CSRSS.exe constant HD reads

[steveb444]

I have the same problem (annoying csrss.exe disk reads keep 'waking up' C: ..)

Whilst I have not yet fully tracked down the 'cause', the fact is this does NOT happen on a Laptop (which. I'm guessing, is why many people don't have this 'problem' whilst others state "it's normal" ...)

The trick to putting a stop to it must lie somewhere in the power management settings ....

[steveb444]

OK = I've set 'Portable / Laptop' in my Power Options, rebooted (don't know if that's actually necessary) and (so far) csrss seems to have stopped all it's pointless disk reads ...

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Ok, next time somebody has this issue, open up Resource Monitor and check what it's actually reading (This also applies to other issues like "Why is the search indexer using so much memory?", etc.)

[steveb444]

Update 2 .. not a fix .. on my Desktop, the C: drive is now 'waking up' after about 1hr., performs some pointless reads for csrss.exe and then goes to sleep again (it's set to power off after 15 mins of inactivity).

[darkrats]

I'd be interested to know if turning off System Restore (or whatever it's called in Windows 8) would help.

[steveb444]

Update ... just ran a new install from Windows XPsp2 distro. CD (which includes Dell basic drivers). Still have the problem. Upgraded to sp3 = same problem. Downgraded again ...

Turned off 'everything' --- I now have ONLY the 6 following services 'started' (minimium I need to keep running the machine as a NAS)

DCOM Service Process Launcher, Event Log, Plug&Play, RPC, Security Accounts Manager, Server .... same problem.

NB. A service monitoring tool that shows 'open files' does not indicate any file being held open by csrss.exe = this is not a surprise since I would expect read caching would maintain a copy of any 'simple' file being read multiple times by csrss ...

For now, I give up ....

PS - on XP, if you turn off System Restore it 'deletes' all your existing Restore Points :-)

[manbearpig_06]

Ok, next time somebody has this issue, open up Resource Monitor and check what it's actually reading (This also applies to other issues like "Why is the search indexer using so much memory?", etc.)

You'd think, but it doesn't matter.

I have this same problem, and nothing in Resource Monitor indicates anything is strage. The hard drive light is constant, and the computer is sluggish, but Resource Monitor shows a total of 3 Processes, all with less than 50k Total bytes per second (read/write). The largest thing in disk activity is 20k per second. Highest active time is 2%, 36kb/s disk I/O. All appears to be running very lightly compared to normal, yet the hard drive is going crazy.

[halogames]

I was having this issue a few months go on a new Windows 8.1 (upgraded from Windows 8) system. My PC was being incredibly sluggish and giving low-memory and weird graphical errors. I eventually discovered, after some investigation in Task Manager, that the cause was csrss.exe thrashing the hard disk and doing literally millions of I/O operations.

 

I fixed it by creating and using a new user profile.

 

Sorry for the bump, hoping it helps somebody searching for a solution to this problem.

[riahc3]

Hello,

suggest a possible virus (it's not in my case).

I'm not running any antivirus.

I love this. 

 

I was having this issue a few months go on a new Windows 8.1 (upgraded from Windows 8) system. My PC was being incredibly sluggish and giving low-memory and weird graphical errors. I eventually discovered, after some investigation in Task Manager, that the cause was csrss.exe thrashing the hard disk and doing literally millions of I/O operations.

 

I fixed it by creating and using a new user profile.

 

Sorry for the bump, hoping it helps somebody searching for a solution to this problem.

Because of when this thread was made (6 years ago) I recommend making a new thread for your problem. Fixes 6 years ago may/may not apply here so...