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

I don't have Google Chrome or Skype installed on my machine and the Disk Usage is still at 100%. This recommendation is bogus. Microsoft has no idea how to fix this problem, that's why its taken this long to address it.

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.

I don't have skype installed and I have the same problem of 100% disk usage for a long time after start.  Any other suggestions?

I didn't have Skype running but shutting down OneDrive did the trick for me. 

I also noticed that when I work on documents stored on SharePoint, the Microsoft Office Upload Center also adds to the aggravation as it seems to have to maintain a constant connection of save/update with the server version of the document. I suppose switching to check-out mode might help... work offline, then upload back.

Hello ! 

Suggestions from this link helped me fix the issue. Disable Superfetch and Windows Search. Your system will calm down :)

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-tips-fix-100-disk-usage-improve-windows-performance/

The Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation often is connected with Cortana being set to respond to Hey Cortana.  Try turning that off and see if it solves the problem.  Click in the search box to open Cortana and the go into her Notebook to find the Settings.  Scroll down to where it has the Hey Cortana message and disable that.

You can still talk to Cortana by manually clicking the microphone in the search box.

Some audio chips just don't seem to work with Cortana, but driver updates may eventually solve the problem.