Windows 10: 100% disk usage all the time even with 0 programs or apps openned

I currently have tried almost everything to fix this issue. However it's only recently that I found out about it.

My laptop always had issues being slow despite the fairly decent specs. click to view. Keep in mind that I reset this pc twice and it showed the same slow mediocre performance.

It became almost unusable after a year and I stopped using it. But around a week ago, I wanted to take a look at it and see what was wrong. Well I found the problem; no matter what I'm doing, the task manager shows me that my disk usage is consistently always at 100% usage even when I'm not doing anything.

Here's what I tried :

- I checked if there were any physical issues with the drive by running a drive check. No errors were found.

- I disabled the search service.

- I disabled ScheduledDefrag from the task scheduler.

- I disabled Diagtrack service from cmd.

- I disabled sysmain from windows PowerShell.

- I installed all the recent updates just in case. Even before or after the updates, the pc was extremely slow so I don't think it could be a direct cause. I also used to disable windows update months ago in hopes it would improve the performance when it didn't.

-I re-enabled the defrag scheduler and tried to run a disk optimization which is currently running at pass 5 now but I see no changes in the 100% disk usage.

- I downloaded Malwarebytes to check if there were any viruses that were causing the issue, but nothing really important was found.

-I removed ALL unnecessary apps/programs that could slow down the laptop, and disabled start-up programs from the task manager.

Here's what I noticed :

- My laptop makes a weird sound whenever it's on, like something is spinning inside. Not a fan sound, it's not loud but it's kind of annoying. I can't really describe it.

-I noticed that there's a sort of improvement in performance if I use the computer a lot, whereas if I don't it's even slower than ever. However, the disk issue remains persistent.

-I also noticed that the services that use around 60% of my disk consistently are either windows update, system or occasionally wsapxx.

One solution :
- Changing my main HDD disk to an SSD one with a copy of windows from my desktop pc that works perfectly fine.

Now here's the question, I don't know if this will really change anything. I'm not sure if it's worth spending the money in case there is another solution that I've been missing out. And that's why I'm here. I'm trying to solve this problem, so it would be nice if anyone here could help.

:)

 

100% Disk Usage during startup/opening new programs


Hello,
Awhile ago, I was still on Windows 7, and my system began to be incredibly slow, especially during startup. I wasn't sure back then what the problem was, or what I had done to make it so slow. I figured it was linked to BlueStacks, and uninstalling it did help a lot. Startup took about 10 minutes, instead of over 30. However, it was still very slow to open programs, right click, and play games. I thought upgrading to windows 10 might help, but I was unable to because of an error. It only worked after I used CCleaner to fix up the registry. Windows 10 allowed me to see the cause of the sluggish behaviour, as task manager reports 100% disk usage during starup. The problem is, no program in the list actually uses the disk activity, and idles around 0.3MB/sec. It was still always 100%, and only started dropping to normal levels after I messed around with skype (see below for the list of things I tried). Now after startup, if left for a long while, it will eventually finish and drop to idle around 0%. But if I open a program for the first time (ie. WoW, Firefox, Documents, Word etc.) it spikes to 100%. For most programs, it will return to 0%, such as firefox. I am able to browse with no problem, but it will occasionally still spike to 100%, though this seems random. It is most noticable when playing games, such as WoW. If opening for the first time, it spikes to 100%. Some time later it will return to 0%. If I log in, or switch zones when playing, open my bags etc, it again spikes to 100% and makes the game almost unplayable, as it freezes until disk usage returns to 0%. It only behaves this way on lowest settings. If I play on max settings, it almost always stays at 100% (my laptop can easily handle max settings btw). Other games are similar, but the less complex the game is, the less spikes happen. Here is a list of things I have tried to fix the 100% disk usage:
-Turn off tips about windows - no effect
-Turn off BITS - no effect
-Turn of prefetch and superfetch - no effect
-Turned on read/write for skype using the security tab in properties - Disk usage is no longer always 100%, but still spikes as told above.
-Turned off cloud protection and real time protection for windows defender - no effect
-Uninstalled/reinstalled nvidia drivers, and geforce experience - no effect, also worth mentioning that when I restarted after uninstalling, the system took almost an hour to startup, disk usage was again always 100%, and took ages to reinstall the latest drivers. After using CCleaner and getting rid of system files/registry cleanup, the system was as before, 0% disk usage, but 100% spikes.
-Increasing the RAM cache - no effect
-turning off disk fragment scheduling
-Disabling all startup programs - startup takes a lot less time, but disk usage is still 100% during startup
-Disabling all non-microsoft services - no effect
-Check disk using cmd, no errors reported
I installed HD sentinel, and it says disk health is at 98%, with 3 weak sectors, but no action required. Disk temperature is also normal, but if disk usage is 100% for long enough, it begins rising, up to 60+ degrees (C).
Im running out of options, as I've tried nearly everything suggested by google. The only thing that had any significant effect was the read/write enabling for skype, but even that didnt solve the problem entirely. I even tried uninstalling skype, to no avail.
Please help, the new patch for WoW released, and I really want to be able to play normally. Sorry for the lengthy post.

 

DISK USAGE (first 100%, then 0-20%)

I will check the link you provided with WIKI about this app (actually I already checked it.. but will do again).

I want to add right settings... any chance that you help me with setting up WPRUI.exe so that the results can show us what causing my problems?

I would like to start this app immediately after I boot up... and let it run for 15 minutes

Generally:

• 0-5 mins: 100% disk usage (according to task manager ACTIVE TIME)
• after that: 0-20% disk usage (according to task manager ACTIVE TIME)

It would be helpful if you tell me which options to turn on in this app.. .considering my problem is the DISK

 

Upgraded to Windows 10 - Disk 0 Usage 100

I agree. This entire thread has appeared unproductive as this issue continues. The one point perhaps that has not been discussed appears to be that even though the disk 0 usage is at 100% the processes running never add up to 100percent. for example at 24%
usage there are 10 processes listed as using 0.1 mb/sec which totals 1MB /sec. from that one could assume that at 100% the processes may total 4MB/sec but I routinely see the system process spike upwards of 25Mb/sec and after any usage climbs over 7mb/sec
the disk 0 reads at 100%. also the running processes are never the same. there is no one process which creates the issue.

A better solution would be for Microsoft to explain the point and purpose of the disk usage, and how it is reported. it is reported at the top as a percentage and in the row as a transfer speed. (mb/s).

The question is what is up with that specifically, how do I determine the max transfer speed of disc 0, and at what point will system performance slow to an unacceptable user level? when it does what are the steps to take to identify and resolve the issue?