I have an MSI Katana GF66 11UC running Windows 11. I've owned it for less than two years and don't use it frequently. Recently, it has been slowing down to the point of becoming almost unusable. When this happens, I check the task manager, and it indicates that my disk usage is at 100%, but it doesn't show any applications that seem to be taking up significant space. Initially, restarting my laptop helped fix the issue, but now it's happening more frequently. I've tried disabling automatic startup apps and turned off fast startup, which I heard might help. I've also checked for driver updates but found none, and while I did see that a file (ene.sys) can't load, I thought it wasn't a big deal. Currently, my storage has only about 20GB left, although it has been as high as 70GB without this issue. Sometimes, when the disk usage is at 100%, strange translucent command prompt-like tabs appear briefly on my screen before disappearing. I would appreciate any advice on troubleshooting this problem, as I'm not very tech-savvy and I'm uncertain which online resources to trust for help.
2 Answers
From your description, those mysterious tabs could indicate some background processes or even malware trying to run. Running thorough antivirus scans can help, but consider a dedicated malware removal tool as well to be safe. Also, ensure that you're regularly monitoring your startup programs and disabling anything unnecessary to reduce load on startup. Sometimes, BIOS settings or drivers can cause conflicts too, so checking for firmware updates might help.
It sounds like your issue may be related to high disk activity rather than limited disk space. First, try checking what's running in task manager under the 'Processes' tab and sort by disk usage to see if any process is hogging resources. If you haven’t already, make sure your laptop has at least 50GB free on the OS drive to function smoothly. You could also install a tool like TreeSize or WizTree to analyze your drive and see what files are using space. Additionally, check all your drives’ health using a program like CrystalDiskInfo to catch any potential drive issues.
Good plan! Also, just to clarify, an SSD can still max out disk usage if something’s causing it to work hard. Make sure you’ve got that drive health checked!
Thanks for the tips! I’ll definitely look into running a malware scan more cautiously.