Windows installation media is consuming nearly all available space for extended periods.
Windows installation media is consuming nearly all available space for extended periods.
Hey everyone, I'm a regular video editor and gamer. Lately my PC has been acting up—slow performance, especially when using the SSD. I've tried cleaning up files, defragmenting, and running without programs, but the issue keeps coming back. It usually happens suddenly, lasting a few seconds, and I thought it was normal until it became a recurring problem. Now it's affecting my overall speed, and I'm getting a bit concerned. Every time it spikes to 100% usage, the system runs at full speed for a while before dropping. The top process using the disk is always "system," and when the disk hits its peak, no other devices show up as a cause. My SSD is about five years old. I have both an SSD and an HDD, but it seems the SSD is the culprit. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Open Task Manager, go to the Processes tab, click the Disk bar. It will arrange programs by highest disk consumption so you can identify what's using space and terminate it.
It seems there isn't a straightforward fix. Just keep the PC running for a while—ideally overnight or longer without any use—to hopefully let it complete whatever it's doing.