Disk Overload 100%, Vista Freezes

[Fudgemunk]

Ok so this has me a bit worried at the moment. It has started happening only in the past few days, never had a problem before.

Vista SP1

uTorrent 1.8.2

Connection Speed 700kb/s down / 100kb/s up

I start a download and my speed goes up to my maximum (like many times before), it then stays there for a couple of minutes before it says Disk Overload 100% and then the speed drops to zero and then a few seconds later vista totally freezes up, I have to hard reboot. It happens on all files, no matter the size.

Things I have tried without success:

Reinstalling utorrent

Uninstalling AVG (this is the only security software I use, Windows firewall is even turned off)

Complete Disk Check of C: Drive

Defrag

Upgrading to the latest beta of utorrent

Disk Cache settings: http://xs138.xs.to/xs138/09174/diskcache193.jpg

HijackThis log:

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.2

Scan saved at 11:41:46, on 23/04/2009

Platform: Windows Vista SP1 (WinNT 6.00.1905)

MSIE: Internet Explorer v7.00 (7.00.6001.18226)

Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:

C:\Windows\system32\taskeng.exe

C:\Windows\system32\Dwm.exe

C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE

C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe

C:\Windows\RtHDVCpl.exe

C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe

C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jusched.exe

C:\Program Files\NetMeter\NetMeter.exe

C:\Program Files\Logitech\SetPoint\SetPoint.exe

C:\Program Files\SqueezeCenter\SqueezeTray.exe

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Logishrd\KHAL2\KHALMNPR.EXE

C:\PROGRA~1\SQUEEZ~1\server\SQUEEZ~1.EXE

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe

C:\Program Files\uTorrent\uTorrent.exe

C:\Windows\system32\SearchFilterHost.exe

C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HijackThis\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.google.co.uk/webhp?complete=1&hl=en

R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157

R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896

R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896

R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157

R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant =

R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,CustomizeSearch =

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar,LinksFolderName =

O1 - Hosts: ::1 localhost

O2 - BHO: Java Plug-In SSV Helper - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\ssv.dll

O2 - BHO: Java Plug-In 2 SSV Helper - {DBC80044-A445-435b-BC74-9C25C1C588A9} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jp2ssv.dll

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Windows Defender] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe -hide

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [RtHDVCpl] RtHDVCpl.exe

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\Windows\system32\NvCpl.dll,NvStartup

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvMediaCenter] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\Windows\system32\NvMcTray.dll,NvTaskbarInit

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [sunJavaUpdateSched] "C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jusched.exe"

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Kernel and Hardware Abstraction Layer] KHALMNPR.EXE

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [C:\Program Files\NetMeter\NetMeter.exe] C:\Program Files\NetMeter\NetMeter.exe

O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\Run: [sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /detectMem (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')

O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\Run: [WindowsWelcomeCenter] rundll32.exe oobefldr.dll,ShowWelcomeCenter (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')

O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\Run: [sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /detectMem (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')

O4 - Global Startup: Logitech SetPoint.lnk = C:\Program Files\Logitech\SetPoint\SetPoint.exe

O4 - Global Startup: SqueezeCenter Tray Tool.lnk = C:\Program Files\SqueezeCenter\SqueezeTray.exe

O13 - Gopher Prefix:

O17 - HKLM\System\CCS\Services\Tcpip\..\{5EC5337B-C63F-4D26-88C0-54BB4E1C0235}: NameServer = 208.67.222.222,208.67.220.220

O23 - Service: Logitech Bluetooth Service (LBTServ) - Logitech, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Logishrd\Bluetooth\LBTServ.exe

O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (nvsvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\Windows\system32\nvvsvc.exe

O23 - Service: SqueezeMySQL - Unknown owner - C:\PROGRA~1\SQUEEZ~1\server\Bin\MSWIN3~1\mysqld.exe

--

End of file - 3689 bytes

Thanks for any help you can give.

[DreadWingKnight]

Are you preallocating all files in the preferences?

Have you verified that your drive hasn't lapsed into PIO mode (device manager - properties of the controller channel)?

[Fudgemunk]

Thanks for your reply.

Preallocating is turned on.

This is what it shows in device manager, advanced settings for the first IDE channel are blank, no idea what that means

http://xs138.xs.to/xs138/09174/screen1736.jpg

http://xs138.xs.to/xs138/09174/screen2810.jpg

[hermanm]

It means you have both hard drives running off the second IDE channel. I don't know how much benefit you would have from moving one of the disks to the other channel, but its worth a try if you know how to do it.

How long do you wait before you reboot? Could it just be disk thrashing and its taking a VERY LONG time to complete?

Have you installed any software like NetMeter?

[Fudgemunk]

No I don't know how to do that.

Netmeter is installed but I've been using it for a long time without any trouble.

Edit: Just added four 20Gb+ torrents to the Halite client and let them all download at full speed, no problems so far, looks like it was just an issue with uTorrent.

[DreadWingKnight]

Preallocating is turned on.

Probably part of your problem. How long are you waiting for the system when it freezes like this?

[Fudgemunk]

I left it overnight yesterday and it was still the same this morning.

[DreadWingKnight]

Try enabling the bypass of windows' disk cache for reads as well as writes.

[Fudgemunk]

I just tried but it still said disk overload, if I stop the torrent the second it gives that warning I'm able to prevent Vista from freezing but when I start the torrent again I don't get any speed and then it eventually freezes.

