What type of tools will I need to test out my windows 10 laptop, I 'm having issues where it wou...

[G+_Donald Kloss]

What type of tools will I need to test out my windows 10 laptop, I'm having issues where it would freeze from time to time and notice the hd is constantly being pinged and usage of the hd is 100% I have tried to find out which app is hogging up the drive but can't seem to pinpoint it, I'm assuming it could be the hd possibly going out but haven't purchased a new one yet, I ran the memory test built in to the os and that didn't find any issues ran a chkdsk and it didn't find any issues with the sectors. In safe mode I don't have the issue probably because it's not running all the apps, I also uninstalled my anti virus and am using the bit defender still the same issue.

[G+_Black Merc]

Uninstall all the preloaded (junk) software that came with the system.

[G+_Donald Kloss]

Black Merc I don't have junk apps I have deleted those along time ago it was normally a 8.1 laptop but got upgraded to 10 I also re installed windows 10 same thing

[G+_Giligain I.]

Shift+Alt+Esc will being up the task manager. If you look at system performance with the graphing...there on bottom right side/corner is hyperlink to more detailed popup screen showing Performace from CPU to HD to network. From there you can see which program is running hard. If you click the box next to description it will highlight all the stuff relating to that program and be in orange color.

 

Google the program name to learn if needed or a way around it or post it here.

 

Cheers.

[G+_Black Merc]

Disconnect from net to see if net use is related to the activity. To help narrow down suspects.

[G+_Damien Wessling]

Windows 10 will run fine with the built in Windows Defender for your AV solution. If the drive has been in service for some time (upgraded previous version of Windows to 10) it might be worth running SPINRITE over it. You can ID the app/s pulling the most CPU cycles in Task Manager, that might assist in locating the app or service resourcing the drive, coupled with opening Resource Monitor where you can select the drive and sort which app or service is pulling the hardest. Try checking these both with and without your network connection active. So many variable Donald, just need to whittle them down some first. Easiest and simple ones first, SPINRITE the drive. If the drive is labouring and you can't identify any obvious reason for the excess activity, good chance it's degraded and Windows is finding it hard to access. Windows doesn't have the same ability to check the drive at that level so it can't give you the heads up.

[G+_Chris Eckeard (StMerlin]

Purchase a copy of SpinRite from SteveGibson? GRCorporation? and run it on the drive. This may resolve your issue, repair a degrading harddrive, and good maintenance to help reduce the chance of failure.

[G+_Donald Kloss]

If I purchase a copy of spinrite would I be able to run it without windows meaning create a bootable USB thumb drive to run it

[G+_Black Merc]

Donald Kloss all answers :yes

[G+_Chris Eckeard (StMerlin]

Donald Kloss? yes without Windows. From USB or CD.

[G+_Donald Kloss]

Thanks for the replies saw the info on the order page

[G+_Damien Wessling]

Unless you have an ASUS. I'm yet to get SPINRITE to boot on an ASUS notebook, USB or CD.

[G+_Black Merc]

Damien Wessling in that case a second machine will be required... Exchange drives and go.

[G+_Damien Wessling]

Black Merc Yep, every time. Beats me what ASUS do differently, seems to affect their desktop variants too.

[G+_Jason Perry]

If you are worried about your HDD buy a copy of spinrite, it will keep it running until the last bit of life has left its platters.

 

I also only use Microsoft's antivirus software. I find it less bloated and stays in the background.

[G+_Donald Kloss]

Jason Perry I'm going to purchase it today I also have another hd I need to look into so it will help me with that also

[G+_Jason Perry]

What software do you you have installed?

[G+_Ben Reese]

To run Spinrite, you'll have to disable UEFI/secure boot. I've only done it it a few times, but to get to UEFI bios, you may have to do it from within Windows.

 

Another option is to check the S.M.A.R.T. status of your drive. CrystalDiskInfo is a handy tool for getting that info from the drive - such as Reallocation Sectors Count.

 

But if you suspect a degradation in drive performance, it may be time to upgrade to an SSD. Even if Spinrite can get the drive working right again, it will continue to degrade until it eventually fails. CrystalDiskInfo is free, so it's worth checking out.

[G+_Jason Davis]

These days spinrite has been having issues with GPT partitions as well, it has stopped me from running on most modern Win10 partitions. Unless somebody knows a fix you might hit that wall. But GRC will refund you no questions asked.

[G+_Damien Wessling]

I know Steve's working on it, should be resolved in release 6.1.

[G+_Jason Davis]

Damien Wessling which is 3+ yrs in the making, I want sqrl but 8 want spinrite more.

[G+_Black Merc]

Jason Davis Yes, we need hdd to live longer but, internet security is (I think) a higher priority.

[G+_Ben Reese]

Sqrl is only good if it gets adoption. I'm real curious to see if Sqrl is in use in 10 years.

[G+_Ben Reese]

And lack of GPT support - meaning also no support for 3+TB NTFS drives (not sure about other disk formats) is what holds me back from recommending it.

[G+_Black Merc]

My understanding was that SR ignores format type