Windows 8.1 100% disk usage

[Zachary Roberts]

I've noticed my PC running at 100% disk usage on more than one occasion. AVG seems to always be at the top of the list of disk reads/writes. So maybe this is the culprit?

I'm pretty sure nothing is physically wrong with my computer as I had issues like this before on Windows 8 (on a laptop) and those issues weren't reproduced when I ran Windows 7 on that laptop.

It can't be a driver issue as the latest drivers (Windows 8 compatible) are all installed and operational. Today my disk ran to 100% shortly after startup and it was so busy doing "stuff" that my PC froze for a few seconds (not even the mouse could move) then it unfroze itself a few seconds later. Like I said, I've had these issues before on Windows 8. I've also googled around and found this is a common problem.

Does anyone know if there is a solution to this? When my PC isn't running at 100% disk usage it performs well.

 

[jjmcgaffey]

Different cause, same effect - I had a client's computer running at 100% usage basically all the time. Tried several of the suggestions here, and got momentary relief then right back to 100%. When I did chkdsk, it rebooted, started the check, and sat at 10% done for over an hour. So we brute-force stopped the computer, and when it booted back up went into Advanced Options (or something similar) and got to a command prompt. Ran chkdsk there, with the /x switch, and it ran - and found insufficient free space to move files on bad clusters for six files.
Since the disk was less than a tenth full, this was a very bad sign - it also failed HP diagnostics. Still under warranty, so it's getting a new hard drive - fortunately client does most of her work online so very little data that needs extracting.
So - another possible reason for 100% usage - I suspect it was desperately searching for good clusters and not finding any.

 

[Megat Muzzamir]

Hi,

I have been searching for a solution for over a month now and have finally solved the issue:

Go to charms bar and press search, then type view local services.
Once here, stop and disable BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service). Also, set windows update checks to manual.
Chrome also seemed to be a factor so uninstall that too.

I hope this helps you out

Thanks! Killing BITS also solved my issue. But what does this service does? Is it wrong or bad to simply stop this service?

the answer is here sir : http://batcmd.com/windows/8/services/bits/

 

[Taimoor Jawaid]

HI
i read all post and implement but not resolve my Disk 100 Percent issue . any one Resolve this issue

 

[trekker04]

I've noticed my PC running at 100% disk usage on more than one occasion. AVG seems to always be at the top of the list of disk reads/writes. So maybe this is the culprit?

I'm pretty sure nothing is physically wrong with my computer as I had issues like this before on Windows 8 (on a laptop) and those issues weren't reproduced when I ran Windows 7 on that laptop.

It can't be a driver issue as the latest drivers (Windows 8 compatible) are all installed and operational. Today my disk ran to 100% shortly after startup and it was so busy doing "stuff" that my PC froze for a few seconds (not even the mouse could move) then it unfroze itself a few seconds later. Like I said, I've had these issues before on Windows 8. I've also googled around and found this is a common problem.

Does anyone know if there is a solution to this? When my PC isn't running at 100% disk usage it performs well.

I was having the same issue. Start up ridiculously slow. Browsing is a bit of a challenge (not necessarily the speed of getting from one page to another but merely navigating to a webpage like typing a URL, loading a video etc.)

I ran several checks to make sure this is not malware or any sort of virus and a thorough check says 0 detected. I disabled a couple of apps via local services and still nothing. Decided to stop my AVAST antivirus, and voila! From 100% down to 2%! I was using Avast Internet Security. I reported this over to Avast. BTW. stopping BITS didnt work for me.

 

[wpnschick]

Thank-you! My computer was running so slow, and when I checked the task manager, "disk" was at 99% and highlighted in red. I followed your instructions and now it's alternating between 2% and 4%. Everything is running at normal speed now. I've had this issue before, and always restarted my computer in the hope of speeding things up. I'm so glad to have found a solution. I appreciate the information.

 

[Adam Kallin]

Go to: Control Panel/Troubleshooting/System and Security
Run troubleshooters to resolve problems with: Windows Update, Search and Indexing, and System Maintenance.
Reboot - et voilà.

Please make sure to restore wrongly stopped services such as:
BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service)
Superfetch
Windows Search

This worked for me. Thanks!

 

[FreeBSD Fan]

I tried the 'solutions' offered by others and nothing worked for me. I even reinstalled Windows 8. No joy. So I created my own solution. I blew away Windows and installed FreeBSD OS, and then installed GNOME3 as my desktop. My family loves it, and the computer is incredibly fast. We like it so much that my other computers also run FreeBSD OS, one running XFCE4 desktop, and the other running KDE4 desktop.

 

[dbertovi]

I've noticed my PC running at 100% disk usage on more than one occasion. AVG seems to always be at the top of the list of disk reads/writes. So maybe this is the culprit?

