14 GB total host writes in 3 days

[Obergruppenführer John Sm]

Hi. What is windows 10 writing so much on the SSD? On 22.8. it had 1570 GB total host writes and today it is 1584 GB. Around a month ago it was 1480. I have no running apps in system tray, no internet most of the time only when I (very rarely) connect to go to forums. The games I play never use more than 2 GB of ram, I have 4. I would appreciate if someone could tell me whats going on... Thanks.

 

[Mussels]

Page file, updates, hiberfile...

 

[Bill_Bright]

Page file, updates, hiberfile..

Or malware!

What is windows 10 writing so much on the SSD?

Why assume it is Windows? And please explain what you mean by "no Internet". Do you unplug the Ethernet cable? Disable wifi completely? Unplug the router/modem?

If you only have 4GB of RAM, it is likely your Page File is very busy. And that's fine, SSDs are ideal for Page Files. But I would still consider bumping it up to 8GB.

How much free disk space do you have? If low, you might look to see if you have an windows.old folder. These are created after major updates. And while they will automatically delete after 30 days, if your OS working fine, you can delete it manually.

 

[micropage7]

Or malware!


Why assume it is Windows? And please explain what you mean by "no Internet". Do you unplug the Ethernet cable? Disable wifi completely? Unplug the router/modem?

If you only have 4GB of RAM, it is likely your Page File is very busy. And that's fine, SSDs are ideal for Page Files. But I would still consider bumping it up to 8GB.

How much free disk space do you have? If low, you might look to see if you have an windows.old folder. These are created after major updates. And while they will automatically delete after 30 days, if your OS working fine, you can delete it manually.

agree, if you have limited ram, the system would cache it on hdd/ssd
windows write them on hdd/ssd but not only windows fault, the apps that you run, something that in background give contribution too

 

[Rhein7]

Yeah if you only have 4 GB ram then page files will eat a lot of writes on your SSD.
My laptop has 4 GB ram onboard initially and it was using like 8-15 GB writes per day only for browsing, Youtube and usual office stuff. Put another 8 GB ram on it and the write drops like 3-5 GB per day for the same usage.

Though I wouldn't worry much, modern SSD endurance is freaking big right now. My WD SSD got like 200 TBW so I wouldn't worry much even at 10 GB write per day.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Hibernate uses Hiberfil.sys and is about 6gb and can be disabled.

Most home PCs dont need or use it much while laptops do.

 

[bug]

@OP Why not use the Resource Monitor and answer the question yourself?

 

[MyTechAddiction]

If you are using windows Defender than it performs a scan at start up every day, no mater what setting you have.

Anyway SSDs have a life expectancy around 100 TB so you shouldn't be too worried.

 

[spectatorx]

14GB of writes in 3 days is excessive in your opinion? To be honest i think regular web browsing can generate more data being written to drive in 3 days. Or i'm just missing something in here, misunderstanding then pls anyone correct me on this.

 

[bug]

14GB of writes in 3 days is excessive in your opinion? To be honest i think regular web browsing can generate more data being written to drive in 3 days. Or i'm just missing something in here, misunderstanding then pls anyone correct me on this.

You are. The OP said it rarely uses the internet

 

[Bill_Bright]

If you are using windows Defender than it performs a scan at start up every day, no mater what setting you have.

Besides the fact that is not true, Windows Defender running scans has nothing to do with this. Except for logging, scans read, not write.

If yours is scanning when you boot, then you probably turn your computer off when done using it. If the normally scheduled time comes when the computer is off, it will scan when you turn it on again. That is normal - and a good thing.

he OP said it rarely uses the internet

Yeah, but I think we need more clarification on that. While the user may not be doing anything on-line, that does not mean Windows, the security apps, or other programs are not accessing the Internet in the background.

