100% Disk Usage at random intervals despite near 0 MB/s disk use after updating to Windows 11

Question

I recently updated from Windows 10 to Windows 11 and I've had this issue with my disk (and only my disk) randomly hitting 100% usage and freezing up my laptop for several minutes, only for it to return to normal afterwards. This issue repeats several times an hour from the moment my laptop is booted up even when I don't have anything open. Nothing in Task Manager seems to indicate anything out of the ordinary (outside of the 100% disk usage) as all processes listed have no more than 0.1 MB/s utilization of my disk. I've tried checking my disk's health using applications like CrystalDiskInfo but everything seemed to be fine regarding it. I've also tried disabling Windows Search and Superfetch but neither seemed to solve the problem.

Here are some screenshots from my task manager during one of the freezes along with some of my system information:

Answer 1

Hi there,

I'm Cherrelyn, I'm here to help and and I understand how frustrating this disk issue can be, especially after upgrading.

Please try these suggestion:

1. Update SSD firmware and chipset/storage drivers directly from Lenovo and Lexar if available.
2. Disable SysMain and Windows Search again via Services.msc because sometimes updates re-enable them.
3. Open Command Prompt as admin and run: chkdsk /f /r and restart to check for hidden disk issues.
4. In Power Options > Advanced > Hard disk > Set “Turn off hard disk” to Never.

Let me know about my suggestion, I'm here to guide you for further assistance.

Warm regards,

Cherrelyn

Answer 2

Hi there,

Thanks for the update and I’m so happy chkdsk helped resolve the issue and sounds like it uncovered something that was causing all the trouble. Thanks for giving the steps a try and sharing the results. Feel free to reach out again if anything else comes up and I'm here to help anytime.

Warm regards,

Cherrelyn