Fix: High Disk or CPU Usage “Service Host Delivery Optimization”

Delivery Optimization is a peer-to-peer client update service that uses PC’s, both local and non-local devices via the Internet. The purpose is to deliver updated Windows 10 bits to an organization’s networked PCs. It will combine some data from the local PC’s and some from Microsoft’s data centers to deliver the complete update. The main idea is to reduce the bandwidth issues while updating and increase the update speed.

Despite the main aim, users faced many issues after the update was implemented such as high disk usage or periods of slow performance of the computer. There are a number of workaround present to solve the issue. Take a look.

Solution 1: Turning off Update from more than one place

As we discussed above, Microsoft now fetches pieces of update using the network of computers with whom your machine is connected with through the internet. We can disable this feature which will mean that the update could only be downloaded using the regular method.

1. Press Windows + S to launch the search bar, type “Windows Update Settings” and open the settings application which comes forth.

2. Once in the update settings, navigate to the bottom of the page and click “Advanced options”.

3. After navigating to the next page, click “Choose how updates are delivered”.

4. Turn Off the option “Updates from more than one place”. After making the change, exit the settings application and restart your computer to check if the problem has been solved.

Solution 2: Disabling Automatic Updates in Store Application

It is also possible that your Windows Store is automatically downloading the updates in the background which is causing the problem. Windows Store often seems to be ignored due to the fact we don’t use it on daily basis. However, it is an important contributor to the problem as it downloads and implements updates to store apps similar to the main Windows Update mechanism.

1. Press Windows + S to launch the search bar. Type “Store” in the dialogue box and open the application.

2. Once you open Store, click on the account picture present at the near top of the screen and select “Settings” from the drop-down options present.

3. Once in Settings, uncheck the option “Update apps automatically”. After making the necessary changes, exit the window and restart your computer. Now check if the problem went away.

Solution 3: Editing Group Policy

If both solutions don’t work, we can try changing the group policy. Do note that changing the policies you don’t know about can hamper the computer. Only change the policies which are instructed in the solution.

We will try disabling the delivery optimization completely and select another policy on its behalf. We will try to limit the bandwidth when download automatic updates to help in controlling the internet allocation.

1. Press Windows + R, type “gpedit.msc” in the dialogue box and press Enter.
2. Once in the group policy, navigate to the following path:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Delivery Optimization

3. On the right side of the screen, you will see a policy named “Download Mode”. Double-click it to open its properties. Once in the properties, change the policy to “enabled”. Now look at the near middle-left side of the screen and you will see a drop-down of download mode. Click it and change it to “None”. This will help in bypassing Delivery Optimization altogether.

4. Now navigate to the following file path in the group policy editor:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Network > Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)

5. Here you can change the limit the bandwidth and limit the speed accordingly with your internet connection. In most cases, 10Kbps is a good choice but it all depends on your internet connection.

Now restart your computer as a good measure and check if the problem got solved.

Solution 4: Checking Background Downloads

Many people reported that they had windows applications downloading/updating in the background when they started experiencing this problem. Windows applications (accessible thorough store) also make use of delivery optimization and its policies for downloading and updating themselves. You should open Windows Store and check for any pending or current downloads. Attend to them as soon as possible to stop the computer from going into such high disk usage.

Solution 5: Running Clean Boot

If all of the above solutions don’t work, we can try Clean Booting. This boot allows your PC to turn on with a minimal set of drivers and programs. Only the essential ones are enabled while all the other services are disabled. If the usage is perfect in this mode, you can restart your computer with turning on a very minimal set of programs (in small chunks such as 10 or 15). If the problem still doesn’t pop up, you can activate more programs and so on. This will help you diagnose what the problem is.

1. Press Windows + R to launch the Run application. Type “msconfig” in the dialogue box and press Enter.

2. Navigate to the Services tab present at the top of the screen. Check the line which says “Hide all Microsoft services”. Once you click this, all Microsoft related services will be disabled leaving behind all the third-party services.
3. Now click the “Disable all” button present at the near bottom at the left side of the window. All the third-party services will now be disabled.
4. Click Apply to save changes and exit.

5. Now navigate to the Startup tab and click the option of “Open Task Manager”. You will be redirected to the task manager where all the applications/services which run when your computer starts will be listed.

6. Select each service one by one and click “Disable” at the bottom right side of the window.

7. Now restart your computer and check if the disk usage goes away. If it does, it means there was an external program which was causing the problem. Search through your installed programs and determine which application is causing your problems).