HIGH disk usage Windows 8 Pro

Please read this carefully :

I have been suffering this problem ever since I upgraded to Win 8.0 from XP. The problem has perhaps worsened after I upgraded to Win 8.1 through Win App Store. I have tried several solutions discussed in this thread and other threads in MS community and in the internet. None of this worked.

Stage-1 :

The solution tried earlier and failed are :

1. Doubling my Virtual memory size.
2. Disabling SuperFetch.
3. Disabling Windows Defender.
4. Disabling Skydrive sync.
5. Disabling Automatic Defrag.
6. Ran CCleaner and cleaned up Registry
7. Stopped Auto Updates
8. A few more which I have forgotten

Have spent hours analysing the disk access patterns using Task Manager but couldn't find a meaningful pattern.

The fact is that when you disable one of the above, some other process is shown to be using the disk highly. One cannot exactly pinpoint which process is troubling as many are executed through the common service 'Service Host'. I had reinstalled XP-8.0-8.1 a couple of times but the installation used to take 5-6 HOURS.

Stage-2 :

Hence suspected a HDD problem and connected it on an alternate machine and tested through a host of software from Samsung, WD, MS, etc. but no problem was ever found even when low level scanning was done.

Stage-3 :

Suspected that the upgrade process had a problem and installed Windows 8.1 directly. It installed in about 40 mts though the normal time should have been 10-15 mts. Even this did not work as the problem started appearing once I access Internet using IE for the first time.

Stage-4 :

After having spent 3+ months of trying various options and installing the OS about 15 times, I had to conclude that either the HDD (bought in 2008) had some problems that did not show up in the diagnosis OR "The Windows 8.0 and 8.1" HDD driver is not fully supporting the HDD I was using. The reason is this : I have been using a Hitachi 250 GB IDE drive connected to a SATA port on Intel DH67BL Board through a IDE to SATA convertor. So I had to change the SATA settings to 'IDE' in the BIOS. It should have been 'AHCI' had I used a SATA drive. To confirm this I installed 8.1 (not an upgrade) on a Samsung IDE drive I had connect to SATA Port as above. It was behaving better and installation was over in 20-25 mts, but there were intermittent high disk usage while using Windows 8.1. Both the drivers were 7200 RPM. Even tried installing in IDE mode and changing the BIOS setting to AHCI subsequently. It totally failed in the first one and worked somewhat on the Samsung HDD.

Stage-5 :

I bought a new Seagate 1TB SATA drive and installed 8.1 and it behaves just fine on this machine for the last one month without any of the above tweaks (Used 'AHCI' mode in BIOS while installing). Hence the conclusion is that the drivers supplied with Win 8.0 and 8.0 does have some conflict with older HDDs.

Solution

So i did a check on all the components and i came upon this settings named minimum proccessor %. In awe, it was at 100% minimum and 100% maximum.

~

Im not exactly a computer expert. but its logical that, when minimum disk and maximum is of the same figure. it overclocks.

i've amended it to 20-30% for minimum and the disk usage problem is cured after a trial run of gaming - heroes of newerth.

I had the same problem when I checked it, Changed it and now everything is running smooth again.

Thank you so much!

If there is anyone out there still having this problem, as I have been lately, I found something very simple that seems to have worked for me. I simply went to my power options and switched to 'High Performance' from my silly 'HP Recommended' option. The disk % instantly dropped. So relieving.

Worked for me too! Thank you!

Step 1 :

Step :2

wasn't sure what went wrong with my computer

like many others out there, i've done all the preliminary checks and scans for malware or viruses. 

and i chanced upon users, mentioning to change the power options.

It didn't work for me in the first place of switching it from balanced to performance. As mine it is always on performance.

Solution

So i did a check on all the components and i came upon this settings named minimum proccessor %. In awe, it was at 100% minimum and 100% maximum.

Step 1 :Hit the Change Plan Settings*

Step 2 : Press Change Advanced Power Settings

Step 3 :Under Processor Power Manageme nt

Look into Minimum Processor State

Im not exactly a computer expert. but its logical that, when minimum disk and maximum is of the same figure. it overclocks.

i've amended it to 20-30% for minimum and the disk usage problem is cured after a trial run of gaming - heroes of newerth.

Cheers to all and i hope this can solve your problem of ntoskrnl - 100% disk usage

 Jyen~

This corrected the issue for me and it was instantaneous, thank you!