I'm pretty sure nothing is physically wrong with my computer as I had issues like this before on Windows 8 (on a laptop) and those issues weren't reproduced when I ran Windows 7 on that laptop.

It can't be a driver issue as the latest drivers (Windows 8 compatible) are all installed and operational. Today my disk ran to 100% shortly after startup and it was so busy doing "stuff" that my PC froze for a few seconds (not even the mouse could move) then it unfroze itself a few seconds later. Like I said, I've had these issues before on Windows 8. I've also googled around and found this is a common problem.

Does anyone know if there is a solution to this? When my PC isn't running at 100% disk usage it performs well.

SOLVED!

Hey, I had exactly the same annoying problem, 100% disk usage, 1 hour restart, start of an app could invoke 100% disk usage from normal mode, etc... Really bad ass problem. I tried to figure out why, but with no avail, and neither of proposed solutions on Internet forums didn't solved a problem. All I know is (on HP laptop) is that a problem appeared first time when I closed laptop, and opened it again. I also tried changing power plans, nothing.

Then I decided, after 10 days(!!), to cut the chase and reinstall Windows (Win 8.1 Pro). I created USB installation disk for Win 8.1 Pro, used some app to determine my key (that was not needed anyway), and reinstalled Windows (but I picked Remove all option (during the installation questionnaire)), after doing tedious backup. After reinstall, things were good until I closed laptop! And again the same problem.

Then I reinstalled Windows again, but this time I choose to save everything, and after that installation, things got back to normal, everything was saved on disk (I had to install some desktop apps again - they were removed during installation) and then I noticed that on my C disk was freed some 110 Gb of (probably redundant) data(!!), yet all my data was intact. Since that moment, everything is working smooth, and there's no sign of such problem again. And, I can close my laptop normally.

Wanted to share this here, since a lot of you have same problem, and this solution is really time saver. Trust me, it lasted a day, but I got rid of really bad problem. Cheers.

 

[KAZi_]

This one was very helpful. This should be the best solution!

 

[oakpriest]

Apparently, Win8.1 is somehow 'special' in that there are applications that don't run well on it - both organic, and third party applications. The most noticeable effects are 100% HDD usage by 'System' processes that can either suddenly come and go, or run continuously. Both cause system lag, freeze, and the added bonus of pointer unresponsiveness.
The usual suspects are:
1. Comodo Internet Security - I don't know why really.
2. Windows Search - Specifically, I found this to be caused by the indexing service unable to index *.pdf files, but not lose hope that it eventually will. I've read somewhere that indexing *.pdf files is problematic on all 64bit machines running Windows Search. The solution for this that works for me is unticking *.pdf indexing in the Windows Search settings, and installing "Everything" - an open-source desktop search tool. Everything loads virtually instantly, indexes really fast and actually finds things - again, virtually instantly.
3. Google Chrome - For some reason, this hogs the system specifically when using Google Docs, and enabling Flash. In the Chrome settings you can actually disable Flash, and on your computer you can use Opera or Firefox - neither of them even come close to the flashy sluggishness that is Chrome.

 

[computernurt]

Thanks so much, my disk was at 100% and kept freezing on and off so i did the admin command prompt and stopped "windows search" and everything seems to be normal now.

yeah stopping windows search fixed the thing for me too

 

[hariomahlawat]

I have been using Windows 8 since its launch and I also came across the same issue.
Point is how did I resolved the issue ?

Windows8 automatically manages virtual memory and paging file size by default.
It doesn't sets virtual memory as per the internal recommendation. The virtual memory set by default is approximately 70% of the recommendation. E.g. For my laptop, it recommends 2003MB of virtual memory wherein each drive size is of 100GB & RAM is 3GB. By default it got set to 1403MB when Windows8 was installed.

You need to increase this virtual memory. Make it equivalent to your RAM size for the initial size and twice of the initial size in maximum size and make sure you have the same amount of free space in your hard drive in each drive.

To do this, follow the following steps:
1. Go to Control Panel> All control panel items > System
2. Click on Advanced system settings
3. Under performance, click on settings
4. Go to Advanced tab
5. Under Virtual memory, click on Change
6. UN-check "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives" check box
7. Select your windows drive (where OS is installed)
8. Click on Custom size radio button
9. Set Initial size equivalent to your RAM size in MB
10. Set Maximum size to twice of your RAM size in MB
11. Click on Set
12. Click on OK thrice
13. Restart your system

This should resolve this issue,

Regards,
Hariom Ahlawat

 

[scoldilocks]

I tried every single suggested solution to no avail - disable super-fetch, disable BITS, ran chk disk, malware, virus, and looked at manage page file. Nothing worked until I saw someone suggest to try opening the Skype app that came pre-installed with the machine. I logged in, then closed it and rebooted. Disk is back to normal, FINALLY!!!! Maybe this will work for some others.