 

[John Naylor]

Games use 2GB of which RAM of the 4 you have ? ... are you talking about a utility which measures VRAM allocations (significantly less then actual usage) ... or are we talking that's your system RAM. I can't imagine even a Walmart Win 10 PC having only 4 GB of system RAM.

Well color me surprised, just looked and their $285.97 PC has 8 GB ... Did find a few that costs from $130 to $180 that had only 4 GB. i can't imagine that these things actually run .... 160 GB hard drives. KB DVD, mouse and screen ... after paying for that and the OS and KB / Mouse, case and PSU ...how much is left for the MoBo, CPU, etc

If this is not a lappie, Hibernation should be off.

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

@OP Why not use the Resource Monitor and answer the question yourself?

Probably dont know about it.

 

[birdie]

Fire up ProcMon by Sysinternals and find the culprit. It will take some time and patience to figure this application out because it's very powerful but it's really worth it.

This utility is indispensable - it's also allowed me to decrease Windows disk thrashing (it's an actual thing) to a bare minimum.

There are plenty of howtos, e.g. this one: https://knowitlikepro.com/understanding-disk-read-write-using-process-monitorprocmon-part-2/

 

[Bill_Bright]

Did find a few that costs from $130 to $180 that had only 4 GB. i can't imagine that these things actually run .... 160 GB hard drives. KB DVD, mouse and screen ... after paying for that and the OS and KB / Mouse, case and PSU ...how much is left for the MoBo, CPU, etc

Of course, it depends on what the computer will be used for. That system will work fine for checking email, updating Facebook, creating Word documents and simple Excel spreadsheet. And even support Zoom sessions for on-line learning during pandemics (assuming a decent Internet connection).

The problem is, some will buy those super budget systems expecting to play serious games at top performance levels. Not going to happen.

 

[Hardcore Games]

I recommend at least 8GB for Windows 10 and best bet is 16GB to minimize storage activity. I have 32GB but I do some heavy data processing and need it.

 

[Obergruppenführer John Sm]

Or malware!


Why assume it is Windows? And please explain what you mean by "no Internet". Do you unplug the Ethernet cable? Disable wifi completely? Unplug the router/modem?

If you only have 4GB of RAM, it is likely your Page File is very busy. And that's fine, SSDs are ideal for Page Files. But I would still consider bumping it up to 8GB.

How much free disk space do you have? If low, you might look to see if you have an windows.old folder. These are created after major updates. And while they will automatically delete after 30 days, if your OS working fine, you can delete it manually.

Games use 2GB of which RAM of the 4 you have ? ... are you talking about a utility which measures VRAM allocations (significantly less then actual usage) ... or are we talking that's your system RAM. I can't imagine even a Walmart Win 10 PC having only 4 GB of system RAM.

Well color me surprised, just looked and their $285.97 PC has 8 GB ... Did find a few that costs from $130 to $180 that had only 4 GB. i can't imagine that these things actually run .... 160 GB hard drives. KB DVD, mouse and screen ... after paying for that and the OS and KB / Mouse, case and PSU ...how much is left for the MoBo, CPU, etc

If this is not a lappie, Hibernation should be off.

Hi. Yes I plug out the wifi calbe. Yes, I mean system Ram not Gpu Vram. Yes, I did have 8 GB of Ram but some failed so I have 4. I never put 8 again because I see I don't need it for what I use my PC - games I play mostly use GPU ~100%, CPU ~10%, and as I mentioned RAM up to 2 GB no more. My SSD has 30 GB free now. I invest most of my money on books some are in hundreds of pounds so I can't afford to invest in pc upgrades other than necessary repairs...

 

[Mussels]

4GB of ram is the problem, yes more ram is neccesary than that.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I agree with Mussels. With only 4GB of RAM, Windows is forced to create and use more often a bigger page file on the disk to create more "virtual memory" for Windows and all your programs to run in. With more RAM, Windows will not need to stuff (cache) as much data into the Page File as often. It also means more higher priority data can stay in RAM - a good thing.

