Windows 10: 100% CPU usage with nothing running, opening programs freezes PC. Works fine in safe mode.

Whenever I open Task Manager the CPU is at 100% but no processes show anything above 5%. Resource Monitor doesn't suggest anything different either. My PC is good enough to run modern games so specs isn't the issue but even opening simple programs such as Discord will send my CPU to 100% and force me to restart my PC. Any ideas what could be wrong?

I've scanned with Malwarebytes and nothing was detected. I've tried updating drivers.

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:)

 

100% CPU Usage after Windows 10 upgrade

Hello Aaron,

Thank you for posting on Microsoft Community. We regret the inconvenience caused and will assist you in resolving the issue.

Most of the time, computers only use a small fraction of their CPU power. In fact, many computers use less than 5% of their CPU most of the time. When you open an application, play a video game, or encode media file, the CPU usage will rise or spike temporarily.
Once the CPU intensive process completes, the CPU usage should once again drop down to lower level. Most applications will not use up more than 50% of your CPU for an extended period of time. However, some programs and system processes can use up a large amount
of CPU without you even knowing it. This may happen if a program gets stuck in an infinite loop or encounters an unexpected error.

I suggest you to perform Safe mode and Clean boot procedures on the PC by following the steps below.

Step 1: I suggest you to boot your PC in Safe mode by following the steps from the link below and check if the issue is resolved.

Safe mode is a diagnostic mode that starts your computer with limited drivers necessary to run Windows. The words
Safe Mode appear at the corners of your monitor to identify which Windows mode you are using.

Expand the options to boot into Safe Mode:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-in/windows-10/start-your-pc-in-safe-mode



Reboot the PC to exit from Safe mode.

To know more about Safe mode, following is an article on
Windows Startup Settings (including safe mode) (Applies to Windows 10 also):

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/windows-startup-settings-safe-mode

Step 2: If the issue persists, perform Clean boot on your PC by following the steps from the link below and check if the issue is resolved.

Putting your system in Clean Boot state helps in identifying if any third party applications or startup items are causing the issue.

I suggest you to perform clean boot by following the steps from the link below and check if the issue is resolved.

You can open the system configuration window in Windows 10:

a. Using run command.

• • Press Windows Key + R keys on the Keyboard.
  • Type msconfig.msc and press Enter.

b. Using Cortana.

• • Press Windows icon key on the keyboard and type msconfig.
    
  • Select the top most search result.
    

Follow the steps from 3 under How to perform a clean boot
for Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 from the link below (The steps for clean boot suggested in the link below for
Windows 8/8.1 is applicable for Windows 10 as well):

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/929135

Disclaimer: Start the computer in normal mode refer the section,
How to reset the computer to start normally after clean boot troubleshooting
from the link above.

Write to us with the status of the issue on the same post for further assistance. Your reply is most important for us to ensure we assist you accordingly.

Thank you.

 

PC freeze within 30sec of boot, works fine in safe mode


Hi there,

Having an issue with my Laptop, running win 10 pro.

Freezing in less than 30 secs of boot normal boot.Safe mode works fine where I have tried to run sfc now issue found.

So here is a quick list of what I have so far tried

• Boot to safe mode sfc /scannow no issue found
• Tried a clean boot(disable all no MS services) and reboot
• Sign in under a new user account
• Read logs but nothing seen freezing seem to not write any logs.
• Memory test passed
• chkdsk passed
• run windows repair off disk
• Sure there is more than I can not think of at the moment as my brain is ready to sleep
• System Restore
• Startup Repair

I am thinking it might be a driver based issue due to working fine when in safe mode but haven't updated any drivers.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

 

Anniversary Update: Windows 10 CPU usage 100% All the time

Thank you for the information...

To update you all, I thought I had it fixed, but it yet again randomly jumped to 100% CPU usage.

I had a Microsoft tech remote it, try *everything* and I mean *everything* in terms of disabling services.msc items, editing the registry, adjusting startup services, doing repair disk, Windows 10 upgrade, ending tasks that appeared to take up the majority of the usage and more.

This tech was top tier type of support, because it was escalated. When all his options were exhausted, he mentioned updated the BIOS would be the answer.

So I updated the BIOS to the latest version (which took several steps).

Then I did a wipe and reinstall of Windows 10, and I reinstalled my programs.

Everything was fine and dandy until this morning, as OneDrive was syncing files, it shot up to 100%. The only thing I did was change the power settings to "never" for going to sleep and 3 hours until display sleeps.

I have reverted to 1 hour to sleep / 1 hour to display sleeping and it's still at 100% CPU usage...

It doesn't matter how many processes are running, my PC will just randomly pick a few of the most active ones and say it takes up like 80%/90%/ even 100% of my CPU. It's so frustrating.

Any help at this point would be a Godsend. *Sad