How to fix 100% Disk Usage Error in Windows 10

Windows 10 is a relatively new operating system so getting your way around it for the past couple of months is going to be a bit tricky. One of the most frequent issues encountered by users is the 100 percent disk usage error. Here are given steps to overcome this error and keep your system running fine:

What is 100 percent disk usage?

It is when background programs, causing severe performance issues, are utilizing the entire speed of your hard drive. Regardless of how powerful your other components are, if your hard drive becomes slow then the rest of the system will suffer too.

 

Fix 1 – Disabling tips notification for Windows 10

1. Go to Settings from the Start Menu.
2. Open Systems and then Notifications.
3. Uncheck/turn off show me tips about Windows.
4. You can also turn off all the notifications.

 

Fix 2 – Disabling Windows Defender Cloud-based Protection

1. From Start Menu, type in Windows Defender.
2. Click the first entry you see in the search list.
3. From the next Windows Defender app window, click on Settings icon located on the top right.
4. Here you will see option to disable Cloud-based Protection. Do it by sliding the bar below to the left.

 

Fix 3 – Updating your SSD firmware

1. If you have an SSD installed, then it is recommended that you update the firmware of the SSD to the latest version. This solves the majority of the problems.
2. If the problem persists whether or not you have an SSD or mechanical hard drive installed, here is what you can do:

• Number one will be to open up Open Task Scheduler.
• Go to Microsoft.
• Click on Windows and select Defrag.
• Disable or delete the task should help get rid of the issue.

 

Fix 4 – Fixing Skype settings

If you have Skype installed on your system, then

1. Open Windows Explorer and open up C:\Program Files (x86)\Skype\Phone.
2. Right click on Skype.exe then click on Properties.
3. From there, click on the Security tab.
4. From here, click on the Edit button.
5. Highlight ALL APPLICATION PACKAGES and place a tick in the Write box.
6. After doing this, click on Apply and then OK in order to save the changes.

After this has been done, monitor your disk usage once more and you will find that the usage has dropped significantly. Keep in mind that you will not be able to view separate disk usage for separate programs otherwise it would have been extremely simple to isolate the problem.

 

I am still experiencing issues. What should I do?

Google Chrome is another application that is extremely heavy on the system resources.

1. Open Google Chrome.
2. Go to Settings.
3. Next, go to Show Advanced Settings.
4. Click on Privacy.
5. Untick the Prefetch resources to load pages more quickly option.
6. Restart Google Chrome.

After you have performed all of these fixes, it is recommended that you restart Windows and check your Task Manager once more. The problem would have disappeared. Now you can easily enjoy your new operating system without experiencing performance issues.