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Specific Video Series playback causes 100% Disk Usage
Hello everyone,
I've been experiencing a persistent issue where video playback causes 100% disk usage on my system, and I'm looking for advice on how to resolve it. Here’s a detailed rundown of the situation so far:
System and Storage Details:
- Windows 11 22H2
- SSD: Fanxiang S101 2TB SATA SSD
- Usage: Hosts my OneDrive (including synced folders like Documents, Desktop) and serves as storage for downloads
- Duration of Use: 1 year without previous issues
- Health Checks: Full block scanning verified true capacity and read/write speeds
Problem Description:
- Symptoms: Frequent system stuttering, particularly noticeable during gaming (previously smooth 200 FPS is frequently stuttering, feels like effective ~5 FPS while counter shows ~60 average FPS)
Disk Behavior:
- In the occurrence, SSD frequently jumped to 100% disk usage for milliseconds to minutes
- Even at 100% usage, read/write speeds in Task Manager are in the 2-digit KB/s range
- No bad sectors found after running a full chkdsk /f /x /r (which took 4 hours)
- This appeared to have been solved by some virus scans, using MalwareBytes and ADWCleaner
Recent Discovery:
- Trigger: Video playback of a particular series (file type: .mkv, codec: x265, resolution: 1080p, bitrate: ~4500 kbps). I took a break between seasons after solving that issue last time to watch other stuff. This time, I was on the lookout for the problem returning, so the signs jumped out at me immediately
- Behavior: 100% disk usage spikes only during playback of these files (and ONLY these files), ceasing once playback is stopped
- Software Used: MPC-BE and VLC (issue more severe with VLC)
- Scans: Windows Defender and MalwareBytes scans on these folders/files found no threats
Current Status:
So far, the issue this time seems to be isolated to video playback of this specific series. Other files and system activities do not exhibit the same problem. Since antivirus scans show no issues, I am unsure if this is a hardware, software, or file-specific problem.
Request for Assistance:
- What else can I do to diagnose and resolve this issue?
- Was there something wrong with the encoding (or related technical aspects) of these videos?
- Does this behavior indicate possible malware despite clean scans?
- Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
- - - Updated - - -
Update: The 100% disk usage thing just turned persistent, even though I haven't played any video from that series since posting the thread ~5 hours ago.
I am second-guessing whether that video was causing the issue, or if I have deeply embedded malware that comes back once in a while that MalwareBytes and ADWcleaner can't detect, and it coincided this time with watching that video.
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