Fix Disk Usage Spike in Windows 11

With all the good things that came with Windows 11, there are also a lot of old issues that we have migrated from previous versions of Windows. Perhaps one of the most popular examples is the problem of disk usage peak. Even in idle mode, some Windows 11 users report that they notice their HDD is at 100% usage when they check the Task Manager.

If you want to know how you can fix this, be sure to read the tips we bring you in this post.

What causes disk usage spike in Windows 11?

After investigating this particular issue further, it turns out that there are different scenarios that are likely triggering this error in Windows 11Here is a list of possible culprits that you should identify and be aware of:

• Fragmentation of unity: If you're using a traditional hard drive and you've intentionally enabled the automatic drive optimization feature, you're likely to get these usage spikes as your drive becomes increasingly cluttered. To fix this particular issue, you'll need to defragment the drive that currently contains your Windows 11 installation.
• Application Management Service Error: If you are looking for a temporary solution that will probably reduce your drive usage by 100%, you should restart the Application Manager service from the Services screen. This will temporarily fix a notorious flaw that Microsoft has been working on since the Windows 10 era.
• CompatTellRunner.exe is hogging your computer's capacity storage: It turns out that the CompatTelRunner.exe process is a possible culprit if you have installed Windows 11 on a drive with limited computing power (barely meeting the minimum CPU requirement). In this case, you should be able to fix the problem by disabling the use of the CompatTelRunner.exe process via Task Scheduler or by using the Registry Editor.
• Faulty hard drive: It is not uncommon to face this particular problem if you are just starting to deal with a harddrive unit traditional hard drive that starts to degrade before eventually failing. If you notice 100% disk usage during periods of inactivity, you should implement a SMART scan via Speccy (or a similar tool) that is capable of displaying a detailed view of your drive's health parameters.
• Windows Security Error: It turns out that certain internal versions of Windows 11 are dealing with a strange bug where Windows Security eventually takes up 100% of the disk usage while it tries to download a new virus definition. To fix this particular issue, you'll need to disable both Windows Defender such as Windows Firewall and trigger a reboot before re-enabling them.
• Interference of third-party startup items/processes: Another possible reasoning as to why you are constantly dealing with this kind of issue is some kind of third-party interference that is hogging the available system resources. You can identify the culprit and deal with it (in most cases) by achieving a state of health. Boot cleansed.
• High disk usage caused by indexing serviceIf you experience this issue only during periods of inactivity and have low-end specs, another possible culprit that you need to troubleshoot is the Indexing service. If this scenario is applicable, you should be able to fix the problem by pausing the Indexing Options service.
• Windows Search Error: Certain Windows 11 insider builds suffer from this issue where the disk is effectively overwhelmed whenever you try to use the Windows Search component (or your OS does this in the background). To avoid this issue, you can either update to the latest version of Windows 11 or you can effectively stop the Windows Search service via Task Manager.
• A problem with the Link Power Management function: This power management feature is still unreliable in Windows 11, particularly with computers portable and ultrabooks where the technology is installed Intel Rapid Storage. To fix this issue, you will need to disable this feature in the Power Options menu.

How to Fix Disk Usage Spike in Windows 11?

Now that we have gone through all the possible reasons that could trigger the 100% disk usage spike in Windows 11, let’s move on to the repair part.

Here is a collection of methods that other users suffering from the same type of problem have successfully used to resolve this issue completely:

1. Defragment the operating system drive

If you're still using a traditional hard drive and you've previously disabled the driver optimization and defragmentation feature, you're likely seeing this type of problem because the file system on your operating system partition becomes disorganized as more files are added to the mix.

Several affected users who are also dealing with this issue have confirmed that they managed to fix the problem by running the utility Optimize units.

Nota: You can also run the optimization function on units SSD, but they are generally more resistant to slowdowns caused by file fragmentation.

Follow each of the instructions listed here to optimize the drive that is causing disk usage spikes in Windows 11:

Nota: While optimizing the operating system drive, you should also consider enabling the feature of scheduled optimization to ensure that this type of problem does not arise again in the future.

• Press the Windows key + R so that a dialog box can be opened Run. Next, you will need to type the command ' dfrgui.exe' inside the text box and press Enter to open the utility Optimize units.
• Once you are inside the menu Optimize units, select your operating system drive HDD, then click the button Optimize next.

• When prompted in the menu User account control, you have to click on the Yes to grant administrator access.
• Once the setup is up and running, wait until the operation is complete and avoid forcing the operation to stop before it is complete; doing so risks creating additional fragmentation issues on your drives.