You are right that, technically you don't "need" 8GB, but that sure does not mean you cannot benefit from more RAM.

 

[Hardcore Games]

For gaming I noted that severy recent 64-bit games are using more than 8GB of memory now. A few very recent games are even using more than 16GB of RAM.

Given I come from a gaming perspective I suggest 8GB to match the old console generation and 16GB to match the next gen.

 

[bug]

For gaming I noted that severy recent 64-bit games are using more than 8GB of memory now. A few very recent games are even using more than 16GB of RAM.

Given I come from a gaming perspective I suggest 8GB to match the old console generation and 16GB to match the next gen.

Allocating != using
But given the price of RAM, I wouldn't build anything with less than 16GB. Unless going for dirt cheap.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Allocating != using

No it isn't. The amount of allocated RAM is totally different from that being used. This is simple to verify with a little homework with Bing Google and even simpler to see by perusing Task Manager.

Allocated RAM is the amount of RAM the operating system has allotted to all your programs and applications - whether they are running or not. In use RAM is what is currently being used.

Look in Task Manager under the Performance tab, then click on Memory in the left side panel. At the bottom, you will see an "In use" value. Note that will be different from the "Committed" value.

A little homework shows there are two types of allocated memory; "static" and "dynamic". Note the size of the static allocated memory is set when the program is installed or first run. It is a fixed value and does not change even when no longer running. Dynamic allocation obviously is not a fixed value.

 

[bug]

No it isn't. The amount of allocated RAM is totally different from that being used. This is simple to verify with a little homework with Bing Google and even simpler to see by perusing Task Manager.

Allocated RAM is the amount of RAM the operating system has allotted to all your programs and applications - whether they are running or not. In use RAM is what is currently being used.

Look in Task Manager under the Performance tab, then click on Memory in the left side panel. At the bottom, you will see an "In use" value. Note that will be different from the "Committed" value.

A little homework shows there are two types of allocated memory; "static" and "dynamic". Note the size of the static allocated memory is set when the program is installed or first run. It is a fixed value and does not change even when no longer running. Dynamic allocation obviously is not a fixed value.

Quite a wall of text to basically say what I said.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Quite a wall of text to basically say what I said.

Not even! What you said was wrong. Allocated memory is NOT in-use memory. Obviously, you have a problem understanding the text on that wall! If you even read it.

 

[John Naylor]

Allocating != using
But given the price of RAM, I wouldn't build anything with less than 16GB. Unless going for dirt cheap.

No it is not ... not with system RAM, not with VRAM

We spoke to Nvidia’s Brandon Bell on this topic, who told us the following: “None of the GPU tools on the market report memory usage correctly, .... They all report the amount of memory requested by the GPU, not the actual memory usage. Cards will larger memory will request more memory, but that doesn’t mean that they actually use it. They simply request it because the memory is available.”

GTX 770 4GB vs 2GB Showdown - Page 3 of 4 - AlienBabelTech

Do you need 4GB of ram? We tested EVGA's GTX 770 4GB versus Nvidia's GTX 770 2GB version, at 1920x1080, 2560x1600 and 5760x1080.

alienbabeltech.com

There is one last thing to note with Max Payne 3: It would not normally allow one to set 4xAA at 5760×1080 with any 2GB card as it claims to require 2750MB. However, when we replaced the 4GB GTX 770 with the 2GB version, the game allowed the setting. And there were no slowdowns, stuttering, nor any performance differences that we could find between the two GTX 770s.

The card wants to allocate 2.75 GB and the dev won't even let you install the game with less, and yet when they installed it with a 4 GB and then switched to a 2 GB card, the game ran find because it doesn't need and never used more than 2 GB

Quite a wall of text to basically say what I said.

1. Hardly a "wall of text" .. a common answer used when not wanting to admit that what they posted was incorrect

2. As Brandon Bell and alienbabeltech,have shown, allocating is not using.