nt kernel & system/ ntoskrnl.exe issue

[noob25002]

Hello,

In Win10 Task manager, there is a process that takes about as much as any HDD activity as the other processes that are running. This process seems to mimic all software when it comes to HDD use. CPU use is up to 25%, generally stays between 7-15%.
The process is listed as System. Going to properties it tells me it's: nt kernel & system and ntoskrnl.exe.

Some of the software which it mimics the HDD use: Firefox (downloaded a large file), Explorer (if I copy something from disk to disk), HD Tune and other HDD benchmarking software

There are articles and posts about ntoskrnl.exe taking too much CPU and HDD.
Tried all the solutions listed here:
https://www.drivereasy.com/knowledge/system-ntoskrnl-exe-high-memory-or-cpu-usage-in-windows-10/
https://appuals.com/high-cpu-or-disk-usage-by-ntoskrnl-exe-on-windows-10/
Does not fix it.

When I copy something (from disk to disk), in Resource Monitor Explorer does the reading, and System the writing. Same with Firefox.

In Resource Monitor System (or the other names) does not show up at all (including in process activity). It's just the piece of software that is writing things.

In Process Hacker in the processes tab there is no System(or other names), disk activity is the software using the HDD. In the Disk menu however, System is doing all the writing, the software used is not listed as doing much with regards to HDD use.

Is this just how HDD use shows up in Win10 Task manager?

Thank you.

 

[VirtualLarry]

It may be paging (read/writing 4K chunks) for memory-mapped files, by the application. (The System handles the VM mapping, according to the software, and then the System handles the actual disk I/O in the background, according to the applications demands.)

That's the only thing that I can figure out.

That, or it's just Windows 10's surveillance features.

 

[mxnerd]

Windows 10 is just doing tons of tasks in the background, in most cases the process that uses most CPU and most disk activities just keep changing and you have no way to troubleshoot one by one.

The best solution is bite the bullet and buy a fast SSD or NVMe drive.

Also change the time that Windows doing the update, set it up so that it only updates when you are not using the PC.

 

[noob25002]

Windows update is disabled.
OS is on a samsung evo 750 250gb.
I recently upgraded the CPU which is why I had to go with Windows 10, on Windows 7 it worked very well with older generation hardware.

The problem is I get system shutters on medium-heavy HDD use. This did not happen previously.
I do have some AV and other protection software, I tried uninstalling them and it makes no difference.
CPU is i5 8400, 2x8GB DDR4.

When the system just boots up, it works fine, but after a while it starts to shutter.
Should I disable Indexing, or what else could I disable?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Indexing could be a culprit. Did you build this rig, use a fresh SSD for OS/boot drive, but bring along a big media drive to attach as a secondary? Maybe it's spending time indexing the secondary drive. Give it a week.

 

[noob25002]

Did you build this rig, use a fresh SSD for OS/boot drive, but bring along a big media drive to attach as a secondary?
Yes.
It's been about 2 weeks.
I have 4 other HDD's,: 480gb SSD, 640gb, 1tb, and 4tb disc drives.
I will wait and see what happens, if performance improves over time.

LE: Page file is 16-32GB. I tried disabling it a few days ago but made no difference.

 

[mxnerd]

You didn't mention what applications you were using.

How much memory was left in the system when it happened?

By the way, 25% of CPU usage is nothing. Why do you worry so much?

One of my Windows 10 machine idling. See how many Windows tasks were running in the background.

 

[noob25002]

I get about 8GB of free ram.
In idle it's fine.
I get small system shutters with medium-heavy HDD use with any application, downloads, games. If I stream and I also download a medium-large file, or do something else with the HDD it starts to show.

Beside shutters, it's notably shower then on Win7.

LE: It seems to work ok just after rebooting, but dosen't take long to have issues, after 5-10 minutes.

 

[mxnerd]

Check Event Viewer see if any serious hardware (disk) errors that are alarming.

And if you said system will shutter with heavy HDD usage, you probably don't have enough power from your PSU.

 

[noob25002]

Not sure where to look.
In Summary of Administrative events I get Distributed COM error.
I can see them in more details in Windows Logs/System, but this seems to be some kind of minor issue, not sure if this is what's causing it.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Not sure where to look.
In Summary of Administrative events I get Distributed COM error.
I can see them in more details in Windows Logs/System, but this seems to be some kind of minor issue, not sure if this is what's causing it.

Paging @BonzaiDuck ... he has some experience ferreting out those errors and fixing them.
You don't have any red X errors, labeled "Disk", do you?

 

[noob25002]

In Windows Logs/System, under Source there is no Disk error.

 

[mxnerd]

Cleanup & Defrag your disks.

 

[noob25002]

@mxnerd

will try that, see what happens