If this method was not applicable in your particular case, you can try the following one that we are going to explain to you right now.

2. Restart the Application Management Service

If you are looking for a temporary solution that will allow you to use your PC normally without identifying the root cause of the problem, you should open the Services screen and simply restart the Application Manager service.

This will solve a technical issue that has existed since Windows 10, where the disk eventually becomes overwhelmed because the application management service cannot handle the flow of data being allocated.

Restarting this service will most likely reduce disk usage considerably, but the fix will only be short-lived. You should expect the problem to return the next time you start your Windows 11 computer.

To restart the Application Management service in Windows 11, you just need to follow these simple tips:

• Press the Windows key + R so that the dialog box can be opened Run. After this, you must write 'service.msc' and press the key Enter to open the screen Services.
• In case the User Account Control (UAC) I asked you for it, You have to press the option that says Yes to grant administrator access.
• Inside the screen Services, scroll down through the list of services within and locate the Application management.
• When you find the corresponding service, you must right click on it and select the option that says Restart within the contextual menu that appears on the screen.

• After the service of application management has stopped, check Task Manager once again and see if the problem is now resolved.

If the same type of problem keeps occurring, you can try to solve it with the next method we bring for you.

3. Disable the CompatTelRunner.exe process

Another possible reason why you might be experiencing this kind of massive disk usage even in situations where your PC is not really doing anything is the process CompatTelRunner.exe.

This service uses the telemetry component to collect system data that the Microsoft team will use to improve security and quality of service.

The thing is, you don't get any immediate benefit from allowing the process to CompatTelRunner.exe to run in the background. What's more, if your PC has limited computing power and is using a traditional drive, you can expect this component to do more harm than good, as it could end up taking up all of your drive's read speed while sending telemetry data to Microsoft's servers.

If this scenario is applicable, you actually have two ways that will allow you to solve the problem:

1. Disable CompatTelRunner.exe process via Task Scheduler
2. Disable CompatTelRunner.exe process via Registry Editor

We've covered both methods, so feel free to follow the subguide you're most comfortable with.

Note: Both methods have been tested and confirmed to work on Windows 11.

Disable CompatTelRunner.exe process via Task Scheduler

If you choose to disable this component via Task Scheduler, you will actually need to disable the three tasks associated with the main CompatTelRunner.exe. You can locate these three tasks in Application experience.

For specific instructions on how to do this, take note of these recommendations:

• Press the Windows key + R to be able to open a dialog box Run. After this, you must write ' taskschd. msc ' inside the text box, then press the key Enter and it opens Task scheduler.
• If User Account Control asks you for it, click  Yes to grant administrator access.
• Once you are inside the utility Task Scheduler, navigate to the following location using the menu on the left:

Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > Application Experience

• When you are finally inside the correct location, move to the right section of the screen and systematically disable the three internal tasks by right-clicking on each one and choosing Disable in the context menu.

• Once all the tasks involved have been successfully disabled, restart your PC and see if the disk usage issue is fixed once the next startup is complete.

Disable CompatTelRunner.exe process via Registry Editor

If you want to avoid Task Scheduler for some reason, you can also prevent the CompatTellRunner.exe process from having any effect on your Windows installation by renaming a registry key used by the telemetry data collection component.

To do this, follow the instructions below to use Registry Editor to rename the TelemetryController key so that you force your operating system to ignore it.

Follow the instructions below:

• Press the Windows key + R to open a dialog box Run. Next, you need to copy the command 'regedit' inside the text box and press simultaneously Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open the Editor of the Register with administrator access.
• When prompted in the window User account control, you must click on the option of Yes to grant the respective administrator access.
• Once you are inside the Registry Editor, use the side menu on the left to navigate to the following location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\TelemetryController

Nota: You can navigate to this location manually (by clicking each key) or you can paste the full path directly into the navigation bar at the top to get there instantly.

• After you get to the correct location, simply right click on TelemetryController and choose Rename in the context menu.

• Then rename it TelemetryController to TelemetryControllerX so that your operating system ignores these keys completely.
• Once this change has been made, restart your PC and see if the problem is resolved after the next startup is complete.

If the same type of problem persists even after disabling the effects of CompatTelRunner.exe, then continue with the next method that we will describe below.

4. Test for a faulty drive

If the above methods haven't gotten you any closer to solving this problem, you should also start looking into a possible faulty drive (especially if you're using a traditional hard drive).

The reason your disk is experiencing periods of 100% usage during idle periods in Windows 11 may be because it is starting to fail.

If you are dealing with this kind of scenario, there is a free third-party tool called Speccy that will allow you to investigate whether your HDD/SSD is failing or not.

