Win 8 problem - 100% disk usage

[Astronuc]

I tend to hold onto old technology that works.

A few months ago, one of my Win 8 computers (ASUS laptop) developed a problem in which the OS has determined that 100% of the disk space is being utilized (according to the Task Manager). When I check the disk, it's less than 40%. For some reason, I can't use chkdsk.

I also understand that the same problem has occurred in Win 10. I'm reluctant to upgrade to Win10 since that may not solve the problem.

So far, I took it to a local expert recommended by a colleague, but he suggested a reset, which seems rather drastic. In the past, I just went into the regedit and cleared up problems, including malware.

What is a viable way to resolve this issue?

 

[Borg]

I recently had an issue with a harddrive that wouldn't boot and I was forced to run chkdsk on it from another computer. Have you tried taking it out and trying chkdsk that way?

I didn't have one already so bought this hard drive dock for $20:
http://www.microcenter.com/product/469116/USB_30_Hard_Drive_Dock

 

[willem2]

This sounds like space allocated for volume shadow copies.
type vssadmin list shadowstorage in a command prompt with administrator privileges.
Either there is too much space allocated for system restore points, or something has gone wrong during a system backup.

 

[Astronuc]

I recently had an issue with a harddrive that wouldn't boot and I was forced to run chkdsk on it from another computer. Have you tried taking it out and trying chkdsk that way?

I didn't have one already so bought this hard drive dock for $20:
http://www.microcenter.com/product/469116/USB_30_Hard_Drive_Dock

It would be difficult to remove the harddrive, but I will consider that option if I cannot use the system tools.

 

[Astronuc]

This sounds like space allocated for volume shadow copies.
type vssadmin list shadowstorage in a command prompt with administrator privileges.
Either there is too much space allocated for system restore points, or something has gone wrong during a system backup.

The problem occurred in conjunction with a Win update. I tried a system restore to two weeks earlier, and the problem seemed to disappear, only to reappear minutes later.

At this point, I don't know if it's an OS glitch or some bad sectors. I'd like to try to fix the OS if that's where the problem lies.

I'll try the vssadmin.

 

[jedishrfu]

I found this on Tom's hardware:

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2045646/windows-100-disk-usage.html

seems like its a known problem.

and here's MS suggestions:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...ndows-81/858b7a3d-fc94-4219-abe0-c48264c82c8d

 

[russ_watters]

A few months ago, one of my Win 8 computers (ASUS laptop) developed a problem in which the OS has determined that 100% of the disk space is being utilized (according to the Task Manager). When I check the disk, it's less than 40%.

Are you sure that's what is meant by "utilized"? I don't have Windiws 8, but in Windows 10, "disk utilization" isn't space it is data throughput.

So assuming it is throughout, you should be able to identify the process using it and shut that process down if it has gone rogue. I had this happen on my Windows 10 laptop.

 

[jedishrfu]

In the MS response to this issue, they mention Chrome being a possible culprit.

 

[donpacino]

When you say 100% disk utilization, do you mean 100% of the space is being used, or 100% of the bandwidth from the disk/sata port is being used.

i had a hard drive fail by going 100% utilization, it had some shorted wires inside the device

 

[Tom.G]

Here is a comment from:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...ndows-81/858b7a3d-fc94-4219-abe0-c48264c82c8d

It is at the bottom of the first page of comments. Note the success rate in the last line.

Brandon Hellevang replied on

I had seen a solution to this problem elsewhere - open Skype. I tried many of the other suggested solutions, even opened the desktop version of Skype that I usually use, just to test the theory (all of this took hours as my computer was so slow and Skype seemed like a long shot solution). Finally I tried opening the Skype App (8.1) and after taking around 10 minutes to open, disk usage immediately went down to single digits and has been fluctuating normally ever since. Odd, but effective. Might want to try it.

Did this solve your problem?

344 people were helped by this repl

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Astronuc]

When I go into the Task Manager, I go to the Processes tab.
The columns are Name | Status | CPU | Memory | Disk | Network

On my laptop, not doing anything, the initial number of processes totals about 1 MB/s, but the Value at the top indicates 100% Total utilization across all physical drives, and it indicates 100% when all the process read 0 MB/s. In contrast, on my ASUS desktop, in the Task Manager, the value for Disk (utilization) is 0% even when a process is using 3 MB/s, or multiple processes are using ~4 MB/s.

I'm working through some of the recommendations.
First - I used some information from here
https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-open-an-elevated-command-prompt-2618088

I went into Task Manager, went to the File menu, and selected Run new task. On the line, I entered cmd and checked the box underneath to "Create this task with administrative privileges".

The command box opened. I went to C:\ and typed in chkdsk /f /r

I received a message:

The type of the file system is NTFS.
Cannot lock current drive.

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts: (Y/N)

I typed Y and hit enter.

I then got a message: "This volume will be checked the next time the system restarts."

In the meantime, I'll try some other options.

Update: Tried the following:
net.exe stop superfetch
net.exe stop "Windows search"

Windows indicated the services were successfully stopped. Still at Disk 100%, even with all process indicating 0 MB/s.

Running chkdsk without /f or /r. Disk utilization briefly dropped to 99%, before going back to 100%.

 

[OCR]

First - I used some information from here...

Did you try this one...?

.

 

[rootone]

I had a system that went that way, and too late I discovered that it was malware causing the excessive amount of disk activity.
It;s worth considering that.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Let's take care of the basics before running down rabbit holes.

Is the LED on the drive on 100% of the time?
If you boot in Safe Mode do you see the same symptoms?

 

[russ_watters]

When I go into the Task Manager, I go to the Processes tab.
The columns are Name | Status | CPU | Memory | Disk | Network

On my laptop, not doing anything, the initial number of processes totals about 1 MB/s, but the Value at the top indicates 100% Total utilization across all physical drives, and it indicates 100% when all the process read 0 MB/s.

Try clicking the "users" tab and expanding the list by clicking the arrow next to your username. Windows seems to be hiding the offending process.