In Progress PC slows to a halt, disk transfers stop, internet stops

[sisom]

Hi, carrying on from a previous problem I had with FreeFileSync copying very slowly and then going to zero, and then back up to a normal speed and back to zero - now when FreeFileSync scans through all the files on the two drives I am comparing, it gets so far and then completely stops scanning, and won't do anything else. Sometimes the 'Cancel' button works, sometimes it doesn't respond. I have several million files on the drives I am comparing. (I think one has 7 million or something like that). It used to work fine, a year ago.

When FreeFileSync stops, I find that often the internet stops for me too, I can't reload websites, opening a different browser doesn't work either. I also can't start other programs while FreeFileSync is in this 'stuck' state. If I press CTRL-ALT-DEL to bring up Task Manager at this time, nothing happens for over ten seconds, sometimes longer - I don't get the screen with the five options in the middle until at least ten seconds have passed. Then it takes over five seconds for Task Manager to appear.

I have just tested this, and FreeFileSync stopped as usual, after 1,500,000 files had been scanned. I pressed the 'Cancel' button and nothing happened, then I pressed CTRL-ALT-DEL, waited at least ten seconds, then selected Task Manager, and this took over five seconds to start. My CPU is only at 2%, so nothing appears to be taking excessive CPU. (I have also started Task Manager first, then started FreeFileSync, to see if it was taking a lot of CPU, but it wasn't.
Now I can't get any programs to run - I was going to open Notepad++ so that I could copy this post, in case I lost it, but it won't start! Neither will any other program. Edit - after two minutes, suddenly Notepad++ finally opened - so something very odd is happening to the drive transfers, they are completely stopped all over the PC - and also internet access also stops at the same time.

Furthermore, I have a USB to M.2 Nvme enclosure, (from Icy Box, so a perfectly good brand), which I have put a 500GB M.2 Nvme in. When I plug it into any of the USB ports on my PC, including the motherboard USB ports, it doesn't appear on my computer. No window opens up, in Disk Management it doesn't appear, but when I click on the 'Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media' icon in the little box on the right hand of the taskbar, it shows 'Eject USB Storage Device' but there is nothing underneath, i.e. no text that says the drive name and letter. I took the same USB enclosure to my other PC, and it worked perfectly first time - a Windows Explorer window opens and I can see the drive and its contents, and copy at 300MB/s from that PC's internal M.2 Nvme SSD to the external enclosure.

I have tried disabling all the startup programs which are non-Microsoft, to do a 'clean boot', as described here:

How to perform a clean boot in Windows - Microsoft Support

Describes how to use the clean boot process to troubleshoot a problem in Windows

support.microsoft.com

but that hasn't made any difference. (I'm in clean boot mode now.)

I have also tried booting into safe mode, but again, that didn't help FreeFileSync, it still hangs after a certain length of time.


I am thinking of making an image of my Windows installation (if I can. I will use a USB boot drive to do so, so if the problems with my USB enclosure not being recognised, are caused by Windows, then hopefully it will be recognised properly by the boot drive program) - and then reinstalling Windows 10, and then just install FreeFileSync and run it, to see if it hangs. I presume that if it still does, I have a hardware problem, because I've been using this PC for a year and a half, and using FreeFileSync every week, and a year and a half ago I wasn't getting these problems.

My PC has the following specs, none of which have changed since I bought it a year and a half ago:
Windows 10
Ryzen 9 3950X
ASUStek ROG Crosshair VIII Hero motherboard
128GB DDR4-3200 Corsair memory - 4 x 32GB modules
NVidia GeForce GT 1030 GPU

250GB M.2 Nvme SSD (Windows 10 installation)
2 x 2TB M.2 Nvme SSDs on a PCI-e card (I'm sorry, I don't know the name of this, it has a ribbon cable and a second tiny board that plugs into the adjacent PCI-e slot) - I have spanned these two drives into one 4TB drive for sample libraries for my music software, among other things.

4 x 8TB HDDS
2 x 16TB HDDs

The PC came with a massive case, Corsair Obsidian Series 750D.
I'm not sure what type of PSU it has, but the fan spins once when I turn the PC on, then never turns after that, so I don't think I'm trying to take more power than it can give out.

