HIGH disk usage Windows 8 Pro

I tried a wide range of things with no success. Ultimately, I disabled Windows Search (services.msc -> Windows Search -> Disable) and the problem was no longer seen.

Before Ken jumps in to scold me I'd like to point out that the experience is my own and I'm not professing to be a computing know-it-all, <sarcasm>although I am obviously</sarcasm> or that the above is an actual solution - I'm just providing some detail that may help others.

I have been having the same problem as other posters, and the above suggestion led me in what appears to have been the right direction. I wanted to add my "two cents" just in case it could possibly help someone else having this problem.

As DCGeoff suggested, I disabled Windows Search first and restarted my computer. Unfortunately, System was still eating up disk usage like hotcakes on a Sunday morning. But then I noticed something interesting in Task Manager. I expanded one of the "Service Host: " groupings and saw "SuperFetch." Having never heard of this, I immediately ran an internet search [insert pause for a short chuckle here] to see how important it was. In my very inexperienced opinion, it seems unimportant enough to disable, so I disabled it. (Helpfully enough, it's name in Services is SuperFetch.)

While I had Service Host expanded, I also noticed two "Remote Desktop Services" running. I don't remote into any machines, so I also chose to disable both of those services. You can find them in Services as "Remote Desktop Services" and "Remote Desktop Services UserMode Port Redirector."

I feel like I need to add the disclaimer here that I disable services like crazy and have for years. I'm used to opening Services to enable and disable. If you don't feel comfortable doing so, you may want to re-consider this post.

Long story short, disabling these four services (Windows Search, SuperFetch, Remote Desktop Services, and Remote Desktop Services UserMode Port Redirector) appears to have solved my problem. I have now restarted my PC twice, and the System disk issue is gone, hopefully never to return.

I had the same problem - 100% I/O usage, slow typing or even hang, AND have SEP installed.  The machine was originally Win7 and then upgraded to Win8.  I tried a wide range of things with no success. Ultimately, I disabled Windows Search (services.msc -> Windows Search -> Disable) and the problem was no longer seen. After a few days of not seeing the issue I enabled Windows Search again and blammo 100% disk, slow typing, etc. .. Windows Search is now disabled.

Somewhere in my troubleshooting I also uninstalled and reinstalled SEP. Not sure if that affected any real change but it felt good to have a clean install. 

Before Ken jumps in to scold me I'd like to point out that the experience is my own and I'm not professing to be a computing know-it-all, <sarcasm>although I am obviously</sarcasm> or that the above is an actual solution - I'm just providing some detail that may help others.

Same issue here. Two computers are affected, office and home one. The process brings system drive to 100% for 30 minutes approximately twice a day. applications a being slowed down, even typing is alsmost not possible as letters appear with 10 seconds+ delay. Clicking menues becomes a headache. Ressource monitor shows constantly flowing read access to different files on the drive C:\ running realy as a flow.

Just a quick comment:

 

Ken, I simply find your answer, with its putting-down, lesson-giving  tone, totally inappropriate, especially for an MVP.

 

Further more, other than carrying out the sense that the requestor is close to a dum idiot (this is not my opinion, I experience the same issue and I read his post as describing exactly what I am experiencing ... and how I would have described it myself), you absolutely do not provide a hint of a solution nor even a start path for doing further diagnosis.

 

Bottom line : ZERO VALUE CONTRIBUTION

That attitude seems very common here, unfortunately.

I repeatedly see that kind of BS when Google leads me to this forum. Most often if not always, under the questions which I also have, there is no solution, no direction. Just someone who seems to be responsible for answering questions gave some BS, such as please provide more details on this on that, please clarify what you mean on this on that, over and over regardless of many people have exact the same complaint.

If I had known *all* the information regarding of my problem, I would be the one to answer questions, not to ask questions, all right? I would have known the root cause, and probably wouldn't come to here to get those BS.

UPDATE:

After a several tests, a friend and I have narrowed this down to these 2 services and 1 executable:

1. Windows Update
2. WIndows Modules Installer (%WinDir%\servicing\TrustedInstaller.exe) and
3. TIWorker.exe (%WinDir%\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-servicingstack_31bf3856ad364e35_6.2.9200.16613_none_6273bd8950d6cae2\TiWorker.exe)

Not saying (yet) that these are the ONLY cause, but whenever any of these are running, ntoskrnl.exe keeps the disk usage at 100%.

Any ideas?