       
  0 unindexed files recovered.                                      


Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Security descriptor verification completed.
Progress: 3 of 3 done; Stage: 100%; Total: 99%; ETA:   0:00:00 .. 
                                                                                       
                                                                                       
  25078 data files processed.                                           

CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
Progress: 0 of 4930 done; Stage:  0%; Total: 99%; ETA:   0:00:00 ...
Progress: 2434 of 4930 done; Stage: 49%; Total: 94%; ETA:   0:00:01    
Progress: 4930 of 4930 done; Stage: 100%; Total: 96%; ETA:   0:00:01 .  
                                                                                       
                                                                                       
  40388880 USN bytes processed.                                                           

Usn Journal verification completed.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.

 962396159 KB total disk space.
  62178844 KB in 100059 files.
     67052 KB in 25079 indexes.
         0 KB in bad sectors.
    421371 KB in use by the system.
     65536 KB occupied by the log file.
 899728892 KB available on disk.

      4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
 240599039 total allocation units on disk.
 224932223 allocation units available on disk.

I ran across a Microsoft forum (if such a thing truly exists) and found a suggestion to defrag the disk. My original reaction was to laugh. It's a brand-new laptop, right? Installed a few programs (Notepad++, Paint.NET, IMGburn, etc), upgraded to 8.1, and copied pictures from my old laptop. Theoretically, there should be absolutely zero need to defragment the disk. To my surprise, it helped a LOT. I still get the usage spikes, but they are less frequent, shorter, and Task Manager (usually) can identify the process that's doing it. The boot time even improved.

Thanks for your time! If you have any other ideas, I'm open to suggestions.

rob.rice · 01-02-2014, 04:25 PM

Tack It Back To The Store It Came From
it's not on you to fix something broken that's new out of the box
OR
send it back to Dell let them fix it

Dell may or may not save your data

John VV · 01-02-2014, 04:57 PM

you have uninstalled the thousands of "crapware" "free trials" and "Ad ware " that cam pre installed ?

and have you turned off the disk file indexing
if you know where you saved things then you do not need to search for them

that right there should solve most things

then there is the system registry . That is going to be a royal mess to clean up the few hundred "crapware " company's that are calling home on boot .

the best option for that is to use a windows 8.1 install dvd and reinstall
( one of the MAIN uses for the MS System Registry IS TO HIDE these things and hide the for pay program "paid for " licenses ok's )

buccaneere · 01-22-2014, 10:43 AM

I got 2 of those Dell 17R's; one W7, one W8. I like the speed with which they boot.

Too much to list, about 'don't likes'. UEFI, Win*, no ext2/3 fs access, etc., ...

The W8 machine I use for ONE thing - datalogging on one of '90's cars' Engine Control Module. It's worthless otherwise.

Habitual · 01-22-2014, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John VV

you have uninstalled the thousands of "crapware" "free trials" and "Ad ware " that cam pre installed ?

Shovel-ware? Oh noes...

That's 2 "re-installs" and Microsoft 0

maples · 01-23-2014, 05:45 PM

I finally broke down and called Dell Help and Support. After they ran "Dell Click-2-Fix", restored it to a factory image, and ran a self-diagnostic (that came up "All passes!", btw) they determined that it was a bad hard drive. Which proves that their "self-diagnostic" is completely worthless.

A friend at school was having the same problem on a Win7 install, they discovered their HDD is bad, too...

Habitual · 01-23-2014, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maples

I finally broke down and called Dell Help and Support. After they ran "Dell Click-2-Fix", restored it to a factory image, and ran a self-diagnostic (that came up "All passes!", btw) they determined that it was a bad hard drive. Which proves that their "self-diagnostic" is completely worthless.

A friend at school was having the same problem on a Win7 install, they discovered their HDD is bad, too...

I believe Dell ownership is transferable, so if it's under warranty, you can get a new HD!

Used to be "in possession of" was proof of ownership...Things may have changed.