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Home » Troubleshooting » How to Fix 100% Disk Usage in Windows 10

How to Fix 100% Disk Usage in Windows 10

By: Waseem Patwegar

If your computer has become painfully slow, freezes and hangs up frequently, it is likely that you are dealing with High Disk Usage on your computer. You will find below the steps to fix 100% Disk Usage in Windows 10.

Fix 100% Disk Usage Error in Windows 10

100% Disk Usage in Windows 10

Typically, 100% Disk Usage in Windows 10 leads to a painfully slow computer, even though you only have few programs open on your computer.

To confirm, right-click on the Start button and select Task Manager. in WinX menu. On the Task Manger Screen, switch to Processes tab and take a look at the Disk column.

High Disk Usage in Windows Task Manager Screen

If the Disk column is marked red with High Disk Usage (88 to 100%), the resource usage on your computer is maxed out and you need to take corrective actions to fix this problem.

1. Restart the Computer

The easiest way to reduce High Disk Usage on a Windows computer is to restart the device. This will terminate all the running programs and processes that were using up all the resources on your computer.

While this is a temporary solution, it will make it easy for you to use the computer and implement other measures to reduce Disk Usage on your computer.

2. Prevent Skype from Running in Background

If Skype is installed on your computer, you need to make sure that Skype App or Skype Desktop Program is not starting automatically on your computer and using up resources by running in background.

To prevent Skype from running in background, you can refer to this guide: How to Stop Skype From Running in Background in Windows 10

3. Disable Tips, Tricks & Suggestions

Get Tips, Tricks and Suggestions feature in Windows 10 has been linked to slowing down of the computer by some users.

Go to Settings > System > Notifications & actions and disable Get tips, tricks, and suggestions option.

Disable Get tips, tricks and suggestions as you use Windows Option

Restart your computer and you may be surprised to see it running faster than before.

4. Disable Webpage Preloading in Chrome

Chrome Browser is known to use high resources and an easy way to reduce usage by Google Chrome is to disable preloading of webpages.

Open Chrome Browser > click on 3 dots icon and select Settings in the drop-down menu.

Open Chrome Settings

On Chrome Settings screen, scroll down to “Privacy & Security” section and click on Cookies and other site data. On the next screen, move the toggle next to Preload pages for faster browsing and searching to OFF position.

Disable Preloading of Webpages in Chrome

5. Change File Explorer Options

Open File Explorer > switch to View tab > click on Options tab and select Change Folder and search options in the drop-down menu.

Change Folder and Search options in File Explorer

On the next screen, switch to Search tab and uncheck Don’t use index, Include Compressed files, Always search file names options.

File Explorer Search Options Screen

Click on OK to save this setting on your computer.

6. Stop Windows Search

Windows Search can use up a lot of system resources, especially if it goes in a search loop or runs constantly in the background.

Open Task Manager > expand Microsoft Windows Search Indexer > right-click on Windows Search and click on Stop.

Stop Windows Search Service in Task Manager

If you find Disk Usage Percentage going down after disabling Windows Search, you can consider disabling Windows Search on a permanent basis.

7. Disable Windows Search

Right-click on the Start button and click on Run. In Run command window, type services.msc and click on OK.

Run services.msc Command In Windows 10

On the next screen, right-click on Windows Search and click on Properties.

Open Windows Search Properties

On Windows Search Properties screen, set Startup Type to Disabled.

Disable Windows Search Service

Click on Apply and OK to save these changes on your computer.

8. Disable SuperFetch Service

While Windows SuperFetch Service can improve the performance of certain applications on your computer, it is associated with High Disk Usage and known to cause problems on older and budget computers with 4 GB or less RAM.

Open Run Command > type services.msc and click on OK.

Run services.msc Command In Windows 10

On the next screen, right-click on SuperFetch and click on Properties.

Open Superfetch Properties in Windows 10

On SuperFetch properties screen, set the Startup type to Disabled.

Disable Superfetch Service in Windows 10

Click on OK to save this setting on your computer.

9. Change Virtual Memory Management Settings

Right-click on This PC and click on Properties.

Open This PC Properties on Windows PC

On the next screen, click on Advanced system settings.

Advanced System Settings Option in Windows 10

On System Properties screen, switch to Advanced tab and click on Settings button located under “Performance” section.

Advanced Performance Settings Option in Windows 10

On Performance Options screen, switch to Advanced tab and click on the Change button located under “Virtual Memory” section.

Change Virtual Memory Settings Option in Windows 10

On the next screen, uncheck Automatically manage option, check System Managed size option and click on OK.

Set System Managed Size For Virtual Memory On Windows PC

Make sure you Restart the computer for above changes to be implemented.

10. Disable MSI Mode in StorAHCI.sys Driver

If you are facing 100% Disk usage on a Windows 10 PC with SDD drive, the problem could be due to a firmware bug that prevents SSD drives from completing input/output requests.

Right-click on the Start button and click on Device Manager. On Device Manager screen, expand IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers > right-click on Standard SATA AHCI Controller and click on Properties.

Open Standard SATA AHCI Controller Properties

On the next screen, switch to Driver tab and click on Driver Details.

Open SATA AHCI Controller Driver Details

If you see storachi.sys entry on Driver Details screen, you need to disable MS Mode for the Driver by using Registry Editor fix mentioned on Microsoft’s support page.

11. Check for Viruses and Malware

Presence of Viruses and Malware on the computer can cause a variety of problems, including 100% Disk Usage Error.

Hence, make sure that the Antivirus program on your computer is up to date. Also, make use of free Microsoft Safety Scanner to scan your computer for Malware and reverse changes made by Malware programs.

12. Check Hard Drive for Errors

Right-click on the Start button and select PowerShell Admin or (Command Prompt Admin) option.

Open Windows PowerShell

On the PowerShell window, type chkdsk.exe /f  /r and press the Enter key on the keyboard of your computer. If you are prompted to schedule volume to be checked on next restart, type Y

Run chkdsk command in Windows PowerShell

Close the PowerShell Window, Restart your computer and patiently wait for Windows to scan the Hard drive for errors and repair bad sectors (if any).

Note: This process can take a very long time (5 to 12 hours or more).

Related
  • How to Fix A Corrupt User Profile In Windows 10
  • How to Remove Bloatware From Windows 10 PC

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