Another thing to keep in mind if your computer has constant high disk usage, if you have a mechanical drive, it could be about to crap the bed. You should back up any critical data. After a few more boots, it may stop working altogether.
I worked on two systems that were running slow lately...mine and my mother's. My mother's system was always grinding 100% disk usage and was extremely slow booting up, shutting down, and operating in general. I tried everything that I could think of, most covered in this video but the problem continued. I recently heard that the swap file can get corrupted and cause slowdowns. Since I had exhaused every other solution I gave it a shot. As explained in the video, I turned off the swap file, rebooted, recreated the swap file, and rebooted again. Voila...the problem was finally gone and, as a fringe benefit (because of the constant hard drive access before the fix) the cpu temperatures dropped from the mid 50 degree celcius range back down to the expected 35-40 degree range at rest. On my system the only problem that I was having was that during a backup it would slow down considerably on some files and even stall on small files for a few minutes. So I figured, what do I have to lose, so I cleared the swap file on my home system as well and, since doing that, the backup is not slowing down any longer. I know that Leo said that this option was a longshot to correct the problem but perhaps it is more prevalent than even he is aware. At any rate, you may want to give this a shot if you have 100% disk usage. You may be pleasantly surprised to see that it fixes the problem, especially if this is one of the first tactics that you use to try to render the 100% disk usage problem. On top of that, it doesn't take a lot of time and it is simple to do.
No, you solve such issues by diagnosing the problem, and Microsoft even provides free tools for that, like Performance Monitor, Resource Monitor, Process Explorer, and Process Monitor. It also takes seconds to find a web site or TH-cam video that can explain to less knowledgeable people how to use one of these tool to find the root cause of heavy disk activity. That way you will always be able to solve the issue, and in a short time. This time you were lucky, what are you going to do when you have your computer stuttering in applications, or when your computer crashes? You're just randomly going to try tons of things, and hoping(!) that one of them works? And what if you're hopelessly trying for days, weeks.... are you then you just going to reinstall Windows or restore a backup, because you don't know how to solve the issue? On top of that, solving an issue doesn't mean that you solved the root of the problem. Why did two machines have such a major issue with the swap file, since it's not a very common issue. Let me tell you this; if you had power outages that corrupted your swap file, then it's quite possible that more files got damaged. Have you even run a disk check on both system, for example by checking the S.M.A.R.T. parameters of the drive (there is free software for that) that could point at a drive issue, and did you run a Windows disk check to check the integrity of the file system? I give you an example: I had an SSD that was using more space than it should. It was easy for me to find the culprits in hidden folders, and I could simple delete the folders, and the disk space would be freed up. You would call it "solved", but I wouldn't. I would like to know instead what created these files, what their purpose was, if they were safe to delete, and if there was a better method to remove these files (or reduce their sizes), without causing issues. Yes, there was, it was related to system restore points, and I solved my issues by using the Microsoft tool used to manage restore points. Only then the issue was completely solved. You on the other hand deleted the swap files, and activated new ones, and called it "solved", when I call it a removal of "symptoms". I wouldn't be surprised if those issues return over time. I would also not be surprised if both systems have a substantial lack of RAM memory, and/or are using old slow hard drives that should have been replaced years ago. Compare it with cars; the older a cars get, the more likely it's going to fail under heavy stress. If i were you I would have serious look at your hard drives (or SSDs) that you use, watch TH-cam video "SMART for HDDs/SSDs as Fast As Possible". And while you're at it, run a memory test on both systems!
