OS Slow even on SSD.

[TheSyntaX]

Hey, I am starting to face some issues with my PC.
Specs:
CPU: FX-8350
Motherboard: M5A97 R2.0
GPU: GTX 970 Strix
RAM: 8 GB 1666 (I think)
HDD:
Crucial SSD - OS
WD Caviar Black 1 TB
Seagate 1TB
Seagate 320 GB
OS: Windows 8.1 with Shell plugin/program/

whenever I just browse internet then decide to open something, if I press on Start Menu I hear HDD spinning up even though OS is installed on SSD.
Also extracting zip files is very very slow, it took around 15 minutes to extract 1.5 GB rar archive using 7zip.

Note: CPU was recently replaced with brand new (old one went nuts under warranty) and motherboard settings are default, nothing changed.

What could cause this weird acting?

[cecilbdemodded]

Taking so long with extracting makes me think the CPU is being throttled for some reason. I'd rerun Windows Experience first, if you haven't since you replaced the CPU. See what numbers, if any, change.

[TheSyntaX]

[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;47452795]Taking so long with extracting makes me think the CPU is being throttled for some reason. I'd rerun Windows Experience first, if you haven't since you replaced the CPU. See what numbers, if any, change.[/QUOTE]

is that the thing that gives number? Mine says 7.7

Note: I tested it when I was in resource-heavy game, not sure if currently used System resources are taken into account.

P.S - here is the thing.

  <WinSPR>
      <SystemScore>7.7</SystemScore>
      <MemoryScore>8.1</MemoryScore>
      <CpuScore>8.1</CpuScore>
      <CPUSubAggScore>8.3</CPUSubAggScore>
      <VideoEncodeScore>7.9</VideoEncodeScore>
      <GraphicsScore>7.7</GraphicsScore>
      <Dx9SubScore>7.7</Dx9SubScore>
      <Dx10SubScore>0</Dx10SubScore>
      <GamingScore>7.7</GamingScore>
      <StdDefPlaybackScore>TRUE</StdDefPlaybackScore>
      <HighDefPlaybackScore>TRUE</HighDefPlaybackScore>
      <DiskScore>8.1</DiskScore>
   </WinSPR>

[Subzero MP3Z]

Got AHCI enabled?

[Xyrec]

[QUOTE=arleitiss;47451992]whenever I just browse internet then decide to open something, if I press on Start Menu I hear HDD spinning up even though OS is installed on SSD.[/QUOTE]

Holy shit, I have the same exact problem as this, and I have my OS on an SSD as well.

[editline]4th April 2015[/editline]

It only happens once or twice a day though.

[TheSyntaX]

[QUOTE=Subzero MP3Z;47453451]Got AHCI enabled?[/QUOTE]

Where is that?

[wickedplayer494]

[QUOTE=arleitiss;47453482]Where is that?[/QUOTE]

In your BIOS.

[SA Spyder]

Note though that switching from IDE to AHCI, you might want to do a fresh install of Windows.

It's possible to make it work anyway through registry modifications but it just eliminates any room for error.

But since you have AHCI on anyway, ignore this.

[TheSyntaX]

Just checked, it is in AHCI mode.

[Xyrec]

Just checked as well, I also have AHCI enabled.

[TheSyntaX]

I assumed for a second that there is some application in start menu that is installed on other drive, but then I realized how stupid I am since they are just shortcuts.
There is also VLC media player in start menu which has recent sub-menu which contains files/list of files that are stored on other hard drives. Maybe it's that?

Also checked pagination file location, as it turns out - all my hard drives don't have them set (though I assumed before that all HDD's automatically get managed by OS)

[lordcrypto]

i hate to ask this question, but are you absolutely positive windows is actually installed on the SSD

a while back i managed to install windows not onto my SSD, but a ghost partition. unplug all your drives except for SSD and try booting

[TheSyntaX]

[QUOTE=LordCrypto;47453660]i hate to ask this question, but are you absolutely positive windows is actually installed on the SSD

a while back i managed to install windows not onto my SSD, but a ghost partition. unplug all your drives except for SSD and try booting[/QUOTE]

Yes, 100% sure, even My Computer has a little Windows icon on that SSD drive + boot times are literally seconds.