Halite seems to be working fine at the moment but I'd still like to get to the bottom of it and rule out the possibility it is a faulty HD.

Edit:

I've run out of ideas now, even a reinstall of vista hasn't fixed it. I've been using the client Deluge today without any problems, strange it seems to only be a problem with uTorrent.

[Gemma_R]

I have the same problem here, PLUS I don't understand the section "6. How do I modify the disk cache options" of the FAQ.

It doesn't eplain all the voices you can flag and it does not help solve this problem.

Furthermore options like diskio.write_queue_size I saw suggestions about in my version (1.82) just don't exist.

I can't use uTorrent anymore, I'm in depserate need of help....

[jewelisheaven]

Write Queue is not from 1.8 or even 1.7 line. You're using an old guide.

Well http://utorrent.com/faq/#faq6 tells you to go to the Ctrl-P Preferences pane, go to Advanced, and select Disk Cache. You'll see something nearly identical to the picture fudgemunk posted.

Fudgemunk, can you try it on something EXTREMELY small like http://distribution.openoffice.org/p2p/ ?? Those DLs are ~ 100 MiB and certainly wouldn't cause any problems due to lack of RAM or disk slowdown. With your speed 8 Mbit / 1 Mbit . . . does it happen no matter how many torrents you are running simultaneously?? For the openoffice test please try it with only one, btw.

Also it may be, as DWK touched on, for some reason pre-allocate is not working for you as it should. Are your disks NTFS? There is the option of trying a new download (one you haven't started) with pre-allocate off... see what happens :?

[Gemma_R]

Thanks for your reply, jewelisheaven.

The link you posted is exactly the FAQ I cannot understand.

There should be an explanation for every option that can be flagged, but for the first point I just don't get it...

And last ones are not so clear too, especially since I'm using utorrent in Italian and not all points are explained.

[jewelisheaven]

Well, OK, is it that a localized translation isn't available? Or the data doesn't machine translate well? Sticking it into http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=en&tl=it&u=http://www.utorrent.com/faq/ . . which of the 7 points is unclear?

The Disk Cache preference pane is where you control the parts of uTorrent which deal with RAM and the buffer(s) before writing to disk occur.

The first option "cache size" is combined RAM usage for reads and writes. You set the total amount of RAM you wish to allocate for this data buffer. It will be split between reading and writing. The default is 32 MiB (megs) and can be overridden if you wish, to a higher or a lower value (some people for example set it to 0).

The option reduce memory usage tells uTorrent to free up the cache set above when it is not needed. This is usually OK enabled, except if/when you are a single-seeder for swarms, and are always accessing the same data. If your cache is large enough to keep most of the data in RAM there is no need to access the disk, and so many people in that situation turn the option OFF.

Write out untouched blocks of data to disk allows you to rotate the cache, if for example stale data (that apparently noone has) is there, it can be removed so better data can be put in. Turn this OFF if you override the cache size to a much larger value or get the message "Disk Overloaded".

Write out finished pieces immediately allows data to be removed immediately from the cache. If this is turned OFF, the finished data is removed at a set interval, all at once.

Turn off read cacheing when low tells uTorrent to not use a read cache when uploading under 1 Mbit (100 Kbit) because the operations involved are worse than just pulling the data from the disk and sending it out to peers. In the above situation with initial seeding, or seeding the same data this option should be turned OFF.

Remove old blocks from cache can be turned OFF if you override the cache size to a much larger value.

Increase automatic cache size when thrashing tells uTorrent to increase the cache size if the disk seems to spent alot of time seeking. This means that there is a bottleneck and the disk cannot write out the data as fast as it is receiving it, so to hold it all uTorrent increases the cache size until the bottleneck is over.

[Herzrasen]

I'm in trouble and I need help.

I've almost the same problem as Fudgemunk. I'm using Windows XP (32 bit) with uTorrent 1.8.2, and the uTorrent freezes my computer for about 10 minutes. The program started to make me nervous on last Sunday, and still I can't fix the issue. If I don't leech anything, it runs properly, but when I add torrents to download, it freezes my computer. I've already reinstalled it, and now it doesn't give me an error message "Disk overloaded", but it still freezes my computer after 10 minutes of downloading. I've tried many things including defragging my hard drive and make free space on my hard drive, and I've also tried to modify the settings of the uTorrent, but none of these solved the problem. My hard drive (SATA) works properly, and – if I don't run the uTorrent – the computer works as well as it must, too. I can't imagine what have happened with the uTorrent because I've been using it for years and I've never had any problems with it.

I hope you can suggest me something. I've already run out of ideas.

Thank you in advance.

[Gemma_R]

Last time I had been able to solve the problem by changing the settings in this cache section.

Unfortunately I don't remember what I changed.

Thanks ewelisheaven for all his explanation, which I'm not able to understand completely, though...

Could you please just give me a tip on how to set them right once again?

Thank you

[jewelisheaven]

should be all the default options. As I marked, those who use only small torrents in relation to the disk cache size can disable the cyan options (top set). Also the middle options (red) can be changed if you're getting issues similar to the ones in this thread.

Similarly to how many people are presumed to have fast download, the bottom option can be changed if you are uploading fast. Hope this helps. If you have other questions, please feel free. But please please post specific questions/points.