Windows 10 constant disk usage

The_Mowgs

The_Mowgs

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I have a laptop here from a friend which Im struggling with and need some support. Its a lenovo laptop with 4gb ram, Windows 10 Home edition.

When you log in and want try and do anything on the machine it takes forever. Select to open firefox, go make coffee and when you get back it might open, or you just need to wait longer.

This is not just for Firefox etc but anything you try and do.

I checked in the Task Manager and there is constantly a 100% disk usage as well as high memory usage.

I cleaned the machine with Malware bytes just to be sure but the problem is still there so not sure if its a type of cryptominer as I dont know how or where to look for those.

21dd8db404c35081150de5e748b18e45.jpg
 
HDD or SSD?

My system (SSD) had constant usage due to running out of space and Windows compressing/decompressing everything to make space for updates or something. Who knows with Windows...
 
Budza said:
HDD or SSD?

My system (SSD) had constant usage due to running out of space and Windows compressing/decompressing everything to make space for updates or something. Who knows with Windows...
Click to expand...
Normal hdd, 876gb free of 930gb. This machine is only used for assignments, browsing etc.
 
The_Mowgs said:
I have a laptop here from a friend which Im struggling with and need some support. Its a lenovo laptop with 4gb ram, Windows 10 Home edition.

When you log in and want try and do anything on the machine it takes forever. Select to open firefox, go make coffee and when you get back it might open, or you just need to wait longer.

This is not just for Firefox etc but anything you try and do.

I checked in the Task Manager and there is constantly a 100% disk usage as well as high memory usage.

I cleaned the machine with Malware bytes just to be sure but the problem is still there so not sure if its a type of cryptominer as I dont know how or where to look for those.

21dd8db404c35081150de5e748b18e45.jpg
Click to expand...

Your problem is clear. I can immediately detect when I am working on a 4GB machine.
 
supersunbird said:
Your problem is clear. I can immediately detect when I am working on a 4GB machine.
Click to expand...
I was initially thinking the same but does the low ram influence the disk writing? I thought it would only impact the memory usage.

I was about to suggest more RAM but thought I would first find out because people prefer to not spend money.
 
Check the size of your paging file. Sometimes it's huge due to a glitch in the sleep/wakeup function and it's also a cause of high disk usage.
 
The_Mowgs said:
I was initially thinking the same but does the low ram influence the disk writing? I thought it would only impact the memory usage.

I was about to suggest more RAM but thought I would first find out because people prefer to not spend money.
Click to expand...
When they system has insufficient RAM (and 4GB is insufficient, regardless of what MS say), the OS will write to the pagefile on the HDD. So you have both too little RAM AND a slow HDD. Slapping an SSD in would speed it up, but it will still be slow. Adding an additional 4GB (or even better, 8GB) of RAM will change your life. Doing both will change that laptop entirely and potentially make your wife fall pregnant.
 
The constant HDD use is the machine using HDD as swap memory as the 4GB is not close to enough I would guess. Even on an 8GB machine I find windows 10 uses a lot and when work security stuff is running its slows the whole machine down. Taking it for an upgrade tomorrow to 16GB memory and an SSD which apparently doubles the speed of the laptop at a fairly low cost (compared to a new laptop at least).
 
The_Mowgs said:
I have a laptop here from a friend which Im struggling with and need some support. Its a lenovo laptop with 4gb ram, Windows 10 Home edition.

When you log in and want try and do anything on the machine it takes forever. Select to open firefox, go make coffee and when you get back it might open, or you just need to wait longer.

This is not just for Firefox etc but anything you try and do.

I checked in the Task Manager and there is constantly a 100% disk usage as well as high memory usage.

I cleaned the machine with Malware bytes just to be sure but the problem is still there so not sure if its a type of cryptominer as I dont know how or where to look for those.

21dd8db404c35081150de5e748b18e45.jpg
Click to expand...
For the love of fack, upgrade the RAM at the very least.. for bonus points, upgrade to SSD..

Problem solved..
 
The_Mowgs said:
I was initially thinking the same but does the low ram influence the disk writing? I thought it would only impact the memory usage.

I was about to suggest more RAM but thought I would first find out because people prefer to not spend money.
Click to expand...
WAslayer said:
For the love of fack, upgrade the RAM at the very least.. for bonus points, upgrade to SSD..

Problem solved..
Click to expand...
^^
 
supersunbird said:
Your problem is clear. I can immediately detect when I am working on a 4GB machine.
Click to expand...
The_Mowgs said:
I was initially thinking the same but does the low ram influence the disk writing? I thought it would only impact the memory usage.

I was about to suggest more RAM but thought I would first find out because people prefer to not spend money.
Click to expand...
UrBaN963 said:
When they system has insufficient RAM (and 4GB is insufficient, regardless of what MS say), the OS will write to the pagefile on the HDD. So you have both too little RAM AND a slow HDD. Slapping an SSD in would speed it up, but it will still be slow. Adding an additional 4GB (or even better, 8GB) of RAM will change your life. Doing both will change that laptop entirely and potentially make your wife fall pregnant.
Click to expand...
Cius said:
The constant HDD use is the machine using HDD as swap memory as the 4GB is not close to enough I would guess. Even on an 8GB machine I find windows 10 uses a lot and when work security stuff is running its slows the whole machine down. Taking it for an upgrade tomorrow to 16GB memory and an SSD which apparently doubles the speed of the laptop at a fairly low cost (compared to a new laptop at least).
Click to expand...
Thanks guys, it makes sense now. Will tell her to order some RAM for now and see how it goes.
 
I would rather use macOS than a PC with windows 10 that has a HDD for the OS drive.

Ive said this many times but its true, windows 10 without an SSD as the OS drive is unusable.
 
Mortymoose said:
4GB Ram does not cut it with W10.

I was having the same issue with my laptop and last week threw in the towel, bumped the 4Gb up to 12Gb and replaced the HDD with a SSD , like owning a new PC.....
Click to expand...
I use windows 10 windows 4gb ram my test pc,but it has ssd so it works fine.
 
4GB Ram does not cut it with W10.

I was having the same issue with my laptop and last week threw in the towel, bumped the 4Gb up to 12Gb and replaced the HDD with a SSD , like owning a new PC.....
Gtx Gaming said:
I use windows 10 windows 4gb ram my test pc,but it has ssd so it works fine.
Click to expand...

I concur, my W10 ran fine with 4gb Ram, so did the one upstairs, but as I added more software and the more regular the updates from W10 , the slower the machine, it became frustrating with excel, windows, spotify and thunderbird open and then sitting watching the blue circle rotate.

I have been using my upgrade machine now for the past couple of days and cannot believe that I endured more than a year of frustration, should have done the upgrade months ago....
 
Got my work laptop upgraded today from normal HDD to SSD and from 8GB to 16GB. Restart time down from 12min to 1 min. Same stuff happens in the background with security software but now the machine is fully usable while it does its thing. What a difference.
 
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