I just did some searching on my PC and found out that explorer.exe is using all my drives. (I assume for indexing or some shit, but that would keep them spinning all time no?)

P.S - I know there is a solution to this, just disable power saving on Hard Drives so they are always on, but that's not really a solution I think, more of a dirty workaround.

[Darkimmortal]

[QUOTE=arleitiss;47451992]Also extracting zip files is very very slow, it took around 15 minutes to extract 1.5 GB rar archive using 7zip.[/QUOTE]

This is pretty hard to draw any conclusion from, unless the archive was stored on SSD, any temporary files placed on the SSD (%TEMP%) and the extracted files also placed on the SSD. If any of those were on one of your HDDs then fragmentation could be the cause.

[QUOTE=arleitiss;47453617]I assumed for a second that there is some application in start menu that is installed on other drive, but then I realized how stupid I am since they are just shortcuts.
There is also VLC media player in start menu which has recent sub-menu which contains files/list of files that are stored on other hard drives. Maybe it's that?
[/QUOTE]

Shortcuts are all it takes - the HDD will spin up to load icons from exe files

[wickedplayer494]

[QUOTE=arleitiss;47453690](I assume for indexing or some shit, but that would keep them spinning all time no?)[/QUOTE]

Windows' indexing service only actively runs at full speed when you're not at the machine. If you're at the machine, it runs at reduced speed. However it'd be SearchIndexer.exe (Microsoft Windows Search Indexer if you're using the new 8-style processes tab) that's carrying that out, not Windows Explorer. Unless Sinofsky fucked with that too...

[TheSyntaX]

Oh, any other possible reasons as to why this happens?

[Panda X]

[QUOTE=arleitiss;47453690]Yes, 100% sure, even My Computer has a little Windows icon on that SSD drive + boot times are literally seconds.

I just did some searching on my PC and found out that explorer.exe is using all my drives. (I assume for indexing or some shit, but that would keep them spinning all time no?)

P.S - I know there is a solution to this, just disable power saving on Hard Drives so they are always on, but that's not really a solution I think, more of a dirty workaround.[/QUOTE]

By default Windows only indexes your libraries, and those are on the same drive as Windows. And really the heavy hit with indexing is a one time thing when it first builds the index.

Since explorer itself is causing it, it might be a shell extension. If an application is installed on the HDD and it has a context menu entry it'll load information from the HDD every time you right click something for example. Try disabling anything that's a shell extension like that or a custom thumbnail handler, and see if that helps.

[VikeeVeekie]

Also, this isn't really relevant, but are you keeping your drives on at all times or do you let them power down after X time of inactivity?
Because letting them power down multiple times a day is quite strainful. The platter motor gaining speed is the most stressful moment for it, and may shorten its lifetime assuming you use your computer a lot.

[TheSyntaX]

[QUOTE=Panda X;47454900]By default Windows only indexes your libraries, and those are on the same drive as Windows. And really the heavy hit with indexing is a one time thing when it first builds the index.

Since explorer itself is causing it, it might be a shell extension. If an application is installed on the HDD and it has a context menu entry it'll load information from the HDD every time you right click something for example. Try disabling anything that's a shell extension like that or a custom thumbnail handler, and see if that helps.[/QUOTE]

Shell extenstion is also on SSD.

[editline]4th April 2015[/editline]

[QUOTE=Merijnwitje;47455216]Also, this isn't really relevant, but are you keeping your drives on at all times or do you let them power down after X time of inactivity?
Because letting them power down multiple times a day is quite strainful. The platter motor gaining speed is the most stressful moment for it, and may shorten its lifetime assuming you use your computer a lot.[/QUOTE]

Yeah in power savings they are set to power off after 20 minutes, I thought keeping them always on kills them faster?

[Bugga12]

I have the exact same board and cpu and I suspect SSD (Crucial MX100?) and have none of these issues. And I am paired with two old as fuck HDDs...

When this happens how much Disk % does the Task manager show as being used?

