Windows 10: Fix ntoskrnl high cpu usage for Windows 10 Pro?

In mid - late December 2019 I noticed a lag in starting applications after booting or powering up my Windows 10 desktop. Outlook, Word, Excel, and others has a noticeable delay in starting. Once I noticed this behavior I started task manager and noticed a process named 'System' running consistently at a CPU rate of 15 - 17%. No matter how long the system was running, even with no active applications started or idle, the CPU rate never changed for this 'System' process. I've watched task manager before and have never had a process 'System' running at this rate. Normally when present this 'System' process runs at around 0.2 - 0.4% CPU.


I selected 'System' looked at properties and it is the 'ntoskrnl' process. Next, I went to Micorosoft technet and forums looking for information related to this issue. And, of course, I found a plethora of questions, discussions, etc., all involving ntoskrnl and high cpu utilization, some dating back to 2016. I followed the ones posting in 2019 and tried all the suggestions for fixing this issue. Uninstall this, remove that, kill items in startup, perform a clean boot, check registry and change this, etc., etc., etc..


Non of these worked. I returned the system to the current configuration I've been running for 3 years. Here is what I noticed: If I rebooted selected 'Restart', the system rebooted and the 'System' process aka 'ntoskrnl' process was running at 0.2 - 0.4 CPU rate, after about 20 -30 seconds. If I 'shut down' the system to a power off state and then start the system up there is always the 'ntoskrnl' running at the high CPU rate - forever. Perform a reboot even an immediate reboot then 'ntoskrnl' is running at the normal 0.2 - 0.4% CPU rate. And there is no lag in starting Outlook or Word or Excel, or etc. The system is back to running normal performance only after a reboot.


So why is ntoskrnl having the aberrant behavior? Please help by looking into this. This issue with ntoskrnl keeps resurfacing and Microsoft has not fixed this.


Here is my system information- Windows 10 Pro 64 bit, 16GB RAM, Intel i7-6700T CPU, 512GB SSD, all updates current as of Jan 3 2020


Two suspicious updates:

1 December 10, 2019-KB4533002 Cumulative Update for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.8 for Windows 10 Version 1903 and Windows Server 1903 RTM and Windows 10, version 1909 and Windows Server, version 1909


2 December 10, 2019—KB4530684 OS Builds 18362.535 and 18363.535

The ntoskrnl properties lists the following: Created Wednesday Dec 11, 2019, Location C:\Windows\System32 - this incredibly suspicious because this is the same time frame that I noticed the system behaving differently. AND it certainly suggests that one of these updates has corrupted the WIndows 10 Pro performance in the ntoskrnl service.

:)

 

ntoskrnl High CPU usage


Hello Guys , im strugling for few days with this and no luck.

ntoskrnl is constantly using 1 of cores as shown below.






Process name is System and compressed memory, and is pointing to ntoskrnl






Im using laptop Samsung np350v5c-s0dpl
i7 3630qm
8gm ram
Intel Hd graphics 4000
Amd Radeon 7600M
-----------------------------------

What's more interesting , this started after i swaped my DVD drive with HDD.. when i run only with SSD in mail slot it;s normal.
Already try clean install but still the same.
I can share WPT on PM

 

CPU high (process: -ACPI.sys!<symbol disabled>) in Windows 10

Hi Devang. I'm Greg, an installation specialist, 10 year Windows MVP, and Volunteer Moderator here to help you.

See fixes for high Ntoskrnl.exe CPU usage:

https://fossbytes.com/how-to-fix-high-ram-and-c...

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/ntoskrnl-exe-hig...

https://appuals.com/high-cpu-or-disk-usage-by-n... (avoid ad links)

https://blog.pcrisk.com/windows/12536-ntoskrnle...

Other fixes for high CPU usage:

https://www.kapilarya.com/fix-windows-10-high-c...

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fix-high-cpu-usag...

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and keep me posted. If you will wait to choose if I solved your problem, I will keep working with you until it's resolved.

________________________________________________________

Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly
research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

 

Occasional high CPU usage on Windows 10


Hi spotify95,

Have a look at the below link and see if there's anything that might be of some help.
Windows 10: How to fix system ntoskrnl.exe memory leak and high CPU usage