Excuse me but you seem to be making a lot of assumptions about me when you have no clue who I am or what I know. FYI, I had my own business troubleshooting computers for many years and I know what I am doing. I fully troubleshot this problem. Let's look at your list.....disk check (with surface scan), check....SMART parameters, check...deleting hidden folders - only a moron would do that.....disk space, check.....restore points, check....system RAM, check....hard disk were relatively new, check! Some things that I tried, which you didn't mention......DISM to get a fresh copy of windows ISO before running SFC /scannow, virus check, checked superfetch and indexing, checked background processes for anything that stuck out as unusual, checked all drivers, windows updates. Don't make assumptions about a person's knowledge or their ability to troubleshoot an issue. I checked out every possibility that could have caused this problem. After hearing about the swap file, and since I had already attempted everything else, I tried the swapfile and that cured the problem. Should I have kept going after that, since I had tried everything else? The swapfile may not always be the solution but in this case the swapfile was the solution and wiping it out and recreating it doesn't damage anything. You sound like a real blast to be around or, God forbid, have to work under. You make assumptions and then you go on the attack because, I assume that, you think that you have all of the answers. Guess what, Mr. Keyboard Warrior, you don't! Troubleshooting computers can leave the best technicians scratching their head so if you have a 100% success rate you stand alone. If you don't believe me, do as the name of this channel says......ask Leo! Fool!!!!@@monza8844
Microsoft has known about this issue for 6-10 yrs. The only solution is to move to SSD. Also - why do I see 100% disk when the top 10 processes add up to about 2MB/s?
Thanks for the video. You gave a lot of great tips to look into. A few years ago I stumbled upon the 100% disk usage, it was due to the search indexing. Disabling help resolved that issue. Then later on another computer it was due to the drive failing. Replacing the drive fixed the issue. Upgraded it to an SSD and it help improve the performance. A few days ago my sister in law stopped by with her laptop with this 100% disk usage. At first look it also had high CPU usage and I noticed there were 2 Anti-virus programs running at the same time. Removing one of them helped reduce the high CPU usage but still 100% disk usage. Since she only use that laptop 2-3 times a year, I might check if disabling the indexing would help or do the checkdisk. Since I have an extra SSD at home I will probably clone to the SSD and see if that helps.
You describe similar to what I go through with Windows 10 computer. If I wait long enough, eventually disk usage becomes much less than 100%, and computer does not become stuck when I open or run programs.
*_"My PC has been at 100% Disk Usage for a while now ever since I've upgraded to Windows 12, and your tips helped fix the issue"_* Windows 12 is not commercially available, because it's still in development.
My two most frequently encountered reasons. Broken HDD and /or F-Secure. The first fix is by replacing the SSD hard disk. Another fix is to run F-Secure's quick scan. The third has been a stuck windows update service.
12 firmware and driver update - sometimes there isn't a fix other than replacing the HDD if you have an older incompatible drive with the current windows version installed, especially if you had upgraded from a prior version of windows, manufacturer and windows drivers in the past that worked may not be 100% compatible with the newer windows version.
Nonsense, every 15 old (or younger) hard drive can be used as a Windows boot drive just fine in Windows 10 or 11, they just need the proper capacity, that's all.
I would have modified the "update Windows" one to prioritize "make sure updates have completed". The most common 100% disk usage scenario I've seen is on old computers with spinny disks (and maybe even on slow internet lines) that are shut down most of the time. The updates get broken and the computer re-downloads them with each restart, as well as getting confused. I'd put this as #1 with getting an SSD as #2, where applicable.
just use a ssd and problem solved actualy if you have mechanical hdd turn off prefetch and superfetch those sometimes are culprit and can fix high disk usage
I had purchased a budget laptop for a specific need, and then later began using it for general applications. The first 20 minutes after power up were abysmal. It would take up to a minute for any program to start. The disk light was on constantly, and Task Manager had a whole slew of programs listed as the largest disk users. None was usually over 25%, but four programs at 25%, and that's 100%. This computer had only 2GB of RAM. That just isn't enough for Windows 10 or 11 these days. I consider 4GB to be the absolute usable minimum, and 8GB or 16GB is better. That machine also had, it turns out, a very slow spinny disk. So first, I upgrated RAM. That motherboard would accomodate 4GB, so that's what I put in it. That helped a lot, but things were still pretty sluggish on initial startup. So I replaced the HDD with an SSD. That helped a lot. The SSD wasn't as big as the original HDD, but since this laptop wasn't a primary daily driver, I just let it sync OneDrive with my other machines, and told it only to download on demand. That was usually not a problem with high speed Internet these days.
