Task manager shows high disk usage above 95%

Hi,

Thank you for posting the question in Microsoft Community! As I understand, you are facing performance issues on the computer**.** I understand that it must be frustrating, but rest assured, we are here to help fix the issue and guide you in the right direction.

Method 1:

I would suggest you to restart the computer in clean boot and check if the issue persists.

Follow these steps to start the computer in clean boot:

Step 1:

a) Press the ‘Windows + R’ key on the keyboard.

b) In the ‘Run’ windows type ’MSCONFIG’ and click ‘Ok’.

c) Click the ‘Boot’ tab and uncheck ‘Safe Boot’ option.

d) On the ‘General’ tab, click to select the option ‘Selective startup’, and then click to clear the option Load startup items check box.

e) On the ‘Services’ tab, click to select the ‘Hide all Microsoft services’ check box, and then click ‘Disable all’.

f) On the ‘Startup’ tab, click ‘Open Task Manager’. In the Task Manager window under startup tab, right click on each startup item which are enabled and select ‘Disable’.

g) Click ‘OK’, and then click Restart.

Step 2: Enable half of the servicesa. Follow steps 1a and 1b to start the System Configuration utility.

b. Click the Services tab, and then click to select the Hide all Microsoft services check box.

c. Click to select half of the check boxes in the Service list.

d. Click OK, and then click Restart.

Step 3: Determine whether the problem returnsIf the problem still occurs, repeat step 1 and step 2. In step 2, click to clear half of the check boxes that you originally selected in the Service list.

If the problem does not occur, repeat step 1 and step 2. In step 2, select only half of the remaining check boxes that are cleared in the Service list. Repeat these steps until you have selected all the check boxes.

If only one service is selected in the Service list, and you still experience the problem, the selected service causes the problem. Go to step 6. If no service causes this problem, go to step 4.

Step 4: Enable half of the Startup itemsIf no startup item causes this problem, a Microsoft service most likely causes the problem. To determine which Microsoft service may be causing the problem, repeat step 1 and step 2 without selecting the Hide all Microsoft services check box in either step.

Step 5: Determine whether the problem returnsIf the problem still occurs, repeat step 1 and step 4. In step 4, click to clear half of the check boxes that you originally selected in the Startup Item list.

If the problem does not occur, repeat step 1 and step 4. In step 4, select only half of the remaining check boxes that are cleared in the Startup Item list. Repeat these steps until you have selected all the check boxes.

If only one startup item is selected in the Startup Item list, and you still experience the problem, the startup item that is selected in the list is the service that is causing the problem. Go to step 6.

If no startup item causes this problem, a Microsoft service most likely causes the problem. To determine which Microsoft service may be causing the problem, repeat step 1 and step 2 without selecting the Hide all Microsoft services check box in either step.

Step 6: Resolve the problemAfter you determine the startup item or the service that causes the problem, contact the program manufacturer to determine whether the problem can be resolved. Or, run the System Configuration utility, and then click to clear the check box for the problem item.

Step 7:

Note: After you have finished troubleshooting, follow these steps to boot to normal startup.

a) Press the ‘Windows + R’ key on the keyboard.

b) In the ‘Run’ windows type ’MSCONFIG’ and click ‘Ok’.

c) On the ‘General’ tab, click the ‘Normal Startup’ option, and then click ‘OK’.

d) When you are prompted to restart the computer, click ‘Restart’.

Method 2:

I would suggest you to refer to the link and check if it helps:

Ways to improve your PC's performance

Improve performance by optimizing your hard drive

Note:

a.     If the drive is being used by another program, or is formatted using a file system other than NTFS, FAT, or FAT32, it can't be optimized.

b.    Network drives can't be optimized.

c.     If a drive isn't appearing in Optimize Drives, it might be because it contains an error. Try to repair the drive first, and then return to Optimize Drives to try again. For more info, see "To repair a drive" at the end of this article.

Method 3:

Perform SFC (System File Checker) and see if it helps.

a. Right Click at the bottom left hand side corner of desktop (on Start screen).

b. Select Command Prompt (Admin).

c. Type “SFC /scannow” and press Enter.

If you are still facing the issue, please reply and we will be glad to help you.

Thanks.

Hi rohit

i have this problem for more than 6 months...really irritated with this issue.

i have formatted total system and installed everything from backup.

still i have this issue, i am not a graphics/multimedia user. i used to do only documentation works in MS-Word, but whenever i open word, i am facing this 100 disk usage and the system is hanging. even i cant able to read a pdf/roll over to some other page.

i tried the step 1 of your method, immediately  after restart, just checked the task manager and its simply showing 100% disk usage. i was surprised to see this problem after disabling all (except microsoft services which was hidden as you mentioned in step 1.e)

please help me to solve this issue. i am frustrated because of this problem in my lap (Windows 8.1, 4gb RAM, 500 GB Hard disk(free space 220gb).

thanks in advance.

hi, i hope you can reply to this, i tried doing what is mentioned above, but i usually stop at method 1 step 3.

to start off, my laptop is an asus notebook, k55VD, i7, wwith 8gb of ram, and an intel HD graphics 4000.

so i understand that every startup, the disk is getting into 100% since it is necessary to get all the files.

then it goes down to 0, sometimes 1, sometimes 2,

the i will play this game, and suddenly it will ascend to 100%, like from 2%, it gets to, 27, 38,48,62,78,85,90%, 100%. the numbers are not exactly always like that, but what im saying is that it gets to 100%, sometimes it doesn't. so ill just continue playing, but the problem always occur.

i started experiencing this problem since i upgrade to windows 8.1..

i bought my laptop with windows8 pre installed, or i dont know if the store changed it to windows8 from window7.

is doing the steps above will help?

or is this the game's problem? not sure though, but their servers are in california.

also if win8.1 is not compatible to asus k55vd, how can i go back to win8 only?

please reply, pleasee

Hi sir , right after i tried your following steps mentioned above , i came up with an error ati.exe and i am not running on any ATI  graphics cards. please help me out here