I've been experiencing an issue where one of my hard drives shows nearly 100% utilization, and it's causing my computer to slow down significantly. This happened recently while I was gaming on an SSD—the HDD's usage spiked while no other programs were running. Can anyone shed light on what might be causing this? I'm open to any suggestions or questions you might have!
3 Answers
It sounds like it could be a background process like Windows Defender or Windows Search Index working in the background. Just because you don’t see any windows open doesn’t mean your computer isn’t busy. Many modern games expect you're running off an SSD, so if your hard drive is overutilized, you'll notice a significant drop in performance. Next time, check the Task Manager to see what's using your disk—sort by the disk usage to spot any culprits.
I wish I could share a picture of my Task Manager, but that doesn't seem possible here.
This definitely sounds like something your antivirus might be doing. Try checking that out! If it's running scans or updates, it can really bog down your HDD.
Check the Resource Monitor on the disk tab. And definitely run a scan with HD Tune. If you notice any dropouts, it's a sign to replace the drive. Older drives might have retries, which can kill performance faster than you’d expect.
I've already checked Task Manager, but there was nothing significant there. I was gaming on an SSD, so it was the HDD that spiked to 100% usage with no relevant open programs.