Many thanks in advance, if anybody can help me fix this problem, it's such a shame to have such a high spec. PC, and have it performing so badly.

 

[Malnutrition]

Hello, please download the attached batch file.
Click Me To Download
Unzip to your desktop.
Right click and run as admin.
Select Option one, gather logs,
This will create a new file on your desktop named PCHF.txt
Attach that in your next reply.

Also, select option 2 install speccy.

• run the program.
• Upon Completion:
• Hit File
• Publish Snap Shot
• A link will appear, post that link.

---

 

[sisom]

Hi, many thanks for your help, I have run both programs and attached the log file, and here is the Speccy Snap Shot:

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/6Ls1BsbeRzEnepLf0pNgppO

 

[sisom]

I booted into Safe Mode last night and ran FreeFileSync again, I let it run for longer this time, after it froze, and it eventually started checking the files again, after maybe two minutes, then after a minute or so it would stop, then wait for a minute or so, then start again. During this time it was taking 1,490MB of memory, and 0% CPU to 0.3% CPU, so it didn't appear to be using more and more memory, nor excessive CPU. After about 20 minutes it finally finished checking all the files I wanted to back up, which was an entire 8TB hard drive, and over 6 million files. I then let it copy over the new files (484GB), and left it to run, it said it was going to take two hours. Three hours later I went back to the computer and the display was blank, and no matter what key I pressed, I couldn't get the display to show anything. I turned it off and on, changed from HDMI1 to HDMI2 and then back to HDMI1 (the PC is plugged into HDMI1 on my display), but nothing. I checked the disk light on the motherboard to see if there was any activity (I presume the disk light that I see flashing is for all the hard drives, maybe it's only for the M.2 SSDs on the motherboard) but it was off, so I relucantly turned the PC off by holding down the power button. This morning, FreeFileSync says that those two drives (M and N drives) were last backed up 20 days ago, so I presume it didn't finish properly last night. I'm running it again now to see if it will work this time.

Another thing I tried yesterday, before posting here, was uninstalling the 'Standard SATA AHCI Controllers' in Device Manager, because another website suggested this might fix my problem - the 'Uninstall Device' window opens and says 'Uninstalling devices...' and the progess bar is animated, but it never finished, and I left it for over ten minutes yesterday - so maybe there is a problem with those drivers?

 

[phillpower2]

I'm not sure what type of PSU it has, but the fan spins once when I turn the PC on

Never a good sign being that the PSU is the most important component in a computer.

You need to take off the side of the case and get the PSU information for us, I always prefer to be straight to the point, you are putting your faith in a PSU that you know nothing about but expect it to support all those drives that contain your precious data, Russian Roulette comes to mind.

Flagged up in Speccy;

RAM
128GB Dual-Channel DDR4 @ 1064MHz

You need to enable XMP as the RAM only working at 2133MHz is causing a bottleneck.

Power Profile
Active power scheme: High performance

Change the Windows Power Plan to Balanced, Ultra and High Performance are a form of overclocking that is known to cause stability and overheating issues, the setting should only be used for gaming type notebooks that have a discrete GPU that needs the extra power.

Running: nordvpn-service

Unless you live in a police state or visit shady sites there is zero need to use a VPN and when you do use one it stuffs up among other things online gaming and data transfer, mobile users that travel country to country may need to use a VPN to log into their accounts back home.

Partition ID: Disk #3, Partition #0
Disk Letter: I:
File System: NTFS
Volume Serial Number: 4E5E18C9
Size: 14901 GB
Used Space: 14608 GB (98%)
Free Space: 293 GB (2%)

Using the above as an example as it is the worst of a few of your drives, note that the Force MP510 (SSD) is not showing any partition used and free info and that is not a good sign, see my canned info below;

For Windows to be able to run efficiently and to be able to update you need to have between 20 and 25% of the partition or drive available on a HDD and an SSD between 10 and 15% as free storage space at all times, if you don`t you risk Windows becoming corrupt or not being able to update which puts you at risk of malware attack.

Data only storage devices should not be allowed to get any lower than 10% of free storage space of the full capacity of the drive/partition on the drive, this also to avoid data corruption.

