Slow windows 10 on Laptop from day 1. Disk usage 100% most of the time (task manager)

[dave4me]

I have a laptop with i5 and lots of memory.  HP Pavilion 15-ab2Q5nj.

From day 1 it is very slow, it runs Windows 10, takes a long time to load, and is really slow.  It is unusable.  I wanted it for video editing and it barely opens a browser.

I tried:

1.  Recovery to factory settings (deleted everything).

2.  'killed' processes in the task manager.

3.  Purchased windows optimizing software, and ran it endlessly.

4.  HP assistant

I am really frustrated.  Can it be a hardware problem?  The HP diagnostics shows that everything is OK...

[IT_WinSec]

Hello @dave4me

Welcome to the HP Support forum. Thank you for posting.

With regards to your PC problems, I am sorry about your frustration.

As you have performed hardware diagnostics - it confirms the usual situation - HP has nothing to do with these problems - it is software issue (not a hardware problem) caused either by McAfee (security preinstalled) or by Microsoft (Windows 10 updating itself automatically and taking control over the PC). I have experienced this issue myself and I have seen it in actions.

1. Remove unneeded and temporary files. Download and run CCLeaner (from Piriform) with the extra options checked. Here are instructions

>> http://www.howtogeek.com/113382/how-to-use-ccleaner-like-a-pro-9-tips-tricks/

>> http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download/portable 

2. Check if your PC have McAfee preinstalled. If this is the case:

2.1 Go to Control Panel > Programs and features

2.2 Find McAfee from the list of installed apps and uninstall it

2.3 Restart your PC

2.4 Download McAfee's removal tools (MCPR) and run it to ensure all hidden leftovers are gone and that there is nothing left >> http://us.mcafee.com/apps/supporttools/mcpr/mcpr.asp

2.5 Run MCPR and then, restart the PC

3. Uninstall any programs you definitely do not use but you think might be a bit high on resources. You can uninstall them from Control Panel > Programs and features

4. Go to Start > Settings > Update&Security

Ensure Windows 10 is updated and wait for it until it completes all updates. Note that this may be slow and time consuming task.

Only after that you may notice it run OK

Let me know how it goes

[Zinou]

Hi,

If the above recommandations didn't solve your issue, try to download and install Windows Performance Toolkit. 

This is a tool I always use to solve this kind of peroformance issues.

Here is a tutorial to show you how to use this tool to take a boot trace. It's easy...

When the trace is recorded, zip it and share it. I'll analyze it for you.

Talk soon,

[mdklassen]

>  I tried:

 > 1.  Recovery to factory settings (deleted everything).

My guess is that you had an active Internet connection immediately after you recovered.

The Other Person wrote:

> It is software issue ... caused ... by Microsoft (Windows 10 updating itself automatically ...

I definitely agree. Open the Windows "Task Manager", and click to the "Performance" tab, and you'll see lots of network traffic, and your disk-drive at 100% busy, while Windows Update is working.

> I have experienced this issue myself and I have seen it in action.

Again, I definitely agree. 

Leave your computer alone, with an Internet connection, until the updates are done.

Restart, when it tells you to do so, to complete the updates.

Then, launch Windows Update -- it may find "more" updates. 

Do those updates, and restart.

Finally, when Windows Update is totally done, your computer will have all of its resources available to you, and its performance will be much better.

Finally, run Disk Defragmenter, just once, to "optimize" your disk-drive, for even better performance.

By default, Disk Defragmenter will run, once per week, to keep your disk-drive optimized.

[dave4me]

I worked all day.  Removed MCafee with their tool.  Cleaned everything.

Updated Windows 10 fully.  

Rebooted a zillion times.

I still get Disk Usage 100% in the task manager and a slow computer.

Any other ideas?

[mdklassen]

> I still get Disk Usage 100% in the task manager and a slow computer.

In Windows Task Manager, click to the "Performance" tab, to show the CPU-busy percentage, and the network traffic, and the disk-drive-busy percentage.

Near the bottom of this window, click "Resource Monitor".

When it opens, click the 'CPU' tab.

Click the 'Average CPU' column-heading, to order the rows (either least-to-most or most-to-least CPU usage).

What do you see?

Similarly, click the 'Disk' tab, to see which applications are using the most CPU.

What do you see?

[Zinou]

Hi,

We need to do a diagnose before providing solutions !

Read my above post. Download and install Windows Performance Toolkit and take a boot trace.

If you are septic about the tool! you can find some similar cases I solved with this Tool;

http://zinetek.com/2017/04/18/windows-10-slow-boot/

http://zinetek.com/2015/12/19/windows-7-slow-logon-troubleshoot/

[IT_WinSec]

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@dave4me wrote:

I worked all day.  Removed MCafee with their tool.  Cleaned everything.

Updated Windows 10 fully.  

Rebooted a zillion times.

I still get Disk Usage 100% in the task manager and a slow computer.

Any other ideas?

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Thank you for following the instructions and for the screenshot.

How about going to "Processes" tab and sort them all by disk usage to see what uses most the disk ?

Screenshot will be welcome from there, too 🙂

[CF4]

Hi

I noticed in the screenshot that no Page File is allocated.

Perhaps if one was created, and of a fixed size, it may reduce the disk thrashing.

[dave4me]

Hi,

I changed the page file from automatic to fixed.  Rebooted.  Still 100% utilization.

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@Clint_FLICK wrote:

Hi

I noticed in the screenshot that no Page File is allocated.

Perhaps if one was created, and of a fixed size, it may reduce the disk thrashing.

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