Referring to the anti-malware make sure that you don't have two anti-malwares (other than Windows anti-malware) running together as they will fight for control resulting in your comptuer slowing down.
A good anti-virus will disable Windows Defender, as long as a people buy from a well known anti-virus developer with a good reputation, they don't have to worry about that.
I can always tell when Windows is preparing to install downloaded updates to the OS: disk usage climbs to 90% or more and my CPU fans wind up like a jet fighter preparing for take off. It usually lasts only a few minutes, and then I get the notice that I need to restart my computer to complete the update process. Sometimes, the timing is very annoying.
It's your computer that is the real issue, it's seem very slow and outdated. If you CPU fans wind up like a jet fighter, then it's seriously time for a way better cooling system, because no CPU should run that hot when Windows is preparing a new update, and neither should disk usage climb to 90%, especially on fast modern NVME drives.
@@monza8844A couple things to keep in mind: First, it is a five year old computer; second, while the updates are being prepared, that's not the only thing going on...I'm usually running a CAD program with WinAmp playing music in the background. And third, the base CPU speed is 2.6 Ghz, but it will rev up to 3.2 Ghz. Updates aren't the only thing that cause this behaviour: when I start up the Arduino IDE (ver 2.0), the fans go crazy for a minute or two, then calm down after the program is up and running. BTW, I have a 1 TB SSD in this machine. So, yes, it probably is my computer, but, that's the way it is.
Be careful of unscrupulous technicians who will have access to your computer after repair. It happened to my acountant who lost personal information of his clientele and their business.
*_"Step 1: Take the computer to your local computer repair center. Step 2: Relax and have a cool one."_* Pay a lot for small fix that you could have done yourself, plus you expose private data to strangers. I wouldn't relax. No, if you don't want to fix it yourself, ask a friend or family member whom you can trust, and who doesn't charge anything.
As to your last point about updating windows, yes. But there is a sure fire system slowdown. If windows has downloaded an update automatically but is waiting for you to stop using the computer to install it that frequently slows the system down. Your frustration will drop to near zero if you save your work and tell windows to install the update now. Go get a cup of coffee.
*_"If windows has downloaded an update automatically but is waiting for you to stop using the computer to install it that frequently slows the system down. "_* No, it does not, Windows will only remind you, while waiting for you to restart, it won't slow down your system at all. *_"Go get a cup of coffee"_* You really need to get a new computer, if you need to get a cop of coffee to wait for the system to reboot and be usable again, because on a modern system (not even a high end computer), something like that hardly takes any time in this day and age when NVME drives, 32GB of RAM and 12-16 core CPUS are becoming quite common.
You really need to replace that hard drive your laptop with an SSD. I still have an 12 year old Toshiba 850 laptop laying around, I replaced its hard drive at one point with an SSD, and it can boot windows 10 in about 20-25 seconds, so yeah.... stop using that old hard drive, those 2.5" SSD's with 256Gb storage (more than enough for most people who are not serious about gaming) are pretty cheap.
Is your computer working hard? Perhaps too hard? ✅ Watch next ▶ What is Virtual Memory? ▶ th-cam.com/video/YQomH95j3P8/w-d-xo.html
Another thing to keep in mind if your computer has constant high disk usage, if you have a mechanical drive, it could be about to crap the bed. You should back up any critical data. After a few more boots, it may stop working altogether.
I worked on two systems that were running slow lately...mine and my mother's. My mother's system was always grinding 100% disk usage and was extremely slow booting up, shutting down, and operating in general. I tried everything that I could think of, most covered in this video but the problem continued. I recently heard that the swap file can get corrupted and cause slowdowns. Since I had exhaused every other solution I gave it a shot. As explained in the video, I turned off the swap file, rebooted, recreated the swap file, and rebooted again. Voila...the problem was finally gone and, as a fringe benefit (because of the constant hard drive access before the fix) the cpu temperatures dropped from the mid 50 degree celcius range back down to the expected 35-40 degree range at rest.
