Excessive Windows slowness, not loading properly etc

Windows 10 22H2
Build 19045.2728
Auto Updates.

My PC is a self build tower with a motherboard that's now about 6 years old but until now hasn't given any issues. I've 3 drives on board - a 256 GB SSD with Windows alone on it, a 2TB & 1TB SATA drives.

4 nights ago when I did my usual shutdown procedure going through Windows/Shut Down the computer was taking ages acting somewhat as if hung. It didn't indicate any issues, nor that it was updating Windows etc, so as I was in a rush, I opted to just shut down via the case button. So then the problems began the next day when I switched it on, and initially all looked ok, until it got to the Windows loading screen where it hung. After 15 minutes I got rather impatient and just restarted it again via the case (I know, I know!!). But 2nd time around, I decided to go do something else rather than watching a black screen with a wait symbol (new one to me!) and amazingly just as I was figuring I'd killed Windows completely, it loaded. However, it then took another age to get from password screen to loading anything else, but eventually did so. But the problems continue on.

If I want to open a program, regardless of which it might be, it again will take anything up to 10 minutes to load & sometimes even after loading will hang and I can't tell if it's a temp or permanent problem so give up eventually & just close it.

Also, while it will load ok from a cold start without any problems , I daren't restart for any reason, or it will behave again as if it just isn't going to load at all - took 20 mins yesterday to do so.

The 2TB drive is a Seagate Firecuda (ST2000dx002) and the 1TB drive a Western Digital wd10evvs & is the oldest of the 3 drives I think. I've checked out the drives for space issues but each has a decent amount of space on it - the SSD having around 90GB left on it as I've cleared so much off to ensure it wasn't a lack of space causing the issues. But I've just ordered a 500GB SSD to replace it to ensure it copes into the future. I do, however, tend to like partitions a lot so have the 2 HDDs partitioned into 7 or 8 each just to make it easier to separate stuff.

I do reasonably regular housekeeping in clearing caches etc, but haven't got off PC backups done as I no longer have an internal DVDR drive and so tend to just move backups onto the 2 TB drive.

I really just wanted to get some feedback on the issues likely being down to maybe a failing drive before I deal with whatever else might be the likely cause.

Hi Paul
Thanks SO much for such a comprehensive & speedy response, as I'm keen to try & get this sorted quickly if at all possible. I can provide some of the info you've requested now & the rest tomorrow:

-Unplug ALL the disks EXCEPT the SSD [ which has the OS ] and see if the problem still exists. - Will do that tomorrow at startup.
- Is the computer Networked ? Wirelessly yes but only to my laptop which only gets used for 1 program in the evenings.
- Are you using One Drive to sync your data ? No,
- Is there anything showing excessive usage in Task Manager [ Processes ] ? Yep - Firefox 102.9 (64) but I'd shut it down when I saw that & cleaned up caches etc with Glary but didn't solve the problem. I've also stopped using Outlook since yesterday for the same reason but equally no help.
- Have you had any BSOD's ? None.
- Were there ANY error messages ? None.
- Are you Overclocking ? No.

I'll update tomorrow when I do the drive disconnections & see how things go. Frustrating if it is down to one of the SATAs perhaps but at least I'll know & can replace if need be.
Thanks :)

"Strongly and endlessly recommended: 3rd party disk imaging of at least your O/S partitions to EXTERNAL storage."

Oh trust me I know - it's just that I'm on very limited fixed income & having to shell out for 2 new drives quite possibly is going to hammer what funds I have available. Constant challenge! I don't like using my credit card basically but maybe might have to for this problem.

Paul - I did a bit of disk checking & it looks like what I suspected might well be partly to blame perhaps. The WD disk might well be starting to have problems that require a replacement - Partition Master stuck a nice big Caution sign on it showing these errors.
.

I'll still go ahead & do the single drive check tomorrow & update you.

Removed the WD drive & sure enough everything (incl Restarts) works perfectly as it should - fast without any hiccups. So at least now the problems confirmed hopefully.

Thanks so much again - I'd probably eventually have thought to run disk checking software on the drive, but your responses & speedy help have maybe saved me losing everything suddenly up ahead so yes, I'll undertake the steps you've suggested. I just need to go invest in a new drive now which is going to cripple my meagre budget after perhaps foolishly jumping to get the new SSD tho I know it'll not go to waste.

For now, I'm going to just suffer not being able to access 1/3 of my most important folders/files etc & keep the drive off until I can do the above.

Huge thanks to everyone for their input!!

Oops - wish I'd read your post 10 mins ago - just got a Seagate 2TB one as it was really all I could afford. So what's the current storage option over HDDs? SSD?