If your laptop or desktop fan is operating at full power, you know the sound isn’t pleasant. After a minute, you click alt ctrl del to review your usage if it still doesn’t stop. Everything is in the red and it is at 100%. Ouch! You need a rapid solution, not one that calls you shutting down half the applications you use to work or play games.
What Is Disk Usage, and How Can You Tell If Your PC Is Being Slowed Down by High Disk Usage?
Your hard drive is operating at 100% capacity, which means it is constantly spinning at its fastest speed, according to the Windows 10 error message “disk at 100%.” Regrettably, it is challenging to determine the exact cause. However, you can use these procedures to identify the problem’s root cause before selecting the most appropriate fix from our list of ideas.
How to Determine the Root of Windows 10’s 100% Disk Usage
It is frequently difficult to determine the exact cause. However, a decent generalization is that processes that require more than 1MB/s are undesirable. Short bursts of 100% disk consumption are common, but sustained amounts of even more than 20% can harm your computer or disk drive. Using the method described above, check your task manager to determine if any specific software is the root of the problem, and then disable, remove, or reinstall it if necessary.
Reboot your Computer
You are aware from previous experience that restarting your computer frequently solves a variety of problems. The 100% disk usage issue with Windows 10 is not an exception. While going down this path might not help you identify the root cause of the issue, if it goes away, that might be enough for you. Use the “Restart” option to start your system from scratch rather than the “Shut Down” option, which saves your system state but might not fix your disk problem.
If the Windows 10 disk is running at 100%, update your antivirus software.
The first step to take when dealing with a performance problem is to make sure your machine isn’t infected with malware. Regardless of whether it’s a free app or a premium suite, your security software should be able to handle this.
Tools like Malwarebytes Anti-Malware should be able to scan your system drive and find any issues, at the very least. Be aware that this could take some time if your drive is already under a lot of strain.
If risks are discovered, follow the software’s instructions to remove them before rebooting. Next, reevaluate the performance of your drive. Hopefully you’ve found a solution; if not, continue reading because malware wasn’t the problem.
Verify Windows’s Update Status
Making sure the operating system is current is another traditional first line of defense for an IT problem. Microsoft publishes these updates in order to enhance Windows’ functionality and security. Therefore, the problem you’re presently having might have been resolved by the most recent patch. Go to Start > Settings > Update & security > Windows update to see if your system is up to current.
Final Thoughts
You might need to consider getting a new hard drive if these solutions don’t fix your Windows 10 computer’s 100% disk usage issue. Disable any active automatic defragmentation programs as a final resort as they can be the source of your issues. Generally speaking, your hard disk should never be at 100% usage, so if it is, there is a cause. If you don’t repair the problem, your computer will run very slowly.