On my system the only problem that I was having was that during a backup it would slow down considerably on some files and even stall on small files for a few minutes. So I figured, what do I have to lose, so I cleared the swap file on my home system as well and, since doing that, the backup is not slowing down any longer. I know that Leo said that this option was a longshot to correct the problem but perhaps it is more prevalent than even he is aware. At any rate, you may want to give this a shot if you have 100% disk usage. You may be pleasantly surprised to see that it fixes the problem, especially if this is one of the first tactics that you use to try to render the 100% disk usage problem. On top of that, it doesn't take a lot of time and it is simple to do.
No, you solve such issues by diagnosing the problem, and Microsoft even provides free tools for that, like Performance Monitor, Resource Monitor, Process Explorer, and Process Monitor. It also takes seconds to find a web site or TH-cam video that can explain to less knowledgeable people how to use one of these tool to find the root cause of heavy disk activity. That way you will always be able to solve the issue, and in a short time. This time you were lucky, what are you going to do when you have your computer stuttering in applications, or when your computer crashes? You're just randomly going to try tons of things, and hoping(!) that one of them works? And what if you're hopelessly trying for days, weeks.... are you then you just going to reinstall Windows or restore a backup, because you don't know how to solve the issue?
On top of that, solving an issue doesn't mean that you solved the root of the problem. Why did two machines have such a major issue with the swap file, since it's not a very common issue. Let me tell you this; if you had power outages that corrupted your swap file, then it's quite possible that more files got damaged. Have you even run a disk check on both system, for example by checking the S.M.A.R.T. parameters of the drive (there is free software for that) that could point at a drive issue, and did you run a Windows disk check to check the integrity of the file system?
I give you an example: I had an SSD that was using more space than it should. It was easy for me to find the culprits in hidden folders, and I could simple delete the folders, and the disk space would be freed up. You would call it "solved", but I wouldn't. I would like to know instead what created these files, what their purpose was, if they were safe to delete, and if there was a better method to remove these files (or reduce their sizes), without causing issues. Yes, there was, it was related to system restore points, and I solved my issues by using the Microsoft tool used to manage restore points. Only then the issue was completely solved.
You on the other hand deleted the swap files, and activated new ones, and called it "solved", when I call it a removal of "symptoms". I wouldn't be surprised if those issues return over time. I would also not be surprised if both systems have a substantial lack of RAM memory, and/or are using old slow hard drives that should have been replaced years ago. Compare it with cars; the older a cars get, the more likely it's going to fail under heavy stress. If i were you I would have serious look at your hard drives (or SSDs) that you use, watch TH-cam video "SMART for HDDs/SSDs as Fast As Possible". And while you're at it, run a memory test on both systems!
Excuse me but you seem to be making a lot of assumptions about me when you have no clue who I am or what I know. FYI, I had my own business troubleshooting computers for many years and I know what I am doing. I fully troubleshot this problem. Let's look at your list.....disk check (with surface scan), check....SMART parameters, check...deleting hidden folders - only a moron would do that.....disk space, check.....restore points, check....system RAM, check....hard disk were relatively new, check! Some things that I tried, which you didn't mention......DISM to get a fresh copy of windows ISO before running SFC /scannow, virus check, checked superfetch and indexing, checked background processes for anything that stuck out as unusual, checked all drivers, windows updates.
Don't make assumptions about a person's knowledge or their ability to troubleshoot an issue. I checked out every possibility that could have caused this problem. After hearing about the swap file, and since I had already attempted everything else, I tried the swapfile and that cured the problem. Should I have kept going after that, since I had tried everything else? The swapfile may not always be the solution but in this case the swapfile was the solution and wiping it out and recreating it doesn't damage anything.