[editline]4th April 2015[/editline]

I'd also check your ssd and hdd for problems using at least SMART.

[TheSyntaX]

[QUOTE=Bugga12;47456244]I have the exact same board and cpu and I suspect SSD (Crucial MX100?) and have none of these issues. And I am paired with two old as fuck HDDs...

When this happens how much Disk % does the Task manager show as being used?

[editline]4th April 2015[/editline]

I'd also check your ssd and hdd for problems using at least SMART.[/QUOTE]

Got Crucial M550.

Interesting enough - Right now all 3 hard drives are inactive/hibernated while SSD is active.
And when I click on start it doesn't spin up anything, it seems to be conditional thing (happens when specific actions are performed?)

SSD is 1-2 months old.
WD Black is 5 Months old.
Seagate 1TB is taken out of External Hard Drive enclosure which was lying around under bed for years.
Crucial 320GB is dead-ish but still holds data, I used it 5 months ago for OS.

Here is history of hard drives:

Had Seagate 320 GB, had OS installed on it.
It started dropping speeds, started reading max 4-10 mb/s, read/write.
Got WD Black, split partitions and used that for 5 months as OS and games and stuff.
Got SSD - Reinstalled whole OS.
Threw in Seagate 1TB from External hard drive.

That's it.

[Bugga12]

Also, did you set up your DRAM timings correctly in the BIOS? That shouldn't be the cause of this, but the FX-83xx Cpus don't go well with mistimed ram, I learned this the hard way.

[TheSyntaX]

[QUOTE=Bugga12;47456259]Also, did you set up your DRAM timings correctly in the BIOS? That shouldn't be the cause of this, but the FX-83xx Cpus don't go well with mistimed ram, I learned this the hard way.[/QUOTE]

afaik it's set to auto, all my bios settings are default.

Here is current idle-ish state:

[t]http://oi61.tinypic.com/2ns534p.jpg[/t]

Only chrome open (explains ridiculous RAM usage)

[Bugga12]

From what you're saying... Drop the 320Gb Seagate. (As in, disconnect it and try booting up and see if you still have the problem - TROUBLESHOOOOOOT)

If you really want the data from the 320GB, you could get an external enclosure and get it out that way, or you could do it right now and put up with it.

But first, test it out: Disconnect the 320GB Seagate, boot up, fuck around a bit and see if the problem persists.

[TheSyntaX]

[QUOTE=Bugga12;47456299]From what you're saying... Drop the 320Gb Seagate. (As in, disconnect it and try booting up and see if you still have the problem - TROUBLESHOOOOOOT)

If you really want the data from the 320GB, you could get an external enclosure and get it out that way, or you could do it right now and put up with it.

But first, test it out: Disconnect the 320GB Seagate, boot up, fuck around a bit and see if the problem persists.[/QUOTE]

I should mention something:

I have an encrypted partition which is stored on that 320GB, it seems to occur only when that encrypted partition is mounted.

[Bugga12]

Sounds like you found your problem and solution then.

There's not much you can do for a dying hdd, it's time to let it go. :v:

[TheSyntaX]

[QUOTE=Bugga12;47456326]Sounds like you found your problem and solution then.

There's not much you can do for a dying hdd, it's time to let it go. :v:[/QUOTE]

I guess yeah, gonna empty it and run check on it see what it shows (just curious, never did it on that one)

[Bugga12]

I'd recommend troubleshooting (if you haven't) first, just to be sure. The whole disconnecting and fucking around thing I mentioned a few posts above.

If you think you've found the problem, yank it out and then a few hours later the same kind of slow down happens again, you'll be pulling your hair out and screaming "WHY" at a PC case ... Believe me.

[TheSyntaX]

[QUOTE=Bugga12;47456349]I'd recommend troubleshooting (if you haven't) first, just to be sure. The whole disconnecting and fucking around thing I mentioned a few posts above.

If you think you've found the problem, yank it out and then a few hours later the same kind of slow down happens again, you'll be pulling your hair out and screaming "WHY" at a PC case ... Believe me.[/QUOTE]

Any chance I can just disable it in BIOS? My PC is in a really horrible to access spot.