Nota: If this method concludes that your drive is not failing, you can conclude that the cause is software related.

Speccy will give you an overview of about 30 SMART points that measure the health of your drive. If all measurements are within the normal range, your drive is not failing.

To install and use Peccy to find out if you are experiencing 100% disk usage due to a faulty drive, just do the following:

• First things first, open your favorite browser and visit the Speccy download page.
• Once you are inside, click on the button Download associated with the free version of Speccy.

Nota: From now on, you don't need the paid version (Professional) to check the parameters SMART, so don't buy it unless you have a use for it.

• Once the download is complete, double-click spsetup.exe, then click Yes in the message of User Account Control (UAC) to grant the required administrator access.
• When you are inside the installation message, follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation of Speeccy, then restart your PC when prompted.
• After your PC restarts, run Speccy and wait until the initial scan is complete, then click Storage in the menu on the left.
• With the menu Storage selected. move to the section on the right and scroll down to the section Smart Attributes.

Nota: Check the status of each attribute name and see if any of the values ​​are deviating from the expected values. If you find multiple attributes that are not labeled as buenos and exceed the threshold, you can conclude that this is a unit that is beginning to fail.

In case this investigation has shown you that you are indeed dealing with a failing drive, the only viable course of action at this point is to find a replacement and back up your existing data while it can still boot normally.

On the other hand, if you have just concluded that the problem is not related to a faulty drive, move on to the next solution.

5. Reset Windows Security (if applicable)

If you are using the default security protection method in Windows 11 (Windows Security), the 100% disk usage you are seeing within Task Manager can also be caused by the 'definition download' error that ends up keeping the load at 100% even after the new virus definition finishes downloading.

This issue was originally reported on Windows 10 and has now migrated to Windows 11 as well.

Until Microsoft finally fixes this issue, the only viable solution that other affected users have discovered is to temporarily reboot the system with the security suite disabled; by doing this and re-enabling the built-in Windows security suite, many users have confirmed that the disk percentage has finally returned to normal.

If this scenario applies to you and you are looking for specific instructions on how to do this, follow these tips:

• Press the Windows key + R so that a dialog box can be opened Run. To continue, you must copy the command into the text box 'ms-settings:windowsdefender' and then press where it says Enter to open the Windows Security tab of the menu Configuration on Windows 11.
• At this point, if the User account control asks you, You have to press the option of Yes to grant administrator access.
• Once you are inside the correct menu, go to the right panel and click where it says Open security window.

• When you are inside the main menu of Security de Windows, you must click on Protection against viruses and threats from the list of available options.

• Within the dedicated menu of virus and threat protection, Click on Manage settings in the context menu that just appeared.

• From the Virus & threat protection settings, scroll down and uncheck the box associated with Real-time protection.
• In case the User Account Control (UAC) demands it from you, you must press where it says Yes to grant administrator access.
• Next, Press the Back button until you return to the screen Home de Security de Windows, then click Firewall and protection of NETWORK.

• After this, click on the network that is currently active (Domain, Private o Public).
• In the next menu, simply toggle the switch associated with Microsoft Defender Firewall a Disabled.

• Restart your PC once again and see if the problem is finally fixed.

After your Windows 11 PC restarts, check your disk usage and see if the usage value has gone down. If so, simply reverse the steps above to re-enable both the real-time protection and the firewall component in Windows Defender.

If the problem did not solve the disk usage spike in Windows 11, you can try the following solution that we bring within this post.

6. Clean the boot and isolate the problem.

It turns out that this particular issue can also be traced back to some sort of third-party interference caused by a startup item or a process belonging to a third-party application that ends up hogging too many of the available system resources.

Since there are many potential culprits that can be responsible for this type of problem, the best way to isolate and eliminate the problem is to perform a clean boot and systematically re-enable each disabled service until you manage to identify the problem.

Nota: This method is often reported to be effective in scenarios where affected users have just migrated to Windows 11 from a previous version. Typically, the issue is caused by a native Windows 10 app that is not yet adapted to work with Windows 11.

For specific instructions on how to start your Windows 11 PC in Clean Boot mode and identify the program that is hogging your drive's available bandwidth, just do this:

Important: In order to follow the instructions above, you will need to log into an account with administrator access.

• Press the Windows key + R for the dialog box to appear Run opens. Next, you will need to type the command 'msconfig' inside the text box and press the key Enter to open the menu setting of the  work.
• In case the User Account Control (UAC) I ask you, you have to click on the option Yes and grant administrator access.
• Once you are inside the menu Configuration of the  work, select the tab Services from the list of available options, then check the box associated with Hide all Microsoft services. 
• Then go ahead and check out the remaining services and hit the button Disable all to ensure that the next startup is performed without non-essential third-party services.