You sound like a real blast to be around or, God forbid, have to work under. You make assumptions and then you go on the attack because, I assume that, you think that you have all of the answers. Guess what, Mr. Keyboard Warrior, you don't! Troubleshooting computers can leave the best technicians scratching their head so if you have a 100% success rate you stand alone. If you don't believe me, do as the name of this channel says......ask Leo! Fool!!!!@@monza8844
@@monza8844 I see that you didn't like my reply huh?
Thanks, Leo, for another very helpful, easy-to-understand video.
Microsoft has known about this issue for 6-10 yrs. The only solution is to move to SSD. Also - why do I see 100% disk when the top 10 processes add up to about 2MB/s?
Thanks for the video. You gave a lot of great tips to look into. A few years ago I stumbled upon the 100% disk usage, it was due to the search indexing. Disabling help resolved that issue. Then later on another computer it was due to the drive failing. Replacing the drive fixed the issue. Upgraded it to an SSD and it help improve the performance.
A few days ago my sister in law stopped by with her laptop with this 100% disk usage. At first look it also had high CPU usage and I noticed there were 2 Anti-virus programs running at the same time. Removing one of them helped reduce the high CPU usage but still 100% disk usage. Since she only use that laptop 2-3 times a year, I might check if disabling the indexing would help or do the checkdisk. Since I have an extra SSD at home I will probably clone to the SSD and see if that helps.
Suggestion 13: Listen to Leo's soothing voice and allow his calm demeanour to defrag your stress and reboot your system, until the disk usage reduces!
You describe similar to what I go through with Windows 10 computer. If I wait long enough, eventually disk usage becomes much less than 100%, and computer does not become stuck when I open or run programs.
That's what I do.
Mine hits 100% and just locks up..........
Thank you so much. My PC has been at 100% Disk Usage for a while now ever since I've upgraded to Windows 12, and your tips helped fix the issue.
Windows 12? Are you visiting from the future?
*_"My PC has been at 100% Disk Usage for a while now ever since I've upgraded to Windows 12, and your tips helped fix the issue"_*
Windows 12 is not commercially available, because it's still in development.
One of your best, Leo. Thank you!
My two most frequently encountered reasons. Broken HDD and /or F-Secure. The first fix is by replacing the SSD hard disk. Another fix is to run F-Secure's quick scan. The third has been a stuck windows update service.
I had the same problem. Turned out to be a damaged HDD. I switched to an SSD. Things have been fine since then.
12 firmware and driver update - sometimes there isn't a fix other than replacing the HDD if you have an older incompatible drive with the current windows version installed, especially if you had upgraded from a prior version of windows, manufacturer and windows drivers in the past that worked may not be 100% compatible with the newer windows version.
Nonsense, every 15 old (or younger) hard drive can be used as a Windows boot drive just fine in Windows 10 or 11, they just need the proper capacity, that's all.
I would have modified the "update Windows" one to prioritize "make sure updates have completed". The most common 100% disk usage scenario I've seen is on old computers with spinny disks (and maybe even on slow internet lines) that are shut down most of the time. The updates get broken and the computer re-downloads them with each restart, as well as getting confused. I'd put this as #1 with getting an SSD as #2, where applicable.
This problem started in Windows 8. I solved it by upgrading to an SSD.
I had this on a usually well behave, decent spec`ed machine. Turns out faulty memory was my cause
Thanks Leo.
just use a ssd and problem solved actualy if you have mechanical hdd turn off prefetch and superfetch those sometimes are culprit and can fix high disk usage
Please sugest some software to clone a large HD to a SSD
Any of the image backup tools work well. I've done it with both Macrium Reflect and EaseUS Todo.
