Fixing 100% disk usage in Windows 10 with Chrome and Skype running

Anonymous
2015-08-16T12:25:27+00:00

How to fix 100% disk usage in Windows 10

This is caused by a common combination of Skype as well Google Chrome. Similar issue with other programs could also cause 100% disk usage. To fix this do the following:

Google Chrome:

In Google Chrome, go to Settings > Show Advanced Settings ... > Privacy > Prefetch resources to load pages more quickly

and untick it. See Figure-1 below:

Figure-1

Skype:

Make sure you have exited Skype and it is not running in the taskbar (if it is running in the taskbar then quit it).

Open Windows Explorer and open the following folder:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Skype\Phone"

Now right click "Skype.exe" file and then click "Properties" and open the "Security" tab.

Click the "Edit" button and then highlight "ALL APPLICATION PACKAGES" and place a tick in the "Write" box.

Click "Apply" and then "OK" and then "OK" again. See Figures-2 to Figure-6 below:

This is it, now run Skype and check the Disk Usage in Task Manager and it will no longer show you 100% disk usage anymore:-

I hope this helps people. I spent a long time in finding a solution to this problem.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-04-02T06:00:55+00:00

    Hi, This addresses bursts of memory usage, but I noticed that the 100% Total error pops up when zero memory is in use. I found that if I load a video (MP3) using Windows Media Player when I start up (switch off sound and set repeat on) then the player constantly requests memory so it never goes to zero and never gets to the 100% Usage error condition. Short and sweet solution to a coding error which may be using >0 instead of >=0.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-04-01T15:36:18+00:00

    I have had this problem since upgrading to Win 10 and have tried every trick listed online including this one.  I never have used Skype.  My computer becomes useless for as long as my disk is at 100%  disk usage.  The only recourse is to restart and it might go into that mode all over again without explanation, without any recourse to extricate myself from it.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-04-01T12:55:12+00:00

    Thanks, 

    I don't have Skype, much appreciated though.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-03-30T21:51:37+00:00

    Uninstalling Skype solved the problem for me.  No more horrendous disk thrashing to burn out my SSD.

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  5. Anonymous
    2016-03-30T09:46:02+00:00

    As I had mentioned earlier, you need to determine what process or processes are responsible for the high disk activity. If you see something like Dropbox doing a lot of disk activity and you don't use it, get rid of it. You can use several tools to determine what might be the culprit: (1) Task Manager, (2) Resource Monitor, and (3) SysInternals Process Explorer (with I/O Reads and Writes columns enabled). A combination of all three can give you a wealth of information on your system.

    JohnD

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