Please note that storage devices can physically fail if the amount of free storage space is allowed to drop below the required 10 or 20/25% minimum.

You have fortunately done the correct thing by having Windows on its own 250GB SSD else you may have been looking at a borked OS by now.

 

[sisom]

Thank you very much for looking at this for me, I will have a look at the PSU now and post back.

Edit: It's a Corsair RM750i. I will do the other adjustments you recommend, and start cleaning stuff of all the hard drives to make more space on them all.

 

[Malnutrition]

Run this batch file I created for you based off the logs.
Unzip to your desktop run as admin.

• This creates a restore point first.
• This will clean temp files.
• Disable SearchApp.exe
• SmartScreen.exe
• Disable Useless Task
• Set Some services to manual
• Set some services to disabled
• Reset your network since you mention the internet stops
• Will uninstall Bonjour & Mozilla maintenance
• Will also download Open Shell to your desktop as sometimes disable of Search app causes the start menu to not function.
• You will need to install Open Shell
• You will still have the start menu with open shell.
• You will need to reboot the machine for these steps to take affect.

---

---

@echo off
powershell -Command "Enable-ComputerRestore -Drive 'C:\'"
wmic.exe /Namespace:\\root\default Path SystemRestore Call CreateRestorePoint "PreBatchPCHF", 100, 7


powershell Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "HypervisorPlatform"
powercfg -h off
manage-bde -off C:
manage-bde -off D:
fsutil behavior set DisableLastAccess 1
fsutil behavior set EncryptPagingFile 0

del /f /q "C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\*.tmp"
del /f /q "C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Temp\*.tmp"
del /f /q "C:\Windows\Temp\*.tmp"

set "DOWNLOAD_URL=https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu/releases/download/v4.4.195/OpenShellSetup_4_4_195.exe"
set "INSTALLER=%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\OpenShellSetup.exe"
powershell -Command "Invoke-WebRequest -Uri '%DOWNLOAD_URL%' -OutFile '%INSTALLER%'"


reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" /v RtkAudUService /f
reg delete "HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-2054353159-3814691228-3964333228-1001\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" /v MicrosoftEdgeAutoLaunch_CCB3F26513D832B3FBF6817A426769B2 /f
reg delete "HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-2054353159-3814691228-3964333228-1001\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" /v NordVPN /f
reg delete "HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-2054353159-3814691228-3964333228-1001\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" /v OneDrive /f

sc config "ArmouryCrateService" start= demand
sc config "asComSvc" start= demand
sc config "AsusCertService" start= demand
sc config "AsusFanControlService" start= demand
sc config "Bonjour Service " start= demand
sc config "camsvc" start= demand
sc config "ClickToRunSvc" start= demand
sc config "DusmSvc" start= demand
sc config "GameSDK Service" start= demand
sc config "SysMain" start= demand
sc config "TabletInputService" start= demand
sc config "CDPUserSvc_88b7c " start= demand
sc config "OneSyncSvc_88b7c" start= demand
sc config "WpnUserService_88b7c " start= demand

takeown /f "C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Search_cw5n1h2txyewy\SearchApp.exe"
icacls "C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Search_cw5n1h2txyewy\SearchApp.exe" /grant Everyone:F
taskkill /F /IM "SearchApp.exe"
rename "C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Search_cw5n1h2txyewy\SearchApp.exe" "SearchApp.bak"

takeown /f "C:\Windows\System32\smartscreen.exe"
icacls "C:\Windows\System32\smartscreen.exe" /grant Everyone:F
taskkill /F /IM "smartscreen.exe"
rename "C:\Windows\System32\smartscreen.exe" "smartscreen.bak"

taskkill /F /IM DeviceCensus.exe
icacls "%windir%\System32\DeviceCensus.exe" /grant Everyone:F
rename "%windir%\System32\DeviceCensus.exe" DeviceCensus.bak

