Very slow HD access for XPS 13 9350 - I mean 15 seconds or more

As mentioned in the title, this shows up occasionally but now more often but its been happening now for a month.

HD access when this happens is very slow ~15-20 seconds. Machine is not locked up as other software other than the one trying to access HD works fine. This affects ANY software that access the external drive. This can happen multiple times with the same software in the same session. I have switched the external drive connected via USB3 and it is not drive specific so not a drive problem since it happens to all drives. When you change the drive, it works for a few days and then it shows up.

I tried to reload windows by trying to "reset this PC" but it won't do it without a password and the password I have for my Dell account does not work.

Please help as I am just about ready to junk this machine.