Recently I have been having some wirdness with my computer and looking for ideas. As a starting point, I have been building myown computers for about 15-20 years so am very familiar with hardware and software issues.

My USB 3.0 transfer speeds acted weird first. A file with start transferring normally at full speed, into the tens of MB/s. Halfway through it isnas if it hits a wall and is throttled somehow. Why I think it ia throttled is because it slows to a speed bouncing between 0 and 355KB/s, never more. This happens usually when I am transferring oje or more items, and usually with larger files as smaller files seem to transfer quickly and complete before this wall is hit.

As if that is not weird enough, when it happens my broadband speed seems to be throttled at the exact same time, and again to 355KB/s. This is a 80MB broadband that has normal speed of around the 9/10MB/s mark.

In addition, my web browser (Chrome) seem to crash too and I just get the website cannot be loaded error on anything I try to open. If I close Chrome, it then will not open again.

Between these, it is as if my computer is beinf crippled and throttled somehow. However, when I open a file using the standard Windows Explorer they open immediately and I can navigate around my files as if there is nothing crippling it.

THEN, when I restart my computer, everything boots back up to full and normal speed as if whatever was throttling things getbwiped from some cache or something in the restart.

My computer specs are in my signature, and it is clearly a pretty high spec machine. I have checked hardware fitting and done software checks and there is no drive issues with then all reporting back as healthy and working at full speed, no errors or issues picked up etc. Essentially my machine seems like it is all fine and therefore that suggests it may something within my Windows or drivers.

I regularly update my Windows and every few days run a driver check using IObit Driver Booster 4 to make sure everything has latest drivers. I coukd try an alternative driver updater if someone has a suggestion for one that is not adware junk shit.

My gut feeling is it may be the chipset driver, but I have no convinction in saying that. Anybody got any thought or suggestions yo help?

 

Difficult to trace problems w/ info u gave. I'd start w/ checking permissons, then investigate ur AV / FW, then check that nothing in Win (edit: Defender etcs) has been turned on by accident. Then (if HD) prolly try error checking; HD failure / issue maybe? Assuming u got the right driver installed....

 

Last edited: Jun 6, 2017

He might have a lead here. Since internet speed and copy speed are affected at the same time and the same rate, read/write problems on your HDD(s) might be the issue.

How long since your latest fresh installation? How old are (all, not system only) your HDDs? Cluttered old Windows install might cause this too. Windows 7 is good at this though, running mine since 3 years like it was first day (almost!), but depending on system, system management, hdd setup etc, this might be to consider too.

Just noticed you have listed your OS, good idea to diagnose this would be to setup a quick dual boot with whatever fresh installed Windows version and do some tests, to isolate hardware from your whole actual software system, and malware possibility.

Additionnally, how is it working in your DAWs? Sampler loading, playing, sample managing...? Do you experience any slowdowns/freezes? Most DAW's tries to isolate themselves from OS services and softwares, so if you dont get this in your DAW, you're almost sure it's your actual OS/some software and not hardware/drivers issues.

Also just noticed you had 64GB RAM. What's your exact mobo model?

 

Last edited: Jun 5, 2017

Try booting into safe mode and see if you can replicate the problem

 

I have had this problem with copying large files before. Where big files slow to a crawl. My issue was that I had the paging file/virtual ram disabled (a common performance tweak for hi ram and ssd systems) Once I reenabled it and rebooted it righted itself. Also took it off the OS drive too. I still let windows manage the size, but I moved it off the ssds (2) on the the spinny drives. I plan on installing another ssd just for windows swap file and program caches (mostly adobe after effects).

 

Last edited: Jun 5, 2017

When the throttling occurs, is there a process in task manager consuming CPU or can you find a memory leak looking in there?

 

I cant recommend this app enough. Makes a huge difference in the responsiveness of my system and how apps are prioritized.
Process Lasso https://bitsum.com/
The task manager (ram and cpu usage meter/history) in it is great for monitoring whats going on in your system
I enable pro (processor) balance, smart trim, and performance mode.
In the app I set Ableton, and after effects (media encoder) to high priority. World of difference in performance. It does a much better job than windows at load balancing and you can set processor affinity per app if needed.

 

Last edited: Jun 6, 2017

I'll have to take a look at that, @subGENRE. Good one!

 

In no particular order...
1. Your automatic driver update software - does it keep a log of its activities? Perhaps a driver update has brought it about?
2. Likewise for microsoft updates. A recent update might likewise introduce an anamoulous conflict...
3. From my own experience, memory sticks slow down as overewrites mount up over time. Do you see the same effect if using a different USB stick?
4. Does this problem occur on any USB port you copy through?
5. Are you using a USB hub?

 

this one looks easy, you have interference between USB 3 and your w-lan.
you have all symptoms associated with this.
bluetooth shares same frequency as-well. (2.4 Ghz)
try shutting down your w-lan/bluetooth and copy a file.

 

Once you start using it you wont be able to go back your system without it. It will seem so unresponsive. Ive used other "process booster" type apps before, the io bit one and the tuneup utilities/AVG one. They're okay, but dumbed way down with idiot proof setup wizards, and use a hell of a lot of resources to do what they do. This one is the best I have found and they are constantly improving it and most importantly, it leaves a small footprint/lean and mean. It was originally developed for balancing multi tasks on servers. Just set your DAW and whatever else you fancy to high priority and itll run even better

 

Last edited: Jun 5, 2017

@Bunford Thats so weird 355.....

 

unplug ALL your hard drives and add a NEW hard drive for testing.

