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High Disk Usage on Windows 10 & Windows 8.1

You may notice that if you are running either Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 that your task manager is showing very high disk usage like the screenshot below:

The reason for this is that Windows 8.1 and now Windows 10 automatically manages your machines virtual memory and paging file size by default. This is usually not the best configuration for your machine and all IT experts will agree that the unwritten rule for virtual memory should be as follows:

Set Initial size to the amount of RAM you have in your machine
Set Maximum size to double the amount of RAM you have in your machine

So, to do this, you should follow the below steps very carefully:

Right click on your Start button and select System
Click on Advanced system settings
Click the Advanced tab
Under performance, click on the settings button
Click the Advanced tab
Under Virtual memory, click the Change button
Un-tick the "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives" check box
Select your required drive
Click on Custom size radio button
Set Initial size to the amount of RAM you have in your machine (in MB not GB)
Set Maximum size to twice the amount of RAM you have in your machine (in MB not GB)
Click on Set
Click on OK thrice
Restart your system

Something else to look out for is the SuperFetch service. This seems to take up a huge amount of disk usage so you can stop and disable this service and restart your machine.

Making these changes should speed up your computer significantly.

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Labels: Guide, Windows