Computer Lock-up Issue

Jukilian · August 2016

My eternal love forever and ever to anyone that can help me resolve this issue that I've had with my computer ever since I got it.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019940/uploads/editor/3j/m39q3wj7pq5m.jpg

This has been an issue for some time and it drives me absolutely insane. It locks up my computer until it stops being retarded.

It's not only the SSD that does it, but my spinner (HDD) does it too (Drive S: as per above). 100% active time, yet the speeds are all 0. I've tried to find resolutions using Google to no avail.

Jinsun · August 2016

So I know jack shit about computers, but this sounds 100% (to me at least) like it's a hardware issue and something is connected wrong. I only say so because the zero-speed, 100% use reads to me like crossed wires. I worked with an HVAC contractor in college during the summers. If you hooked up a unit incorrectly god help you, because if you put two wires backwards, you're about to send 100% of the power through the unit the wrong way, and the unit won't do shit but get completely fried. Thus, 100% power, zero use. Like I said, I don't work on computers. I could be 100,000% wrong, but that was just my impression.

Szanthax · August 2016

Do this...

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-tips-fix-100-disk-usage-improve-windows-performance/

Some process is using it so I'd disable that one. Could be anti-virus too

Jukilian · August 2016

Hmm, just had a look. I think I've already done some of that and it hasn't helped too much.

I've disabled Superfetch and Windows Search and the problem is still there. There isn't any obvious process at all that is using the disk. Nothing is reading or writing, and i've used the Resource Monitor to see if I can get more information. But it just shows the active time ramping up to 100% and the disk usage information doesn't change. During one such bout of it, the two highest disk-using processes were MsMpEng and System. The usage of which both pale in comparison to any video game, so they're not the culprits from the look of it.

Hadn't tried disabling Flash in Chrome. I doubt it'll resolve it, but have disabled it now and will see if I get hit with more lock-ups. These have been happening very regularly lately.

Szanthax · August 2016

I had the same problem on a computer at some point. Forget what fixed it but it as something simple like a recently updated driver or a Windows update that was causing the problem

Tolan · August 2016

I wouldn't suggest disabiling processes randomly, as you might disable something necessary. Something like that seems like it could be a virus that's doing it to your C: drive. But then, I'm not sure what the inside of your computer looks like. Sorry I'm not much help, but can't do much unless I could see it with my own eyes

Szanthax · August 2016

Could also be a sign of your sdd dying.

I've also read to make sure you don't have defrag on sdd's for reasons

Szanthax · August 2016

Also I forget... Is virtual memory a thing?

Severina · August 2016

A recurring culprit (one of many, unfortunately) for this issue is msmpeng.exe (which is a core part of Windows Defender) on Windows 10, especially when resuming from hibernation. If that sounds even vaguely applicable to you, I might try disabling Windows Defender and issuing a full shutdown and restart to see if that mitigates the issue.

Jukilian · September 2016

I doubt Defender is the issue but I'll try it anyway to rule it out.

SSD dying doesn't sound right as both drives do this and it's been happening since I got the PC about 2 years ago or so. As far as I'm aware, SSD's also tend to die instantly and not over time, due to how they work.

As for virus, I've run countless scans over the past two years or so and nothing detected yet.

I might throw my specs up when I get home from work.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far! Hopefully at some point this can be resolved. Appreciate the assistance.

Fusco · September 2016

You can try Sysinternals Process Explorer to see if anything shows up as accessing the drive.

Jukilian · September 2016

I have Process Explorer and it has yet to give me any definitive answer. From memory it told me nothing was making excess use of the disks, similar to the Performance Monitor.

I'll run Process Explorer again though!

Israyhl · September 2016

Start the computer in safe mode (Hold down shift while clicking restart in power menu) and reboot the computer to safe mode. That will only start up core processes and will allow you to rule out some program running in the background. It will also allow you to manage the windows processes more easily via msconfig.

If the issue continues in Safe mode, you know you have a HW issue. If it doesn't, you know it is SW. If SW, try uninstalling anything that you installed right before the issue started. May be worth a recovery if you did not change any sw settings.

If it is HW, then that is going to take a bit more investigation. Would definitely make sure everything his hooked up correctly, at that point. I would pull out one drive and only keep in the Windows drive to ensure it isn't something to do with the way the master/slave is interacting. If issue continues with one drive, only, try different cable connections to the board to rule out the cables. If it isn't cables and the issue is happening on both drives in the same way, then you know it is motherboard related.

Best of luck!

Edit: Re-read and saw you say it has happened since you got the machine. Safemode and chkdsk are worth it. Ensures there are no corrupted files that are causing the issue.

Edit2: Okay, you say the HDD is 100% but 0 speed, can you hear the HDD spinning? If not, the 100% up may be an access error. Really, that is speculative but safe mode will be your first step in diagnostics.

Antidas · September 2016

Israyhl said:

If the issue continues in Safe mode, you know you have a HW issue. If it doesn't, you know it is SW. If SW, try uninstalling anything that you installed right before the issue started. May be worth a recovery if you did not change any sw settings.

Safe mode doesn't automatically rule out hardware. It definitely does narrow down the potential pieces of hardware that could cause the issue, but if the computer is turning on, some hardware is involved, and thus could be causing the issue - even if it is unlikely. If you have the ability/knowledge to open up your computer and work on it, I would recommend trying it in minimum configuration. Unplug everything possible from the motherboard and boot it up. If issue persists, its something that is still plugged in, or is your motherboard itself. If it doesn't, plug things back in one at a time until you figure out where the issue starts from.

Jukilian · September 2016

I have a potential solution pending...

I went through my BIOS and the two drives were not set to AHCI, so I set them to AHCI. So far so good.

Hail, Stranger!

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