I had purchased a budget laptop for a specific need, and then later began using it for general applications. The first 20 minutes after power up were abysmal. It would take up to a minute for any program to start. The disk light was on constantly, and Task Manager had a whole slew of programs listed as the largest disk users. None was usually over 25%, but four programs at 25%, and that's 100%. This computer had only 2GB of RAM. That just isn't enough for Windows 10 or 11 these days. I consider 4GB to be the absolute usable minimum, and 8GB or 16GB is better. That machine also had, it turns out, a very slow spinny disk. So first, I upgrated RAM. That motherboard would accomodate 4GB, so that's what I put in it. That helped a lot, but things were still pretty sluggish on initial startup. So I replaced the HDD with an SSD. That helped a lot. The SSD wasn't as big as the original HDD, but since this laptop wasn't a primary daily driver, I just let it sync OneDrive with my other machines, and told it only to download on demand. That was usually not a problem with high speed Internet these days.
Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service can really eat up system resources. I always make sure to disable it.
Referring to the anti-malware make sure that you don't have two anti-malwares (other than Windows anti-malware) running together as they will fight for control resulting in your comptuer slowing down.
A good anti-virus will disable Windows Defender, as long as a people buy from a well known anti-virus developer with a good reputation, they don't have to worry about that.
How to put ssd in laptop
I can always tell when Windows is preparing to install downloaded updates to the OS: disk usage climbs to 90% or more and my CPU fans wind up like a jet fighter preparing for take off. It usually lasts only a few minutes, and then I get the notice that I need to restart my computer to complete the update process. Sometimes, the timing is very annoying.
It's your computer that is the real issue, it's seem very slow and outdated. If you CPU fans wind up like a jet fighter, then it's seriously time for a way better cooling system, because no CPU should run that hot when Windows is preparing a new update, and neither should disk usage climb to 90%, especially on fast modern NVME drives.
@@monza8844A couple things to keep in mind: First, it is a five year old computer; second, while the updates are being prepared, that's not the only thing going on...I'm usually running a CAD program with WinAmp playing music in the background. And third, the base CPU speed is 2.6 Ghz, but it will rev up to 3.2 Ghz.
Updates aren't the only thing that cause this behaviour: when I start up the Arduino IDE (ver 2.0), the fans go crazy for a minute or two, then calm down after the program is up and running.
BTW, I have a 1 TB SSD in this machine.
So, yes, it probably is my computer, but, that's the way it is.
Step 1: Take the computer to your local computer repair center. Step 2: Relax and have a cool one.
Great solution, if you can afford it. (I hear from many who cannot.)
Be careful of unscrupulous technicians who will have access to your computer after repair. It happened to my acountant who lost personal information of his clientele and their business.
*_"Step 1: Take the computer to your local computer repair center. Step 2: Relax and have a cool one."_*
Pay a lot for small fix that you could have done yourself, plus you expose private data to strangers. I wouldn't relax.
No, if you don't want to fix it yourself, ask a friend or family member whom you can trust, and who doesn't charge anything.
As to your last point about updating windows, yes. But there is a sure fire system slowdown. If windows has downloaded an update automatically but is waiting for you to stop using the computer to install it that frequently slows the system down. Your frustration will drop to near zero if you save your work and tell windows to install the update now. Go get a cup of coffee.
*_"If windows has downloaded an update automatically but is waiting for you to stop using the computer to install it that frequently slows the system down. "_*
No, it does not, Windows will only remind you, while waiting for you to restart, it won't slow down your system at all.
*_"Go get a cup of coffee"_*
You really need to get a new computer, if you need to get a cop of coffee to wait for the system to reboot and be usable again, because on a modern system (not even a high end computer), something like that hardly takes any time in this day and age when NVME drives, 32GB of RAM and 12-16 core CPUS are becoming quite common.
does she mean CPU usage i get 100% all the time. Over 400Gb free space, 16Gb Ram,
#13 Don't watch TH-cam on Chrome - the only time I reach 100% disk usage, like right now.
I turn on my laptop. Then I wait a few minutes. After that, all is OK
You really need to replace that hard drive your laptop with an SSD. I still have an 12 year old Toshiba 850 laptop laying around, I replaced its hard drive at one point with an SSD, and it can boot windows 10 in about 20-25 seconds, so yeah.... stop using that old hard drive, those 2.5" SSD's with 256Gb storage (more than enough for most people who are not serious about gaming) are pretty cheap.