Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation (audiodg.exe) causes 100% disk load. Windows 8.1.

Hi Anton,

"audiodg.exe" is a part of Windows 8. System services like audio drivers run in different and isolated login session from the locally logged-in user in Windows 8. This ensures that content and plug-ins cannot be modified by other applications (e.g. by spyware). 

Note: The audiodg.exe file is located in the folder C:\Windows\System32. In other cases, audiodg.exe is a virus, spyware, trojan or worm!

Let’s follow these methods and check if it helps:

Method 1: I would suggest you to scan your computer with Microsoft Safety Scanner, which would help us to get rid of viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. The Microsoft Safety Scanner is a free downloadable security tool that provides on-demand scanning and helps remove viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. It works with your existing antivirus software.

http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx

Also refer to this link: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/how-find-remove-virus

Note: The Microsoft Safety Scanner expires 10 days after being downloaded. To rerun a scan with the latest anti-malware definitions, download and run the Microsoft Safety Scanner again.

Disclaimer: Any data files that are infected may only be cleaned by deleting the file entirely, which means there is a potential for data loss.

Method 2: In Windows 8, when running audio or video player software, CPU usage will reach above 80% instantly. This phenomenon is caused by " audiodg.exe " process. Sometimes, high CPU usage by this process might lead to fake crash. Follow these steps to fix the issue:

1. Right-click "Speakers" icon in the taskbar and then select "Playback devices"

2 . Under "Playback" tab, right-click "Speakers", and select "Properties".

3. Click on " Enhancements" tab under "Speakers Properties". Check " Disable all enhancements " check-box .

By the above steps, you could resolve the problem that " audiodg .exe" process hosts high CPU usage and prevent your machine from slow running and fake crash.

Hope this helps. If you need further assistance with Windows, let us know and will be glad to help.

Hi Anton,

• What is the make and model of the computer?

Whether or not you have the 'Enhancements' tab is down to the particular audio driver that's installed - some allow this feature and some do not.

Try the following.

Download the audio drivers from your computer manufacturer website.

When done, open windows Control Panel, open Device Manager and open up Sound, Video and Game Controllers.  Right click the audio device and select Uninstall - you should also get a prompt to remove the current driver, tick the box to allow this and then proceed with the uninstall.

When complete, restart the computer

Let Windows fully load - it will automatically load an audio driver, but just let this complete.  Then open your Downloads folder, right click on the downloaded audio drivers installer and select 'Run as Administrator' to start the installation.  When this has completed, check if you have the Enhancements tab back.

When the installation has completed, restart the computer before checking.

Regards,

John

Hi John,

thank you. Your last suggestion helped and eveything works fine. 

So the problem is solved. But I have one question:

My laptop is Hewlett Packard (HP) Pavillion dv6 3035er. This is an old one so on manufacturer site I can download drivers only for Windows 7. Since I'm using Windows 8 then 8.1 to get more or less up to date drivers I used this forum: \[Drivers\] HP dv6-3XXX / dv7-4XXX / ENVY 17-1XXX (INTEL) . But after this issue with sound I'm curious, is it worth to use new drivers instead of old ones suggested by HP?

Best regards,

Anton