Hello all,
Hope you're keeping in great spirits. Over the course of the last few months we've encountered a lot of bugs in Windows 10 that just hammer the disk (100% in Task Manager) and make the system unusable. A few other common problems too, so I figured I'd share what I know.
If anybody has this issue in BootCamp or a personal W10 system, then there are some quick fixes below. This encompasses fixes for all high disk usage issues that I've encountered. Hopefully this should be helpful for somebody reading.
High Disk Usage in Task Manager
1) Start>Settings>System>Notifications & actions
Disable 'Show me tips about Windows'. You can also disable all the rest of the options.
2) Start>Settings>Privacy>General
Disable everything
3) Start>Settings>Update & Security>Windows Update>Advanced Options>Choose how updates are delivered
Disable
4) Open regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TimeBroker
Double-click the 'Start' dword on the right-hand side. Change the value from 3 to 4.
5) Restart
6) If there's still the issue on a portable laptop, press Windows+R (CMD+R on Mac) and type in powercfg.cpl. Change to High Performance.
If there's still the issue, this may make a positive difference, but battery life will be reduced: Change advanced power settings>Processor power management> minimum processor state. Change minimum & maximum to 100% on both battery & power cable.
Graphics Drivers
BootCamp drivers are almost always out of date. The main ones that can cause a problem with Windows 10 working correctly are the graphics drivers.
Integrated Intel Drivers
1) Press Windows+R (CMD+R on Mac) and type in devmgmt.msc to bring up Device Manager.
2) Expand Display Adapters. Right-click the Intel driver and click Update Driver Software. Search automatically for updates.
3) If this doesn't find anything, you can check for Intel driver updates through Intel Driver Update Utility.
Dedicated NVIDIA Drivers
Download GeForce Experience to keep your GPU driver up-to-date.
Dedicated AMD Drivers
Download AMD Driver Auto-detect.
Other Issues/Fixes
Password prompting to change every 42 days
If you're on a local user account, Windows 10 may prompt to change the password every 42 days. To disable this:
1) Right-click Start menu and open Command Prompt (Admin)
2) Type in net accounts /maxpwage:unlimited and press Enter
3) The password will no longer prompt to change. You can verify this by typing in net accounts, and the maxmium password age will show as being unlimited.
Windows Explorer crashing/restarting randomly
This seems to be a common bug in W10. You can verify if this happens for you by creating a new folder on the desktop. If Windows Explorer crashes, you've got the issue. The only fix as of the time of writing is to create a new user account.
Hope you're keeping in great spirits. Over the course of the last few months we've encountered a lot of bugs in Windows 10 that just hammer the disk (100% in Task Manager) and make the system unusable. A few other common problems too, so I figured I'd share what I know.
If anybody has this issue in BootCamp or a personal W10 system, then there are some quick fixes below. This encompasses fixes for all high disk usage issues that I've encountered. Hopefully this should be helpful for somebody reading.
High Disk Usage in Task Manager
1) Start>Settings>System>Notifications & actions
Disable 'Show me tips about Windows'. You can also disable all the rest of the options.
2) Start>Settings>Privacy>General
Disable everything
3) Start>Settings>Update & Security>Windows Update>Advanced Options>Choose how updates are delivered
Disable
4) Open regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TimeBroker
Double-click the 'Start' dword on the right-hand side. Change the value from 3 to 4.
5) Restart
6) If there's still the issue on a portable laptop, press Windows+R (CMD+R on Mac) and type in powercfg.cpl. Change to High Performance.
If there's still the issue, this may make a positive difference, but battery life will be reduced: Change advanced power settings>Processor power management> minimum processor state. Change minimum & maximum to 100% on both battery & power cable.
Graphics Drivers
BootCamp drivers are almost always out of date. The main ones that can cause a problem with Windows 10 working correctly are the graphics drivers.
Integrated Intel Drivers
1) Press Windows+R (CMD+R on Mac) and type in devmgmt.msc to bring up Device Manager.
2) Expand Display Adapters. Right-click the Intel driver and click Update Driver Software. Search automatically for updates.
3) If this doesn't find anything, you can check for Intel driver updates through Intel Driver Update Utility.
Dedicated NVIDIA Drivers
Download GeForce Experience to keep your GPU driver up-to-date.
Dedicated AMD Drivers
Download AMD Driver Auto-detect.
Other Issues/Fixes
Password prompting to change every 42 days
If you're on a local user account, Windows 10 may prompt to change the password every 42 days. To disable this:
1) Right-click Start menu and open Command Prompt (Admin)
2) Type in net accounts /maxpwage:unlimited and press Enter
3) The password will no longer prompt to change. You can verify this by typing in net accounts, and the maxmium password age will show as being unlimited.
Windows Explorer crashing/restarting randomly
This seems to be a common bug in W10. You can verify if this happens for you by creating a new folder on the desktop. If Windows Explorer crashes, you've got the issue. The only fix as of the time of writing is to create a new user account.
