Windows 10: Extremely high constant CPU usage

So up until this morning my Windows 10 desktop has been performing really well. When the machine is idle the CPU use is only in the 1-3% range.

For some reason my idle CPU use is now CONSTANTLY 30-40% (even after a reboot)! Task manager says its "Service Host: Local System (15)". If I expand this process in task manager it lists:





Why is this happening all of a sudden? Can anyone help please? I have all Windows Updates installed and I run an i7-3770 CPU.

My machine is now slow/sluggish with 30-40% being hogged by these services!

PS: I don't have any Malware installed as I run Malwarebytes Premium and the scan comes back clean. Some goes for a full anti virus scan.

:)

 

cpu utilization high after november upgrade to 1511

This is irrelevant. The constant high CPU usage is real, keeps fan running and prevents CPU from entering low frequency states (which supposedly extends battery life)

 

High CPU usage - system interrupts - when waking from sleep

After reverting to an earlier Windows version and then updating the drivers again...

This did not resolve the high CPU usage after waking from sleep, and I notice that it is both System Interrupts (ACPI.sys) and System (ntoskrnl.eve) adding up to about 30% added CPU usage... and constant cooling fan running at moderate to high speed.

 

If you have ever or currently have more than 1 antivirus programs (excluding MBAM completely), please double-check if you still do, and uninstall all but one of them.

Run this: DISM - Repair Windows 10 Image - Windows 10 Forums
Then this: SFC Command - Run in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums (RUN ONCE MORE AFTER A COMPUTER RESTART IF IT FINDS ANY FILES IT HAD TO FIX.

Check to see if anything else is running high.. check startup in Task Manager and disable anything that you don't want starting up with the OS, and check details to see if multiple instances of NON-windows processes are running, such as java, etc. For example, Java on my computer created more than 45 individual processes and slowed my PC to a crawl, had to restart to clear it, and updated java.

Update your computer, and any applications you have on it. Let MBAM and/or your antivirus program do a FULL scan (i.e. NOT a smart scan).

 

Thanks for the post but I defintely only have one AV program running (Avira) and WIndows Defender is disabled and not running.

I have run DISM and SFC and they have come back as clear/good.

I don't run Java or Flash and control my startup items very carefully. Nevertheless I doublechecked them and there is nothing new or unusual there (I've been running the same config since Windows 10 was released).

I have run a FULL Malwarebytes scan on ALL my drives and it came back clear. Same goes for the AV scan.

Anything else I can check or try? I just don't get how a perfectly working machine goes haywire after using it this morning!

Also when I check CPU utilisation in task manager it'll be 30% but if I look for a breakdown in task manager or resource monitor I can't see 30% worth of processes (maybe 6-8%).

I also noticed that after leaving my machine for 35min exactly the CPU drops down to normal utilisation levels again?! This is unacceptable as that means that every morning when I power on my machine that I can't use it for 35min! Grrr.

 

So we can focus a bit on updating. Make sure Windows is updated, and go to your computer or motherboard manufacturer's website to download THEIR newest Windows 10 specific drivers for your computer. Also grab the BIOS update and updater for your motherboard. Install all of them, unless you already did with those specific ones. If the computer already has it, it will let you know when you try, and you can just cancel the install.

Then the BIOS: use a USB drive. ASUS makes it really easy to update their BIOS, but you may want to look and see if there is a manual or utility provided by your company so you can know how. In case you didn't already.

Besides this, I can't think of anything else other than trying to speed things up yourself: Optimize Performance of Windows 8 (Works in 10 too!)

 

Thanks but all drivers and BIOS are up to date (I like keeping things current). I can't believe that my Ferrari speed machine is so slow now after turning it on. Its an i7 with 32GB of RAM and a super fast SSD and yet something weird is going on.

Sigh. Never had this with Windows 8.1!!

 

You can try your luck with MSCONFIG: Using System Configuration (msconfig) - Windows Help
- disable all services that AREN'T Microsoft. This step doesn't really work if you're having MS services problems, though. Someone else might be along to figure something out, who knows. Very strange though that you're having that problem. I have a similar service but with a (17), not (15). Not sure what the difference it really. But my computer is blazingly fast.

Perhaps you might consider a repair install: Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade - Windows 10 Forums - good chance of fixing your problem, I think

 

My install is a fresh one (ie: no upgrade done). And yes, it WAS blazingly fast until this morning. I haven't installed any Windows Updates for a few days so this is baffling to me.

So after rebooting my machine and monitoring task manager closely the CPU utilisation dropped after 35min. I have no idea why but I am going to keep my eye on it again tomorrow and report back.

 

I powered down my machine last night and this morning when I turned it back on the CPU utilisation went straight back to 25-30%:

Just to make things even weirder: If I login as another account (even while logged in with the account that has the high CPU utilisation) the CPU utilisation is normal!!

 

I have found the issue!!!

It was due to ccleaner. I updated this on Saturday and when I opened Process Explorer (highly recommended) I could see it opening up hundreds of versions of itself. The Process ID kept changing every second and when I hovered over the ccleaner.exe it has hundreds of "/uac" listed.

Haven't a clue why but after uninstalling and rebooting all is solved! CPU utilisation is 2% when idel instead of 30-40%. I reckon ccleaner timed out of after about half an hour.

Will be interesting to see if installing it again works correctly but for now I am a very happy bunny! *Smile

PS: None of these ccleaner.exe's showed up as a problem in task manager or resource monitor. Only process explorer helped in the end.

 

Wow! See I was hoping you'd find it in task manager... Ah well. Glad it's working!

 

I was going to mention procmon .exe or autoruns.exe both are good for stuff like that glad you caught it .

 

Short version - I am in the same boat as the original poster, my CPU usage fluctuates from around 35 - 70% at idle and 99% when I am doing anything or have anything open like Chrome. Sometimes it does appear to be better with around 80% max during usage after a few days but I am not sure if that is just wishful thinking or it is actually any better. It was like this for the last year with Windows 8 and now again with Windows 10.

As you can imagine this is killing me as everything takes ages to do, even something as simple as loading Google can take 10 seconds.

I have attached a picture of Task Manager at idle and I have downloaded MS Process Explorer but I don't really know what I am looking for.

Does anybody have any ideas as I am seriously considering buying a Mac as a result of the frustration with this?