Disk Usage 100% with Windows 11 upgrade

[lmemsm]

My laptop was working fine with Windows 10 (which came preinstalled).  When Microsoft pushed out the Windows 11 updates, it took forever to update.  Since then, it's been running with Disk Usage at 100% according to the Task Manager.  It's very slow.  I tried to find specific tasks that were hogging the system, but the tasks running don't add up to anywhere near 100%.  I went through a dozen articles on the Internet on how to fix the 100% disk usage problem and turned off whatever services I could and tried whatever was suggested.  I even booted into safe mode to see if there was still an issue when there weren't as many drivers and applications running.  It's still slow and still reads 100% disk usage.  I'm wondering what to try next.  Is there anything I may have overlooked in trying to get Windows 11 to work properly?  Should I wipe everything and try to reinstall Windows 10?  Should I just put Linux on the system and give up on getting Windows to work properly with the drive?  I'd appreciate some suggestions.  Not sure what to try next.

[Raj_05]

Hi @lmemsm,

Welcome to HP Support Community.  

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you.

Experiencing high disk usage, especially after upgrading to Windows 11, can be a frustrating issue. There are several possible reasons for this problem, and I'll provide you with some troubleshooting steps to help resolve it:

Check Task Manager: Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager. Under the "Processes" or "Details" tab, check for any processes that are using a significant amount of disk resources. Note down the processes with high disk usage.

Disable Windows Search Indexing: In the Task Manager, if you find the "Windows Search" or "SearchIndexer.exe" process using a high amount of disk resources, it could be the cause of the issue. To disable indexing, follow these steps.

• Press Win + R to open the Run dialog box.
• Type "services.msc" and press Enter.
• In the Services window, locate "Windows Search" from the list.
• Right-click on "Windows Search" and select "Properties."
• In the Properties window, set the "Startup type" to "Disabled."
• Click "Apply" and then "OK."

Check for malware: Run a full system scan using an up-to-date antivirus program to check for any malware or viruses that might be causing high disk usage. Make sure your antivirus software is running the latest updates.

Update drivers: Outdated or incompatible drivers can sometimes cause high disk usage. Visit the manufacturer's website for your HP laptop and download the latest drivers for your specific model.

Disable Superfetch and Prefetch: These Windows features are designed to improve system performance, but they can sometimes cause high disk usage. To disable them, follow these steps.

• Press Win + R to open the Run dialog box.
• Type "services.msc" and press Enter.
• In the Services window, locate "Superfetch" and "Prefetch" from the list.
• Right-click on each of them, select "Properties," and set the "Startup type" to "Disabled."
• Click "Apply" and then "OK."

Check for disk errors: Windows has a built-in disk checking tool called "Check Disk" or "chkdsk." It can help detect and fix any disk errors that might be causing high disk usage. To run the tool, follow these steps.

• Press Win + X and select "Command Prompt (Admin)" or "Windows PowerShell (Admin)."
• In the command prompt window, type "chkdsk /f /r" and press Enter.
• It will ask you if you want to schedule the check for the next restart. Type "Y" and press Enter.
• Restart your laptop, and the disk check will run before Windows starts.

Adjust virtual memory settings: In some cases, incorrect virtual memory settings can lead to high disk usage. To adjust the settings, follow these steps.

• Press Win + X and select "System."
• In the System window, click on "Advanced system settings" on the left side.
• In the System Properties window, go to the "Advanced" tab and click on "Settings" under the "Performance" section.
• In the Performance Options window, go to the "Advanced" tab and click on "Change" under the "Virtual memory" section.
• Uncheck the option "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives."
• Select your system drive (usually C:) and choose either "System managed size" or "Custom size."
• If selecting "Custom size," set both the initial size and maximum size to the recommended values displayed at the bottom.
• Click "OK" to save the changes.

I hope this helps. 
 

Take care and have a good day.

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

Alden4
HP Support 

[lmemsm]

Tried all the suggestions you listed and I've been going through tons of articles on how to deal with drives running at 100% and trying all the suggestions.  I even tried rebooting in safe mode so that only the minimum drivers should be running and I still saw the issue in the diagnostics tools.  I did finally run across this article:  https://www.wintips.org/how-to-fix-100-disk-usage-on-windows-11/#method-5  I went into msconfig and on the services tab, I selected Hide all Microsoft services.  Then I disabled everything else and  rebooted.  It still ran around 100% disk usage after the reboot but after about 5 minutes, it settled to a more usable state.  That's about as far as I've been able to get so far, but at least it settles down to a point where I can use the machine again with some responsiveness eventually.

[Raj_05]

Hi @lmemsm,

Thank you for your response, 

Due to limited support, I would request you contact our HP Support and our Support Engineers should be able to sort this out. HP Support can be reached by clicking on the following link.

https://www.hp.com/contacthp/

Please feel free to contact us here anytime you need any further assistance.

Have a great day!

Alden4
HP Support