HDD and system perfomance.

General Discussion (off topic) Anything and everyt
#1

I was wondering if there is a way to “detect” that a system is slow due to HDD is too slow, or too busy?

As I know the system is almost constantly reading and \ or writing data to disk, especially if you got AV (real-time scan) or defragmenter with auto defrag options (like perfectdisk, for example), but that activity doesn’t usually drop system perfomance.

I think every HDD (or SSD) has some sort of speed limit, so if program(s) will try to read \ write data faster then HDD can “handle” that can cause decreased system perfomance. That’s one of reasons you shouldn’t have more than 1 real-time scanner installed, isn’t it? But every program will try to use all available HDD speed when doing something with it…or not?

I don’t really know much about the subject, so can someone please explain all of this to me?

#2

I guess…nobody knows?

#3

Hi,

Some reading here :

http://www.storagereview.com/introduction_ram_disks

#4
I was wondering if there is a way to "detect" that a system is slow due to HDD is too slow, or too busy?

Too busy would be software related, but to see if there are any problems with the disk then try Hard Disk Sentinel Pro. Also Auslogics Defrag free under action → advanced can check the drive for errors, but yeah bad or weak sectors can slow the HDD gradually and considerably.

#5

Yes, basically I wanted to know if you can tell, if some software is using hdd “too much”…if there is such a thing as using hdd “too much”.

#6

i see.maybe ? Space Sniffer - SpaceSniffer - analyze disk space usage

#7

umm, no. This program is useful when you’re wondering where did your free space go?

By using hdd to much I meant making too much read \ write operations…but i’m not sure if a program can do too much read \ write operations.

Process monitor can show what program does what with other file(s), among other things, but, as I said earlier there is always file activity even when you don’t do anything.

I want to know if I can tell when too much activity is slowing the system down, and what [rogram is responsible for it.

#8

run Process Hacker as Admin (and check the disk tab). Good Luck.

#9

Thanks.

#10

I’m using AnVir Task Manager, it can display disk read/write/other IO, as well as disk temperature. It allows to hide the program UI and show a small window containing only disk activity for processes and partitions (as you can see in the image below). The Russian version is free and also is available as portable application on anvir.net.


http://i.imgur.com/42R9akhl.png?1

Edit: In case you want to try it make a custom install and watch out for any unneeded toolbars that might be optionally included.