100% Disk - So Slow

[monabri]

[Windows 10 vers 1903 - 64 bit OS - Dell Laptop 4GB memory - i5 Processor (but laptop is 10 years old]

The computer runs very slowly (unusable) and task manager indicates that the disc is running at a constant 100%.

I have tried

(1) switching off "Windows Update" (using "Win button" + R "services.msc" and via properties, selecting "Manual Stop").

(2) switching off "Windows Search" (even though it says it is 'disabled' it shows as "running").

A temporary fix which sets the disc to a more usable spin level (which needs to be repeated next time I turn the machine on from sleep) is to Check for Windows Updates and download the latest definition of Windows Defender AV - even though I use McAfee antivirus).

Memory usage (according to the task manager monitor is approx 79%, processor percentage use is negligible). Excel and Google Chrome browser being open in the background.

Are there any suggestions as to what I could check?

[Infrasonic]

If you left click on the 'Disk' column in the processes tab of task manager it should show the highest disk use at the top.
If you right click on the name tab in task manager and tick command line it will add the file path of the processes, which should help you narrow it down a bit.

A good guide to getting the most out of task manager here...https://www.howtogeek.com/405806/window ... ete-guide/

[Redmires]

Here's a couple of freeware program that I use for such purposes (What's My Computer Doing), along with Process Explorer from Microsoft.

https://www.itsth.de/en/produkte/Whats- ... -doing.php

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysint ... s-explorer