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
    2016-03-29T23:40:14+00:00

    Okay, I tried your first remedy. I was having the same issues as everyone else, disk usage at 100% permanently. I immediately disabled the OneDrive at startup and it dropped to 28% at once. Saved me a very frustrating call to Microsoft Support. Strangely, system and compressed memory hasn't dropped and is still eating most of my disk!

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-03-30T04:35:06+00:00

    I am having the same issue with disk and memory usage, I too have a Lenovo, mine is an IdeaPad and out of the box it had this issue, I uninstalled skype don't use it ever, none of these fixes posted have solved the issue. I let the system run idle for hours and check task manager and still at 100%. I go through the event logs and can not identify anything but I am not sure I would.

    I have another Lenovo system that is maybe two years old and the same issue. Also when the disk usage is lower the memory usage is high over 50% typically 62% to 80%.. Both system are running 62% older one and 76% newer Lenovo. who knows.

    I did notice on my phone that Onedrive uses a tonne of data in the background daily 5gb or more.

    Host processing for sync..

    system 77.5mb

    service host unistack services group (4)

    are top of the list when disk is 100%

    memory has been at 62% for a long time top of the list

    memory compression 543.4 mb

    mcafee scanner services 105.5 mb

    I do find it interesting that this usage is  widely known and no concrete solution and this has to be taking a toll on out systems as continuous disk usage will cause premature disk failure. so a lack of an adequate resolution is a serious flaw on the part of the manufacturer as well as the operating system manufacturer as it is obviously one of their issues and it is causing financial harm as it is causing unusual wear and tear on the hard drive. I would say document all the fixes and solutions that you have done and been provided with so that when you have to purchase a replacement you know were to turn. Toshiba wasn't to happy when they had to replace my high end laptop and I dont think anyone is going to be to happy when this top of the line Lenovo needs replaced. Also make certain you have all the benchmark tests that have been done to show what normal usage should be.

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

    Thanks, 

    I don't have Skype, much appreciated though.

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