Windows 10: COM Surrogate high CPU usage due to Microsoft Edge browser

Encountered the high CPU usage issue with COM Surrogate but unlike previous solutions posted on here a few years ago and on other sites there's no video file dllhost.exe seems to be constantly trying to access, when I look at dllhost.exe in Process Explorer under the file handles it just lists system files and the Edge cache, yet COM Surrogate consistently takes up 10-12% CPU until I manually terminate the process, so it seems there is another issue with COM Surrogate high CPU waste that does not involve Windows trying and failing repeatedly to cache a thumbnail for a troublesome video file. Even weirder is that when I open a folder in Explorer containing lots of video files COM Surrogate seems to do its job of caching thumbnails and then closes when it's done doing so. Yet when COM Surrogate decided to start running on its own in the background it keeps running and running and doesn't terminate at all, until forced to do so manually.


Update: I have now isolated this specific problem to Microsoft Edge, the anomalous CPU usage (12%) occurs when I start Edge and does not self-terminate unlike COM Surrogate's normal process when it's auto-started to cache thumbnails. Possibly dllhost is struggling with "C:\Users\[User]\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_[profile]\AppData\User\Default\CacheStorage\CacheStorage.edb" or "C:\Users\[User]\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_[profile]\AppData\User\Default\CacheStorage\CacheStorage.jfm" or "C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\CacheStorage\edb.log" if this Process Explorer method is indicative of the problem but this may be something else entirely, but it is related to Edge because the issue only arises when I start Edge and not when COM Surrogate starts by itself to cache thumbnails, in which case it self-terminates normally when done.


To be clear, ~11% may not seem troublesome but it definitely is when it is CONSTANT. Meaning it does not stop even when I close Edge and has to be manually terminated, I only started looking into this when I noticed my CPU fans running faster consistently for the past few days or week perhaps. I'm unaware if this anomalous behavior of COM Surrogate also occurs by itself (not triggered by starting Edge) but I will keep an eye out in the coming days.


I have run sfc /scannow (came up 100% no file corruption) and multiple full virus scans with F-Secure and Malwarebytes before posting. This seems like a new bug with Edge and COM Surrogate possibly.




:)

 

High CPU usage Microsoft Edge on video Streaming

Hi Sibtain,

Let's try to isolate the cause of this issue with the high CPU usage in Edge. We suggest that you clear your browsing data. Clearing your browsing data will help improve the performance of Edge. To clear, kindly follow the steps below:

• Open Edge.
• Click on the three dots icon on the upper-right part of the screen.
• Click Settings.
• Under Clear browsing data, click on Choose what to clear.
• Click on Clear.

You can also visit this link with a similar concern as yours and check the solution
provided by Josette Sal.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

 

High CPU and memory usage on Windows 10 with Microsoft Edge.

Wow, this reply really nailed it. For both Edge and Firefox, I monitored the CPU usage and picked a process with high CPU usage. I killed 1 process per app and the CPU went down to under an average of 10%.

One connection was Fox News (Firefox), but can't see which one was stopped in Edge.

Great suggestion!

 

Cortana & COM Surrogate high CPU usage when Search or Start Menu is opened

Hi Ruth,

Thank you for suggesting these troubleshooting steps. Unfortunately, starting in a Clean Boot did not resolve the issue. I remember that there were some updates available prior to this issue (KB3156421 and KB3152599) and I didn't do any major changes to
the system.

One thing that I forgot to mention in my first post, is that the high CPU usage also sometimes occurs with the "Host Process for Windows Tasks" process too. It mostly happens with COM Surrogate, but this process shows up sometimes too.

Thanks!