#1 install your OS on this new drive
#2 see if problem went away
#3 if problem is still there then HARDWARE.ISSUES
#4 if problem is gone then SOFTWARE.ISSUES
#5 PROFIT

 

Say what????? Safe mode would be the same test with less headache......

 

Not quietly... Safe mode won't give you clean and new register/kernels on a fresh drive. It's good to test safe mode but testing OS install on new drive isn't the same, it's going farther if safe mode didn't do it. With safe mode you isolate drivers/added apps, with new install on a fresh disk you isolate HDD sectors/health, malwares, updates, system's age, etc etc... I highly suggest safe start checks before any bigger move, then my first post (dualboot/fresh install).

Yeap! All ITB bois need this. It will vary depending on hardware and system optimization but big or slight performance boost is pretty much guaranteed on all Windows configurations. Especially with DAWs/CPUs that dont handle hyper/multithreading "properly". It can help resolve CPU parking problems too.

 

Last edited: Jun 5, 2017

So... how's free beta testing for Microsoft going? Not so well, it seems. But when I say people should use an older system all I get is "but my W10 works so smooth and there are no problems whatsoever with it." Yep, I can see that... There are so many threads with W7 problems on the forum, eh? /sarc

Meanwhile I don't care about having the "latest and greatest" and I [and a dozen of clients] *really* have no problems with anything OS related. Also this is a good reminder than no matter how powerful your computer is, it can get prevented from working properly when the OS is Crapinsky [TM].

I can assure you this is OS or driver related, but if it's drivers these same drivers would work on an older OS for sure. If you have Internet on it then you must have some antivirus and that can also be a problem.

Try to keep your Windows as simple as you can. If you want anything done without problems turn off Internet and all ethernet cards, especially wi-fi. No AV and auto-start programs! Keep those at minimum. Systray should only show the Windows mixer - the link to your audio card control panel. Even that one is not necessary actually.

Make a dual-boot with Windows 7 or 8. Use this W10 as a testing ground for everything+Internet and use W7 or 8 for making music. That's the solution to your problem, I can guarantee you that.

P.S. Yes I know this is not what you wanted to hear, but everyone needs a reality check from time to time.

 

Last edited: Jun 5, 2017

I'll have to test this Process Lasso thingy. It sounds familiar so maybe I've tested it already and found it unnecessary. I don't believe in any additional apps in Windows, only less apps and keeping Windows clean really helps... and weekly cleanup with CCleaner

btw. @Bunford you mentioned everything but the most important thing: what is your motherboard and chipset??

 

Things to check:

• If there are a lot of little files that will take longer to copy than say one large file. (Either way the xfer rate must be able to be sustained at all times, if it dips for any reason, low memory, bad HDD etc. it will take a few seconds to play catch up and pick itself back up)
• There may be a spot on the ssd that is going bad. This trying to read over and over again on a piece of a file that is physically damaged will result in slow read speeds. Blazing to snail in a matter of minutes if this occurs. Check wear usage with your SSD software.
• In Windows make sure the power mode of the computer is not in "Balanced mode". "Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Power Options". Your SSD software may or may not have made a customized power plan. You'll see this directly below in preferred plans. If there is no custom one from your SSD manufacturer make "High Performance" is selected.
• Make sure the computer is not set to sleep after X amount of minutes. I've seen screen savers kick in and render a file transfer useless because the machine is going down for a nap in standby.
• Did this happen after you installed new hardware or software or performed certain updates that you can remember?
• If you think it may be a problem with your internet try a speed test on another machine on your network. (see next point)
• To rule out the coincidence between the internet speed and HDD speed being at the same rate I suggest booting the machine into safe mode and trying to copy the file in question again. If the speed is significantly faster then it's a problem with software loading with Windows. More than likely 3rd party software that you probably don't want nor need. We'll get to the SSD crapping out below.
• Try the copy again under a normal Windows boot up. If it's slow pay attention to the amount of system RAM being used during the copy. It's possible to max out 50+gigs of RAM easily if the file transfer is big enough. (I strongly recommend putting the windows paging file on another HDD or SSD other than the main drive. Also do not disable it with only 64gb of ram. If a time arises in which you need more than 64gb of ram to perform a file operation you will more than likely run into an issue)
• Check the max read/write speeds for your SSD and try a disk benchmark with CrystalDiskMark. See if you can get anywhere near the expected numbers. If that fails, for shits and gigs try it under safe mode. If your OS is 64bit run the 64bit version. Same deal with 32bit version.
• Also recent Windows updates can be the culprit. You'll never know unless you uninstall each recently installed update and retest.

Things to toss:

• Any 3rd party software that monitor drivers etc. No offense but you're probably wasting your time getting the latest and greatest driver 24/7. My reasoning behind this: 1. If it ain't broke don't fix it. 2. Just because a driver is the latest version doesn't mean it is greater. Explanation: It may be the latest but it may have broken a previously coded feature and or new features are not working as expected. So one may overlook this as being an issue if multiple updates, etc are happening all at once. If you're looking for a newer version of the driver make sure it's fixing something that is already broken and has no known issues. Check the changelog files in the installation folder.

Final Thoughts: (If all else fails)

• Backup useful and most important files...........wipe SSD and reinstall Windows. That's usually faster than the time you'll waste trying to diagnose the issue.

Good luck.

 

I dont know why, but after i installed it, fired up cubase and set the priorities for cubendo it ran worse than before?
That was on an almost maxed out project where i am constantly hitting 70% with my I7. Asio meter was constantly in red.

 

Got full admin permissions everywhere and don't have an AV or firewall except the built in Windows ones. Also scanned thrpugh Wibdows and can't see anything obvious. Also done error checking and everything detected fine and healthy.