 

[Deklan]

Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\System

advanced system settings

performance click settings...

click advanced

change adjust for best performance to {background services}

your done...

i tryed all other fixs but none worked this way was solid works now perfect with superfetch an WSearch on as it should

 

[Buckupprincess]

I had the same issue and it ended up being Steams backstrapping client that runs automatic if you have it run on start up.

 

[OBRI3N94]

Thanks so much, my disk was at 100% and kept freezing on and off so i did the admin command prompt and stopped "windows search" and everything seems to be normal now.

disable superfetch as well seemed to help me a lot

 

[ihatepcproblems2013]

i second on the avast suggestion. thats the last thing most folks suspect cuz its a free anti virus app. but that beech is not your friend.

i sifted them lot of links online n stumble upon it and i tried to uninstall and disk stress went down a lot like someone said before. now its usually like 5 - 20%.

i didn;t uncover this until the latest avast update messed up my firefox browser, unable to open and cause a lot of headache. took me a long while to fix with spybot and all.

that avast is a sob. pretend to be your friend but really a beech in disguise.

 

[Nahatakyan]

https://mega.co.nz/#!lIxAkB7S!wC-E1e69ZwCKX59RH9iWSrM_OWcvJdh4tlZsquu9Lyg
install the files.
CCleaner.
1. Analyze
2. Run CCleaner
3. Registry
4. Scan for issues
5. Fix selected issues
6. No
7. Fix all selected issues

Defraggler.
1. Analyze
2. Defrag

Advanced systemcare pro.
1. Click on free
2. Enter key
3. Select all
4. Scan now
5. Repair

then restart.

 

[ChuchoFett]

For windows 10 i found this... it might help turn off the Automatic Updates ...

http://www.howtogeek.com/224471/how-to-prevent-windows-10-from-automatically-downloading-updates/

 

[Steven Hunt]

Going to services.msc and disabling superfetch did the trick on my system.

 

[DigitalMooney]

I have solved this problem, see my post here:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-hardware/how-to-fix-100-disk-usage-in-windows-10/7c5c979b-0ed0-4855-b9b8-05b9499533e2?tm=1439732422386

I hope this helps you all.

 

[Forever Oleg]

Ok I know this thread is a little old, but any of you guys have Windows 10? Is the disk usage problem solved there?

 

[Henkfritsbarend]

Hi everyone
I started having this problem on my laptop after upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10.
My problem was the Intel (R) Rapid Storage Technology service. I disabled it via services.msc
If you still have the 100% disk usage problem maybe this will fix it for you too

Edit: This helped to instantly fix the problem yesterday, but today disk usage was 100% again for an hour after startup, even though the intel rapid storage service is disabled and inactive. I have no idea what causes the problem. Im going to try doing a clean install next week to see if that helps

 

[Vikram_Paul_Francis]

Hello,

I had also the same problem - i just downloaded CCleaner and used two main options - cleaner and registry repair (in english version it can name different). The problem is probably the memory taken by your web browser things like cookies, download history and cache. Now it works fine for me. Good luck

I tried Disabling BITS, from the local services....didn't work.... I checked for errors...didn't work as no errors were found...
Yeah... I also used CCleaner's Registery Cleaner... Didn't work for the first time....
I was then suspecting a bloatware that came with my HP Pavilion p-001TX, named Pokki menu....I didn't like it anyways, so I uninstalled from the directory, as it was not available in Uninstall a Program in Control Panel....that also removed another bloatware named PC App Store.... Then again I used CCleaner's Registery Cleaner.... Then it worked.... Thank you dear for helping us...

 

[davidbull]

Hi I have been having similar problems for some time and I think I now have a final solution, on my PC I tried all the listed solutions re RAM size, prefetch, superfetch etc. etc. The problem would go away for a short period but then return.
When viewing the problem in Resource Manager I noted a large amount of activity relating to the sru log and one site spoke of this being a potential problem that can be resolved by renaming it.
So after some trial and error the following worked for me:
Firstly you need to boot the PC in 'safe mode' - this is easily done by running MSCONFIG and selecting 'safe boot' in the boot tab.
Open file explorer and the folder c:\windows\system32\sru
Locate the file SRUDB.dat right click and rename to SRUDB-old.dat (this may not be necessary, you could possibly just delete it but worked for me)
run MSCONFIG again to de-select the 'safe boot' and restart the computer.
Your PC should now be back to normal with the 100% disk problem gone.

I noticed that after some time the whole sru folder had been re-created the old files gone and a new SRUDB.DAT file had been created. The new file was sized at just over 1MB whereas the old SRUDB.DAT file had been over 33MB, watching this over the last few days the file size has increased slightly so this solution may need to be repeated but my PC has been running fine now for several days.

I would be interested if my solution works for other users and if anyone knows how the problem came about. I do not think I have a virus but you never really know.