High disk usage after latest Windows update

dalchina said:

@Helmut- it was obvious from the screenshot showing the transfer rate when usage was 100% what was happening.

Thank you for your reply and screenshots.
We now can see there's a failing disk. (Crystal Diskinfo).

You should STOP USING THAT DISK
I assume the disk you show as 'Caution' is your system disk.

Forget Windows Update.

What you need to do is ensure you have a backup of everything that's important.

Have you been using 3rd party disk imaging regularly and routinely as is endlessly recommended here?
(Please don't, as many do, ignore this question).
E.g. Macrium Reflect, Aomei Backupper....

If you have- great, - get a new disk, and restore the most recent image of all your O/S partitions to it.

Note: Hard Disk Sentinel (full functional trial) -SSDs too- use the portable version on a flash drive, say.. will give you a much more understandable comment on your disk including projected life.

Fortunately I have an 8 TB external hard drive that I've rarely used. I'm storing my data files on it right now.

But my computer came with a OEM version of Windows 10. And Windows 11 won't work with this computer. I plan to buy a computer next spring. I have a Linux computer I can work with until then. Finally windows finished its update. Computer is cooling down. Would a copy of Windows 10 and a new hard drive band aid my current situation?

dalchina said:

You can freely install Windows to a new drive in the same PC- activation should be automatic.

There are circumstances when this may lead to Windows being licensed differently than you expect, but this can be overcome.



- you did.. as I expected...

Relevant tutorials: bottom 2 of the 8 at the top
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/

fortunately most of my files were only read or written to about 10 times. So they should be in good condition. The last time this happened I took the hard drive out of the computer, placed it into a USB box, and attached it to my current computer. Then I transferred all my data files. Most of my video files are on YouTube. Most of my music files are on my smartphone. And several of my important documents are either printed or on my gmail account. So any data loss should be small. I will have to learn how to use the Linux handbrake computer program and use it until spring. Any chance of purchasing a retail copy of windows 10 and a cheap hard drive?

Resource monitor may shed some light on what is hogging the disk activity.