How to Fix 100% Disk Usage in Windows 10

The first fix for every Windows problem is Restarting the device. The Restarting would ensure that any corrupt application which might be the reason for the 100% disk usage would be stopped. To detect the application which is causing the 100% disk usage, you can restart the system in Safe Mode.

A malware infection could also be the major reason for the slow system performance and the 100% disk usage. After infiltrating your device, malware can hide itself and remain active in the background, thus using the system resources. To detect and remove the malware from the system, you can install a robust antimalware solution like Malwarefox in your system.

SysMain, which was formerly known as Superfetch, is a service that runs in the background in Windows systems – ever since Windows Vista – and quietly analyzes the RAM and applications that your system uses most.

It then preloads frequently used applications into the RAM so that they are loaded much faster with subsequent launches. The drawback to SysMain is that it constantly hogs the CPU and RAM, slowing down applications considerably.

Is SysMain useful? For the most part, yes, but in some cases, you might not need it. For instance, the impact it makes in preloading apps might hardly be noticeable when using an SSD drive. This is because SSD drives are much faster than traditional mechanical drives and so do not need to preload applications.

Is it okay to disable the SysMain service? Absolutely! If your system is ‘hanging,’ it’s safe to proceed. But if all’s well, there’s no need to disable it.

Disable SysMain using Services

This should free up some disk utilization and allow your applications to run seamlessly. To stop it from running on startup follow these steps.

1. Right-click the program and select ‘Properties.’
2. Click on the ‘Startup type’ pulldown menu.
3. Select the ‘Disabled’ option as shown.
4. Click on ‘Apply’ then ‘OK’ to effect the changes.

Is your Windows system still running slowly? Don’t fret. You can go ahead and disable the Windows Search service on your system. Windows Search is notorious for increasing the load on the system’s disk.

To temporarily remedy this until the next reboot, take the following steps

1. Go to the search bar and type ‘Command Prompt’. Run it with Admin Rights.
2. Once open type ‘net.exe stop “Windows search”‘ in the command box.

To disable the service permanently, follow these steps

1. Hit Windows Key + R
2. In the dialogue box that appears type services.msc.
3. Scroll down and locate Windows search
4. Right-click and select Properties
5. In the ‘Startup type’ pull-down menu, click and select ‘Disabled’
6. Click on ‘Apply’ then ‘OK’.

Virtual memory is a memory that sits on your hard drive and acts as an extension of RAM. The computer normally uses it when the system is running low on RAM. Windows switches to virtual memory where it temporarily stores files and then swaps them back to the main memory as required. If virtual memory is unnecessarily high, it might cause degradation in your system’s performance.

To reset virtual memory follow below steps:

1. Navigate to Control Panel -> System and Security and click on System.
2. Under About scroll down and select Advanced system settings.
3. Click on Settings under the Performance heading.
4. Under the Advanced tab, click on Change below the Virtual memory heading.
5. Next, uncheck ‘Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.’
6. Highlight the System Volume and click on the ‘Custom size’ radio button.
7. Enter your RAM’s size in MB in the ‘initial size’ text field.
8. ‘Maximum size’ should be 1.5 times the RAM’s size. For instance, for a 4GB RAM size, the maximum size should not exceed 6144 MB (4096 x 1.5).

Google Chrome is notorious for hogging RAM and slowing down a system. To circumvent this problem, follow the steps below.

1. Go to ‘Settings.’
2. Under Privacy and security, click on Cookies and other site data.
3. On the next window, scroll down and switch off Preload pages for faster browsing and searching option.

Flash Player has a reputation for degrading system performance, leading to a spike in disk usage. Uninstalling flash and flash updates can significantly alleviate the workload on the disks.

1. Navigate to Settings > Update & Security.
2. Locate ‘Windows Update.’
3. Go to ‘View your update history.‘
4. Search for Flash Player updates under ‘Uninstall Updates.’

Finally, run a chkdsk command to scan and fix issues with your hard drive.

1. Launch Command Prompt as Admin.
2. Type chkdsk /f C:
3. ​Hit Enter. The system will notify you that the drive is currently in use and will execute the command when you restart the system.

The 100% disk usage problem can also caused by some antivirus programs. It may be because of some faulty update or a corruption by a malicious file. To fix this, you can temporarily disable the antivirus problem and check whether the problem persist. If the problem is fixed, then the antivirus is the culprit. You can either uninstall and re-install it or update it.