Inexplicable Hard Drive Status: Warning +errors, please help!

[SJC]

I was hoping maybe someone could enlighten me on what might be wrong with my computer. I've been having numerous problems, most of which I think are Hard Drive related for half a year now. Been getting a 100% Disc Usage problem where the entire OS grinds to a halt (although its been this way from the first day I got my laptop), even typing in a text box has significant input lag. This happens usually when running HD intensive tasks like program installs, virus scans and for a few minutes after boot up upon logging on. As far as I can tell this is a wide spread problem amongst some windows 8 and 7 users, so I'm not sure If it could be hardware related and all of the recommended solutions provided on other forums haven't helped at all. I've also been getting out of memory errors specifically when running games; Dishonoured, Bioshock Infinite and Bioshock 2 most recently have triggered the error numerous times after running for about an hour or two. I have virtual memory set to 80 GB on top of the 12Gb of RAM I have installed which is way past overkill. I understand this may not be the best place to ask about these problems, but I was also wondering if a Speccy report could shed light on the subject. When I go to the hard drive tab I get a warning status under S.M.A.R.T, although I don't know how to interpret the report properly. I've also ran SeaTools several times over a period of a few months and the Short Drive Self Test consistently reports a fail the first time and a pass every subsequent testing
 

In summary, please see the screenshot attached and if possible provide an explanations to why I'm getting a warning status. Could the warning status also be responsible for the disc usage and memory problems and should I replace the hard drive? Also is the SeaTools result anything to worry about?

Thanks in advance for any help.

System Spec:

 

Sony VAIO S15 laptop
Windows 8.1 64bit

12GB RAM

1TB Toshiba SSHD (8gb SSD caching)

Intel Core i7 at 2.2ghz.

Nvidea GeForce GT 640M LE 2GB

 

Screenshot (full size rather than thumbnail): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxdGchOidaAMcy1aMk16VUhZMkE/edit?usp=sharing

[Derek891]

Hello SJC and welcome - Am I reading it correctly that you have system paging (virtual memory) set to 80GB, or did you mean to type 8GB? 

[SJC]

Hi Derek, yep 80 GB, I know that it's FAR more than I would ever need. I set it that high experimentally  to see if any of the problems improved, although I don't think it made a difference. I've tried various solutions from disabling the page file altogether, to setting virtual memory to match my RAM (12GB min, 24 max) in the past, but there was no improvement.

[Derek891]

All right, I think you should realize that system memory (RAM) works much, much faster than virtual memory (the paging file). I think having it set too high is the reason for the extremely high disk usage you are experiencing. You are better off letting your system memory (RAM) do more of the work. I know you have experimented with different settings, have you tried a fixed value, where the minimum and maximum are the same? On my machine, I have 8GB memory, and have paging set at 4GB for the min. and max. value.

[Derek891]

Also, here is a link to an explanation of the SMART ID numbers, you have to scroll down the page to the table. Note the ID's highlighted in pink are the problem areas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T. 

 

You mentioned 8GB SSD caching. This Toshiba 1TB drive, is it a hybrid drive, or SATA, or SSD? The 8GB SSD caching is a separate device or a part of the drive itself?

[SJC]

I'll give the fixed values for virtual memory a shot; I don't think I've tried that in the past.

 

It's a hybrid drive, so the 8gb cache is built in.

 

Also looking at the wiki page, Spin Retry Count is a problem area. In Speccy's test results the values for spin retry count are 138(100) and according to the page a lower raw value is better. I was under the impression that the bracketed value is what it currently reports and the first number is a manufacturing threshold, is that correct? Does this mean that my drive is performing better than the threshold in that particular statistic, or is it the opposite? Could this be why I'm getting a warning status?

[Derek891]

I'm not sure if SMART status and error reporting applies to SSD or hybrid drives, or if Speccy is capable of reporting accurately where hybrid and SSD drives are concerned. That would be something only the Piriform software developers can answer. In your case, I think you should put more faith in what the Seatools application is telling you, since it is provided by Seagate, the drive's manufacturer. I find it strange that Seatools is inconsistent in reporting problems, maybe you should find out if it is meant to work with hybrid drives or if it is only meant to be used with SATA drives.

[SJC]

Alright, thanks for the advice. I presumed SeaTools was a general purpose app for all types of drives, however it did cross my mind that it could be something do with having a hybrid. I'll have to do a bit of research on both of the applications.

[Jack0022]

You mentioned 8GB SSD caching. This Toshiba 1TB drive, is it a hybrid drive, or SATA, or SSD? The 8GB SSD caching is a separate device or a part of the drive itself?