Windows 10: WIN 10 Pro - Build 2004 - Digital Audio & High CPU Usage Issues

After updating Win 10 to build 2004 my PC has developed serious problems with digital audio output not working via external speakers . Note HDMI audio still works via my monitor with in-build speakers.


At the same time the following window services are consuming large amounts of CPU when the system is idle,


Service Host: Local Service Network Restricted

Service Host: Windows Audio Endpoint Builder


The only way I can stop this high CPU usage is to disable the two services and prevent them from starting.


After reading many comments in this forum I note there are a number of bugs reported in build 2004 some of which are causing my issues.


Is any one else having these issues?


Microsoft needs to fix these bugs asap.

:)

 

"System" process with high CPU usage

I have exactly the same issue (high CPU usage) on a brand new HP ProBook 440 G5 (i7-8550U, pre-installed Win 10 Pro).

I am pretty sure that there is a problem with audio drivers when the computer wakes up from a sleep mode. I first observed that process flow.exe (audio bloatware provided by HP/Conexant) was consuming (after waking up) ~10–15 % CPU. Here's what I did:

• I have updated Windows to 1709, build 16229.251 and installed all updates --> Nothing has changed.
  
• I have updated BIOS to the latest version provided by HP. --> Nothing has changed.
• I have run Windows troubleshooting and HP Support Assistant checks --> No problems found, nothing has changed
• I have manually updated Conexant ISST Audio Drivers (via Device Manager -> Update drivers). Windows installed a newer version. -->
  CPU usage by flow.exe has disappeared, but process called System in thread ACPI.sys+0x21cb0 started consuming ~20 % CPU.
• I have uninstalled all Conexant software&drivers and manually installed generic High Definition Audio Device drivers provided by Microsoft (Driver Date: 21.02.2018). --> ACPI.sys+0x21cb0 still consumes ~20 % CPU.

Same issues are discussed in these threads on HP site:

• https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-Notebooks/ProBook-450-with-high-CPU-usage/td-p/6520063
  
• https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Noteb...-Fan-issue/m-p/6567212/highlight/true#M442639

The result is I cannot use sleep mode (as advised by this post:
https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-Notebooks/ProBook-450-with-high-CPU-usage/m-p/6611446/highlight/true#M149605).

 

High CPU usage.

Microsoft Windows 10 Pro

Version 1903 (OS Build 18362.239)

How to fix high CPU usage.

When I run any program the CPU usage will be above 80%. When I checked it I found some processes which are using high CPU usage.

Desktop Windows Manager -> 10.8%

Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation -> 5.8%

Antimalware Service Executable -> 55% (I want to kill these process permanently)

System Interrupts -> 12%

I want to kill all these process. Please guide how I stop them.

My PC configuration:

Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-7020U CPU @2.30GHZ

Ram -> 12GB

Harddisk -> 250gb SSD and 1 TB HDD

 

Windows 10 Pro High CPU usage at startup

My "issue" is that I have two HP Mini laptops running Win 10 Pro; both exhibit the issue of high CPU usage at startup. This is both for full start from shutdown, and waking from sleep mode. It take 5-10 minutes for them to work down to 5%-10% CPU usage.

The problem is that it is not one or two constant processes or programs; it is simply "always something" running to eat up CPU to 95%-100%. The main culprits are "local services, WMI Provider, updates, etc. It is a moving target. This is an issue because
it makes internet browsing almost impossible for that first 5-10 minutes!

Is this normal? Or, is it simply that these two devices have very slow processors? (Intel Atom, N270 & N455: 1.6 Ghz & 1.67GHz. I have done all the "tips" out there to improve performance (too many to list), but again it is always some processes running
to eat up the CPU.

Again, is this just the nature of Windows 10 Pro, or perhaps my devices are too under powered to handle running Windows 10?