schtasks /Change /TN "MicrosoftEdgeUpdateTaskMachineCore" /Disable
schtasks /Change /TN "MicrosoftEdgeUpdateTaskMachineUA" /Disable
schtasks /Change /TN "MiniToolPartitionWizard" /Disable
schtasks /Change /TN "NahimicSvc32Run" /Disable
schtasks /Change /TN "NahimicSvc64Run" /Disable
schtasks /Change /TN "NahimicTask32" /Disable
schtasks /Change /TN "NahimicTask64" /Disable
schtasks /Change /TN "NVIDIA app SelfUpdate_{B2FE1952-0186-46C3-BAEC-A80AA35AC5B8}" /Disable
schtasks /Change /TN "AcPowerNotification" /Disable
schtasks /Change /TN "ArmourySocketServer" /Disable
schtasks /Change /TN "ASUSUpdateTaskMachineCore1d9d5fdf76c25c" /Disable
schtasks /Change /TN "ASUSUpdateTaskMachineUA" /Disable
schtasks /Change /TN "Framework Service" /Disable
schtasks /Change /TN "NoiseCancelingEngine" /Disable
schtasks /Change /TN "P508PowerAgent_sdk" /Disable
schtasks /Change /TN "Firefox Background Update 308046B0AF4A39CB" /Disable
schtasks /Change /TN "Firefox Default Browser Agent 308046B0AF4A39CB" /Disable
schtasks /Change /TN "Waterfox Default Browser Agent 9FDE6D00E0AD9B26" /Disable


pushd\windows\system32\drivers\etc
attrib -h -s -r hosts
echo 127.0.0.1 localhost>HOSTS
attrib +r +h +s hosts
popd
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
ipconfig /flushdns
netsh winsock reset all
netsh int ip reset all


set "downloadURL=https://www.getblackbird.net/download/Blackbird_v1.0.85.3_x64.zip"
set "desktopPath=%USERPROFILE%\Desktop"
set "zipFile=%desktopPath%\Blackbird_v1.0.85.3_x64.zip"
set "extractPath=%desktopPath%\Blackbird_v1.0.85.3_64"
powershell -Command "(New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadFile('%downloadURL%', '%zipFile%')"
if not exist "%zipFile%" (
    echo Download failed!
    pause
    exit /b 1
)
if not exist "%extractPath%" mkdir "%extractPath%"
powershell -Command "Expand-Archive -Path '%zipFile%' -DestinationPath '%extractPath%' -Force"
for /r "%extractPath%" %%F in (blackbird.exe) do (
    set "blackbirdExe=%%F"
)
if not defined blackbirdExe (
    echo Blackbird executable not found!
    pause
    exit /b 1
)
start "" "%blackbirdExe%" -tasks -services -registry
powershell -Command "$wshell = New-Object -ComObject wscript.shell; $wshell.SendKeys('{ENTER}')"

exit

 

[phillpower2]

Thank you very much for looking at this for me, I will have a look at the PSU now and post back.

Edit: It's a Corsair RM750i. I will do the other adjustments you recommend, and start cleaning stuff of all the hard drives to make more space on them all.

Thanks for the info, you have a decent PSU and as was suspected the fan turning off is normal as the unit has zero fan mode which means that the fan only spins up when the system is under load.

The rest you are dealing with so will leave you back in the most capable hands of Mal

 

[sisom]

Thank you so much! I have run the file and restarted Windows 10, I installed Open Shell, there was only one minor error - when I first see the desktop I get the following window - no doubt related to one of the many Asus programs that run on startup, which I don't really want:

(I think the PC came with lots of ASUS Republic of Gamers stuff installed, which I don't want - I bought the PC second hand and I'm not a big game player anyway.)

I am just running FreeFileSync now, and so far it's checked 5,000,000 files in six minutes, without stopping! So an amazing speed improvement!

Is there any way I can donate money for the upkeep of your website, or pay you for all your help, which must have taken some time?

 

[sisom]

Unfortunately now everything has slowed to a virtual halt again. I have copied 40GB of 480GB of data from M drive to N drive in FreeFileSync, and it has slowed to a crawl, from 0 bytes/sec up to 20MB/s, while I am also trying to move a 3GB folder on another drive into another folder on the same drive, which is now down to 0 bytes/sec, then when I went into the network settings to see why my browser was taking so long to refresh this page, I got this error message:

I have been successfully moving 2-5GB folders on the other drive, for about twenty minutes, while FreeFileSync was running, and they weren't slowing down, but now I am getting this sort of speed:

then it speeds up after maybe a minute at 0bytes/sec to this:

but only for about three seconds, then it drops back down to 0 bytes/sec again, for about a minute. So unfortunately I am back with the original problem!

