The disk is operating extremely slowly and remains at 100% utilization continuously.
The disk is operating extremely slowly and remains at 100% utilization continuously.
Hi everyone. After spending several hours online I finally solved the problem and would appreciate your assistance.
Here’s the situation: I have two drives connected:
- OS on Samsung SSD 870 QVO 1TB
- Data 1 on TOSHIBA HDWD240 – 4TB with 2.10 free
- Data 2 on WD40EZAZ-22SF3B0 – 4TB with 1.60 TB free
I attempted to transfer a large file of 10 GB from Data 2 to Data 1. The Toshiba drive showed 100% usage. After the transfer, data copying started quickly at 70 MBs but then froze for minutes, repeatedly reprocessing small amounts before stopping completely.
The whole system became completely unresponsive, making even basic tasks like emptying the recycle bin impossible. After about 30 minutes of moving, the system was extremely slow and unresponsive, taking ages to open files.
I checked CPU temperatures and system health, confirmed no virus or overload, but realized the issue is with the Toshiba drive stuck at full capacity. Restarting Windows seems like the only way back to normal operation.
Please let me know if you can help.
I discovered that handling large files by moving them all at once can cause significant slowdowns or even freeze the system. Working in smaller parts is much more efficient.
Both of your mechanical HDDs are SMR drives.
You should anticipate unstable write performance with these units.
They aren't ideal for heavy write operations.
Each write to an SMR drive also affects adjacent tracks, requiring corrections afterward.
This results in a notable drop in write speed.
Besides what was mentioned earlier, I would also clear the destination drive first. There is 2.1TB of unused space that could be quite fragmented, requiring multiple reads to store a big file across several small fragments. This fragmentation often leads to many seeks, which significantly slows down HDD performance. The Windows defrag utility works, but there are more effective (free) options available.
Hi everyone, thanks for the details.
I verified that the problem was caused by an SMR hard drive. Switching to a Seagate certified CMR has completely improved performance compared to before. I now plan to always check whether the drive is CMR or SMR and will definitely avoid SMR in the future.
Appreciate the information again.