Windows 8: 100% disk utilization - you can do that

If you have a disk utilization of 100% in Windows 8, the causes can be varied. In the worst case, a hard disk defect may not be responsible. Find out in this practical tip what you can do about it.

Accelerate high utilization of the hard drive under Windows 8 - PC again

High disk usage often causes problems. The PC can become very slow or even crash - but with the following tips you can quickly fix these problems and speed up the PC:

• First you should open the Task Manager by pressing the key combination [CTRL] + [SHIFT] + [ESC].
• In the "Processes" tab, search for unnecessary processes, or for those that you do not need or no longer need.
• Mark the tasks you no longer need and close them by clicking on "End Task".
• The autostart programs can also be switched off there so that the PC does not have to run unnecessary programs. However, only do this for programs you know.
• In general, you should make sure that you have installed the latest drivers and updates for your system.
• It is often helpful to briefly deactivate system services. Not all of the services performed are required to operate the PC, so you can disable some to speed up the PC. We explain how this works in the next section.

Windows 8: Stop system services - so it'll work

1. Move the mouse into the lower right corner and enter "msconfig" in the search mask. Confirm this with [Enter].
2. Then switch to the "Services" tab and tick "Hide all Microsoft services" below.
3. Now you can deactivate all services here by clicking on "Deactivate all".
4. Note: This step should be carried out with caution as important services are still listed here. Read the name of the service carefully before you stop it!
5. If you do not notice any changes, we recommend restarting the PC.

Check hard drive for errors in Windows 8 - this is how you proceed

If none of this helps, a hard disk defect can be responsible for the high load. You should therefore check the disk for errors:

1. Navigate to the Windows 8 start screen (tiled surface).
2. Simply enter "cmd" here (without quotation marks). Then it looks for the "Command Prompt".
3. Right click on the application and select the option "Run as administrator" from the context menu.
4. Now you have to enter the command "chkdsk C: / F / R".
5. If your hard drive does not have the letter "C", you must replace it with the correct drive letter in the command.
6. The specified hard disk is now checked for errors. If errors are found, they are automatically corrected.
7. In the worst case, however, if these are more serious, you will have to replace the hard drive.

Note: Make a backup of the hard disk

Before you replace or format the hard disk, you should make a backup. Our video instructions show the individual steps.

If nothing helps at all, you should format the hard drive after the backup (see video).