I am thinking of buying another 500GB M.2 NVME SSD, and then removing the one that's on my motherboard with Windows 10 on it, and then put the new SSD on the motherboard, install Windows 10 from scratch, just install FreeFileSync, and see if I still get the same problem. It will only take half an hour to reinstall Windows 10, I expect. At least that way I'll know if it's a hardware problem, if the problem is still there on a clean install.

 

[Malnutrition]

Ok, use Geek Uninstaller and Remove the Asus programs.
Then hit view Micorsoft store apps
Remove anything from there you do not use.

---

---

Please download the file PrivWindozeLite.exe and place it on your desktop.


Important: Ensure that you save all your current work, as this script will attempt to close all non-essential processes during its scan, including the web browser you are using to read this message.

• Right-click on PrivWindozeLite.exe and select "Run as administrator" from the context menu.
• When the tool launches, you may be prompted again to save your work before proceeding.
• If the scan does not start automatically, press any key on your keyboard to initiate it.
• The script will try to create a System Restore point and will go through several stages of scanning. Please be patient during this process.
• Don't worry if Windows Explorer closes; it will reopen once the scan is complete. This process typically takes just a few minutes.
• After the scan is done, the command prompt window will close automatically after 5 seconds, and you should find a log file named PrivWindoze.txt on your desktop.
• Please copy or attach the contents of PrivWindoze.txt in your next response.

---

Download Autoruns and Autorunsc Unzip it to your desktop and then right click Run as Admin.
After the scan is finished then click on File----Then click----Save
The default name will be autoruns.arn make sure to leave it this way.
Attach the file in your next reply.
If the file is too large, then use catbox.moe or Ufile.io and send the link in your next reply.

 

[sisom]

Hi, thanks for your extra help! I have run Geek Uninstaller and removed all the ASUS programs, and a lot of the Microsoft Store apps, I didn't realise all that stuff was installed on my PC, and I never use it.

I have attached the PrivWindoze.txt file.

I will do the Autoruns stuff now.

 

[Malnutrition]

Settings: SystemSettings.exe


The system detected an overun of a stack-based buffer in this application.
This overrun could potentially allow a malicious user to gain control of this application.

To remedy this:
Make sure that blackbird.exe is on the desktop.
The batch file you ran downloaded it earlier.
Just make certain the .exe is on the desktop.
Open elevated command prompt.
Copy and paste

%userprofile%\Desktop\blackbird.exe -i -l

Hit enter
Reboot.

---

---

EDIT: Also, I am thinking a windows update may have come and reverted some of the changes we made, so how do you feel about one drive and MS edge? We may need to stop updates from installing and changing certain things which can easily be done, but I'll wait on your reply before adding any more instructions.

 

[sisom]

Hi, I've uploaded the Autoruns file here:

https://files.catbox.moe/q2ivup.arn

I don't use One Drive, and I can live without Edge, if that helps! Many thanks for your continued efforts!

 

[sisom]

I've made sure blackbird.exe is on the desktop, and rebooted.

 

[Malnutrition]

I've made sure blackbird.exe is on the desktop, and rebooted.

so you ran this in elevated command?

%userprofile%\Desktop\blackbird.exe -i -l

 

[Malnutrition]

Right Click Autoruns and run as admin, uncheck the items i highlighted and reboot.








Type One Drive in the search and uncheck all.
Same with Edge

 

[sisom]

so you ran this in elevated command?

Yes, as administrator.
I'll do the Autoruns stuff now and reboot, thanks!

 

[Malnutrition]

So that should have fixed the error below, can you confirm?

Settings: SystemSettings.exe
The system detected an overun of a stack-based buffer in this application.
This overrun could potentially allow a malicious user to gain control of this application.

 

[sisom]

So that should have fixed the error below, can you confirm?

Hi, yes, it's fixed that error. I have rebooted, and am running FreeFileSync again on my 8TB drives, M and N - this time, no slow downs, it has checked almost 6 million files in 12 and a half minutes, much faster than before. Now I will run the copying part and see if that slows down, thank you so much for your continued help!