• After doing this, click on Apply to save changes, then select the tab Home and click Open Task Manager.

• Once you are inside the tab Home from the Administrator of homework, Go ahead and select each service individually, then click the button Disable for each item. This will prevent these services from running during the next system startup.

• Now that all potentially problematic items have been disabled, reboot your computer normally and see if disk usage has improved now that it has achieved a clean boot state.

If the problem no longer occurs, you should revisit steps 3 and 5 and begin systematically re-enabling previously disabled startup items and services and performing consistent reboots to identify exactly which item is causing the problem.

If achieving a clean boot state did not resolve the issue, continue to the next solution.

7. Pause the indexing options service.

It turns out that if you're running Windows 11 on a low-end PC that barely meets the minimum specs, this particular issue can also be caused by an indexing bug.

According to other affected users, if the indexing feature is having trouble getting the resources needed to index all the necessary files, it will effectively keep disk usage at 100% (even during periods of inactivity) while it tries to catch up.

If this scenario is applicable, one way to fix the problem is to simply disable indexing on your PC.

Nota: Doing this means that your files will no longer be indexed, which will prevent you from finding them quickly when you search for something. However, it is better than having to go through occasional moments where your operating system freezes for a few minutes.

To learn how to pause the indexing service via the classic function Control Panel:

• Press the Windows key + R for the dialog box to appear Run can be opened. Next, you need to copy the following command 'control' inside the text box, then press Enter and the classic interface opens Control Panel.
• Once you are inside the classic interface Control Panel, use the search function (top left corner) to search 'indexing' and then click on Indexing options in the context menu that just appeared.

• When you are inside the menu Indexing options, select each folder inside, click Modify, then click on the button Pause in the identifier below.

• Once the indexing feature has been disabled, restart your PC once again and see if the problem is fixed once the next startup is complete.

If you are still dealing with the same type of storage usage during periods of inactivity, continue to the next solution.

8. Stop Windows Search Service (Temporary Solution)

If you have previously disabled the Windows Search service and this did not improve the disk usage spike issue you are facing on Windows 11, the next thing you need to investigate is the functionality of windows search.

Other users who are also dealing with this particular type of problem have confirmed that the issue was resolved once they forcefully stopped the service. windows search through the tab Services of the Administrator de chores.

Nota: Please note that this is only a temporary solution. Expect the problem to return immediately after restarting your PC.

Follow the instructions below for specific instructions on how to effectively stop the Windows Search service in Windows 11 using Task Manager:

• Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open the Task Manager.
• Once you're inside the Task Manager, Use the horizontal menu at the top to select the tab Services.
• Next, scroll down the list of services and find the service WSearch (Windows search).
• Once you manage to locate it, right click on it and click Stop in the context menu.

• When the service is stopped windows search, check the Performance tab of Task Manager and see if disk usage has decreased significantly.

If this method did not allow you to fix the problem as the disk usage has remained the same even after you disabled the Windows Search feature, move down to troubleshoot the final possible culprit below.

9. Disable link power management (if applicable)

If you are using the Intel Rapid Storage Technology, There is a good chance that you are dealing with some kind of conflict caused by the function Link Power Management.

Note: Link Power Management (LPM) It is a power management feature used in modern iterations of Windows to provide higher latency to devices USB and optimize energy use.

Even though this option is generally good for your system and you should keep it enabled in almost all scenarios, it is also known to conflict with the proprietary driver used by Intel Rapid Storage Technology.

To resolve this conflict, your only option is to disable the component Link Power Management (LPM) using the Power Options menu associated with the active power plan you are using.

For specific steps on how to do this please note the following:

• Press the Windows key + R so that I can open the dialog box Run. Next, you need to copy into the dialog box 'powercfg.cpl' and press Enter to open the menu Energy options.
• Once you are inside the screen Energy options from the menu of Control panel classic, go to the right panel and click on Change configuration of plan after you have selected the active power plan.

• Then click Change advanced power settings in the menu under general power settings.
• Once you are inside the menu Energy options, scroll down to PCI Express y expand the drop-down menu to find the State Energy Administration of the link.
• After this, expand the Power Management Link Status of menu, the established both in the battery y With alternating current a Disabled.
• When the feature has been effectively disabled Link State Power Management, Click on Apply To save the changes.
• Restart your PC to allow these changes to take effect, then check to see if the disk usage issue has been resolved once Windows 11 restarts.