100% disk usage when downloading

[Pelton]

For the last few days, I have been fighting with Steam and my HDD. Whenever I try to download something on steam, the bootstrapper and ntoskrnl.exe end up taking all of my Hard Drive's read capacity. This does not occur when doing anything else on my computer, (including downloading data from other sources.)

I have tried clearing the game cache and restarting my pc. Does anybody have an idea on how to fix this?

[The Giving One]

Seen others post about this before. It might be a couple of things that can cause this on your end, so see if any of these help :

"100% disk usage when downloading"

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/search/?gidforum=882959061466924237&include_deleted=1&q=%22100%25+disk+usage+when+downloading%22

EDIT..........................

Pelton eredeti hozzászólása:

ntoskrnl.exe

Found this. See if this helps, if you have Windows 10. You really should post your full system specs in threads like this, please. Thanks.

ntoskrnl.exe High CPU or Disk Usage on Windows 10 [Solved]

https://www.drivereasy.com/knowledge/system-ntoskrnl-exe-high-memory-or-cpu-usage-in-windows-10/

You need to be sure all drivers are fully up to date. Check for a BIOS update also, as a last resort. Be careful, updating a BIOS file and be aware of any risks with that on your computer.

[Pelton]

I've solved the ntoskrnl issue, but steam still hangs when downloading due to it bringing my HDD to 100%. My system and drivers are fully up to date, and when looking at the "100% disk usage when downloading" link, it's only people claiming to have an issue, with the only answers being "get a new Hard Drive." However, Steam is the only application which has this issue. Warframe, for example, installs it's updates via the game launcher. Not steam. When updating warframe the other day, I had no disk usage problems whatsoever.

[The Giving One]

What about the BIOS you have ? And it your OS in fact Windows 10 (32 or 64 bit ?). Need those specs, surely, please.

Post the model and model number of the computer. If custom built, the motherboard instead.

I saw a user have this issue once, and a driver update or firmware update fixed it. So sorry to mention it again, but make sure all drivers are up to date.

The user I remember had to manually download and install the driver as Windows did not seem to have taken care of that for him.

Windows 10 "supposedly" does this for you now, which I personally dislike, but I have seen cases where a manual update fixed an issue.

Also, we don't yet know for sure what your OS is.

Also, if any security software is not ignoring Steam and games in real time, that can maybe affect the disk usage also. Programs like CCleaner might cause issues, if monitoring mode is active (default) in it, for example only.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=9828-SFLZ-9289

I would boot the PC into safe mode with networking and test Steam downloads and disk usage there. What you see happen in this boot differently, if anything, might give some clues as to where the problem is. (Even though in this boot, the only drivers that are loaded are basic Windows drivers and network drivers).

[Pelton]

My PC is a Dell Inspiron 5576 which is running 64-bit Windows 10. My bios is Dell 1.0.7.

[The Giving One]

Pelton eredeti hozzászólása:

My PC is a Dell Inspiron 5576 which is running 64-bit Windows 10. My bios is Dell 1.0.7.

Ok, that looks like the only (most recent) BIOS anyway, so thanks.

https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/inspiron-15-5576-gaming-laptop/drivers

All those other drivers need to be up to date, also. You said they were, but I have to suggest again that you make very sure, please.

Also, try the safe mode with networking suggestion and post what you see, if anything different, there in that boot. If there is third party software messing with the downloads, you should see improvement in safe mode with networking, as those applications don't run automatically in that boot.

[Pelton]

According to the website, all drivers are up-to-date. Unfortunately, I cannot try safe mode with networking, as I am on a college campus and only have access to WiFi. (This is not my first year living in the dorms, and this did not occur last year, so I do not believe it is the school WifI's fault.

[The Giving One]

I should have asked you about that before. That can be related to your issue, maybe.

It very well could be the network there.

Note:
Many university networks and proxies block required ports for Steam operation - please consult your network administrator to ensure the required ports are open if you are using a university network or a proxy. Ports required for Steam can not be re-mapped to HTTP or reconfigured to a custom port range.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=1456-EUDN-2493

Unless you have full and uncontrolled access to that network, you can't say it is not affecting this issue, although usually, that is only related to downloads specifically.

I would highly suggest that you keep it in mind, especially if you cannot even use safe mode with networking.

[Pelton]

Thank you. I will speak to support tomorrow and update you with any more information which comes to light