Windows 10 gets full disk usage every time the screen is turned off

ntd252 · 28 Sep 2017

I have a Windows 10 Pro, up-to-date now, full drivers, but it has an annoying problem. Each time I don't touch the computer (dont move mouse or type) after 2 minutes, the screen is turned off (yes, I set 2 minutes for automatically turning off the screen), but when the screen is turned off, the disk is loading a lot (I know by seeing the HDD LED on my laptop).

Through Task manager opened, I see the disk gets 100% disk usage (I open Task manager first, then wait for the screen turning off, then when it happened, I move the mouse and see). After about 10-20 seconds for the screen to turn on again, the disk backs to normal.

It doesn't happen when I turn off display by pressing Fn+F7 (my hotkey function to do that), but after about 2 minutes, it appears.

I hope to hear your advice to solve this problem. Thank you!

dalchina · 28 Sep 2017

Please post a screenshot of your task manager's Processes tab, organising any column of interest, high to low, by clicking on the appropriate tab showing when the high usage is happening.

You may be able to do this with PrtSc (and paste that into e.g. Paint) else take a photo and post that.

Similarly for the Performance, Disk tab, choosing the disk in question.

Repeat when you have used your mouse and activity is low.

To post a screenshot please use the Insert Image icon above your post to the left of the video icon. Thanks.

Bree · 28 Sep 2017

There are a number of processes that wait for the PC to be idle before starting, and that get out of your way when you start using it again. For example, indexing or Defender's periodic scans. TiWorker could also be running a system compatibility check.

To Dalchina's request for screenshots I would add Task Manager's Details tab, sorted in descending order of CPU time.

Gordon7 · 28 Sep 2017

Windows Maintenance will start up, when you are not using your PC:

Windows 10 gets full disk usage every time the screen is turned off-ashampoo_snap_2017.09.20_17h57m03s_002_.png

You can change it's settings/learn more: Change Automatic Maintenance Settings in Windows 10

ntd252 · 28 Sep 2017

I set Maintenance setting at 2:00 AM, just want to disable it.

dalchina · 28 Sep 2017

Hi, simply looking at the data rate, that seems very slow.

Compare my SSHD where I'm copying a file back to it.

Windows 10 gets full disk usage every time the screen is turned off-1.jpg

At 50%, that would appear to predict a max speed 14x faster than yours.
I certainly don't have the expertise to make system comparisons on expected speed, but that seems a remarkable difference.

storage service:
It would be interesting to expand that on your task manager to show its constituents. (see the >?)
It's not clear what it does.. do you have any USB storage devices connected? Try disconnecting them.
"Enforces group policy for storage devices."
"Provides enabling services for storage settings and external storage expansion."

The other screenshots we mentioned may assist.

ntd252 · 29 Sep 2017

Um, my previous screenshot was taken at 9:24, and I notice that the Maintenance was finished at 9:42, then after that, I don't see the high usage of disk again. I have try to wait for the screen to turn off many times, but since 9:42, the problem hasn't appeared. It seemed the Maintenance causes that, but I have no idea it happens to me for about several weeks. My PC has two OSes dual boot, and I just use Win 7 for main, so I guess because I don't use Windows 10 very much, then the Maintenance hasn't done before 9:42.

However, even the disk usage is normal, I see the huge difference before and after the screen is turned off. As you can see, before the screen is turned off, there is just a few tasks, then after turning off the display and turning on it by moving the cursor, I see this long list. Is it normal and why?

Windows 10 gets full disk usage every time the screen is turned off-3.png

Windows 10 gets full disk usage every time the screen is turned off-2.png

dalchina · 30 Sep 2017

To repeat a couple of points:
1. The % use of disk is high, as you know, but the transfer rate is low- poor performance.
This suggests you should do some disk tests.
Start with Hard disk sentinel (trial) and post a screenshot.
If that's ok then:

Now check your file system:

From an admin command or powershell prompt
[Windows key + X, click command prompt (admin)]
chkdsk C: /F
Your PC will need to restart.
Post back the result, which you can get after a restart as follows:
Read Chkdsk Log in Event Viewer in Windows 10 Windows 10 Performance Maintenance Tutorials
or
How to read Event Viewer log for Chkdsk in Windows 10 [Tip] | Reviews, news, tips, and tricks | dotTechdotTech
or
How do I see the results of a CHKDSK that ran on boot? - Ask Leo!
Make sure the result is clear or fixed- else do not proceed.

Then try Crystal Diskmark and run a performance test- that's Diskmark, not Diskinfo- and post a screenshot

Windows 10 gets full disk usage every time the screen is turned off-crystal-diskmark-sshd.jpg

Here's mine for comparison.

2. Do you have any USB storage devices connected? Try disconnecting them. (ref earlier comment on Storage services).

Photos: Your 2nd screenshot shows many instances of Photos.
I've no idea why that may be - never seen it. One thing Photos does that can cause disk activity is updating or creating albums.
Try disabling any such functions. (Note- I don't use it, so have a look around for how).
What the screenshot is missing is the other columns showing Read, Write, Total - i.e. how much activity each process is responsible for.

I see the huge difference before and after the screen is turned off.

This is not normal

It seemed the Maintenance causes that

You shouldn't be aware of that being performed if all was well.

You could try a clean boot then repeat playing with turning the screen on and off as before and see if there's any change.

ntd252 · 12 Oct 2017

My log

Code:


Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
  400128 file records processed.                                                         File verification completed.
  6922 large file records processed.                                      0 bad file records processed.                                      
Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
  486366 index entries processed.                                                        Index verification completed.
  0 unindexed files scanned.                                           0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found.                     
Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Cleaning up 1593 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 1593 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 1593 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
  43120 data files processed.                                            CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
  41892984 USN bytes processed.                                                            Usn Journal verification completed.


Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.


  53224447 KB total disk space.
  41007892 KB in 282482 files.
    161488 KB in 43121 indexes.
         0 KB in bad sectors.
    511659 KB in use by the system.
     65536 KB occupied by the log file.
  11543408 KB available on disk.


      4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
  13306111 total allocation units on disk.
   2885852 allocation units available on disk.


Internal Info:
00 1b 06 00 e2 f7 04 00 ea 36 09 00 00 00 00 00  .........6......
c6 00 00 00 6d 03 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ....m...........


Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.

The Hard disk sentinel says everything is okay.
Sorry for very late reply, because I don't use my Windows 10 so often. After about two weeks not using Windows 10, now the 100% disk usage happens again. I have to manually update (the cumulative update 2017 - 10) because the windows update is stuck at 22%. I also feel very confused when get 1 GB update each month.

dalchina · 12 Oct 2017

Ok, the disk and file system are ok - now please check performance using Crystal Disk Info as I posted previously as your screenshot shows a low transfer rate for 81% usage.

I also feel very confused when get 1 GB update each month.

Windows updates are Windows updates. Nothing to get confused about provided they are applied ok...
MS has a program in place with the next major build to reduce the size of cumulative updates.

As I commented about your screenshot showing many instances of Photos, that looks odd, and I wondered if you had configured Photos albums and it was indexing Photos.