100% Disk Usage on Windows 10

Anonymous
2021-03-08T05:29:40+00:00

I'm running Windows 10 and have been seeing 100% disk utilization in task manager even though nothing is running on the machine, how do I isolate and fix this ?  This is causing my PC to run slow.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Performance and system failures

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Anonymous
2021-03-08T06:04:08+00:00

Hi SandeepRaichura -

I'm Kevin B. Independent advisor and a Windows user like you. I do apologize for the inconvenience that you experiencing right now, let me help you sort things out.

Are there any recent changes made on the computer before the issue started?

Kindly follow the steps below and check if it will resolve the issue

Run a system file checker to verify the integrity of windows system files on your computer making sure that there are no corrupted files on your windows.

Perform SFC Scan and Repair Windows Image

-This process will perform scan for any corrupted system files or integrity violation and will attempt to repair it along with the Windows Image.

  1. Open command prompt with administrator access
  2. Type each command below and wait until scan is completed.

SFC /scannow

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Quick note: While the command is running, it's expected to see the process stuck at 20 or 40 percent. After a few minutes, the process will complete successfully.

Once you complete the steps, the Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool will connect to the Windows Update servers to download and replace any damaged files in the local image for Windows 10 as necessary.

  1. Close the command prompt.

After the scan completes, kindly check for available updates on your computer

Press windows key + I

Click on Updates and Security

Click on Check for Updates

Wait until windows fetches all available updates and install them on your computer.

After the updates completes, restart the computer for the changes to take effect.

After restart, kindly perform cleanboot on your computer

Perform Clean Boot

  • This process will eliminate 3rd party application running in the background of your computer along with services that are not needed to run windows. If there's any conflicting 3rd party application that causes the issue on your computer, this process will stop it.
  1. Open the run box by pressing the Windows Key + R and type msconfig
  2. System Configuration Utility box will open and by default you are on general tab.
  3. On the General tab, click the selective startup and make sure that load system service and load startup items both have checked mark.
  4. Click on services tab
  5. Put a check mark on Hide All Microsoft Services > This is a very important part as if you miss to click on this, computer might not boot properly or permanently and will end up on clean installation.
  6. Once Hide all Microsoft Services have checked mark on it, click on Disable All
  7. Click on the Startup Tab and click open task manager. This will open another window which contains all your startup applications on the administrator account.
  8. Disable all application that you're not using. You can simply just click on them and select disable.
  9. Click OK , Apply and close the configuration utility

Restart the computer again and check if the same issue appears

Hope this will help and have a bless day!

Thanks.

Kevin B.

Independent advisor

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Kapil Arya 38,466 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2021-03-08T12:20:54+00:00

I'm running Windows 10 and have been seeing 100% disk utilization in task manager even though nothing is running on the machine, how do I isolate and fix this ?  This is causing my PC to run slow.

Hello,

See if this fix helps you:

https://www.kapilarya.com/fix-windows-10-100-percent-disk-usage-problem

Let us know if this helps!

Note: Included link in this reply refers to blog post by a trusted Microsoft MVP.

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-10-28T22:03:46+00:00

    I accidentally clicked on 1 star, but meant to click on 5. Thank you so much for this. I've tried many, many different suggestions to fix this problem over many months. This worked! Thank you so much for posting!

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-10-26T12:01:36+00:00

    I finally had my IT guy from the place I work come over and take a look for me. What he found were several corrupt files on my

    C: Drive/Windows/Temp file. He was able to remove them but it took some work. Once they were gone-works like a charm. He said deleting files from this folder will not do anything to the computer or any of the other files I have. It is simply a storage place for all the sites that you visit and if it has never been cleared-chance are you had a virus get in somewhere and clearing it will get rid of the issue.

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    4 people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2021-10-26T04:29:30+00:00

    I wonder why microsoft is not doing anything about it, this issue is present since the dawn of windows 8 and is still here. I see this issue even on brand new systems, almost every 3rd system is effected by it. People wonder why the system is so slow and when you the disk usage, bam... 100%

    Even the laptop I am typing this from has this issue specially at startups and whenever open something new. a new window, a new program etc.

    I also do the same, keep the task manager always open and I try to kill everything which is utilizing high disk usage. after a few kills it gets settled for some time.

    And I say this is microsoft issue because this does not happen on ubuntu, does not happen on windows 7 and below. its only in windows 8 and above.

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    2 people found this answer helpful.
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