Could this be malware?

[xrobwx71]

You were able to delete the folder?

[devnulllore]

Yes and I booted up fine but still stuttering.

[devnulllore]

Could this be some sort of driver issue? I do not know where to go with this at this point.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

yeah, at this point it looks like that hidden boot folder was not the cause of your stuttering; it was most likely coincidence and maybe a leftover from your previous install.

 

Drivers are a good thing to look at; in this case it would be your SATA chipset driver you would want to check for. I would also check if there's a newer firmware for your SSD on the manufacturer's website.

 

There are monitoring tools that could help determine the stutter cause as well but I can't think of any off hand right now; another member may be able to assist on that part if needed

[devnulllore]

Thanks for the help. Yeah if anyone can suggest any further actions please let me know. The best way to describe what's happening now is if I open a folder windows the whole thing then flickers for a split second then the contents shows up.

[devnulllore]

Any other thoughts on this issue? Still happening after updating drivers. Still getting hitching, pauses, hiccups whatever you want to call them.

[adrynalyne]

1 hour ago, devnulllore said:

Any other thoughts on this issue? Still happening after updating drivers. Still getting hitching, pauses, hiccups whatever you want to call them.

Does it happen in Safe Mode?

[devnulllore]

2 minutes ago, adrynalyne said:

Does it happen in Safe Mode?

Have not tried it I will let you know

[devnulllore]

It is still happening and it's driving me crazy can anyone help?

Edited August 10, 2019 by devnulllore

[adrynalyne]

9 minutes ago, devnulllore said:

It is still happening and it's driving me crazy can anyone help?

Still waiting on a response to my question. Do you mean to say it’s still happening in Safe Mode?

[devnulllore]

Just now, adrynalyne said:

Still waiting on a response to my question. Do you mean to say it’s still happening in Safe Mode?

Yes. I ran in safe mode for about an hour and it kept happening

[aphanic]

So it keeps happening in Safe Mode huh...

 

I think what I'd do if I had the time would be:

- Image the boot drive, just in case.

- Delete it all and install Windows anew, letting it take care of drivers.

- Check there's no device without driver, or malfunctioning in the device manager.

- Assess what happens:

 

All good? Awesome, time to install the software I use and after that if there's still no problem delete the image I made at first, no need for it anymore (extracting any data I need off it before I do).

 

Still the same? Maybe check the Applications or System event logs in the Event Viewer around the time you experienced it and see if there's something interesting. It could be a driver that is misbehaving, or some damaged hardware component; but having a clean environment would eliminate some variables.

 

By the way, you're not overclocking your machine, are you? That could be another source for that kind of instability.

[adrynalyne]

17 minutes ago, aphanic said:

So it keeps happening in Safe Mode huh...

 

I think what I'd do if I had the time would be:

- Image the boot drive, just in case.

- Delete it all and install Windows anew, letting it take care of drivers.

- Check there's no device without driver, or malfunctioning in the device manager.

- Assess what happens:

 

All good? Awesome, time to install the software I use and after that if there's still no problem delete the image I made at first, no need for it anymore (extracting any data I need off it before I do).

 

Still the same? Maybe check the Applications or System event logs in the Event Viewer around the time you experienced it and see if there's something interesting. It could be a driver that is misbehaving, or some damaged hardware component; but having a clean environment would eliminate some variables.

 

By the way, you're not overclocking your machine, are you? That could be another source for that kind of instability.

Agreed. At this point, there isn’t anything left to do. If it happens on a clean install with nothing installed, it’s likely a drive issue. 

[devnulllore]

Ok. I am going to do another fresh install to see if I missed anything. Should I just go with the drivers Windows uses rather than my usual method of installing the newest one? Any other suggestions before I do this?

[SnoopZ]

Have you tried a different cable to the affected drive, unless it is happening to more than one?

[adrynalyne]

9 minutes ago, devnulllore said:

Ok. I am going to do another fresh install to see if I missed anything. Should I just go with the drivers Windows uses rather than my usual method of installing the newest one? Any other suggestions before I do this?

Don’t hook it up to the network at all. Test it first. 

[devnulllore]

One thing has just crossed my mind. I use Eset System Security which has never given me a problem BUT I also bought the latest Acronis Backup to make images of my drive. This version of Acronis has a built in ransomware scanner. Can this be causing the stuttering?

[SnoopZ]

2 minutes ago, devnulllore said:

One thing has just crossed my mind. I use Eset System Security which has never given me a problem BUT I also bought the latest Acronis Backup to make images of my drive. This version of Acronis has a built in ransomware scanner. Can this be causing the stuttering?

1 of the first things i do if i have issues is make sure antivirus/firewall software isn't causing the issue, you could try uninstalling it temporarily and see if that fixes it, what stage are you at as 16hrs ago you said you would reinstall Windows, did you also try another cable as suggested?  

[devnulllore]

I have not reinstalled yet. I went and bought new SATA3 cables and replaced them all. I also checked Station Drives for the latest drivers this time. I found a few new ones for network, audio and USB but none fixed the problem. I was just trying this time to see if some software may be the issue.

[SnoopZ]

4 minutes ago, devnulllore said:

I have not reinstalled yet. I went and bought new SATA3 cables and replaced them all. I also checked Station Drives for the latest drivers this time. I found a few new ones for network, audio and USB but none fixed the problem. I was just trying this time to see if some software may be the issue.

Uninstall you're antivirus and see if that fixes it is what i would do, if it doesn't then i have no clue sorry.

 

Edit.

 

Not sure if you have said but if you run it in safe mode without the antivirus what happens then?

[devnulllore]

What about Microsoft Onedrive? That is installed perhaps I should uninstall it?

[SnoopZ]

3 minutes ago, devnulllore said:

What about Microsoft Onedrive? That is installed perhaps I should uninstall it?

Don't think that would cause an issue but you can try logging out of it.

 

Is it only 1 drive that you have issues with?

[Ve7878]

8 hours ago, devnulllore said:

What about Microsoft Onedrive? That is installed perhaps I should uninstall it?

No that shouldn't be causing the issue at all. Try what @SnoopZ recommended and boot into Safe Mode.

[devnulllore]

I tried it in safe mode but still did it. I turned off the ransomware scanner in Acronis backup and it's better but not gone. Maybe it's Eset System Security?

 

[SnoopZ]

29 minutes ago, devnulllore said:

I tried it in safe mode but still did it. I turned off the ransomware scanner in Acronis backup and it's better but not gone. Maybe it's Eset System Security?

 

Why are you holding back uninstalling Eset as it is very quick and easy to do, if that doesn't fix the issue then that is another idea crossed off the list?

 

Don't think about it just do it.