Windows – 100% disk usage on windows 10

filesystemshard drivewindowswindows 10

I've a windows 10 copy running in my core i5 second gen laptop. Now there is this issue where the hard disk usage goes to 100% and the system doesn't respond for a few seconds to even few minutes. I've run process monitor, resource monitor and found that the system uses the disk so much. This doesn't happen when the pc is on idle rather, if I open a folder or any other window, the hard disk usage spikes to 100% and be there for a long time! which is unusual.

I looked at the event log and there I saw a lot of events with the following message.

The start type of the Windows Modules Installer service was changed from demand start to auto start

I couldn't find what is wrong with the system. I use bitdefender 2015 antivirus and tried switching it off. Then again I disabled windows search, indexing service and all possible solutions I could find over the internet. Installed Ccleaner and did a registry clean and a system cleanup. Nothing worked and now the system is unusable! I cannot re – install windows since I don't have most of the software I've already installed.

If it helps the laptop is a Dell Inspiron n5110. Please help me..

Best Answer

This is a known issue with certain ACHI devices. Microsoft has provided a solution: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3083595

If you follow these steps (taken from the article) your problem should be resolved.

  1. Identify if you are running the inbox AHCI driver (StorAHCI.sys):

    1. Open a command prompt with administrator privileges. Then type the following command in the command prompt window and hit Enter: devmgmt.msc

    2. Under IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers right-click on the AHCI controller node and select Properties. This node is usually called “Standard SATA AHCI Controller.”

    3. Navigate to the driver tab and click Driver Details.

    4. If you see “StorAHCI.sys” in the list, you are running the inbox driver.

  2. Disable MSI for the controller in the registry:

    1. In the same properties window opened in step 1.2, navigate to the Details tab and select Device instance path from the Property drop-down menu. Note this path.

    2. Open the registry editor by typing regedit in the previously opened command prompt.

    3. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Enum\PCI\<AHCI Controller>\Device Parameters\Interrupt Management\MessageSignaledInterruptProperties, where <AHCI Controller> refers to the device instance path you noted in step 2.1.

    4. Change the value of the MSISupported key from 1 to 0.

    5. If you don’t know which controller your boot device is attached to, repeat steps 2.1 through 2.4 for all AHCI controllers found under 1.2.

  3. Reboot the machine.

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